15-year-old, Emilia Miani has quite a lot on her plate. As her grandfather’s supernatural predecessor, she is the next Death Angel for God and Lucifer. With that, comes poisonous blood that could not only kill her enemies, but her as well. Since her Guardian Angel was taken away from her by a hybrid named Marcus when she was a baby, a demons-possessed being named Shin Kurosaki has taken over the job. Her job: to stop Marcus, an ex-death angel, who is bent on destroying Emilia as well as the world? Add on that, Shin following madly in love with her and his dark past, and Emilia’s got her hands full. Will she succeed and find a way to save herself from her blood? Will she accept Shin’s love? Will she save the world from Marcus?
The characters in this book are a little dramatic, but entertaining. The plot is engaging and well-developed. Although there aren’t a lot of plot twists, the mystery behind Emilia’s past and what Marcus really wants takes on a very complex mix that easily grabs readers. People who like reading paranormal romance and mystery/suspense will enjoy reading this book. ( )

Reviewed by Andrea for TeensReadToo.com

Emilia Miani, otherwise known as Mia to those who love her, is a fifteen-year-old girl from San Diego whose life had been relatively normal up until now. Relatively, meaning living with her grandmothers because her mother died when she was six and her father was in the military and stationed around the world.

But when she was fifteen, her world started to change. She meets Shin Kurosaki, a Japanese demon who is assigned to be her guardian angel. But that is just the beginning of the family secrets that she learns. She learns that her grandfather was a death angel and that her blood is divine and kills anything that it comes into contact with. And on her prom night during the spring when she is sixteen, her life will change forever.

Let me start off by saying that this book was somewhat difficult to read, due to the lack of good editing. That being said, though, the premise of the story was good. There was a lot going on and sometimes I forgot what happened and what meant what, but I think the idea was good.

I liked the relationship between Shin and Emilia. Even though I thought Shin was too overprotective at times, I did like how they played off of each other.

AWAKENING ended on a cliffhanger, and there will definitely be a sequel because it says "To be continued" at the end. ( )

Awakening
BY: K. Lippi
PUBLISHED BY: Mirror Publishing
PUBLISHED IN: 2009
ISBN: 978-1-936046-14-0
Pages: 231
Ages: Teen & Up
Reviewed by Billy Burgess


Author K. Lippi brings us the epic tale of Awakening, a world where vampires, demons, werewolves and other supernatural creatures exist. A California girl named Emilia Miani just returned from visiting her father in Japan. Her life is turned upside down when she meets the mysterious stranger, Shin Kurosaki. He is her guardian angel, a Japanese demon assigned to her by one of her ancestors over 500 years ago.

She learns that she has mystical powers of her own, and also a dark destiny. Her grandfather was a death angel just like her. He was hired by God. Emilia is his only heir. She is forced to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps.

A fallen death angel, Markus is stealing the souls of innocent children. He is set on becoming a new god. Emilia and Shin try to destroy his evil plans, while she starts to have feeling for her guardian.

This book is cleverly written at times. The characters are deeply explored, and I felt everything the main character goes through. The backstory was a bit too much. It could have been saved for the sequel. Yes, there will be sequel because of the ‘to be continued’ at the ending. A little cliché if you ask me. Overall it was a fun read. If you love reading supernatural, good vs. evil tales, then you’ll love Awakening. ( )

Emilia Miani figured she had a fairly normal life for a 15 year old, despite the fact that her mother is dead, her father is traveling and that she had been dumped on the doorstep of her grandmother. However, Emilia is in for a rude awakening when she discovers that she is the crux of a demon's plan to take over the world and God and Satan are jointly interested in recruiting her to prevent this. Add in her new found guardian Kitsune demon, Shin, and things are certainly bound to get more complicated.

This story has a wonderful premise steeped in the roots of Japanese mythology. The author has presented us with a tale that is inventive, dramatic and very appealing with characters that have strong and likeable personalities. The problem was in the actual execution of the story. I spent much of my time feeling like I was filling in the blanks and translating the story into what it should have been. Despite the imagination this author obviously has, the writing style itself clearly needs something more. Another issue is that this is presented as a final product, but has a morass of typographical and grammatical errors. Having self-published a book myself, I have hands on experience with how frustrating editing and re-writing is, but it really is a necessary evil and virtually impossible to accomplish without having an outside editor to help.

I liked this story, the premise and the characters very much and if it were to be re-written and edited I'm sure that I would have no issues highly recommending the same. Even without reading a re-write, I will say I am very interested in the sequel which is apparently planned from the cliffhanger ending. ( )

If you love demons, vampires, werewolves, and other beings of mythology and lore you'll really love this book! It makes many mentions of Japanese mythology, but everything is well defined so even those (like myself) who don't know a single thing about it, can follow it easily. I love it, it's filled with action and the even a little romance, with the young defiant heroine. I couldn't put it down and I'm just dying for more!
The back story was thrown in during the novel, so it is a bit confusing at first, but besides that I can't think of any complaints. Awakening makes several mentions of different universes, and each time you can't help, but wonder what they look like and who or what is in them. And of course there is Shin with his sweet looks and rebellious attitude. The fact that he is a demon adds that much more! Emilia is a fantastic character. Modest, and kind as well as stubborn and bold. She is without a doubt my favorite character! ( )