Book Review of Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach

Title: Wake Unto Me

Author: Lisa Cach

Release Date: March 31st, 2011

Genre:  Young Adult Paranormal Romance

A haunted castle, a handsome young man dead for four hundred years, one heck of a scary portrait of a witch, and a treasure hunt — not to mention a princess for a roommate! — all await 15 year old American girl Caitlyn Monahan when she earns a scholarship to a French boarding school.

There are secrets behind the stone walls of Chateau de la Fortune, buried for centuries along with the mystery of who killed Raphael, the charming ghost who visits Caitlyn at night. But as Caitlyn unearths the history of the castle, nothing scares her as badly as the secret she learns about herself, and the reason she was chosen to come to the Fortune School.

And nothing breaks her heart as badly as falling in love with a dead guy.

Summary from Goodreads.com

My Review:  I did not know a whole lot about the book going in but by the end of the first chapter I was completely hooked.  I was so engrossed in the story already I could not put it down.

The main character, Caitlyn, has dreams that haunt her even after she wakes, and being someone who shares that problem, I instantly related to her.  She is also a huge fan of reading, which I of course can completely understand.  She describes reading here:

“The world held in the pages of history felt like the real world, and the present day an illusion she had to suffer through until she could escape back into the pages of a book”

Haven’t you ever been so immersed in what you were reading you have felt like that?  I know I have!  I just want to fall into the world of my book and stay there.  This book would be a great example of that for me and I love that Caitlyn feels that way too.

Wake Unto Me oozes mystery and Caitlyn, is the biggest enigma of all.  You get little snippets of her life story here and there, but never the full puzzle.  As the story grows and develops you are constantly trying to piece everything together.  It is both frustrating and ridiculously fun all at the same time.  I loved trying to decode the mysteries of Caitlyn’s life right alongside her.

This book is also not predictable. At. All.  You may think you know everything, and there are some things you can see coming, but overall I think you will be surprised.  There were a couple of times where just one line of text completely shattered my theories.  Which was awesome!  I hate it when I can predict everything that is going to happen in books.  I had to literally stop and re-read passages to make sure I was understanding everything.  There were some points when the revelations came so fast my brain almost couldn’t keep up with them.

Being taken by surprise is amazing though, and this book did that to me repeatedly.  Especially at the end, holy cow!  While Caitlyn is trying to sort through everything she has discovered I was busy flipping back in the book trying to pick up on all the clues, and low and behold, they are all there.  It was crazy!  While the end of the book does move really fast, you are left with a feeling of resolution that will keep you happy.  That does not mean I don’t want a sequel, cause I do (please write one Lisa) but you are left satisfied with the ending after it unfolds.

Overall, this book was amazing.  Wake Unto Me takes you on a haunting tale of self discovery, mystery and romance that will leave you questioning the real definition of a ghost.  Have you seen a ghost before?  Are you sure about that?  This book will make you ask that question, so go check it out when you can cause the answers you find might surprise you!

FTC: I received this ARC as part of International Book Tours.