Awakened

The page-turning, spiritual and captivating debut novel

By: Kelechi Okafor

Narrated by: Kelechi Okafor

A hidden power. A sinister force. A mystery she can't ignore.

In a near-future London where technology affects everything from our bodies to our politics, journalist Pels Badmus wants to make a real difference. She's desperate to solve a spate of disappearances of young Black kids-including her friend's brother. But her boss doesn't want to hear it. Instead, he assigns her to cover the "unreasonable" protests thousands of miles away in Benin, against culturally oblivious tourists travelling to partake in sacred Spirit Vine rituals.

Pels soon finds herself in West Africa, ignoring her boss's motives in assigning her to this piece and hoping to use it as leverage later. She's also trying to ignore the strange, ethereal dreams she's been having...

However, when Pels takes the Spirit Vine herself, she experiences something mind-boggling. Something that points to an unfulfilled destiny that could change the course of her life. But first she must return home and confront an otherworldly conspiracy related to the missing children.

Because she may just be the only one able to stop it.

A bold imagining of our future through the lens of ancient spirituality, Awakened is a page-turning fable about a Black woman coming into her power, perfect for fans of N.K Jemisin and Netflix's Supacell.©2025 Kelechi Okafor

Critic reviews

a dazzling dystopian fantasy novel