Hi! 

To start off with a bang, I’ll be talking about the last book I read: Brewed Awakening by Cleo Coyle, which turns out is a pseudonym for a wife and husband who write together. 

I picked the book up at, weirdly enough, Hannahford. 

It has a nice premise and I thought it would be a great read. It’s a mystery based in a cafe and has the amnesia trope, which sounded perfect.

Unfortunately, Brewed Awakening didn’t hit for me. 

Brewed Awakening Mehs

One of the first things was that I thought it would be okay to read it as if it were a standalone but I couldn’t really connect to the main character: Clare Cosi. 

Off the bat, I was… not pulled in at all. Not to say that it interesting for someone else, just, not for me. 

I had no idea what the lady looked like and also, something that really threw me off was the weird relationship with coffee. 

I love coffee. It’s an amazing drink but for some reason, these main characters made it their entire personality. For example, when Clare wakes up on a park bench with no memory of the past 10 years, one of the first things she wants is a cup of coffee. 

I really don’t think that would be my priority, you know? I have no idea what happened to me, so, I’m going to a coffee shop where I used to work instead of going to I don’t know the hospital? Or the police station? 

Next, we’re introduced to… a lot of people that I had no idea who they were, but it seemed like I was supposed to know who they were, even though this was the first book I picked up. 

From here I’m going more in depth, so if you don’t want more details about Brewed Awakening, I would stop the reading now.

I didn’t like the dynamic between Clare and her ex-husband, Matteo. What was the need for him to try to sleep with her? Just being selfish? I suppose? 

I don’t understand why they wouldn’t tell her that she is engaged? I understand that they didn’t want to shock her but in the end they shocked her with that info anyway. 

The mystery was not bad, I just got lost with all the drama around Clare’s amnesia. I won’t lie and say I read every single word in the book because I got bored and paged through it. 

My rating of Brewed Awakening as a mood reader: 1 out of 5. The 1 is for the mystery and even that I kind of already knew what it was going to be. 

Next up: The mostly true story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley.

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