Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Wake Up

Top positive review

Poignant, Powerful, and Full of Hope

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2017

This book is poignant, powerful, and full of hope! I read an ARC of this novel which is about the relationship between, Alden, a forty year old cattle rancher, and Milo, an abused boy who carries with him a truckload of emotional baggage. The rancher has become highly sensitive to the emotional and physical pain of others. His sensitivity includes animals which makes it difficult for him to continue to raise beef cattle. Alden is very tuned into the young boy, and must find a way to reach and build trust in this child, as he hopes to marry the boy’s mother. This book will challenge the reader as it is sometimes difficult to witness what happens, but it is oh, so very worth it. There are powerful messages in this book and it is an awesome story!

63 people found this helpful

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Loves Dogs

I purchased this because I liked the idea of a person being able to feel ...

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2018

I purchased this because I liked the idea of a person being able to feel what others feel including animals. It does do this, but unfortunately, in accomplishing this, it describes some animal torture that I found pretty disturbing. There isn't a whole lot of this, but enough to certainly turn me off. This should be mentioned in the review, since many people are animal supporters and animal lovers. Anyway, I thought the book was just okay. The story was pretty predictable and I was anxious to finish it and move on.

108 people found this helpful

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Jan Crossen

Poignant, Powerful, and Full of Hope

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2017

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63 people found this helpful

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Loves Dogs

I purchased this because I liked the idea of a person being able to feel ...

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2018

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108 people found this helpful

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GTeller

Exemplary!

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2017

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This is a wonderful story!

As with many of this author's books, her characters are flawed and sometimes broken and hurting. And, as with many of her books, animals are a large part of the redemption that the characters realize.

Aiden and Milo are more alike than either could or would recognize. The threads that run through both of them are identical in many ways. They were both the subjects of a childhood that neither wanted nor could control, but one that shaped them, broke them and left them for others to pick up the pieces. And, as the tiles in a mosaic, they were ripe to become more beautiful works of art.

I dove into this story and rarely came up for air. The settings and the people in this book became my surroundings, so vivid and real were they! Moments of sorrow were replaced with hours of joy. This author tells a story like few others can. As long as she writes, I will read.

One person found this helpful

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lblackert

Another great CRH book

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2022

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Every book by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a winner. Every one touches my heart in some way, making me see something about myself. She creates characters one can empathize with, and in this book that character is an empath. As one who experiences deep empathy for animals, I loved this book. And I learned important truths about human relationships, too. Highly recommend!

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stantonwok

Breathless

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2018

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Once again Me. Ryan Hyde leaves me breathless.
I loved every single one of her characters, even the bad ones. And when I say bad ones I don't mean there were bad characters, just bad people.
She certainly knows and understands feelings. OMG, how many times have I had a dejavu moment when some lost memory from childhood hits me
Like a ton of bricks and makes me wonder whether it really happened or I dreamed it! Her stories are so filled with those life moments tthat real people
Experience all the time, but don't talk about. It validates feelings we don't even know we have, because they are so negative in nature we don't want to
Own them.
I LOVED Aiden. And Milo. Milo reminded me of my brother. I always look forward to books for Ms. Ryan Hyde. I sincerely wish her the best. And may her
Words never, ever dry up.

One person found this helpful

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teachlz

Importance of Family and Friends

Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2017

Verified Purchase

Strongly
What an amazing and thoughtful story, "The Wake Up" by Catherine Ryan Hyde is. I loved everything about it. Catherine Ryan Hyde is a wonderful storyteller and weaves her details, descriptions and characters together for a wonderful reading experience.

The genre for this story is Fiction. The story is told in the present tense and goes back to the past when it is relevant to the characters and events.

The author describes her characters as complex and complicated. Aiden Delacorte, is a 40-year-old rancher, who suddenly has what he calls a "wake up" during a deer hunt. Aiden is very away of the animals around him and their feelings. He no longer can hunt and he starts to recall that he was a sensitive child growing up. He could not step on ants, for fear of hurting them. As an adult, until this wake up, Aiden hadn't felt anything. Now Aiden is extremely sensitive and empathetic mostly to animals. Aiden's neighbors look at this as a weakness, and wonder what is wrong.

Aiden has a new girlfriend, Gwen, with two children. Gwen's young son, Milo, is an angry and rebellious child, after growing up in a home with an abusive father. Somehow Aiden starts to relate and feel Milo's feelings and understands his acting out. Will Aiden be able to help Milo and himself?

I appreciate the way Catherine Ryan Hyde discusses important issues such as emotional and sexual abuse, self acceptance and worth, and the benefit of psychological counseling. The author also shows the importance of family, friends, support, encouragement, love hope and faith, learning and growth.

Some of my favorite scenes are on the ranch with the horses, cows and other animals. I also liked the interaction with Aiden and Gwen's children. I would highly recommend this for readers of fiction. I would like to thank Catherine Ryan Hyde, NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an Advanced Reading Copy for my honest review.

31 people found this helpful

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Nancy Vincent Zinke

Touching and tender story.

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2018

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I love how Catherine continues to grow as a writer. This one is more psychologically complex than any of her others, as far as I remember. I started and finished it in one day, because as usual, it was hard to put down. I know, starting out, that Catherine will take me to places I've not been before, and I wasn't disappointed in that with this book, either. I learned about human empathy to and from animals, and more about empathy between people than I previously knew. For instance, "empaths" can sense the feelings of someone they don't necessarily like. And this: a profound transformation can happen suddenly and without warning, just as it can happen over time. This story brought me to tears in unexpected places, like the tenderness shared between a child, an adult, and a newborn foal. It made me feel both frightened and hopeful for the outcome of new relationships between adults and between children and adults. Like all good books, it will not soon leave me. My world feels richer because of this book.

29 people found this helpful

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klderosier

Another great one for Catherine Ryan Hyde

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2021

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I really loved this book. I don’t think I’ve read one by Catherine Ryan Hyde that I haven’t loved. The empathy that Aiden feels is powerful and not something he wants, but it is the key to so much. Milo is a deeply troubled boy, but how can Aiden help him? You will become engrossed in the characters’ stories and will be rooting for a happy ending, but not sure how much of one you’ll get. I would definitely recommend this book.

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Dutchess Abroad

Empathic Rancher Wins Heart of Abused Stepchild

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2018

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Switching back and forth between Kindle and Audible I finally stuck to the audio version, adding extra walks to finish listening. Nick Podehl's narration is flawless, no small feat with such a large cast of characters. Catherine Ryan Hyde's story as usual compelling socially relevant, and well written. The conflict between cattle ranchers and the empath is well laid out and totally believable. The introduction of a psycho therapist thanks to whom the main character's sudden "Wake Up" is smart. Given the threat made by the local chief of Police the rancher's willingness to see a shrink is believable. This book will appeal to lovers of horses and horseback riders, as well as those interested in the psychology of post abuse family fiction. One of the many plus points of this author's oeuvre is that she always manages to give the reader hope that there is possibility of change from dire to better.

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Esther Hopper

Beautiful exploration at soul level

Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2019

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I didn't so much read this book as that I lived it deeply. I recognized my own daughter (my best friend) in many of the emotional upheavals of an empath. It is a great gift and at the same time a great burden to be able to feel the pain of animals and others.
My only criticism is that in my daily experience I seldom meet people who are able to analyze, express and act on emotional relations with such clarity, and it would be rare indeed to find a psychiatrist so gifted as Hannah. But I am grateful to the author for taking me to a world where they do. I did a lot of soul searching on the journey!

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