Review: Reawakened - Colleen Houck

Reawakened by Colleen Houck, published by Hodder on 13th August 2015

Goodreads synopsis:
When seventeen-year-old Lilliana Young enters the Metropolitan Museum of Art one morning during spring break, the last thing she expects to find is a live Egyptian prince with godlike powers, who has been reawakened after a thousand years of mummification.

And she really can't imagine being chosen to aid him in an epic quest that will lead them across the globe to find his brothers and complete a grand ceremony that will save mankind.

But fate has taken hold of Lily, and she, along with her sun prince, Amon, must travel to the Valley of the Kings, raise his brothers, and stop an evil, shape-shifting god named Seth from taking over the world.

Review:
I have not read Colleen Houck's Tiger series, so she is a brand new author to me.  I really liked the sound of 'Reawakened' because I can't think of another YA series that I have read which is set in Egypt and leans heavily on Egyptian mythology.  It is always nice to discover something fresh and original and the plot sounded fantastic. 

There was a lot to like about 'Reawakened'.  The story was quite unique and I enjoyed the way in which Colleen Houck interwove the elements of Egypt and the Gods but with a modern setting.  At times, I thought that there was a lot of dense information given to the reader all in one go, which did help to build the mythology but was a lot to get your head around all at once.  I did love the myths and legends part of the book though.

The idea of a mummy coming to life and just happening to be a handsome guy who sweeps the main character off her feet, sounds pretty fantastical, but that is pretty much what happens.  I really liked the Egyptian Prince Amon and his quest to find his two brothers, although I was not as keen on his female counter-part Lily.  She comes across as spoilt and selfish at the start of the book but she grew on me a lot throughout the story and had matured a lot by the end.  I would have liked to have seen more romance between the two leads but this often takes a backseat to everything else that is going on.

The second half of the book was absolutely packed full of adventure and excitement, with one obstacle after another lying in the path of Amon and Lily's quest.  There was hardly time to catch my breath as they are thrown into one dangerous situation after another.     

I originally thought that this title was going to be a stand-alone, but judging by the ending I think that this could be the first in a series.  There is a lot still to sort out and it would be good to see more of Amon's two brothers in the future.  This is definitely a series that I will be following.