The Awakening: The Dragon Heart Legacy, Book 1

Product Information

La novela empieza con la aburrida vida de Breen Kelly, una profesora de primaria de Filadelfia que piensa que está desperdiciando su vida. Breen está convencida de que no vale mucho y es mediocre gracias a su madre, que ha minado su autoestima para que no destaque en la vida. Pero Breen está deseosa de cambiar, y cuando descubre que su madre le ha estado ocultando una suma generosa de dinero, está dispuesta a descubrir lo que realmente quiere en la vida. The amazing Nora Roberts was absolutely in her element here ~ at the very top of her game when writing a trilogy of high fantasy ~ on location in paralleled worlds of present day and fantasy realm Ireland ~ the land of magic ~ romance ~ one of my DreamLands. I felt like I need to go to present day Ireland NOW to maybe stand and fantasize about this book at the Cliffs of Moher and other dreamlike places! The fantasy elements in this story are so much fun. For the most part, they are elements she has utilized in past novels, but the parallel worlds motif is a new one for her, and it adds some resonance to the rest. There’s magic, and fairies, and dragons, and more. I feel like these elements will be further explored in the next installment, and I’m beyond excited. I'm gonna come out with it right away...thiswasmyfirstnorarobertsbook. Yeah I deserve those judgy eyes. One thing's for sure thought, it won't be my last book by her.

The inclusion of LGBT and non-binary characters in romance becomes more and more normal, as it should, and I couldn't be happier about it. Marco wasn't just Breen's best friend by name, he was amazing, a constant in her life. And Sally was a delight! Talamh is on the brink of disaster. An evil being who had been vanquished has returned, and he is intent on harming Breen. Keegan, the leader of this alternate world, begins to instruct her on self-defense as others show her the ways of magic. We see Breen grow and blossom into the person she already might have been had her father not left. Breen and Keegan - these two could have been written into a contemporary romance instead of a fantasy and they still would have been perfect for one another!I loved seeing Breen shine as she learns where she truly comes from. I really liked her character and could relate to her struggles with confidence. I also like how she handles many conflicts that dealt with this confidence issue she has that was bred by her mother. Breen Kelly’s life in Philadelphia has been very ordinary. She teaches middle-school language arts to students who don’t inspire her. Or do they not inspire her because she doesn’t love teaching? The truth is that Breen became a teacher because her mother told her that was all she was capable of doing, and she is miserable. Her biggest support system is her best friend and roommate Marco, who is flamboyantly gay, fiercely loyal and wonderfully perceptive. She loves spending time with him in their apartment and in the bar where he works.

I wasn't bored for a second. I cried so much, for so many reasons. I love Nora Roberts a little bit more than I did yesterday, and can't wait to see what she comes up with next. Other, minor complaints: protagonist starts a blog. It immediately gets like 100 views and 25 comments. Laughable. It’s 2020. Blogs are barely a thing anymore. For some reason, I was a little put off by Keegan in this book. I don' really know if it was as apparent in the first two books and I missed it, or if there was a definite character change, but he felt really aloof to me. Almost distant at times, almost rude. I still liked him and liked them together, but a few times I thought, "wow".I feel like I would've appreciated Breen's character more in a tighter version of this story. As it was, her characterization came through a bunch of repetition that made me kind of annoyed with some of her woe-is-me-ing. When I look past that, though, there were some positives: she was hardworking and loyal and rational in a magical story. On the flip side, I would've appreciated Keegan more had he been a bit more fleshed out. We spend so little time with him, in the grand scheme of things, and a lot of that time is him being all hard and broody. The romance was there…kind of. I’ve always been drawn to Nora Roberts novels because of the romance, but for some reason she chose to wait until the epilogue for the main characters to voice their feelings for each other. The reader could read between the lines and see the hidden actions that indicated the love, but there was definitely no sweeping romance. Mild fatphobia. This isn't new for a Nora Roberts book -- she always makes sure to cast two thin, fitness obsessed main characters. In every book she makes sure to extensively list her characters eating and exercise habits, just to reinforce how hard they work at being hot, so underlying opinions of "worthy" bodies have always been there in Roberts' books, but it was easy enough to ignore in the past. However, in this latest book, Roberts tells us that magical children aren't allowed to do their chores with magic because it will make them "fat and lazy", and I can't help but feel that this, combined with her obsession of telling us how much her characters work out, tells us a lot about she feels about fat bodies. Because of course, one cannot be fat without also being lazy *eyeroll*

I usually enjoy Nora Robert's romantic fantasies, and this one is no exception. They're usually set in Ireland, and I love the descriptions of the country and the way she uses Irish myths in the stories. I think they've been all portal fantasies, and there's a combination of modern and a more folkloric world in the books. This one is a bit of a slow burn, the first book setting up Breen and her friends as she discovers her heritage and delves into the world of Talamh. Keegan was a harder character for me to like. He's an honorable man who has this fierce need to protect everyone, but that need got in his way of his compassion towards Breen in this book. It will be interesting to see how he changes in the next book now that he sees what he's asked of her. But it didn’t, and I felt a bit let down. Now, my opinion is not the prevailing one – not at all. Ninety-one percent of the people rated their reading experience on Goodreads rated it either a 4 or 5 (mostly a 5). But for me, it just wasn’t what I had grown to expect, and I was disappointed. So Breen tells her sweet pie, supportive, BFF Marco what she discovered and offers him to go to a journey with her to find her father and learn about her ancestors in Ireland. Marco the bestie, so much likable friend accepts her offer.I thought the story felt very middle school/YA, yet we were following an adult and therefore some moments felt really weird to me (like when she would be having sex) and super unrealistic (like her getting a crazy book deal two weeks after trying out writing for the first time in her life, or her best friend from before the age of three holding a grudge for leaving her 20+ years ago… there was just so many random things that would realistically never actually happen the way it did in this story…) —— also the romance side plot definitely was not built up that great and was heavily based on physical attraction… but that wasn’t the main point of the story… so wtvrr. Like the other books in the trilogy, I adored the friendships, romances, and family dynamics and how important they were to all of the characters. This is a tight-knit community that embraces Breen and Marcus, and the deep connection, loyalty, and love they all have for each other are really special. It’s a community that feels more like a family, and there are many wonderful relationships explored as the characters work, fight, celebrate, and mourn together. I like that the story doesn’t focus on one relationship and instead highlights many different ones. Romantic relationships, friendships, family bonds, new relationships and old ones are all explored and stress not only the importance of connection and love but also what Breen and the others are fighting for. After school teacher Breen Kelly discovered her mother had been keeping things from her since she was twelve years old, demeaning and belittling her along the way, Breen and her best friend Marco flew to Ireland. Breen's father had been born there - she hoped she would be able to find him again, discover why he left, show him love again. Marco was only able to stay for two weeks, but Breen had rented the cottage for the full summer. She wanted to find herself, and now, as an adult, was determined she would.

The names! Dear god, the names! I think NR is trying not to reuse names but after like 200+ books, that’s a tough one. Like go ahead and just name her Brenna. I promise we won’t be confused. I feel like this trilogy led so much into personal growth and what belief can do when it comes from your own heart. I love that Breen had her "I would be enough" moment. I love that while Keegan and her were always going to be the conclusion, it wasn't the plot. The themes in it - prejudice, mistrust, power-hungry people, - are woven so intricately into the plot that the negativity of it all just exemplifies the themes of family, love, and giving your life for what you believe in. One of the highlights of the story is the plethora of wonderful relationships. Friendships, romantic relationships, and family bonds prove strong and unwavering. One relationship that I loved in The Becoming and continue to love in this book is between Breen and her grandmother Marg. Marg is so fantastic! She shows Breen in a dozen different ways how much she loves, supports, and understands her granddaughter. A wise and strong woman, Marg is not only a wonderful grandmother, she is also a great teacher and mentor. I think this relationship is important because Breen didn’t have it for most of her life. In fact, she didn’t have a strong and supportive female role model in her life until she reconnected with Marg, and it’s plain to see that both were missing the connection.In The Awakening, the first book in the series, Breen is just learning of her heritage and her powers. However, in this story, Breen is embracing and honing her abilities. She is truly “becoming” what Talamh needs to defeat the evil that threatens their peaceful existence. With guidance from her grandmother and instruction from the hunky Keegan, as well as the support of her best friend Marco and other new friends, Breen learns all that she can to defeat the evil Odran, a banished god and her grandfather. I do feel like Nora is getting stronger and stronger at her battle scenes, and the build up needed to have them be impactful. The fantasy aspect of this trilogy was very strong, and I was really impressed by how well balanced a portal fantasy it truly was. We spent time in both main worlds, and I cared about what was happening in both. But the fantasy world itself was beautiful, and was the epitome of everything I consider fantasy at my core. There was magic and fey and mythical beings and dragons and so much more. Talamh has joined the ranks of the fictional places I would most love to visit, alongside Narnia and Hogwarts. The Awakening was a massive start to a new fantastical trilogy, that will leave you wanting to book a flight to Ireland stat. El libro es un buen aperitivo para comenzar la trilogía, que realmente promete mucho. Quizás lo que he echado en falta es un final más épico, pero si ha dejado con las suficientes ganas de saber qué pasará en los siguientes libros.