Member Reviews
Kirsty W, Reviewer
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Reawakening' by Alethea Lyons.
This may be the first book I have read by this author but it wont be my last!!
'Reawakening' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Alethea discusses/includes Child Possession, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Gambling, Divorce, Mutilated Corpses, Interrogation, Harm To An Animal and Threat To A Child. I have put the warnings next to the titles that include any of these so you can avoid any particular topic/discussion if needed/wanted.
This book is very well written with vivid descriptions that absolutely grip the readers attention and puts them right in the middle of it all making your heart pound and you constantly second guessing.
An addictive and horrific collection of 16 short stories filled with blood, gore, science fiction, karma, twists, horror and absolutely everything you could ask for in a gripping page turner. As I always do with books of short stories or poems I will rate them individually and then give an overall rating at the end. These are the stories that are included in order, a short description of what they are about and my rating:
🌊 The Cleansing: I must admit that unfortunately, I had no idea quite what was going on with this story. It had very vivid descriptions but I just did not quite understand the plot. Sadly just a 1/5 from me.
🚸 Never Alone Again (Child Possession, Person burnt by a match on purpose): I really enjoyed this short story which told the story of 6 year old Meredith who needed a friend after her sister died and got her wish. Creepy and hair raising. 4/5 for this one
🐮 What's Eating The Cows?: In this story we meet Harper and Grace again from the previous story 'Never Along Again'. This time they are hunting the being that slaughtered the farm animals. 3/5
😺 The Puca In The Priory: We meet our demon hunters Harper and Grace again but this time the monsters aren't what you would expect. I really enjoyed this one which I thought was sweet, interesting and quite humorous. 4/5.
🧚♀️ Going Around In Circles (Kidnap) : Harper and Grace investigate people disappearing from the park along with Harper's familiar Heresy and supernatural forensics researcher Saqib . They discover a Faerie circle. 3/5
🎽 The Tailor And The Acic'm (Alcohol, gambling, divorce) : Really enjoyed this one which was a tale of greed and broken promises. AJ tells the gang (Harper, Grace and Saqib) how his family got into the coven business and his history. 5/5
🦑 Easy As 1,2,3 (Mutilated Corpse): Loved this gruesome tale of possession and murder. 5/5
🚀 The Monks' Counting Song: Related to the previous story Easy as 1,2,3. Really glad the author included this as parts of the song is included in the previous story but not all. 5/5
🐱Look What The Cat Dragged In (Threat Of Harm To An Animal): A tale of Echo the greedy familiar. Another favourite of mine being a huge animal lover. I run Golden Oldies Cat Rescue And Hospice (you can find me on social media if you wish) so any story including cats is a huge bonus for me. Definitely a 5/5
👺 Girins In The Code: AJ brings a hacking job to the gang. Loved the banter and sarcasm in the gang and the humorous hacks. Another group of creatures are sent to the Zookeeper. 5/5
📖 Whispers In The Dark: After reading a tome in the archives Harper is haunted by whispers trying to get her to follow them. Enjoyed this story which had me worrying for Harper when she has a very close call 4/5
😈 A Deal With The Devil (Interrogation): Harper is interrogated by a Guardswoman and ends up walking into her trap. I wasn't really a fan of this one but it was part of the whole storyline so at the same time it was quite interesting to meet one of the Guards and seeing what goes on their side 2/5
Soul-Crushing Black And Bubblegummiest Blue (Harm to an animal, threat to a child): We meet Zero again in this story where he is in a nightmare with a child who is being kept by a jailer. I quite enjoyed this nightmarish tale that was filled with suspense and tension. 3/5
🪞Through The Looking Glass: Harper and Heresy are investigating the disappearance of Alice from her piano. Harper does not get the ending she was hoping for. I enjoyed this twisty tale of mirrors and other worlds and it wasn't quite what I expected it to be. 5/5
🎅🏻Christmas In The Shambles: Harper is admiring a violin when she is approached by a man but things are not quite what they seem and it leaves me concerned for Harper's future. 4/5
🐈Cats Don't Play Fetch (harm to an animal): Poor Zero has annoyed his master again. We get to meet the numbers that came after him and discover more about their creation. My heart did go out to Zero in this one and I just wanted to give him a cuddle. Although I felt sorry on him I did still enjoy this final story which gets a 5/5 from me.
An absolutely fantastic collection of disgusting, disturbing, suspenseful and tension packed horrific short stories!!! I haven't quite finished them all as unfortunately I have had a ram packed two weeks with a personal loss and so many appointments I've lost count but I wanted to get this up and will come back and add to the rest of the stories as I finish them.
This may be the first book I have read by this author but it most certainly won't be the last and I cannot wait to get stuck into more of her previous and future books!!!
A great collection of short stories with an excellent range of situations, characters, locations and narratives. My favourite ones had to be ' The Tailor And The Acic'm', ' Easy As 1,2,3', ' Through The Looking Glass'. These stories include suspense, horror, tension, murder, fantasy, the supernatural and much more! There is a great mix of stories so there is definitely something in there for everyone. The cover is absolutely amazing and it was one of the things that drew me to the book. This book is ideal to be able to pick up and read a story during a break or while making a cuppa!! I would probably avoid reading them as a bedtime story though!!! I am a huge fan of horror stories and the gorier the better for me!!! I loved that the stories all focused on the same characters of Harper, Grace, Heresy, AJ, Saqib and Echo and I am definitely looking forward to picking more of Alethea's books up and learning more about and meeting all these characters again. I am a huge animal lover and run Golden Oldies Cat rescue And Hospice (you can find me on social media) so any animals in books are a definite bonus for me especially cats and in these stories 2 of our main characters, heresy and Zero, are/take the form of cats so definitely bonus points deserved!! The excellent descriptions throughout ensures you feel the hair raising on your arms and the chill on your skin!!! The fact that these are short stories also allows you to pick it up and read a story at a time or read/listen to it in one sitting which is perfect for those who like to read multiple books at one time. Alethea has excellent writing skills and and I look forward to reading more of her work! The average rating for all the story ratings is 3.93 so I give the overall book a 4/5 rating
Grab your copy of 'Reawakening' and discover which stories you love!!!
Congratulations Alethea on an absolutely fantastic book of horror stories!!! Welcome to my favourite authors club and here's to your next success 🥂!!!
Overall an absolutely heart racing, gothic, chilling , suspense and tension filled addictive and explosive book of short stories that will keep you up at night!!!
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Siobhain M, Reviewer
I adored The Hiding by Alethea Lyons and was so excited to learn that she was publishing a collection of short stories set in The Seer of York universe. As a Yorkshire (well Derbyshire but we used to visit York a lot!) girl I adored seeing the city come to life in such a unique and new way.
The characters in the universe are all fantastic but if you know me you should know that when a new character, called Zero, that is a starlight cat is introduced I’m going to love it. But I swear this collection is worth the high praise and not just down to Zero!
I often find short story collections can be hit and miss but Reawakening is a fantastic collection with no misses as far as I’m concerned. I did have favourites which strangely enough, apart from one, all featured Zero but I enjoyed each one. What I will say is that Lyons has not only mastered the novel but the short story too. Sometimes with a short story it can feel rushed or that we are left on a cliffhanger. That is not the case here. The other plus to this collection is while obviously I recommend reading The Hiding first I will say you can read this first to get a bit of understanding of what Harper does and what world she lives in.
In short if you love fantasy this is a must read!
As always thank you to Brigid’s Gate Press for the copy to review. My review is always honest and truthful.
Vicky C, Reviewer
An anthology of tales set in an alternate York, which includes magic, witchcraft and a state run on condemnation of such practices (partially by government and partially by Religious leaders).
Enjoy a young woman called Harper Grace, who have created their own unique team to combat the rising disturbance of magical beings against normal humans.
Grace has ties to the church through her Godfather and Harper has ties to who knows, as even she doesn't know about her background or where she's come from.
This was a captivating and immersive novel of short stories that gave me an overview of the Seer of York series and makes me want to read more about this universe (as I have never previously encountered these books). I am extremely happy to find that there are other books that I can catch up on while I await the next installment!
