Fall under the spell of Wake—the first book in an achingly beautiful new series by celebrated author Amanda Hocking—and lose yourself to the Watersong.
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.
My review:
*on a side note* Sorry that I haven't blogged this week! We lost Internet connection for several days, then I was busy catching up in schoolwork. :( Anyway, here's the review!
Honestly, I don't really have any love/hate feelings about Wake. It was all just kind of "meh" to me. It was predictable and nothing that happened in the story was really shocking or surprising to me. Mermaid/siren stories can be hard to pull off, but I still wish that Wake had been a little more original.
One part that I did enjoy was when the sirens (Penn, Lexi, and Thea) explain the mythology behind their existence. That was different and pretty interesting. I really like how that was explained. But aside from that, I felt that the plot was rather dull. I could guess what was going to happen.
The story doesn't even feel like it starts until about a third or halfway through, when Gemma finally starts changing into a siren. And there isn't much action until the end. It makes it feel as if Wake was just setting up the story and world, and perhaps there will be more action in the sequel?
The characters are nice enough. I admired the bond between sisters Harper and Gemma; it was done very realistically. The summary doesn't tell you that part of the book is from Harper's POV, and I liked that a lot. I liked that Alex (Gemma's love interest) was so geeky; it made their relationship really sweet. Same with Harper - she's falling in love with a guy named Daniel, but she doesn't want to date him because she's going to college soon. Both of the love stories in the book were well done.
Yet, I wish we knew more about the characters. When I finished the book, I felt like all I knew about Gemma was that she loved swimming, loved her family, and that was it. She didn't stand out as to me as a heroine (like Katniss from Hunger Games, or Tris from Divergent, etc.). I'm hoping that as the series continues, the characters and the storyline will develop more.
Wake was a fairly fast read and I did enjoy it. If you've never read many mermaid/siren books before, I'd recommend you give Wake a try. I'm looking forward to the next one!
My rating: 5 out of 10
~ The Bookworm
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