Book Review: Air Awakens

This cover evokes air in a very cool way and contributed to me picking this book. 

Air Awakens by Elise Kova came across my Instagram in a list of books to read after finishing A Court of Thorns and Roses series (ACOTAR.) It was pitched as Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) meets ACOTAR, and since ATLA is my favorite show of all time, that comparison was all I needed. Air Awakens is the first of a five book series that came out in 2015-2016 and were indie published by the author. She has seven series total, some indie and some traditional, and she's hit best sellers lists.

Air Awakens follows librarian-in-training Vhalla. When asked to find a cure for a prince injured by a magical weapon, Vhalla surprises herself by unlocking her own buried magic to find the information. The healed prince delves into her powers only to discover she has an affinity for air magic, a power thought lost over 100 years ago. His affinity is fire, but he still attempts to tutor her, despite her protests that she doesn't want to do magic. But when other power players begin making moves, Vhalla has little choice but to embrace magic and the dangers it brings.

There was some really cool worldbuilding in this book, for example someone with an affinity for one of the elements can also do other things within that element's category, like word magic along with air magic. Vhalla and the prince had decent banter that made for some enjoyable chemistry.

I struggled sometimes with how overly similar it was to ATLA, like the air affinity people having been all (or nearly all) killed 100 years ago. The fire prince with daddy issues. A large war going on. The air user needing training. I kept picturing the woman who plays Aang in the Ember Island Players episode as Vhalla and Zuko as the prince. Is that fair to the author or book? No. Did it decrease my enjoyment of this book? Yes. However, a more book-related critique is that the prince's personality felt wildly different in his POV vs her POV. Not in a he's so mysterious and private kind of way but in a is this the same man way.

This book is for you if you enjoy elemental magic systems, bad boy prince love interests, or if you were a Zaang shipper when you watched ATLA. It's not for you if you love ATLA so much that you won't be able to unsee the similarities, if you are not a fan of morally gray/bad boy love interests, or if you're not in a headspace to read about genocide, war, or city bombings.


Have you read Air Awakens? The entire series? Do you recommend any of Kova's other series? Let's discuss in the comments!