When We Wake (When We Wake, #1)

Mar 08, 2013 Giselle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, own, dystopia-or-post-apocalyptic

What happens after death? Well for Tegan, it's another life. 100 years from now. A fascinating premise indeed! Who's not intrigued by the future? Curious about the state of our planet, the technology, even the fashion? I was really excited to get into this book and for the most part it I really enjoyed it. My problems mostly lay with the way the book came off as a big environmental/social speech.

Tegan is in love and it's all pretty and roses, then she abruptly wakes up… 100 years from now. That...more What happens after death? Well for Tegan, it's another life. 100 years from now. A fascinating premise indeed! Who's not intrigued by the future? Curious about the state of our planet, the technology, even the fashion? I was really excited to get into this book and for the most part it I really enjoyed it. My problems mostly lay with the way the book came off as a big environmental/social speech.

Tegan is in love and it's all pretty and roses, then she abruptly wakes up… 100 years from now. That would be a shocker on pretty much anybody. I liked how this was done, she was on the defensive, not believing anybody and fighting to get her way. She was a great protagonist for this story and I found her very likeable. Same with the secondary characters she comes to meet and call friends. They were all a little quirky with their own traits and personalities. I liked that they weren't just fluffy plot fillers, they were fun characters and also very loyal to Tegan. Even though she leaves her love behind in the past, she does meet a new guy in the future (of course! ;) and the romance is, although I wouldn't call it chemistry filled, very sweet and well paced.

The plot itself is intriguing, too, we have the usual secrets and conspiracies that come about during the story. We know that what we're told are most likely lies. It's also told through Tegan's voice, her telling us a story that's already happened to her, so she adds short commentaries at spots to make us understand that we should be wary of everything she's being told at this point. I thought this was very well done, it added a great touch of suspense into the novel. The world building itself, though, I will say I expected more. We're suddenly 100 years in the future and not a whole lot is said about society itself. Cars, building, every day life, we don't get any of those details and it came off as very anticlimactic for what you'd expect in a setting such as this. We do get into some details in regards to computers and the environment--the planet as a whole--but it still leaves too many unexplained areas that I'd think anyone talking about the future would immediately want to know.

The environment, however, nope, that one was not forgotten! Our people's damaging ways and prejudices against several minorities were brought up so much in this book that it felt like a big speech on what our corrupt ways will bring if we don't change. The planet dying, extremists who are trying to take things into their own hands, gay marriage being universally accepted, topics like this kept being brought up and not in a way to strengthen world building either--though it did work for that in some ways--but forcefully so that it felt like the book was yelling at me. Yelling at our generation for being the eventual end-all of our world. Shame on us! The first thing I did upon finishing this book was ask a friend "Did you feel this book was very preachy? Like a big speech on how our world is corrupt?"

A fantastic concept, compelling writing, and great characters, When We Wake does have a lot to offer. I wouldn't say it's an especially memorable read, I can already tell I will forget most of this book in a few months, but even with my issues it's still fun and suspenseful while it lasts.

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An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.

For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

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Apr 08, 2013 Ai Haibara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Across the Universe fans-kind of

Recommended to Ai Haibara by: me judging the cover and blurb

Shelves: i-love-you-more-than-cup-noodles, pretty-fave-covers, that-was-unexpected, kick-ass-cover, me-and-my-opinions-reviews

Honestly I did not have high hopes for this book because of it's deja vu Across the Universe storyline but this was actually really good!

So, in the year of 2027, Teegan was living the best day of her life. However, that ends abruptly when she gets shot and finds herself 100 years into the future when she wakes up from being cryonically frozen.

The world building of When we wake was explored quite well. The story is set in Melbourne, and in 2127, the environment is severely damaged, with oceans...more

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Mar 16, 2013 ❤Rosa❤ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: wide-reading-logs-2013, really-liked

I picked this book up off the shelf because, well, it was shiny. And the cover is so very, very pretty. Creepy, but the colours do look amazing together.
At first, I just couldn't get into this book. The premise just seemed too sad. To put it in perspective, I had recently read five dystopian books in a row, and without knowing it, in doing so I had filled my mind with all sorts of "We are all going to die! We are going to be taken over by a totalitarian government with horrible laws!" and of co...more I picked this book up off the shelf because, well, it was shiny. And the cover is so very, very pretty. Creepy, but the colours do look amazing together.
At first, I just couldn't get into this book. The premise just seemed too sad. To put it in perspective, I had recently read five dystopian books in a row, and without knowing it, in doing so I had filled my mind with all sorts of "We are all going to die! We are going to be taken over by a totalitarian government with horrible laws!" and of course, "Global warming is going to kill us all" scenarios. Basically, I had assured myself we were all going to have a horrible future ahead of us. So, hopefully you can kind of understand why I didn’t particularly feel like reading a story about a teenage girl who accidentally gets shot, is cryogenically frozen and then wakes up in a future that seems great but is actually full of underlying terrible truths - minus all of her family and friends and anyone she loves. I read the first couple of pages and just felt sad, so I promptly stopped.
Well, that turned out to be a big mistake. Because a few weeks later as I was searching through the pile of books that is higher than my bed (and probably consists of more than a few overdues!) I saw the shiny, new cover with the beautiful colours and the creepy girl. I started to read again, and I read, and I read. I couldn’t stop reading - I just had to discover the dark secrets of the seemingly perfect world that Tegan had woken into.
The category this book completes is “a book set in another place and time.” This book is set one hundred, or thereabouts, years in the future, in Australia. Being from New Zealand and having Australia just over the ditch, this book felt pretty close to home for me. I found it easy to imagine that the situation happening in New Zealand would be similar to what would be happening in Australia.
The world in the future, according to Karen Healey, is not a good one. People are suffering from some sort of global environmental crisis, sea levels are rising and despite the effort made in Australia to go clean and green, global warming is still occurring. All around there are Third World countries suffering the effects because they cannot afford to go green. Australia has introduced a rigorously enforced anti-immigrant policy. Tegan is the first person to be woken up successfully after being frozen and this has unforeseen consequences. It was extremely interesting to see how much progress the world had made in one hundred years, and as far as I can see from this book, not much. In my opinion, if we want any sort of green, healthy future we’d better start now.
In a quiet, not too over the top way I think Tegan is a wonderful heroine and she was my favourite character. With a quietly powerful and strong voice, she seemed innocent but would then say the occasional fantastic quote that reminded you the world was not perfect.
“It was time to give them a lesson in just how surprising Tegan Ogletti could be.“ I love this quote because it sums up the essence of the book. Tegan surprised everybody. She managed to remain strong when she was totally alone, isolated from anyone she used to love, and that strength is a very admirable quality. She went from a confused girl to a motivated one who used her brains to figure out what was really going on, and then she told the world. She was focused on changing the world for the better.
I loved how Tegan had a great appreciation for music, and although I don’t share that passion I feel it really personalises a character and a story when one underlying quality in a person comes through, such as an obsession or passion. I enjoyed how the romance was a subplot in this book, and most of the story was focused on Tegan and her struggle for the truth. The mystery was the main point of the book, and it was great how it was kept that way.
This brings me to a part of the book I really enjoyed. I loved how the book seemed to come full circle, that we were reading Tegan’s story that she was telling to audiences on her tubecast. This connected the parts of the story together right from the beginning.
Reading this book I learnt not to believe everything you see. Tegan steps into a future that seems a lot better than the place she left, but a dark secret is lurking. It taught me to be aware of what is going on and to persevere to discover the truth. I also discovered an interesting and believable perception of the future where technology has advanced and new laws have come into place. Yes, the world has begun to face environmental and political crisis but at what and who’s cost? It is believable, but not so extreme that it seems unreal. Attention to detail made this whole story seem like a link to our future, and that link was fascinating.
I couldn’t get into this book at first, but when I did it was well worth reading. 4/5 stars(less)

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Apr 22, 2013 Lisbeth Avery {Assorted Insanity} rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourite, fantastic-characters, i-love-you, five-stars, finally-some-character-development, awesome-main-character, beautiful, better-than-i-thought-it-would-be, ehh-cover, exceeds-expectations, f-f, fem-pov, goodreads-author, hand-me-the-tissues, kick-ass-girls, made-me-smile, reviewed, that-wonderful-title, wishlist

The only reason I read this book was because of Renae's review. I couldn't have been any less interested in the book, to be honest. It sounded like another boring dystopian with a hint of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE.

I'm so happy to say that WHEN WE WAKE was different from everything I'd ever read in the genre. Dystopian and science fiction are my favorite genres, and have been ever since I was a kid. I don't often get lucky with them however and I tend to find most of my favorite books in the fantasy an...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Mandee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for-review, allen-unwin, ya-lit, january2013release, nz, dystopian, sci-fi, aussie, aussieya2013, aww2013, review-on-the-blog

When We Wake by Karen Healey is set in Melbourne, firstly in the year 2027 and later in the year 2127. In the beginning Tegan Oglietti is sixteen and on her way to a climate change protest, along with her best friend, Alex, and her new boyfriend, Dalmar. But her day doesn't go to plan and she wakes up 100 years later to find out she is the first person to successfully be awakened from a cryogenic state. She’s told she’s part of a special project to bring soldiers back to life, but she soon finds...more When We Wake by Karen Healey is set in Melbourne, firstly in the year 2027 and later in the year 2127. In the beginning Tegan Oglietti is sixteen and on her way to a climate change protest, along with her best friend, Alex, and her new boyfriend, Dalmar. But her day doesn't go to plan and she wakes up 100 years later to find out she is the first person to successfully be awakened from a cryogenic state. She’s told she’s part of a special project to bring soldiers back to life, but she soon finds out that’s not the truth.

When We Wake was such a thought-provoking book. In Tegan’s original life, the world is already suffering from extreme weather conditions. It’s only spring in Melbourne yet most people avoid going outdoors during the middle of the day because it’s just too hot. When she wakes up in 2127, the world is even worse; houses are now built with a level sunken into the ground, to try and keep them cooler. There are no more flushing toilets, almost everyone is vegetarian because it’s impossible to raise, feed, and water livestock and it’s extremely hot all the time. There are wars between countries who were formally allies, Australia has a no-migrant policy, and people from third-world countries are looked down on and referred to as thirdies. Basically, it sounds awful but completely believable. Although, there were some good aspects; for one, everyone being vego (it’s not surprising I think that, right?), and that in mainstream society peoples’ sexuality is more accepted than it is now. Also, most people have small, pliable, portable computers that can do almost anything and everything for you.

I liked Tegan from the beginning, she’s smart, energetic (she enjoys free-running), and is a big fan of The Beatles – particularly Ringo. She also handles the news really well, I think most people would have flipped out or become depressed, but Tegan makes a good go of her second chance at life, despite having to mourn the loss of her mother, brother, Alex and Dalmar who all went on to live their lives and pass away years before she was awakened. I really liked Dr Marie, the women in charge of the project, and her new friends Bethari, Joph and Abdi. I appreciated that the slow romantic build up was not the focus of Tegan’s story, she had bigger issues to deal with.

The story had me hooked from the beginning as it starts with Tegan explaining a little about her family and letting the reader know she will be telling us her story. It’s clear that things in her new life have gotten messy and I was keen to know what had happened and what the secret behind the cryo-project was.

I also have to mention all the Beatles references and lyrics scattered throughout the book as well as the fact that each chapter starts with the title of a Beatles song – I loved this addition to the book.

When We Wake is a unique look at a futuristic world, featuring a solid cast of characters, and an intriguing and action-packed plot. It’s ahead of the pack when it comes to dystopian YA (less)

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Feb 10, 2013 Braiden rated it 4 of 5 stars

At first sight When We Wake will call out for you, its bright, sharp, and almost white cover standing out on the shelf amongst the other covers, too dark in comparison. What the cover of When We Wake achieves is a sense of questioning already in the reader, and once the words ‘cryogenically frozen’ in the synopsis are read and connected to the cover, there would be no going back, no putting Karen Healey’s new science fiction offering back on the bookshop shelf. When We Wake provides a quite diff...more At first sight When We Wake will call out for you, its bright, sharp, and almost white cover standing out on the shelf amongst the other covers, too dark in comparison. What the cover of When We Wake achieves is a sense of questioning already in the reader, and once the words ‘cryogenically frozen’ in the synopsis are read and connected to the cover, there would be no going back, no putting Karen Healey’s new science fiction offering back on the bookshop shelf. When We Wake provides a quite different future from today’s world, from today’s Australia, packed with political, global, and humanitarian themes involving activism, social justice, distribution of propaganda, corruption, and deceit. Whatever it is that you enjoy, either the science fiction or speculative fiction elements, When We Wake will fascinate you to no end.

It was the year 2027 when sixteen-year-old Tegan Oglietti joined a rally about climate change on the steps of Melbourne’s parliament house with her boyfriend Dalmar and was killed by a sniper. Thanks to her humanitarian beliefs of signing up to be an organ donor, Tegan wakes up 100 years later, the first to wake up after being cryogenically frozen. Tegan had become a major part of a government program to bring soldiers and casualties of war back to life due to the progress of science, but Tegan seeks out the truth in this changed world, much different to the one she knew. Because of the cryogenic freezing Tegan has become the newest celebrity, bringing fame but then also hate from religious and extremist groups who want to see her dead. Among all this, staying true to herself becomes her greatest test.

Tegan is quite a likeable and relatable character. Dealing with change, almost instantly in her case, isn’t easy, but Tegan deals with it with maturity and modesty, thankful that she gets to live a second life, but dejected it won’t be with her parents, brother, her friend Alex, and boyfriend Dalmar. Her predicament proves her fighting to strength to adapt and make change with her longing for the past and the desolation that resides inside her. She never stops questioning, never forgets who she was before she was shot, always determined to protect the memories of her old life and the friends she makes in her new life.

How the future in 2127 is described will make you tremble at the terror of how our very own future may look like (e.g., Australia’s no-migrant policy and denigration of third-world countries) or cry in delight at things like marriage equality, diversity, and if you are vegetarian or vegan, the way the future may lean to your advantage. The setting on a global scale was well detailed. I’m looking forward to exploring Karen Healey’s futuristic world in the next books. As a bonus, if there is a possible space setting in them, then Healey will hit the nail on the head in terms of setting execution.

There was much to enjoy about When We Wake. I found there to be a sort of The Hunger Games in there with Tegan attracting fame and attention and therefore must act like a token figure the government wants her to be. She’d get dressed up, outfit, make up and all, and have to participate in media interviews. Very The Hunger Games-esque, but Healey adds her own ingredients to make it distinctly different. I also loved that it was set in Melbourne, and since this is my home city, it instilled some pessimism in me, a trait which I never want to possess. If someone can do that then you’ve got a winner on your hands. When We Wake did have its moments where I lost interest, but that’s nothing in comparison to all the positives.

Karen Healey has written a strikingly fresh new future through the eyes of Tegan Oglietti. While We Run: come at me!(less)

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Mar 27, 2013 Renae M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013, published-2013, science-fiction

When We Wake is, in my opinion, futuristic science fiction done well. (I haven’t read much of it, sure, but I found very little wrong with this novel.) Tegan Oglietti wakes up in the year 2128, a hundred years after her last memory, only to discover she’s part of a huge government experiment where cryonically frozen bodies are healed post-mortem and then revived. The Australia of the future is nothing like the Australia she knew, and Tegan has to deal with culture shock, as well as grief for her...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: march-releases

Tegan Oglietti's life in 2027 was great before she died. It was her first official date with her long time friend Dalmar when she was shot and killed. Then she woke up in 2128 and couldn't believe she had been frozen. She had checked the box on her driver's license to donate her body to science but she had meant donate organs to help people, not be frozen! After a bit of a freak out she decides it is better to be alive than dead so she will try to make the most of it.

At first the future looks gr...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Jo Sorrell added it

From LMNet

Compelling and sleekly sick (in a bad way), When We Wake is a nightmarish view of the near future that will make readers think about the future of science, medicine, politics, and government intervention in citizens' lives.

Tegan Oglietti is having a great day. She's off to a rally with her politically inclined pals and new crush Dalmar. But what starts off as a promising day ends with Tegan's death! She is hit by a sniper's bullet and dies at the rally.

Tegan wakes up 100 years later in...more

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Jun 13, 2013 Riley rated it 3 of 5 stars

An interesting story but there were some thing i did not like. The writing for one, it was very simplistic, which is not bad but i prefer thing with a bit more detail. The book also felt a bit wishy washy, as if it was trying to give my some underlining warning about how we have to improve how we act if we a want to prevent similar events in the future, which i found annoying. The ending was also very fickle which is always something that frustrates me.

What i did like was the fact it was pretty...more

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May 22, 2013 Allie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopian, young-adult

Interesting.

I mean, sometimes I feel like the socio-political situations are fully fleshed out in dystopian books (especially YA), but in the case of Healey's book, When We Wake, I felt like I was attending some weird, ultra-liberal indoctrination ceremony. Multiple people have criticized this book for being too preachy, and I completely agree. I am obviously a conservative fuddy duddy compared to the ways some people think.

It was exciting to see the imagined global implications of our energy...more

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May 02, 2013 Aletha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013, female-protagonist

Lately, I've been having some problems getting hooked with books. They just bore me, usually laying on the couch until I feel sorry for them and return them to wherever they came from. When We Wake didn't do that. I started reading this book yesterday and finished it today. That is pretty fast for me reading a 300-pageish book, which shows how hooked I was. To be honest, I don't know what did it. The blurb didn't really do much for me, and I never would have picked it out of a pile as one I real...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Kristin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Karen Healey's latest, When We Wake, is a bit of a disappointment. Like Guardians of the Dead, Healey starts with a fascinating premise -- the protagonist has been frozen for 100 years and then is awakened to an entirely different Earth, where eating beef is distasteful, the slang is not recognizable, none of her family and friends remain, and Australia has become a super power with a No Migrant policy. For those with an interest in the effects of global warming, Healey does a great job making t...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Caitlin rated it 5 of 5 stars

I wasn't planning on writing a review, but none of the others I looked at said what I loved so much about this book. The secondary characters were simply fantastic. They weren't just cardboard cutouts that popped up at convenient intervals to help Tegan figure out what the government was doing to her. They had their own thoughts, histories, motives, and interactions with other characters. I loved Bethari's dedication to journalism and how she respected Teeg's boundaries. I loved how Joph acted l...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Sarahr rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopian

I enjoyed the thriller-style plot of this book but as a SF novel and as literature I felt it really fell short. The future world felt either unrealistic (they refer to portable devices as 'computers', a word which even my high school students don't use any more) or an unimaginative exaggeration of our present world. The refugee and bio-ethical issues explored are obviously relevant to present-day Australia (which is of course not an issue, as SF always reflects contemporary themes) but there's v...more

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Apr 19, 2013 Allison rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: diversity, issues, mystery-suspense, science-fiction, strong-female-lead, ya-teen

A solid 3 stars, but definitely only 3 stars. While the story was interesting and issue and action packed, I felt that it was lacking something, some depth. I liked the characters, but I didn't really care about them very much. Really, I liked the secondary characters more than Teeg. She seemed more like a scifi, distopian heroine place holder.

But I don't want to get too down on this book, because really I think there's a lot that Healey does right. Her vision of the near future (about 120 year...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Sue rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Set in Melbourne, this is sci fi writing at its best. Tegan (Teeg) is a sixteen year old girl, loving life her best mate Alex and her new boyfriend Dalmar. Her life changes irrevocably the day she attends a climate change rally in the city centre. A sniper, aiming at the Prime Minister, shoots Tegan instead. Her world goes black and she wakes up, 100 years later in a research facility. Everything she knew is gone - in an instant. Her mother, her friends, the world she knew has disappeared. Lucki...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Paranormal Haven rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews-by-beth-guest-reviewer

Tegan is an average near future (2027) teenager. Her older brother’s friend, Dalmar, the guy she has been crushing on forever, asks her to go on a date. The date he proposes is at a protest. Tegan, her best friend, and her date get off the train and walk into the crowd, but Tegan doesn’t remember anything after that. She wakes up hairless, in what seems to be a hospital. Tegan was killed, and then cryogenically frozen for a hundred years. Her past gone, she must figure out the future.

When We Wak...more Tegan is an average near future (2027) teenager. Her older brother’s friend, Dalmar, the guy she has been crushing on forever, asks her to go on a date. The date he proposes is at a protest. Tegan, her best friend, and her date get off the train and walk into the crowd, but Tegan doesn’t remember anything after that. She wakes up hairless, in what seems to be a hospital. Tegan was killed, and then cryogenically frozen for a hundred years. Her past gone, she must figure out the future.

When We Wake is a YA SF story. It’s told from Tegan’s POV from the future. Readers know that something major happens before the books end, and that Tegan is telling the world about it.

The future is a very strange place. It’s hotter, global warming, the oceans have risen, and the people of Australia don’t eat red meat. The beginning of the novel is Tegan telling what she remembers from her mother and friends, before her death. Then she is launched into the future. Her adapting was interesting. Actually the whole idea of how this would work is highly interesting. Before Tegan gets very far a question comes up, does the government own her? Does she still belong to science?

Tegan is a great blend of teenage angst, anger and smarts. When I say angst I don’t mean romantic angst. It’s more a moral angst. Tegan is an easy protagonist to like. The only area that I think lets the reader down is in the romantic department, but I’ll get to that. Tegan’s angst and anger comes from the government. Seeing what’s happened to the world, how it has changed for the better or worst has an emotional impact on her.

I wasn't swayed in the romantic department. When she comes back she meets Abdi, who happens to look a great deal like her old crush. She actually thinks at first it is him, but of course it isn’t. The two haphazardly are forced together towards the end of the novel, and while I understand why and how they end up together, I didn’t feel the chemistry that strongly. I felt as if it was a panicked response to a hard situation. This is the first books, so maybe after a while I’ll feel differently.

Tegan is a celebrity when she wakes up. The government has hundreds of frozen people, but Tegan is the only successful wake up, and they want her to be the face of the project. They tell her they will use the technology to save the lives of soldiers. On top of dealing with media hounding, there is a faction of religious fanatics that believe she is soulless, and because of that, needs to kill herself. When one of these fanatics leads her to discover there is a great deal more the government might be up to, it sends Tegan and those she trusts into danger.

When We Wake was a quick book. The pacing makes it easy pick up, and hard to put down. It’s the first in the series, and I look forward to the next one. It doesn’t exactly leave readers on a cliff hanger, but enough that if I had the second book, I’d be reading it right now. I look forward to where this series is going!
- Beth(less)

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Apr 10, 2013 Dolores rated it 3 of 5 stars

3 1/2 stars. Karen Healey is a wonderful writer, and this was such a well-written book. It grabbed me right away and pulled me in. And it was such a fascinating concept for a story. Tegan is having such a great day. She has a new relationship with a boy she has liked for the longest time. She is out for the day with him and her best friend. Young, happy and in love. Something goes wrong and when she wakes up she finds herself more than one hundred years in the future. All the people she loved, h...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Dark Faerie Tales rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-by-bridget

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: Very interesting take on a Sci-Fi novel. It was filled with good action, fun characters and a interesting plot.

Opening Sentence: My name is Tegan Oglietti.

The Review:

Tegan Oglietti is 16 years old and she can’t be happier. She has an amazing best friend, a wonderful family and the boy she has been in love with for years finally asked her out. Then Tegan dies. She wakes up and it is 100 years later. All of her family and friends have passed...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Kim McGee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Imagine that you are like any other teenage girl - you are worried about that new cute guy in your life, the kisses you shared with him and your future relationship, your best friend feeling left out and of course, school and your mom. Normal until you attend a political rally and are shot and killed when a sniper's bullet goes awry. End of story? In When We Wake, it is just the beginning. Tegan wakes up 100 years later thanks to her signing her permission for organ donation and a special crynog...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Ephi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Was so excited to read this book after reading an article posted by the author on the characters' fashion!

The love interest is described as darker than Aldis Hodge (Leverage fan here!) and the close friend is Indonesian Australian! At first I was confused with Bethari? What? I thought, well, there's Btari, maybe that? But then it hit me, there's a pop singer from 90s with the name Betharia. LOL.

Overall, this book revolves around a theme I like, cryogenics, but it's set after it happened. The tw...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Annette rated it 4 of 5 stars

When We Wake has an interesting premise, and is somewhat horrific. Imagine waking up after being frozen for 100 years! Healey has managed to realistically portray the feelings and frustrations of this scenario.

It is 2027, and Tegan is so happy to finally have an official date with the best friend that she has been crushing on, even if it is just to attend a protest march. But, she never really gets to experience the actual date because she is shot and killed. The next thing we know, Tegan is wak...more When We Wake has an interesting premise, and is somewhat horrific. Imagine waking up after being frozen for 100 years! Healey has managed to realistically portray the feelings and frustrations of this scenario.

It is 2027, and Tegan is so happy to finally have an official date with the best friend that she has been crushing on, even if it is just to attend a protest march. But, she never really gets to experience the actual date because she is shot and killed. The next thing we know, Tegan is waking up and it's 100 years later.

Both of these futures (2027 and 100 years later) are messed up. Global warming has had huge impacts on the environment and the way people live. When We Wake takes place in Australia, but this could happen anywhere.

Tegan is narrating the story--giving us her soul, as she puts it. As we jump back to her narration in the present, we realize that she is in more and more danger. And, as we read the story she is telling, the dangers are slowly revealed. The way When We Wake is told is very effective in building tension, sympathy for the characters, and compelling us to turn the pages.

There's the nice doctor that tries to help Tegan, who longs for freedom. Then there's the awful army colonel who wants to keep Tegan tied down and protected. After all the army paid for all of this. The question is, "Why?"

I didn't find the "why" mattered so much. The part that drove my interest is Tegan's and her soon-to-be romantic interest, Abdi's, need to be free and figure out what is so corrupt and wrong about this civilization. There's discrimination, border controls, religious fanaticism, terrorism, and government corruption. Tegan had hoped the future would be better, but she soon realizes all is not as perfect as it is supposed to seem.

Tegan is an interesting character. She's already tough in 2027, exploring with her friends, picking locks, free-running across buildings, and taking risks. This benefits her greatly in the future. We don't get the usual "wimp becomes tough" scenario. Tegan is well equipped.

There are some twists and surprised in When We Wake, but the ending is fairly open to interpretation. And, for a book that will garner so much discussion, that's not a bad thing.

Teens who are fans of dystopian stories, or even contemporary fans could be pointed to When We Wake. It is a well-done, unique story that is hard to stop thinking about.(less)

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Feb 20, 2013 Miss Literati rated it 4 of 5 stars

What would you do if you woke up 100 years into the future? In Karen Healey’s book, WHEN WE WAKE, 16-year-old Tegan Oglietti finds herself in this situation. After a bit of struggle, Tegan learns that she was shot and killed on the last day of her first lifetime and through an advanced process known as cryonics, she was able to be frozen and revived. Now, she must adapt to a future she was never intended to live in, a future without her true love, best friend, brother, or mother, who all lived o...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Miffy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, environment, family, australian, school, relationships, science-fiction, romance, speculative-fiction, ya

When a book makes you cry in public (on a train, actually) then life is good.
Tegan is dead. She has been 'revived' 100 years after her death. And it's not going well.
I really, really enjoyed this book. An interesting take on a future in which some things are better (social equality) and others are worse (refugees and climate change), where dead people can be revived, and where The Beatles will always, always be the best band ever.
Tegan is a great character - feisty and determined, and also unsur...more

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Dec 07, 2012 McKenna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Originally reviewed here

I knew from the minute that I viewed this gorgeous cover on a tour site that I need to read this book. I mean, how could you pass up a cover as fantastic as this one? I love the clean lines and simplistic colors. I also love the cool frost that is shown on the cover models lips, eyes and eyebrows. Overall, this cover is definitely a winner for me.

This book reminded me quite a bit of Across the Universe, a book I read much earlier in 2012 and ended up loving! In When We W...more Originally reviewed here

I knew from the minute that I viewed this gorgeous cover on a tour site that I need to read this book. I mean, how could you pass up a cover as fantastic as this one? I love the clean lines and simplistic colors. I also love the cool frost that is shown on the cover models lips, eyes and eyebrows. Overall, this cover is definitely a winner for me.

This book reminded me quite a bit of Across the Universe, a book I read much earlier in 2012 and ended up loving! In When We Wake, people who have chosen to donate their bodies to science upon death are cryonically frozen and preserved in hopes of being brought back in another era. Tegan, the main character, however, is the first ever person to ever fully awaken from her cryonic state.

I don't know what it was about Tegan, but I found her to be sort of bland and very dull. She was easy to relate to in the beginning of the book, but towards the end I ended up really disliking her. As a main character, I would have expected to like her much more than I actually did. She definitely was very unique and seemed to have a great layer to her that wasn't really seen much in the book.

Tegan's love interest, Abdi, was quite a different case though.. I really ended up loving Abdi. He was extremely like able and I looked forward to the parts of the story that featured him. He had an interesting life story and was very unique. I just wish that his partner could have been just like him!

The way When We Wake is written is in a very conversational manner. I felt like Tegan was always talking to me instead of narrating the story. I actually ended up really liking the conversational aspect of the book. It made the storyline flow and the pages just flew by.

Overall, I enjoyed When We Wake, but it definitely wouldn't be the first dystopian I would recommend to you. I think what really ended up killling it for me was the fact that Tegan was just so darn boring. Other than her, I really liked the other characters and the setting was really cool too!
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Nov 12, 2012 Montana G. rated it 3 of 5 stars

When We Wake had an extremely creepy premise. I'm not a huge fan of creepy stories, so I think that contributed to me not enjoying the book as much as I was hoping to. When We Wake showed just how scary both the government's power and science can be.

When We Wake starts off in 2027, present day for the main character- Tegan. After she dies, the next thing she knows, she ends up waking up 100 years in the future. She is (justifiably) very freaked out. I liked Tegan as a character, but the fact tha...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Tee loves Kyle Jacobson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-new-book-release, around-the-world-arc-tours, oct-2012

When We Wake is a book that will have you thinking about some serious things. It will have you thinking about cryogenics and the way the world is heading. It has you thinking about what is to come if the government were to freeze people and wake them up in a different time and place. This book scared the crap out of me because you never know what the government is up to.

This is a story about Tegan who is sixteen years old teenager enjoying her friends and her boyfriend. Her and her friends go to...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: futuristic, military, romance, young-adult

Hmm, this was a fine balance between good and annoying. I have to preface my comments by stating that I'm not a big fan of the "wake up out of timeline" premise, so I wasn't inclined to love this.

The writing was solid and none of the ideas were crazy far-fetched, actually, which was nice but also an issue I'll address shortly. It was great to have a book set not-in-America and populated by more than white, mono-religious folk (although that is still the main protagonist and in fact one highligh...more Hmm, this was a fine balance between good and annoying. I have to preface my comments by stating that I'm not a big fan of the "wake up out of timeline" premise, so I wasn't inclined to love this.

The writing was solid and none of the ideas were crazy far-fetched, actually, which was nice but also an issue I'll address shortly. It was great to have a book set not-in-America and populated by more than white, mono-religious folk (although that is still the main protagonist and in fact one highlighted more as RC than most books, but I can respect that - it raised some nice tension between Tegan and one of the main god cults in the book) and these other characters weren't just there to add colourful background (I really like the idea of religious/sexual/gender acceptance that didn't need to be overly commented on in the story).

That said, I didn't enjoy the style of narrative overly much - it felt like it was written to be seen as a movie. My other major issue is the unimaginative use of tech in the book - considering it starts in 2025 and then again a century later, the tech being used in 2025 is not nearly different enough compared to 2013 (think of what we were using in 1998 compared to today - if we don't see similar crazy changes, I'll be surprised) and the tech being used in 212-whatever is actually more likely to be seen in the next 25 years than waiting for another hundred. It would have been great to see the author unleash a crazy imagination when it comes to tech, but while the social changes are highlighted, for better and worse, it was actually the tech that didn't ring true for me. Honestly, this could just as easily have been set in 25 years in the future and it would have made more sense tech-wise and socio-politico-wise as well.

What made this book good and a little chilling, is that it really isn't far-fetched in terms of social policies, drug patents, and the environment. So overall an interesting, easy and slightly depressing read. Might bump it to 3.5 stars, might consider reading the next one, but didn't blow me away. (less)

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Mar 19, 2013 Kelly Hager rated it 4 of 5 stars

There are so many aspects of this book to discuss---it's very political and very religious and it could also lead to a great deal of discussions about the nature of fame and balancing that with the right to privacy. And there are discussions about the prevalence of social media, which is even more ubiquitous in this future world.

But even if you don't want to have a deep discussion about any of those things, this is a great book to read. It's exciting and horrifying and fun. And I cannot wait to...more

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