114. The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
Darkest Powers, Book Two

Pages: 360
Ages: 14+
Finished: June 23, 2009
First Published: Apr. 28, 2009
Genre: YA, paranormal, fantasy
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

When the door to my cell clicked open, the first thought that flitted through my doped-up brain was that Liz had changed her mind and come back.

Reason for Reading: Next in the series. I received a review copy from the publisher.

Comments: The story picks up shortly after Book One and without giving much away, I'll say this book's main focus is that of the teens being on the run. While all six teens are still in this book, only five of them are a part of the story and if you've read Book One it may not be the five your thinking of. As all the teens take part in the plot, two of them in particular become the main characters and the undercurrents of a romance are felt boiling beneath the surface.

As often happens with the second book in a trilogy, The Awakening does have a feeling of being the middle part, filler if you will, awaiting the big climax of Book Three. Oh, I still enjoyed it, very much in fact, but the plot just doesn't advance very much. Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of exciting, tense, and unexpected moments and a couple of reveals along the way. What this book does do though is show a lot of character development. We learn a lot of previously unknown information (secrets even) about each teen and we also get to know each one much more closer. All of the supernaturals, as they call themselves, have personalities which are made up of both likeable and unlikable characteristics making them real people to connect with.

While the plot only slightly advances we do learn a lot of the background of the story, how and why the teens have their powers, and who is after them and why, plus information on their own personal backgrounds. This compiled with the Book One leaves the reader very anxious for the big showdown in Book Three. Having been hit with a cliffhanger ending in The Summoning (which I don't like), I am happy to say that The Awakening leaves us with a more finite, however brief it may be, ending.

Kelley Armstrong is my new found favourite author and I'll be going back and starting her adult series for sure now.

And here's the cool book trailer!



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