I received a copy of this book via NetGalley for my honest review.

The Awakening has a great idea for a book, and while the world building was done well in my opinion the characters started off great but then fell flat. The characters Alex and Jen were so great, and I finished with the love of Alex in mind. A good start for a series and I hope there is more with these characters.

Based on the description of this book I thought I'd really enjoy this book, I love fantasy world-building, magic, enemies to lovers tropes. This book, however, I found it really hard to get through as the writing style fell into a lot of telling not showing. There were spelling mistakes and editing issues. There was a lot of back of forth between the MC narration between first person and third.

I went into the book without knowing anything about it. The beginning was cool and nice but i lost interest soon after the first few chapters.

I’ll start with the good things. Alex and Jen! The characters had a lot of depth and we can really see that the author tried to portray realistic and relatable characters. I guess part of the reason why i stuck around with the book was because of Alex. The character wasn’t phenomenal or anything spectacular, but on the backdrop of this setting and plot, it just fit!

Unfortunately the rest of the characters felt too flat, monotone and underdeveloped. There seemed to have been no nuances, just tropes on different names and i was pretty much bored with all of the rest of them. The writing style itself, i found, a bit boring, especially since it got a bit info dumpy but it lacked good descriptions so visualizing the settings and world building was hard. And this paired up with a white washed historical figures, and a plot I didn’t care for, simply because ive seen it so many times, i gradually lost interest in the book. One or two characters can get me only so far. This just was not to my taste. With worldbuilding, while there was decent amount of it, it just felt like something ive read in a million other books, which added to me being completely bored with this book.

Tho it still has potential to (maybe) surprise me and become a good series with future books!

Note: i got an arc from the author in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley

Loved the book. The world building is interesting. The characters are well developed. I just wish the plot was more thrilling, at times it felt drawn out and I sometimes lost interest. Other than that, the author did an awesome job.

Rate:3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in return for an honest review.

I wish you could give half stars because I would give this book 3.5 stars. It wasn’t that it was bad, it just wasn’t what I love about a great book. I didn’t find myself dying to turn pages, and if I put it down I wasn’t desperate to get back to it. I do think that had it been through a really good edit it could have been a great book. The spelling mistakes, grammatical issues and plot gaps kept me from really getting into the book.

There is a promise of a good book in here, but it needs quite a bit of tweaking. I think there were too many leads, and too much plot surrounding each of them to fully get emotionally invested into any of them specifically.

That being said, sometimes the first book of a series isn’t great and afterwards the series can churn out great books. That’s my hope for Andreas Suchanek and his Immortal Wizards.

Mortal instruments meets Harry Potter in this action packed, fun ,and thrilling tale. Science giants such as Einstein and Leonardo make appearances. The characters are diverse and pull you in. You'll envision the words playing out on a big screen. It is an epic first installment, can't wait for part 2.

I took a chance with the book and I am happy that I did. The characters were developed quite well and the story just flowed.

I thought The Awakening was a great book. Suchanek creates an alternative world where magic is hidden from the rest of the world. Step by step he explains how the magical side works, pulling the veil away so every reader can see it. I really enjoyed discovering the nook and crannies of this world. I can't wait for the sequel!!

The Awakening is the first book in The Immortal Wizards series by author Andreas Suchanek. I came across this book on NetGalley and found the blurb to be interesting. I was definitely not disappointed. The book takes us into a world of magic, powers and characters from history who are immortal and magical! I would never have imagined getting the chance to be around Joan of Arc, Leonardo da Vinci or even Albert Einstein, but this book brings them to life.

The story introduces us to many characters and explains how they get their power, how it works and how to use it. With a threat looming over the magical world, the author dives right in to the plot interspersing the action with background information and details. This was an interesting way to handle the story and trust me, there is a lot of action and adventure! An old prophecy is introduced and some of the key players in the plot to bring down the Magical Wall. 

Some aspects of the plot feel like a repetition, considering that there is only so much one can do with this genre, but putting it aside, the story flows well and remains original for the most part. My suggestion is to persevere through, it is worth it! The characters are well thought out and though we do not interact with them as much as we would like, the reader will still enjoy the interactions.

I truly enjoyed this story and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series!

The first volume in an upcoming series is typically used to build. Build a back story, build a world(s), build characters, etc. This is no exception. This is the Americanized version of a German series that has been around long enough to have a huge following. While I did find the reading a little slower, I also found it well planned and thought out. The overall plot of the series is set and the main characters are in place. Now the action begins and my attention was solidly on the story. I now have the series set.....bring on book 2.

I did quite enjoy this book, however I found it quite slow and tough to get through, although it did pick up towards the end. I'm intrigued by the magical world that Andreas Suchanek has built up and look forward to finding out more about it in his subsequent works. There were a couple of continuity errors that I noticed, and some repetition of character descriptions that did get annoying.

Overall it was an enjoyable read that shows promise for future stories.

Wizards are real - they're concealed from the world by a magical wall that was constructed 160 years ago. Some are immortal and make up the council - most of whom have been alive for centuries. You will recognize many of their names from history, because they are well-known (painters, scientists, etc.) - I will save them as a surprise for you. I really enjoyed that part of this book, because it was fun getting to know them this way. There are numerous wizards involved in the story, but I would probably say the two main characters are Alexander Kent and Jennifer Danvers. Alexander has just "awoken" as a wizard, which means he just received his magical powers. Jennifer is helping him learn the rules of magic, although some of the knowledge is innate over time.

Non-magical humans, or "Nowiz", used to be aware of wizards and magic, and they were able to exist in peace. Unurprisingly, that didn't last. The presence of evil and dark magic led to jealousy and fear (imagine). There is definitely a dark side, and several nefarious characters lurk there.

The wizards' mission is mainly to fight against evil, which in this case involves a few different enemies. One of them, the most diabolical, is the "queen of shadows", whose true identity has remained elusive. She seems to know and see all, and has nothing but hatred in her heart. She disseminates her darkness and enmity in many ways, causing heartache, sadness, and death. Thankfully, she is facing a lot of strong resistance.

This story has magic, wonder, adventure, suspense, and betrayal. I wasn't too sure at the very beginning, but as it unfolded further, it grabbed me and wouldn't let go until the very end. I really enjoyed it, and look forward to the sequel.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Definitely targeted towards students/kids under the age of 15. I thought this one was interesting and I might recommend to someone who likes Harry Potter or something of that nature. Overall, not too bad of a story.

I want to thank the author/publisher for the opportunity to review The Awakening (The Immortal Wizards, Book 1). Although I am thankful for the opportunity to read this book, the following review is completely mine.

This is the first book in a new series translated from German into English. The original series by Andreas Suchanekc has 24 volumes, and the series is already an award-winning one. When I first started reading the book, I didn't have any background on the author or this series, so I found it fascinating when I did a bit of a deep-dive after finishing the book to learn more about the author and the series.

As the first book in a series, I really liked the book. I think the book is probably an upper-level YA book, but it's entertaining enough that adults will also enjoy the unique magical world that Suchanekc has created.

In this world, magic exists. However, magic is hidden from the nowiz (I know, not the best name I've heard for this in a fantasy series). Just like muggles in the world of Harry Potter before them, the nowiz are generally clueless and have no idea what is going on around them.

So, how does someone become magic? Basically, when someone who is a wizard dies, their magical essence is transferred into the body of another (generally unsuspecting person), which is where this book starts. Out of nowhere one day, Alexander Kent becomes the newest wizard and must be mentored by Jennifer Danvers. Now, Jenn is a bit of an interesting case and not Alex's best friend from the very beginning because the magic inside of him was her former partner's (remember, someone has to die for the magic to be transferred).

Combine this with the dark wizards, a shadowy woman, and a crazed death cult, and lots of mayhem ensues. Oh, and one of their closest allies isn't actually one of their allies.

As a whole, I liked this new world that was built in the first book, and I definitely plan on reading future books in the series. However, I did find some of the authors' choices a bit on the cheesy side. For example, the decision to use historic figures and turn them into immortals was a decision I found awkward. I think the book could have been perfectly fine without trying to infuse any kind f historic-revisionism into it. If anything, random historic figures popping up took me out of the story.

I really wanted to like this book. Based on the synopsis, it had everything that I like. However, I just couldn’t get through it and ended up having to DNF at about 25%. I’m not sure what it was exactly that made me not be able to finish it, but the writing style just wasn’t for me.

I am so sorry, but this writing style and the narrative of the characters is not for me. At. All. If you want something that is filled with predictability, frat boys, and zero emotion, this is your book. Otherwise, stay away.
*DNF'd

Finally there is a book with characters in their twenties that reads like a young adult novel! That is exactly what I have been looking for ever since I got out of my teens. I love young adult books, who doesn’t? But I don’t want to keep on reading about yet another 16 year old figuring out life. The Awakening is exactly what I needed it to be!

Are the characters childish? Perhaps a little, but do we ever really grow up? I loved the constant bickering between them and so should you! I’m the same age as them and I can relate. The fact that you are in your twenties and called a grown-up doesn’t mean you always ACT like one!

I was moved by their back stories, especially Jen and Alex, when they finally found out what makes the other tick. I enjoyed seeing their relationship grow into friendship.

The whole idea about a magical essence that picks a worthy heir to bear the magic is fascinating and I absolutely loved the creation of the world. It was detailed and I could imagine walking around the Castillo myself. Sitting in the tower with all of the friends, drinking coffee or taking a portal to New York!

This great fantasy book engulfs the reader into a new world of magic. The ever present fight between good and evil runs deep in the story line and fuels the plot.

SPOILERS in the review:

I really liked the synopsis of this book. I love wizards, I love magic and I love enemies to lovers trope, which I was expecting. I have to note that this is a first book of the series, hence I am guessing this is just a set up for the big events that will be happening in the future parts, however... I have really struggled to enjoy this book.

The writing style was mainly telling, not really any showing. There were typos, sentences that had editing mistakes. Character names were mismatched to the direct speech. The point of view changed from first person to third person and this made reading very confusing for me.

Worldbuilding:
I know that with the wizards, magic...etc. It is very, VERY hard to come up with new themes and new ideas. But this book felt like a copy of Harry Potter. To the point where a scene of a new wizard picking up his essence wand (please call it magic wand, there is nothing wrong with that) was EXACTLY the same as the Olivander scene. To the point where the magic wand maker said: "Interesting, that your want and wand of another wizard are related." Wizards also lived in a castle just the way they do in HP books.... This is very sad, I was expecting little bit more creativity from the author.

Story had a lot of potential, the eternal war between good and evil. The good vz the bad wizards! I am here for that. Unfortunately it felt overdone. Everything was too complicated. After this, than this than this, never any result. Characters were doing same action couple of times to solve the issue and that felt pointless, it didn't carry the story forward in any way. A lot of information had been repeated such as: "Alex and Max are dating" this had been in different words mentioned in every chapter. I find this annoying and not necessary because readers can remember who is a couple. This brings me to the Enemies to lovers trope, which we didn't really get, I hope it is only because this is first book. So the two main characters became (kind of) friends. I can accept that, but it didn't feel real. The way it happened though some magical spell, why can't they just talk to each other? Explain why they hated each other. I am here for all that shouting, slaming the door.

Characters were too similar. Names like: Kevin, Cloe, Chris, Clair, Alex, Jen. All the same type of a name, short, common. No one really stands out, no one really had any ring to it. The names I enjoyed were Joan of Arc, Leo Da Vinci. These names were great, not the imagination of the author, unfortunately. I enjoyed how the historical characters were woven in the fiction story. Apart from the two main characters I didn't feel there was much progress. And the character development of the two main characters were artificial.
I did love the LGBTQ+ characters and diverse characters, although there could have been more, but it is nice to see this included in fantasy books.

You will like this book if you loved Harry Potter and want to read it again but little bit different. If you like magic and history this might also interest you as the historical events were added in the fictional world.

This felt very much like a Harry Potter fan fiction to a certain extent where the world is not like what we think as there are wizards in the world.

Then it reminded me of ACOTAR with wanting to bring down the wall and bring darkness and war to mortals and immortals alike.

I personally, just found it to be too similar to other books for me to really get into the world but that’s an issue with me and not the author or other readers.
It just wasn’t for me but I won’t dismiss the author just yet as I can see some potential there with the right story.

This is a fun urban fantasy adventure that had a good paced, interesting story, but didn't blow me away, hence the three star rating.

What was good:
The are numerous POVs throughout the story, including occasionally from the villain's perspective, with usually several different plot lines occurring at once. For me, this choice, as well as the short chapters, really kept me turning the pages
I enjoyed the writing style. There was enough prose and description to help me understand the scene without being over the top.
The story was pretty tropey (chosen one, magic school, good v evil) but otherwise good fun and action packed and sometimes intriguing.
The magic system is pretty soft so there aren't a load of rules or lore to come to terms with to understand what the characters can do.
No annoying romantic subplot. There were a few relationships in here and the most prominent was LGBT but none took the focus of the story at any point.
The book is part of a series but told a complete story on it's own while creating a wider narrative that makes me want to read the next one

What was neutral:
The characters have several various backstories and their unique strengths but I found them all pretty samey and didn't have a particular one that I gelled with but nor was there any that I particularly disliked
The work is translated and there are some turns of phrase that native speakers likely wouldn't use, however this didn't bother me.

What was not quite so good:
This work is quite derivative. There is no really getting away from that fact. I didn't feel like this book did anything particularly compelling or unique and as someone has read a lot of fantasy, the story felt quite predictable. Two of the characters have twin wands. They can store their memories in objects. Non magical people are called 'nowiz'. You may draw your own conclusions from there.
This reads like a young adult book but I think it's meant to be adult? The characters are in their twenties but behave like teenagers. They are full of banter and make impulsive decisions. Also just the tone of the book largely reads as young adult which isn't what I expected.
A first book in a series is always tricky and I felt like this book did get a bit bogged down in those common problems. It was hard to understand the world for a good portion of the book and there were a lot of characters to get to terms with.

Overall, this book was enjoyable but just wasn't a new favourite. That said, I am likely to pick up the sequel as I often feel book series improve as they go on.