Elise Kova

A library apprentice unknowingly saves the life of a member of the magic secret society "Tower of Sorcerers" and discovers her own magical powers. Now, Vhalla Yarl must choose to stay in her quiet, reclusive life of books or join the forces of the sorcery elite.

Air Awakens

Air awakens

They were sending her to war, so she would go and become something they had every right to fear. 

"Stay on the floor where you belong. You are like a pathetic little worm who only wants to sit in the dirt when I was prepared to give you a chance to grow wings and fly." 

A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond... The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war. Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books. But after she unknowingly saves the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of them all-the Crown Prince Aldrik-she finds herself enticed into his world. Now she must decide her future: Embrace her sorcery and leave the life she's known, or eradicate her magic and remain as she's always been. And with powerful forces lurking in the shadows, Vhalla's indecision could cost her more than she ever imagined.

Air Awakens (Air Awakens Series Book 1)

Megan Lapides

Liv Gliese Johnsen

dija

I didn't have any expectations for this book and I'm actually glad because i love thAT SURPRISING FEELING YOU GET WHEN YOU LIKE A BOOK YOU HAD NO EXPECTATIONS FOR

(3.5/5)

Promising start to a saga. This book felt like a big, lengthy explanation of the world and relationships within it, with not as much action as I had expected from it; it practically all happened in the second half of the book. Nonetheless, I was not once bored or thought about not finishing the book. Its written in a way that is both compelling and leaves you wanting more.

I thought it was quite refreshing that this books takes the "chosen one" trope but with a twist: the "chosen one" seems to have the chance to reject that lifestyle would she want to do it. I thought that was innovative.

I still got that female mc 2010's vibe ("I'm not pretty, at all, I'm so average", says her who has three perfectly handsome men pining over her, including royalty) but our MC also has an internal struggle with her own powers that is interesting to read. I can see a powerful arc going on and I really appreciate it. I'm confident it'll be explored in the following books and I can't wait to read them.

Emily B

4.5 stars
HOOOO BOY so I just finished this book not 5 minutes ago and can I just reference another reviewer I saw for this book: WAS I ON DRUGS THE FIRST TIME I READ THIS?? Like seriously, I didn't even finish the book the first time around! Granted, I was much younger and at the time was only interested in high action fantasy books but HOLY CRAP I am so glad I am giving the books I gave up on a second chance!
Ok, but really, I seriously enjoyed this book. It is hard to get me into a romance these days because I feel like I've seen them all (which is very disheartening for an avid romantic like myself). This book was very romance heavy. It was really the main focus of the book. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship develop from "I wanna hit you" to "Maybe I like you" to "I think I've fallen hard for you and can't be without you". The chemistry was very real and the angst involved was just enough, not so much that it turns you off. There is definitely some fluff to help you balance out the heartache.
What I really enjoyed the most though was Vhalla's growth. We see her go from someone who just wants to live in her own little world and survive to someone who wants to go out and thrive! I really enjoyed and related to the realizations she comes to in regards to her friends in the library as opposed to her new friends the sorcerers. And then the last hundred or so pages happened. It was quite a turn and quite a mood change. It got dark, and Vhalla was forced to go from someone who could show weakness to someone who had to have a spine of steel. Personally, after that ending, I am really looking forward to seeing where she goes. I want her to get mad. I want her to fight and survive just to spite her wrongdoers. I also want to see how she will deal with all that happened at the end of this book in the next book. 
Overall, really looking forward to continuing this series! I'll probably binge it once my college lets out and summer starts. If you're a romance fan who has a weakness for morally grey and sarcastic, dark princes, as well as seeing some really good character development, and a very interesting world, I definitely recommend you check this one out!

Very enticing!! I wish that we had more enemies to lovers in the beginning but other than that I loved it. 

Cheyenne Willis

Annabella

3.5 promising stars 
Back when I witnessed the Air Awakens raving in December, curiosity hit me like a lightning bolt. I mean, sorcerers in a medieval-like setting? Hell to the yes.(And yes, to the romance as well)

Were my expectations met, you ask? More or less. I can definitely see the story is going to actually pick up its pace - romantically and plot-wise- in book two.
  "Fire needs sure to live. Sure field fire, strikes it, and makes it burn brighter and hotter than it are could alone."  
In case you are curious, I have picked a side (No Marvel-related pun intended!) and there's a  big  analogy with one of my favourite tv!boy ever. Given that I have enough time, I'll try to edit this review and add that ;)
Ps: book two better be as good as the last five chapter of this one or I am going to be disappointed. I have faith in you, Elise...

Overall idea is good, and the writing stylistically felt similar to the Chrestomanci series, but very quickly fell flat and turned into fanfic style. Book could’ve benefitted from being twice as long as many concepts felt extremely rushed and blunt or otherwise overexplained/overrepeated. Weird, unnecessary blaccent moment (when no other accents are specified beyond those couple paragraphs in the whole book). Sudden and violent gore. Weird Daniel Craig allusion? MC often treated as a dumb little girl by many characters, and male characters often have incel vibes. Hope the rest of the series is better.

(Bre)anne✨

bueno gente este libro ha sido todo un descubrimiento, la historia está chévere y tiene potencial, vamos a ver cómo continúa

Megan Lowe

I quite enjoyed this book. It’s been on my TBR for ages and. Finally found time to tackle it. I would say thought that it goes in fits and starts. There was some points where my mind wandered and it felt a bit slow. I felt like I wanted more of the intrigue and conspiracies. The budding romance was great, I loved watching it progress and can’t wait to see where it goes.
This doesn’t have a young YA feel, there is violence so be aware of that, but if fantasy is your thing, I’d give it a go!

Julie Janis

Overall, I enjoyed this! I thought the plot was very well crafted, the characters were well written and complex, and the world building was great! I do have to say the magic system reminded me a ton of ATLA (I mean the main character controls air just like Aang? And both of them are the ONLY ONES ALIVE? Wow...). But that's not a bad thing. It's still a fun way to show elemental magic. 

It had a slow start for me but I eventually got sucked in. I will say the first half did have some irritating moments, particularly with Vhalla. Her emotions made sense, but her actions were frustrating, specifically toward her decision for whether or not to be a sorcerer and especially how she treated Aldrik in the beginning. Her anger and bitterness toward him was very annoying. I'm glad she eventually apologized, but I still wished she didn't treat him the way she did. 

The second half was much better with the teaching, sneaking around to meet each other, and watching Vhalla come to accept the sorcerer part of herself. I'm still trying to gather my thoughts on Vhalla's and Aldrik's relationship. I don't think it's bad and it doesn't frustrate me, but I wouldn't say it's my favorite? Only time will tell. But the ending was unexpected and I'm excited to see what will happen in the sequel.

Livia

This is very, how do i say it? Very ya fantasy. I already guess the plot from the beginning, though tbh it was really fun. But Vhalla was really infuriating, in a bad way, because she can't speak up her mind but then she's also outspoken so i really don't know what she's supposed to be. Also, how old is Aldrik? He better be in his early twenties, at least.
But at least the ending is interesting enough for me to immediately want to jump to the next book though.

Lauren Tabor

** spoiler alert **
           I don’t often think this, but I believe this would’ve been way better without so much romance/relationship development. Maybe it’s supposed to be more romance than fantasy but I would’ve liked to delve more into the magic system and overall fantasy elements. I felt like we barely got any information about Vhalla’s world and her magic. If this was a really slow burn that would’ve been way batter for me. Instead, Vhalla and Aldrik’s ‘relationship’ went way too fast for me to appreciate it.

clara weaks

Okay, WOW. I looooved this. Picture Avatar the Last Airbender meets Phantom of the Opera. Beautiful word building, interesting characters, just the right amount of death and destruction to hurt. I was drawn in from beginning to end! Onto the second book…

I picked up this book and I couldn’t put it down.

I have been meaning to read this book for a while now and it was recommended by a friend. But in all honesty I picked it up over lots of other books on my TBR for a May reading challenge! But I am so glad I did.

This was an easy, YA fantasy read that I thoroughly enjoyed. The story itself gave me ATLA vibes with the magic system, being the last wind mage in history and all. Although she’s supported by fire rather than water mages. 

As a first book I flew through it and wholeheartedly can’t wait to read the rest. And I think that is a success. It’s a story about growing into yourself, and learning not to judge a book by its cover. And when your choices are taken from you, learning to step up and work to make it your own. I loved Vhalla as a character (though I did have to look through interviews to figure out how to say it). She was loveable but far from perfect, and probably a bit naive and too easily trusting, but in some ways that is what makes her endearing. 

Tace

I picked up this book and I couldn’t put it down.

I have been meaning to read this book for a while now and it was recommended by a friend. But in all honesty I picked it up over lots of other books on my TBR for a May reading challenge! But I am so glad I did.

This was an easy, YA fantasy read that I thoroughly enjoyed. The story itself gave me ATLA vibes with the magic system, being the last wind mage in history and all. Although she’s supported by fire rather than water mages. 

As a first book I flew through it and wholeheartedly can’t wait to read the rest. And I think that is a success. It’s a story about growing into yourself, and learning not to judge a book by its cover. And when your choices are taken from you, learning to step up and work to make it your own. I loved Vhalla as a character (though I did have to look through interviews to figure out how to say it). She was loveable but far from perfect, and probably a bit naive and too easily trusting, but in some ways that is what makes her endearing. 

Allison Garrett

I’ve had the Air Awakens series on my TBR for a long time and I finally got around to reading it when I saw the whole series was on Kindle Unlimited. And I was right to be excited, I have been so absorbed in this story I’ve barely been able to put it down. Vhalla is a library apprentice who discovers she has magic when she unknowingly saves the crown prince’s life. She must decide the course of her fate, if she’ll eradicate her magic forever or train in the Tower to become a sorcerer. 
	Pros: 
•	World Building- I love the magic system and the world building here. It is very simple which is part of why it’s so great, even if it is a little stereotypical at times (all people from this region have such and such color hair). 
•	Vhalla and Aldrick- Their friendship and romance is one of the highlights of this book and of the series moving forward (I’m already on book 3 as I write this). 
•	Realistic emotions- In many fantasy books, characters seem to get over grief and tragedy and different overwhelming life changes with ease. This isn’t the case here which gives the story a more realistic feel then some others I’ve read in the past. 
Cons: 
•	Ending- The end of the first book felt very abrupt, and while I like a good cliffhanger this was more than just leaving the reader in suspense.

I’m giving Air Awakens 4.5/5 stars. So far this series has been great and I’m eager to keep reading it.

Meg Cornhill

3.75* 

I really enjoyed this as a starter novel to a series; the premise is really great, and I’m fond of the characters. I’m really interested to see the plot develop further and th exploration of relationships blossoming.

joy cooper

4 ⭐️
really really enjoyed this book and thought all the characters were great, i meant to read the second book but never got around to it but i highly recommend this to anyone looking for magic and innocent love and cool world building (:

Mariana Correia

Omgggggggg finally I have read a book by Elise Kova!!!
This book gave what needed to be gave!!!! Aldrik and Vhalla!?!?!? The Tower???? Larel?!?! The magical fantasy plot with politics and morally grey/conflicted characters? Enemies to lovers? The tension between them. 
Vhalla’s characters could have gone soooo wrong but Elise Kova did it perfectly. Kind of the “reluctant hero” trope but even better! She wasn’t annoying when it came to the possibility of her future and she was actually kind of relatable. The plot was cozy and entertaining fantasy but the death scenes were very descriptive for how sweet the book was going xD I almost laugh bc of the contrast. 
Trash for them and for the book tho 👀

Scott Taylor

If I were fourteen or younger and not heavily exposed to books, this novel would have been great. I think that for those who have not read many fantasy books, this is a good introduction into the genre. For those that have read some fantasy, this book follows every cliché it can. You have a not-like-other-girls main character who struggles to accept her new powers and, of course, a love triangle involving angsty, moody guy. Air Awakens brings nothing new to the fantasy table. While I did appreciate the affinities approach to magic, I could not bring myself to finish reading this book.

Maria

история интересная, но несколько медленная. I mean, they didn't even kiss in the first book! so, you want me read the second, huh? you want me? (ok, i will)

Micol Scalabrino

Joana Oliveira

** spoiler alert **
           Intriguingly surprised by this book. Looking forward to whats next in Vhalla's adventure and growth.

Jennifer

Despite the popular reception on Goodreads, I didn't really enjoy Air Awakens. While I found this a pretty fast and smooth read (as it follows the usual romance heavy YA fantasy formula), several aspects of this novel really bothered me.

I think my biggest concern with Air Awakens is the nature of the romance. It's pretty plain clear that Aldrik is the bad guy in the novel. I knew really early on that Aldrik's relationship with Vhalla is an abusive one: both physically and emotionally. What's even more worrying is that there's virtually zero character arc for Aldrik throughout the novel. So because of the obvious indication of his underdeveloped personality traits early on, I found the romance both predictable and also very cringe-worthy. 

This is a pity because there are promising potentials for the novel. For example, I would have loved to learn more about Vhalla the library apprentice. I also think the worldbuilding could had been better fleshed out if the elemental magic, that was briefly touched upon but barely elaborated, is properly developed.

To sum it up, Air Awakens is one of the many books which unfortunately falls deep into the common YA pitfalls: one dimensional characters, predictable plots, and poorly developed romantic relationships. 

tw: abuse, physical violence, injuries, blood mention

Air Awakens

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