The Awoken

Twenty-three-year-old Alabine Rivers died in 2020 from cancer. She was then cryogenically frozen and wakes a century later to a completely changed world. Technology is used only by those in power, and people like her, the Awoken, are illegal and can be killed on sight. Alabine joins the militia group who woke her—the Resurrectionists—who are fighting for the rights of the Awoken. Unfortunately, while the plot is captivating, Howes’s debut suffers from too many characters with too little depth. Relationships seem one-dimensional, as the characters spend too much time fleeing from different locations to have meaningful interactions. Additionally, there is much info dumping and telling over showing, which results in an occasionally dull listen, as there is little to keep the plot moving along. The audio is solidly performed by narrator Sarah Naughton. Naughton ably distinguishes character voices, but even with her help, listeners may struggle to keep track of the many characters.