The Awakening

Graveyard Queen, Book 6

By: Amanda Stevens

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

My name is Amelia Gray, and I'm a cemetery restorer who lives with the dead. An anonymous donor has hired me to restore Woodbine Cemetery, a place where the rich and powerful bury their secrets. Forty years ago, a child disappeared without a trace and now her ghost has awakened, demanding that I find out the truth about her death. Only I know that she was murdered. Only I can bring her killer to justice. But the clues that I follow - a haunting melody and an unnamed baby's grave - lead me to a series of disturbing suspects.

For generations, the Devlins have been members of Charleston's elite. John Devlin once turned his back on the traditions and expectations that came with his birthright, but now he has seemingly accepted his rightful place. His family's secrets make him a questionable ally. When my investigation brings me to the gates of his family's palatial home, I have to wonder if he is about to become my mortal enemy.

©2017 Marilyn Medlock Amann (P)2017 Tantor

They just keep getting better!

I so enjoy this series. the stories are fully developed and the characters are facinating. But the best part are the wonderful endings to each book.

Awesome to the end!!

Hate to see this series end!! The characters, the world and the love, it's been awesome to the end!!

So good I'm going to read it again

This is one of my all time favorite series. I love the story and love the narrator. I recommend this series to everyone I know that loves books.

Don't listen to this book at night

One of my all time favorite series, story, and narration, the perfect combination. The night time actions of the ghosts is somewhat eerie and will make you wary of the noises in the house after dark, if such things bother you. I look forward to listening again to the entire series in the future.

The Awakening

Fantastic, and she lived, I'm listening in my car, saying go back Amelia, and laughing, telling myself it's a book, she'll be okay, and she's going to have a baby. The only thing I don't like is this is the last book, why??
The Narrator is also fantastic, I hope you use her again, now I need to pick another book.

Please say there will be more.

Amelia's family has more secrets and they refuse to stay buried. Add to that the secrets of the Devlin clan and this book throws a whole lot of closet doors open. Is it the last of the Graveyard Queen series? They have found a natural stopping point but I hope there will be more to come.

Every single book in this series is perfection.

What do I do now? The series is over and it was perfect from start to finish. It may be years before I find a series of this excellence again. Stevens starts the Graveyard Queen series in a gothic style and is true to that until the final word is written. Dark omens loom when the natural world is effected by the supernatural. Secret societies are an everpresent threat to the heroine. She, Amelia, is incredibly smart, resilient and loyal beyond measure to those she loves. Victorian era mannerisms are reflected in the staid manners of the women and men around her though Amelia is a bit of a black sheep in comparison. Her love interest is a mysterious man with a "penetrating" and "devastating" stare and powerful presence. She is often alone in her taxing and dangerous adventures but true to the gothic style so perfectly adhered to by the author, her lover does sometimes save our heroine. She sometimes saves him too. Ghosts and spirits lurk in shadows that seem to be alive. Small creaks of wood in an old house become powerfully threatening portents. For those of you who enjoy this style of writing, I can guarantee you that Amanda Stevens is an absolute master. And the narrator...dear god. She became Amelia. She was perfect. I think I've used that word 5-6 times throughout this review but this series and its narration is just such a rare and beauriful thing. It deserves to be called perfect like no other.

Have not been disappointed yet...

If you could sum up The Awakening in three words, what would they be?

Wonderful, Suspenseful, and Lovely

What did you like best about this story?

It has all of the elements as all of the other books with a little more personal information about her family.

Have you listened to any of Khristine Hvam’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I live Khristine Hvam and have listened to just about all of her other readings and as always she continues to do an awesome job of bringing the characters to life.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

The end of this book is unexpected so listen to the end. I can't wait until the next one.

you feel all emotions and keeps you on your toes

The first book took me a while to get into. I think probably it was because of how proper everyone sounded. I'm not from the south, but where I'm from we speak our mind and not tip toe around what needs to be said or done. The series was great and you felt every emotion. Sad, angry, happy, annoyed, scared, grossed out and everything in between. The narrator throughout the series was incredible. I'll be listening to these again in the future!

Too descriptive but a good story

Overly descriptive but not very deep. Good Story line, could have used more background than descriptions