Book Review – Elemental Awakening

Elemental Awakening (Echoes of Lumoria #1) by Bobbie Wirkmaa
Narrator: Gabriel Michael, Jessica Threet
Series: Echoes of Lumoria #1
Published by Podium Audio on 5/5/2026
Length: 28 hours 30 minutes
Genres: Epic, Fantasy, Fantasy & Magic, Romantasy
Pages: 738
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads

Set in a realm of elemental clans and long-sleeping dragons, Elemental Awakening follows a young woman’s rise from survivor to Spiritborn—the realm’s most dangerous legend—and the warlord she was never meant to love.
When 23-year-old Amara Thalor awakens her elemental powers during a brutal Shadow Force attack, she’s named the a prophesied wielder of all four elements. But power alone isn’t enough—not in a realm where dragons refuse to bond, the magical wards are crumbling, and an ancient force stirs beneath the surface. Training under Thane Caelum, the realm’s war-hardened Warlord, Amara discovers a bond that defies history—and truths that could fracture the world once more. The only way forward might cost her everything…including him.
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Elemental Awakening isn’t for everyone.
The prose is lyrical. The pacing lingers. I slow the story intentionally to explore interiority, grief, longing, and choice. Some moments unfold quietly, inside the characters’ minds.
The story is told in first person, and at times reads like a stream of consciousness—short sentences, fragments, single-word beats. The reader doesn’t observe Amara or Thane from a distance. You live inside them.
If you prefer fast-paced, plot-driven fantasy with minimal introspection, this book may not be for you.
But if you love emotionally immersive fantasy—where feeling matters as much as action—you may find yourself at home here.

Julie’s Review:

So when you read the blurb it’s straight up warning us the book is slow, where the pacing lingers. Where if we prefer plot-driven fantasy, this book might not be right for us. Well, it’s true.

The audio narration was absolutely fabulous. I mean we already are all obsessed with Gabriel Michael but this female voice was new to me and I absolutely loved her. I need to hear more audiobooks narrated by Jessica Threet. Her voice was so emotional, and so relatable. I felt the anxiety, the “I’m not good enough” or “I don’t deserve this” anguish. I felt the confusion, the indecisiveness. 5 dragons for the audio, that saved the book for me. Most of which I listened to at 1.7 or 2 speed. But kept slowing down to enjoy the voices. And kept speeding up to get past that third of the book that was a training montage.

Pacing – not just slow, not just lingering, but it felt like slogging through a knee-depth swamp in circles with little to show for it. There’s lyrical and immersive world building done right – for example see: Shield of Sparrows, and then there’s the type of slow I dislike, that draws on and on without enough payoff to warrant it. But seriously a third of the book was training, and not like in a academia setting where there are classes and in between classes there are other things going on. It just felt endless for hours. Another for the pacing, it’s not quite alternate POV. We are mostly in Amara’s head but every now and then we get a Thane chapter that kind of interrupts the flow because it’s not a pattern of back and forth narration.

Main Character – Amara is the girl of prophesy and is of course a bit reluctant. Her choices were taken from her, but she is given the chance to decide to go forward with this or run away. I mean, there isn’t much of a choice because where would she go otherwise with what happened and how her powers came out. When given the ultimate choice to trust and open herself up, she must decide if she will jump into it with an open heart or will she hesitate. But she is so powerful, and as she accepts and completely embraces her new life, she can do some amazing things. By the end of the book she has shown some amazing capabilities.

Romance – The “I can’t have this” and “No one can know my secret” and “was this even up to me” and eventually the “F-it”. It was all there. The moment they finally kiss, the magics (yes plural – why is magics plural?) uniting and exploding when they hook up. The third act breakup for reasons of secrets again was infuriating. The formula was all there. Thane’s character, the warlord warrior stoic man, softening for her, was sweet and exactly what we had all been waiting for. And of course Thane’s chapters are enjoyable with the audio.

Writing – see what I did there for the pacing? The double negative followed by the actual sentence? Most of the writing was like that. It was creative and elegant at first, but then the repetitiveness of it got gratey on the nervesy.  It gets very obvious after so many times of not just once in a while, not maybe twice, but sometimes several of these patterns in a few minutes of time. Also how many stars do I take off for multiple events of letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding? Peeve of mine.

But I’m not saying I disliked it. I did enjoy the overall story, the few secrets finally shared with trusted allies. The exploration of choice vs fate – I very much appreciated that plot line because I super struggle with fated mates and the lack of choice. Can you choose your fate or are you just stuck with destiny? I enjoy the themes of this is how we have always known it to be and what if all we were taught is wrong.  What if secret curses and bloodlines are actually more than an enemy?  I loved the dragon (don’t we just love dragons) bond and the pull between that bond. I loved the banter and the friendships and found family. The teacher/mentor/archivist reminds me of Giles. Maybe the second book picks up the pace? But I don’t know if I am in a hurry to read it/listen to it.

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Lynn’s Review:

I’ve been thinking about this review for a few days. And I still don’t know how I feel about this book. Meh to OK? It’s not that I disliked it or even liked it. I don’t care enough either way to form an opinion. Here’s my main takeaway. It’s long. Stupid long. And with a 28-hour audio, I need something to keep my attention. With nothing but training montage and longing looks between the main characters for 20 hours, that was not it? If I were to recommend this, I’d skip ahead to chapter 16 and only bother with the last 8 hours. You’d get the majority of the story without the hours of Amara developing her powers and learning to fight. Let’s break it down, shall we:

Narration: The narration saved this book for me. Honestly, I don’t know that I would have made it through most of the book if I were reading it. Both narrators do an extraordinary job. The characters have distinct voices and are easy to follow. Even sped up to 1.5x, I had no issues following along. We all know and already love Gabriel Michael’s narration. Let’s gush about Jessica Threet. Jessica really captured Amara’s voice, her anxiety and over-thinking, her lack of confidence in her skills, and even her excitement at meeting her dragon. Amazing job!

Romance: The majority of the novel is told from Amara’s POV, but some chapters slotted in from Thane’s POV. The story follows Amara and Thane working and training together. With both subtly longing for the other. It wasn’t until the Thane’s Fuck It moment that I really started to believe the relationship within the novel. Slow burn for sure. But, once the relationship kicks off, we can see how Amara and Thane support each other, and will continue to do so in the future. 

Plot \ Story \ Writing: Long. SOOOOO. LOONG. A bit of a combo between Avatar (the airbender one, not the blue alien one) and Fourth Wing. But more influenced by and original than a duplicate of either. I’m not sure I needed 5+ hours of training montage? I enjoyed the secondary characters and would probably enjoy their POV’s, especially Lyra. But, once we get through to the other side of the training montages, the book does show some promise. Secrets are revealed. There are dragons! There is some arial dragon fighting. Even some actual kissing and sexy times.  

*Trigger alert for anyone who’s eye twitches when characters release a breath they didn’t know they were holding. 

Overall impressions: Ok? Great audio narration. But really long. And not a lot of plot/action. If you are looking for a plot to keep the story moving, this isn’t the place for you. 5 stars for the narration. 3 stars for the book. 

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