Wake

Title: Wake

Author: Amanda Hocking

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Publish Date:  7 August 2012

Pages: 309

ISBN:  978-1-250-00812-1

Source:  ARE from publisher

Genre:  YA, mythology, paranormal

Series:  Watersong

Other books in series:  Lullaby (Winter 2013), Tidal (2013), Elegy (tbd)

Rating: Really liked

Beautiful.  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, Thea and Lexi have caught everyone’s attention, including the eye of practical Harper.  But it’s her sister, Gemma, 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.

Gemma was a sixteen year old who loved to swim.  She loved going on her “night swims” at the bay and also practiced for the swim team all year long.  Her dream was to go to the Olympics.  Her world wasn’t perfect, but it was doable until the three strange girls appeared in town one summer.  When Harper, her older sister, and she first spot them, they know that something is off and they do as much as they can to avoid them.  Penn, Thea and Lexi however, have different plans.

This summer has been a little different for Gemma.  She is starting to fall for their neighbor and Harper’s best friend, Alex.  Alex has changed recently, according to Gemma, even though he is still the self-proclaimed geek.  After swimming at the bay one night, she agrees to party with the three girls.  When their father, Brian, realizes she hadn’t come home that night, this sends Harper into a panic. 

This behavior isn’t like Gemma.  She is said to push the rules, but she always abides by curfew.  Harper enlists the help of Daniel, a “friend” who lives on the bay, to help her find Gemma.  It is after they find her, that things begins to change.  What is going on with Gemma?  What do the three girls have to do with it?

When I first heard that Amanda Hocking was writing a new series, I was immediately interested because I have loved her other series.   When I found out it was about mermaids (and I use that term loosely), I was a little discouraged because up to date, I have yet to find a book that I liked about them.  They just haven’t interested me.  I’m glad that I gave this book a chance though, because I really liked it.  I love Hocking’s writing style.  I love the mythology twist.

I like that it isn’t your typical storyline.  I know I use that term a lot and that “normal” is constantly changing, but there are aspects of stories that usually don’t change.  This story was different than those.  Yes, it had a little bit of a love story in there, but that wasn’t the main focus.  There were some twists and turns in there that were unexpected also.  I did not like the ending.  Let me rephrase that.  I liked how the ending was written; I didn’t like what happened in the ending and cannot wait until Lullaby comes out in Winter of 2013.   (That seems like a long wait, but I’m hoping they mean early 2013 and not late 2013.)

You can click here to read an excerpt of this book.  This link was taken from Amanda Hocking's blog.