Review: Wake by Amanda Hocking

Wake (Watersong, #1)

Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone's attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs. She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back. Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever. She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove. They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price. And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

Despite kind of enjoying Switched a year or so back, I haven't ever really felt the urge to pick up any of hocking's books. They all seem really cool and the hype is awesome, but none of them really strike me as gripping or original so I've kind of stayed away from them. However, I was offered Wake and Lullaby for review from the UK publishers and I though 'well, why not give it a try?'.

I may just start buying into the Amanda Hocking hype now. Okay, so Wake wasn't ground-breakingly original and I didn't totally love it. I did really enjoy it though, and there were definitely parts where I just couldn't put it down. My favorite parts of this book were the parts with Harper in, despite the fact that she's so straight-laced and I really didn't like her to start with she really grew on me, and her interactions with boat man Daniel, who is like her polar opposite, really grabbed me. I didn't really find that much chemistry between Gemma and Alex, who are meant to be the 'main' couple, because neither character seemed fleshed out. Gemma is the risk-taker and a little more stupid than Harper but that's most of the personality we see from her, and Alex just seemed to be there as a prop - a reason for Gemma to feel tied to her home and not want to live with the sirens.

The atmosphere in this book is what really gripped me. Small, touristy island with creepy killings happening is creepy enough, but Penn, Thea and Lexi take the creepiness up a new level - they were terrifying, like a mixture between the unapproachable, popular girls at school and the creepy monsters that I guess they kind of are. I didn't think there was anything outstanding about Hocking's writing, but the pace was always fast and the action scenes at the end were especially gripping.

This book would be recieving a much higher rating if I'd like Gemma and Alex a lot more, but I am going to read the rest of this series because I am gripped by the story and I want more of Harper and Daniel. If Lullaby is even a little bit better than Wake, Amanda Hocking will have a new fan.



Book released September 2012 by PanMacmillan (UK)
Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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