I featured Awakened in my June 2025 new releases video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q31xhbo1tE, and though I have not read it yet, I am so excited to and expect 5 stars! I will update here when I post a follow up review or vlog.

Alas, DNFed at about 51%. I'll not be giving it a star rating because I didn't complete it, but it would be at about a 3 star if I did. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I agree with the reviewers that describe this as more of a literary fiction type of book, and that's all fine and dandy, but really not what I'm looking for at the moment. I didn't really latch on to the characters (beyond finding the contradictions in Dolly's character interesting), and I found the switching around in time a little confusing. The prose was also a bit purple in a way that I didn't particularly enjoy. It really became a slog to get through, to the point where I stopped reading it all together.

However, the explicit comparison of zombies/vampires/whatever to chronic illness was really cool! That framing was thought-provoking, and I liked the way the text struggled with the implications of that. Unfortunately, the execution of this was just so not for me. The very philosophical conversations that Thea and Vladimir have were at first interesting, then just a bit needlessly pretentious. I have never been one for this kind of philosophizing, so it makes total sense to me why I wouldn't care for it.

I totally understand why a lot of people loved this book, and there are many people in my life that I would recommend it to. However, it was not for me.

Wasn’t for me, sorry, but thank you for the opportunity to read - first 20% or so was a little slow for me so couldn’t get into it.

The author really has it in for the medical profession and scientists.
The main plot has the crazy idea of implanting chips into the brain and do away with sleep to make everybody more productive. Crazy idea to me but the majority get the implant and surprise surprise things go wrong and they all turn into powerful zombies and society collapses. The scientists tend to consider these zombies no longer human which allows them to treat and experiment on them in a different manner compared to normal humans.
The author often compares this behaviour to that of the medical profession’s dealings with post viral syndrome where lack of knowledge and understanding and compassion makes them regard these patients as not normal and to be suffering from anxiety at worst. The scientist Thea’s mother is a sufferer from chronic fatigue and gets no help at all and slowly declines. Thea is determined to cure her.
The scientists are ensconced in the Tower of London and the zombie hordes are kept out. But one of the Awakened seems different from the rest and he is allowed in. Vladimir and Thea have many philosophical discussions about everything but the other scientists want to examine Vladimir to find out what is different about him.
This not my usual type of book but I quite enjoyed all the debate between Thea and Vladimir. And the ongoing thread regarding the potential cure of the Awakened Zombies keeps the story focused and not become too philosophical.
Because of dream like state I am not sure if I understood the finish or whether it was meant to be understandable. A very thought provoking read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the ARC

Thanks to the Author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

This book isn’t my usual genre for reading but I do often enjoy films or tv shows of the dystopian and horror category.

I liked the premise of it and a few parts of it seemed really interesting. It was written like a diary but I couldn’t necessarily see a direction that it was going in.

It wasn’t my preferred writing style but I do appreciate how much effort it takes to write a book like this.

Unfortunately for me it was a DNF at 30%. But I can tell people who read these genres would really enjoy it.

3.5 Stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Angry Robot for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Awakened is set in a dystopian world, where the Sleepless are wandering the streets and a handful of scientists are retreated in the Tower of London trying to undo what they have caused.

The book is written from the view of Thea in diary format, who is one of the scientists in the tower. The chapters are quite short, which was very engaging for me and a reason I finished the book quite fast.

It is a slower book, that focuses mostly on the inner works of the main character and their interaction between the scientists. We also encounter flashbacks and dream sequences frequently. If you expect an action packed dystopian sci-fi, this is not the book that delivers that. But if you like some deep exploration and discussions about moral, ethics, exploring illness/disability etc. Then this is the right book.

I enjoyed the book and I was surprised in how many different themes are explored and discussed it certainly gives a lot of food for thought. At times I was confused about the timelines/flachbacks, what is real, what is a dream. I assume it is on purpose and if you are an enjoyer of confusion(like me at times) I highly recommend it.

Unfortunately the ending left me a bit too confused and I did not get what was happening and did not feel like a lot of questions were answered. hence why it is a 3 star read for me. It was entertaining and thought provoking and I hope it will find the right audience out there. As I am very sure it has the potential to be THE book for many people, who enjoy character driven stories and exploring themes of moral and ethics.

Although the premise was met with this book, the delivery of the subject matter wasn’t quite as I had expected. It was a bit more philosophical and heavy than I had expected. This isn’t a bad thing, just not as I had anticipated. I would have perhaps approached it differently, and read it elsewhere had I known. I did find the premise very interesting, but it did take a while to get into. It’s not a light easygoing thriller, but it’s still a book I would recommend.

Let’s be honest, Awakened had the makings of a thriller that could’ve kept me up at night. Instead, it dragged me into a narrative slumber so deep, I half expected to wake up in a post-apocalyptic wasteland led by a katana-wielding woman and a tiger. But no, just another monologue and an overextended flashback.

Laura Elliot sets the scene with intrigue, sure. There's tension, secrets, and brooding aplenty. But somewhere between chapter eight and why-are-we-still-talking-about-this, the plot gets tangled in its own shoelaces. Characters make choices with all the logic of a B-list horror flick, and instead of racing toward revelations, the story plods like a tired walker on The Walking Dead, season 7 style.

The dialogue is often intense, though not always in a good way. It feels like someone took a thesaurus to a soap opera script. And while Elliot clearly knows how to craft suspense, the pacing becomes its own antagonist. You're not turning pages out of excitement. Instead you’re flipping them like you're trying to find the part where something finally happens.

To be fair, there are flashes of brilliance. A few scenes genuinely deliver the emotional gut-punch promised in the blurb. But they’re few and far between, buried under layers of “let me explain my trauma for the third time this chapter.”

In conclusion, Awakened is not a bad book, just an overly long one that thinks it’s way more mysterious than it is. If you're a fan of unresolved tension, glacial pacing, and characters who love a good internal monologue, then you may enjoy the slow unravel. For the rest of us? It's a literary filler episode—watchable, occasionally moving, but ultimately skippable. Could’ve been killer, instead just kind of lingers.

The sleepless are evading the country, and a group of doctors are doing work to study up on what they are and how they live/function. Trapped in a tower, they continue their daily lives conducting research, but one day they get a huge surprise that makes them question everything.

Release day TikTok post, no spoilers
So excited about this ARC, I had to give you a heads-up that it's available today. This book kept hitting me so hard, I wrote notes after every reading session. Many books are engaging and moving. Awakened is transformative. My dreams, thoughts, and physicality shifted and strengthened. I felt unmoored, and at the same time connected and expectant.

Part way through, I realized I was experiencing something remarkable. We get monsters, gruesome horror, creepy science, slippery scalpel medical ethics, chronic illness / CE rep, some diversity, including glimpses of bi or pan Sapphic ♀️, Thane, a black military veteran and Maryam a wheelchair-using doctor--and chilling isolation in the Tower of London. 👀 I would have read it for the setting. Or the neuro chips. Or the monsters. Or the creeping dread and squelchy horror. And it's so much more than all of that.

The book is even better than I expected. I've been transported. Laura Elliott excels at atmosphere, perceptions, facing tough, ugly questions, and exposing raw, sensual longing under a controlled exterior. This book knocked me on my ass. Your turn.

My thanks to @AngryRobotBooks for the eARC for consideration. These are solely my own opinions.

Note: This is her debut novel. There's a different author by this name who writes thrillers.Awakened is a great choice if you crave monster horror and also enjoy speculative fiction, and if you're into dystopian, end-of-the-world novels with gothic and zombie vibes and literary-quality perceptive writing that goes so deep it hurts. More soon!

Awakened had all the ingredients for a compelling read: an intriguing blurb that hinted at a story in the vein of The Girl with All the Gifts and 28 Days Later, blending post-apocalyptic science with horror and human resilience. Unfortunately, it delivered none of the tension, emotion, or character depth that made those comparisons so powerful.

The narrative was dry and distant, lacking the visceral urgency or emotional core needed to ground a story like this. There was virtually no character development, and the plot moved forward with a sterile, clinical tone that made it difficult to connect with or care about what was happening. The philosophy and science felt overly dominant, but without the necessary counterbalance of horror or humanity to make it engaging.

This was a tough read to get through, and while the concept had potential, the execution fell flat for me. A story with this premise should have gripped me, but instead, I kept waiting for something to spark that never did.

Many Thanks to NetGalley, Angry Robot, and Laura Elliott for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I loved the premise. To counteract the natural process of sleep and increase human productivity, a chip has been invented and implanted in subjects' brains.
Unfortunately these chips have malfunctioned and very swiftly the subjects become ravenous zombie-type creatures. The scientists responsible for this are safely tucked away in The Tower of London looking for a cure.
At times my interest was piqued, but for parts of this book I felt it dragged. It was fairly philosophical, with a lot of dialogue, which I don't mind, it just struggled to keep my interest at times. I also got very confused as to what was happening at the end, which was probably by intent but it ultimately left me feeling a little dissatisfied.

A little mysterious and a lot dark!

This books is definitely for the fans of the movie 28days later!

Elliott does an incredible job of building a slow sense of dread and horror as the reader is very gradually introduced to a world that looks familiar and yet so very different to the one that they know. I really enjoyed the discussions of intersectional issues like medical racism and mistreatment of the disabled community whilst also tackling questions around the nature of humanity.

An evocative and captivating read.

A terrifying look at the world that ask questions about scientific ethics and humanity and what makes a human human.

I loved the scientific detail that was threaded through this book making the distopian future seem believable. Although I enjoyed the style of writing as scientific research it was quite weighty at times that I found hard to get into the flow.

Overall though a great unique take on the classic zombie / vampire story. For fans of the the passage or girl with all the gifts.

Thank you NetGalley and Angry Robot for the ARC.

This was a back-and-forth read for me. I liked many aspects of the story and also found myself wanting more connection to the world in which it all takes place. I think if there are future plans for more writing, it would add to the piece of this universe that you get from this novel. I found a few times that I could not fully understand a situation or dream state vs reality, but in general, the story was easy to follow.

A few of the characters are deep and you can follow their human progression/digression as the story unfolds. A lot of the characters could have been made more multi-dimensional. The concept of the awakened but a fairly novel idea but I feel like something was missing to tie it together and make it amazing.

At first, this felt like a zombie story, then it was leaning towards a vampire feel and in the end I feel like it was similar to Frankenstein and his monster.

Instead of the “monsters” in the story being “The Awakened” you find that the real monsters are the humans and for the most part the human race. A very interesting take on dystopian apocalypse and how we in so many ways can create it ourselves, simply by being broken, imperfect humans. A fairly cerebral read with most of the story progression happening in the minds and relationships of the characters.

3.5 stars edging close to 4.

This genre-defying book spans sci-fi, horror, dystopian fantasy and literary fiction in its depiction of a near-future event which feels creepily realistic. In a quest for increased productivity, a group of scientists create a chip that enables people to bypass the need for sleep yet remain awake and alert.

Seemingly success at first, it has deleterious effects and devastating consequences. Instead of enabling people to work longer and harder, this deviation from the norm becomes monstrous. The world is unrecognisable as sleepless, zombie-like creatures turn on one another and destroy themselves.

Shocked and dismayed, huddled away in the confines of the Tower of London with a few survivors while the Sleepless scream at their gates, the ensconced scientists frantically seek to produce a cure that will reverse these unforeseen effects and restore people back to their normal selves.

When two survivors turn up looking for shelter, they’re observed and tested to help further that cause. One of them intrigues them greatly because he has deep understanding, prescient knowledge of things, and an ability to reveal human traits alongside Sleepless characteristics.

Vladimir develops a close relationship with Dr Thea Chares. Is he to be trusted or feared? Could he be the solution they are seeking? Thea’s journal entries become the means by which the story is narrated. They are less cold and clinical, less rational, too, as events escalate beyond all expectations.

I loved the insights into Thea’s inner life, the reflections on her mother’s health issues, the historical context behind M.E, how it differs from CFS, and the medical response to it, because I’ve battled the same condition for over 30 years.

This slow paced novel is beautifully written. It reveals the depths that love can take us to. As it progresses, there’s a disconnect between reality and dreams that enhances the edge of horror being depicted. A thought-provoking, powerful debut novel.

I do not publicly review the books I DNF because I do not want to contribute to any negative press before a book is even published.

I had no problem with the novel itself but felt it was very mis-marketed. I was expecting a fast paced and thrilling horror, but this is slower paced, more science based and literary. A book I would have enjoyed had my expectations not been skewed.

I will likely read this in the future now I know its style.

Awakened was compared to 28 Days Later and The Girl With All The Gifts, but it really didn't live up to those comparisons. The biggest problem? It's painfully slow. I kept losing focus and honestly, if I wasn't committed to a blog tour, I probably would've DNF'd it.

Thea tells the story by jumping between her memories, observations, and reports, but it just felt kind of empty to me. I usually love dark dystopian reads, but this story just didn't grab me at all. The writing is so incredibly dense and slow, which makes everything drag even more.

The story is about people getting chip implants that let them skip sleep entirely—they're called "The Sleepless." Thea and her scientist buddies are some of the few people who don't have the chips, but here's the kicker: they're the ones who created this whole mess. Now they're stuck running experiments on test subjects, trying to figure out how to undo what they've done.

I actually really liked the flashback parts that show how The Sleepless came to be and how the whole thing started, but that’s about it when it comes to this story.

At the end of the day, this book just wasn't for me. It's all about exploring humanity and ethics, which is fine, but there's zero action or anything to keep me hooked. The philosophical stuff is interesting enough, but it can't make up for how boring everything else was.

I’m not going to lie, I did really struggle with this book, but out of respect for receiving the early copy I pushed on.

“Civilisation has ended. In a bid to make us more productive, to give us more time, science took sleep from humanity. But sleeplessness turned people into feral monsters and now a small group of scientists are trapped in the Tower of London, consumed by guilt at what they have done and desperately searching for a cure. And then one day, as the last ravens circle, two miraculous survivors walk into the Tower.

Are they the answer or a terrible question?”

I think my difficulty with this one was in terms of confusion over the genre and where I was expecting the story to take me. I felt this was more of a science fiction than the horror it was touted as. I couldn’t vibe with the pace or the format of the storytelling.