Mara is not your average student. She has powers, she's one of the Awakened. But in a world where the rest of mankind doesn't understand or accept people like her, Mara chooses to conceal her abilities, protecting herself from those who might harm her. It doesn’t help her today though. When Mara's school is attacked by anti-Awakened radicals determined to eradicate people like her from existence, Mara finds herself caught up in the chaos and forced to decide whether she will ignore her Awakened identity or embrace it. The Awakening is a short story teaser/prequel to the post-apocalyptic fantasy series The Awakened.

Fans of The Young Elites and Year One will devour this diverse, post-apocalyptic, paranormal series. People called Sean a blood guide, though he never fully understood why. As far as he knew, he could hear heartbeats and heal people. It wasn’t until he walked in on his brother’s brutal murder that he learned of the darker nature of his power: blood speaks to him, and he to it. With a simple song, he can command it to do whatever he wants, and in that moment, he showed his brother’s murderers no mercy. Now Sean must fight to keep his inner demons in check and his path to redemption begins with the establishment of a sanctuary for people like him, people with powers, the Awakened. Two years after the Awakening, after the wars that destroyed entire societies and brought about "the end of the world," Graciela and her brother Santiago are struggling to survive. Graciela is one of many who never Awakened, but she’s watched as her brother’s power as an empath—the ability to sense other’s emotions—has brought him to the brink of death. Together, they set across Central America in search of a cure, or at the very least, safety in a crumbling, dangerous world. What they find is a sanctuary called Hope, the same one Sean governs. But they soon discover that even from within the compounds of the sanctuary, no one is safe. Not when there are people in the world with unimaginable power and an insatiable bloodlust. Important note for readers: This book is "new adult" fantasy, with moderate violence, and one or two mild curse words, but otherwise appropriate for mature teenagers and older. There is no sex or drugs in this book.

In a post-apocalyptic world… Filled with unimaginable powers… Four young heroes might be all that stands between good and evil.​ Two years ago, the world ended. In the years that followed, a bloodthirsty gang tore through the survivors, unchecked and all-powerful. Until Sean and Graciela stopped them. Now, a month after defeating the Sanguinatores, this group of heroes learns of the new dangers that threaten them: An illness running rampant through Hope, targeting only the children, A stranger resurfacing at the worst time, And as Mara confronts the dark past she left behind in Italy, Sean and the others discover she might be walking straight into danger. Will these four be able to protect each other, let alone the sanctuary they've come to love? In the second installment of The Awakened Quartet, our beloved characters grapple with honesty, loyalty, and ethics, as they continue to navigate the apocalyptic world and cope with the truths they uncover. Though they are scattered across continents, never before have their paths been more intertwined. Puppets Dream is the second book in this diverse supernatural post-apocalyptic adventure series. Readers who loved stories like The X-Men, The Walking Dead, Year One, The Young Elites, or Shatter Me, will devour Jessaca Willis' debut super-powered novel.