Title: Wake
Author: Abria Mattina
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: self-published
Ebook/Paperback
Pages: 759
Purchase:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Epub book | Barnes & Noble | LuLu (Paperback) | More formats listed here. |
Book Description:
Eighteen isn’t too young to run your life into the ground, but it’s not too old to fix it, either. The desire for change drives Willa Kirk from St. John’s, Newfoundland back to her hometown of Smiths Falls, Ontario, away from her mistakes and the place where her sister died. She’s looking for a place to settle and rebuild, but Jem Harper just wants to get out of town, back to the life he knew before cancer. By letting the tragedies in their lives define them, they are both dying a little more every day. Welcome to the wake.
About the Author:
Abria Mattina works as Production Manager for the Ottawa Arts Review, an eclectic literary journal. Her work has appeared in Ottawa’s The Fulcrum and Canculture Magazine. Her poem “Circus” was published in volume 5.2 of the Ottawa Arts Review.
Abria holds a Certificate in Publishing from the New York University Summer Publishing Institute and a degree in English Literature and Psychology from the University of Ottawa. When she isn’t writing she enjoys travelling, eclectic books, blogging, and baking. She lives with her fiance, Daniel.
Her debut novel, Wake, is about the struggle to redefine life after experiencing cancer and caring for an ill loved one.
Find the Author:
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Giveaway!
Tour Schedule for Wake by Abria Mattina
(All post are Review/Giveaway)
September 1st- I am, Indeed
September 2nd- Mallory Heart Reviews
September 3rd- D. VonThaer
September 4th- Juniper Grove (Interview)
September 5th- Free Book Reviews
September 6th- The Pen and Muse
September 7th- A Diary Of A Book Addict
September 8th- For The Love Of FIlm And Novels
September 9th- Books Down My Pillow
September 10th- In Between
September 11th- whoopeeyoo :D
September 11th- Talk Supe
September 12th- Owl Read It
September 13th- Bookluvrs Haven
September 14th- Community Bookstop
September 15th- Beach Bum Reads
Mallory Heart Reviews
Review of
WAKE
An incredibly complex novel, the first adjective that comes to mind to describe “Wake” is-simply wonderful. I totally loved this book; each and every time a character revealed an emotional denouement, or a clue to personality, or a bit of backstory, I would think “Okay, that must be as deep as we’ll go with this individual,” but oh, how blissfully wrong that was! Ms. Mattina deftly and accurately demonstrates her knowledge of psychology, in a way that peels off the layers of masks which each of us hides behind, and exposes the true individual beneath, the self and spirit and guiding influences.
There are two protagonists, in my view: Willa and Jem. Both are high school seniors: Jem is a “recovering” cancer patient; Willa has returned to Smiths Falls following the death of her beloved sister to cancer, and troubles of her own. Their push-me/pull-you acquaintance, then friendship, then potentially more, is so touching; heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once. Sometimes I just wanted to shake them both and shout, “Get some sense!” At other times, I wanted to reach in and deliver some hugs.
“Wake” also has a set of “main” characters who are satellites in the orbits of Jem and Willa: Willa’s brother Frank, with whom she lives; Jem’s ADHD sister Elise, sixteen going on seventeen; Frank’s “friend” Doug and Doug’s brother Luke, also sixteen. Supporting characters are rife also, filling out the protagonists’ environment: Jem’s parents and older brother Eric; Willa’s absent parents; classmate friends Hannah and Paige, and frenemy Chris Elwood, and more.
“Wake” runs to 759 pages, but believe me, it is well worth the read. I rate it 18+ for language and sexual situations. I’d like to give it 12 stars, if I could.
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