4.25 stars. Enjoyable characters, battle of good vs evil, and reminded me of Good Omens. I enjoyed this more than I predicted I would. Just the thought that I would gain powers suddenly and then be thrown into a war makes this novel a concept I could get behind.

The Awakening- Book 1 of The Creation of Death Series by Kris Branham

This book gives off a mix of Good Omens, and the Mortal Instruments, which is a favorite of mine - so yes! We follow along with Sara, Spencer, and Melody as they find themselves to be the sole survivors of a plane crash. The group starts to experience visions and strong powers while realizing they have been thrown into the middle of a war and need to work together to find some answers.

I really enjoyed this storyline and the characters. I love how they were all written together as a group and individually. The good vs. evil battle really powered through so well, giving the readers a balance of storyline and action. I do think this is a story someone knew to fantasy/magic stories would enjoy, as it doesn't overpower the entire book. I would definitely recommend this story to others.

I had some high expectations after reading the synopsis for this one! I found this highly engaging and captivating from start to finish. I thought the characters were relatable and well thought out. They all had great individual storylines and the group coming together was perfect. It was definitely a dense one to get through, but the enjoyment outweighed the density for me.

This captivating tale follows three survivors of a plane crash who develop supernatural powers, setting the stage for an epic battle between angels and demons. The prologue had me hooked, and I couldn't wait to dive in. The story is expertly woven, with likable characters and relatable struggles. I appreciated how their individual journeys intertwined, creating a narrative that's both engaging and thought-provoking. While the pacing was a tad slow in the beginning, it soon picked up speed and never let up. I was delighted that the romance didn't overshadow the rest of the plot, allowing the characters' unique abilities and struggles to take center stage.

My only wish is that I could've learned more about the magical world they inhabit. The author masterfully crafts an atmosphere of suspense and intrigue, but I craved more depth and explanation of this mystical realm. Hopefully, future installments will provide more insight into this world.

Despite this minor complaint, I devoured every page of Awakening, enthralled by the morally complex angels and their captivating tattoos. The discussions about spirituality and religion added depth to the narrative, making it a rich and satisfying read.

If you're looking for a magical story with well-developed characters and a compelling plot, Awakening is an excellent choice. While it may not be perfect, it's a great start to what promises to be an unforgettable series. I've already pre-ordered the sequel, Breaking, and can't wait to see where this journey takes me next.

I enjoyed this book, it was very easy to read and had Good Omens vibes but with a Supernatural series twist. The beginning was so ensnaring I just had to know what happened, the characters were interesting, and the settings were descriptive and easy to imagine. Everyone had their own plot line that converged and wrapped up nicely, but with an ending that left the reader wondering what's going to happen in book 2.

Plot: Awakening has a very interesting premise of guardian angels coming to Earth to bond with humans that have blooming supernatural abilities. Something bad is brewing and only the survivors of a plane crash have the potential to stop it from happening.

Review: When I started reading, I noticed right away its lack of finesse. Many of the sentences came out clunky, and I had to reread them because the grammar and the sentence structure did not flow naturally. I think the dialogue fell victim to this the most.

Whenever characters conversed, the stakes felt super forced and melodramatic. Spirit constantly repeated the same information in slightly varied ways. She states how imperative their mission is, but I never got the sense of what their mission truly was. Just that, the rules of the game were changing and she did not know why. This lowered my investment in their cause, since I had little to no idea what it was. Find Trevor. Got it. But the rest seemed muddied and vague.

Michael seemed angry and angsty, and I had trouble connecting. Keep was cute, but crossing the line into dating Spencer was weird. Like the sexual tension felt forced, a bit creepy, and voyeuristic, rather than protective. If this was the first time they interacted with humans this way on Earth, I don't buy the element of attraction. Curiosity sure, but physical attraction, no.

I also noticed a bunch of typos in the ARC and the Kindle Unlimited copy. This was hard for me to get pass. I felt like this book needed more editing to shine.

However, I did appreciate the representation of mental health and mental illness. The parts with Sara discussing her therapist felt written from experience. I liked how she doubted herself and her stability. I felt invested in her the most because she felt the most genuine.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this title in exchange for an honest review.

Captivating first book from Kris Branham. Each chapter informed later chapters with a quick pace that made it easy to consume within days time. I was immersed by the otherworldlyness within settings and characters that feel so familiar.

Thank you for to NetGalley adn the publisher for allowing me to review this book.


I don't think this book is for me. I tried several times to get into it and just couldn't. I found several grammatical errors and inconsistencies in the bit of the book that I read, and just don't see myself finishing it.

I was hooked from the beginning. What a story, and what great characters. They were well-written and felt like they were people that I could meet in real life.

The premise is very interesting, however, I think a bit more editing is needed to really make this shine. The writing doesn’t necessarily flow naturally, which is not a unfixable problem. For me it was all i could really focus on while reading. I think once that happens, this will be an enjoyable read!

THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS FEEL! This was really really good. Totally not what I was expecting, and very pleasantly surprised by the direction it took. The survivors beginning to have visions and the war that they’re now subjected to entwined so well. I will absolutely be continuing the series, and reading Breaking

A book about angels and demons that I couldn’t put down. I gained access to this book through Netgalley and as soon as I read the prologue on my phone, I just knew I had to buy the physical book itself.

Awakening is the first book of The Creation of Death Series. It follows 3 humans who survived one of the many plane crashes and who soon developed supernatural powers. Aurora Borealis now covers the whole northern hemisphere but humans didn’t know that the veil between heaven, hell and purgatory are now opened as the ancient battle between angels and demons are left unfinished. The angels have their quest to guide these 3 supernatural humans to awaken their power to defeat the evil.

The plot is creative and the characters are likeable with their flaws and their struggles. Their individual journeys have been a delight to follow and how they interconnected towards the end. The pacing was a bit slow at the beginning but it seriously kept up and it never stopped. I was afraid that the romance would turn heavy on this one and thankfully it didn’t. I just wished there was more world-building or more explanations of the magical world. I hope and guess that we get to know more of this on the next book.

So yes, this is the book that caused my “angels and demons” fever lately. I saw that the sequel was out, entitled Breaking that was just recently published and I bought it immediately.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
-Beautiful, sexy and morally grey angels with amazing tattoos
-Realistic characters and descriptions of mental struggles
-Discussions about spirituality and religion

Thank you NetGalley for access to Awakening. This was a great story that kept me turning the pages. I loved each character's journey and how they all ebbed in and out of each other's lives. My biggest complaint is that I felt like the story was all telling with little showing. The batlte of good vs. evil in this magical little world had the potential to suck me in so much more. Overall, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who wants a simple, magical read without a complicated fantasy world.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc.

4/5 stars

A wonderful story about good and evil.
What I liked:
Concept of the story, loved the characters and the multiple pov.
What I didn’t enjoy:
It was very slow paced

I’m between 2,5 and 3.

What i liked:
I liked the concept of the story. I do love an angels and demons book and the blurb didn’t do it justice.
The characters are very likeable, there’s a start to slowburn.
Kind of multiple pov.
I liked the writing.

What i didn’t like:
Very slow paced, not much happening throughout the book.
Not enough worldbuilding for that amount of description so confusing at times.
Not enough background on events that do happen and overall.
A little character building but not nearly enough.
It feels like a prequel to the actual story.

Conclusion:

Great concept, execution needs work.
Overall not for me.

This book was fantastic! One of the best books I’ve read in a while! The writing was amazing, the characters were amazing, can’t go wrong reading this! As always thank you to netgalley for providing the earc!

I was attracted to this book because of the cover and its description—the book cover drew me in because of its colors and the description was intriguing enough for me to give it a try, not to mention, the categories were within my interests. I love sci-fi and fantasy so I decided to give this book a chance.

It’s an intriguing premise, the main characters on a plane that goes down, but I was sort of expecting something a la Yellowjackets, where they had to survive in the woods until they were rescued. The book instead skipped, which threw me off a little, but I continued. The characters were interesting, the most interesting of the main three was Mel—she was the character that I most identified with and enjoyed. I didn’t quite enjoy Sara as much, I found her less interesting, even though she was supposed to be the main character, the plot itself was fine, but the pacing threw me off a little, and I was a little confused at some parts, but that might have been a me problem rather than a problem with the book itself.

Nevertheless I enjoyed the book and would definitely would recommend this book to my friends and family, especially for those who are into Christian based fantasy.