Title: Awake at Dawn
Author: C.C. Hunter
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: October 11, 2011
Pages: 383 pages (paperback)
How I Got the Book: Bought it.
Purchase: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Book Depository
From the moment Kylie Galen arrived at Shadow Falls Camp, she's had one burning question: What am I? Surrounded by vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, fairies, and witches, Kylie longs to figure out her own supernatural identity... and what her burgeoning powers mean. And now she'll need them more than ever, because she's being haunted by a new spirit who insists that someone Kylie knows--and loves--will die before the end of the summer. If only she knew who she was supposed to save. And how.
But giving Kylie the most trouble is her aching heart. Gorgeous werewolf Lucas left camp with another girl, but he's still visiting Kylie in her dreams. And Derek, a sexy half Fae who's always been there for her when she needed him, is pushing her to get more serious--and growing impatient, especially when Lucas returns. Kylie knows she needs to decide between the boys, and it's tearing her up inside.
Yet romance will have to wait, because something from the dark side of the supernatural world is in hiding in Shadow Falls. It's about to threaten everything Kylie holds dear... and bring her closer to her destiny.
Upon starting Awake at Dawn, I begged it to not to be as bad as Born at Midnight was. My feelings about Born at Midnight can hardly be spoken of. Because I am being punished, it ended up being just as bad as the first book. The few improvements made are not enough to make it any less offensive. I apologize for the long review ahead of time, but there was a lot of stuff I needed to discuss.
In some ways, Awake at Dawn was an improvement on its disastrous series starter. The slut shaming that so deeply permeated Born at Midnight was noticeably absent and I was happy to see it gone, let me tell you (but I would have been happier if the whole "mean girl love rival" trope went with it). Where I had two and a half pages of notebook paper filled, front and back, with notes and rants about Born at Midnight, my notes/rants for this book barely topped one and a half.
The two books share numerous flaws and end up more similar in those respects. A plot is still nowhere to be found; most of it is romance drama and girls talking about their boobs. I wish that were an exaggeration. Juvenile, faintly condescending writing made it hard to read for long stretches of time because all the freakin's, friggin's, and oh crappers did the riverdance on my last nerve while wearing cleats. Quotes like
Kylie is still an unbearable, judgmental brat the novel tries to characterize as an angel in need of devoted followers when she's more akin to a demon. (That was actually my guess at her supernatural identity at one point, but I changed my mind. More on that later.) She can't pay attention for her life, she's disrespectful to her friends, and she doesn't know how to take her own medicine like a big girl. Her double standards about how she can friendzone and avoid someone but they can't do the same to her can go in the trash can over there.
Then comes the point where Kylie and her roommates notice that Kylie, a sixteen-year-old girl, has gone up a cup size, gained half a shoe size, and grown an inch taller seemingly overnight. What do they think is the cause? Magic! Puberty? What's that? They never even bring it up. The growth of a sixteen-year-old girl's body can only be contributed to supernatural magic.
This is the exact point at which I cracked. Completely lost it, really. I put the book down and started laughing in the way you only hear from broken people.
Is there no sex education in this fictional Texas? Did Kylie not have to sit through the puberty and sex education videos in fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades the way I had to? I can't believe the idea of puberty making her grow wouldn't occur to her even once. Thanks to this, all arguments about Kylie being an intelligent life form will forever be rendered null and void.
And for some reason, these girls are all obsessed with Holiday's love/sex life. They do not know how she feels about Burnett and they do not get to decide how she feels about him, nor do they get a say in whether or not she has sex with him or needs to. It's her business and these brats can get their noses out of it. I have miniature rants in my notebook stemming from this situation alone, and it gets even longer if you add in the Miranda/Perry/Kevin dramarama. That their meddling and Kylie's repulsive behavior are consistently justified by the narrative drove me up the wall.
So Kylie: what is she? My original guess was that she was a demon, seeing as that would explain why she is such a terrible person. As I read further into the novel, I changed my mind. She is either
A) A chimera-thing created with the intent to kill everyone, or
B) A clone of Anita Blake thrown into Texas so they and similar Mary Sues could take over the fictional world. So what if Kylie is a blonde teenager? That's just to throw off suspicions.
And her love interests the book spends most of its time on? I don't like either of them. Derek lost me with his pervertedness and his sweat that "smelled a little like sunshine (118)". Sunshine doesn't have a scent to begin with and no boy is going to smell good when sweaty unless perfume in involved. Lucas is turning into the epitome of the creepy Nice Guy, the one who befriends a girl and tries to make her feel like she owes him for being such a nice guy to her. That's all I have to say about that. For a book that is ninety-seven percent romance, three percent other, I have surprisingly little to say about the central romance.
Taken at Dusk is in my possession and I'll be reading it too just because I managed to get a copy, but I need something good and fluffy first. One of these days, my own nature is going to be my downfall.
0 stars!
What am I reading next?: Forgiven by Jana Oliver
Author: C.C. Hunter
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: October 11, 2011
Pages: 383 pages (paperback)
How I Got the Book: Bought it.
Purchase: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Book Depository
But giving Kylie the most trouble is her aching heart. Gorgeous werewolf Lucas left camp with another girl, but he's still visiting Kylie in her dreams. And Derek, a sexy half Fae who's always been there for her when she needed him, is pushing her to get more serious--and growing impatient, especially when Lucas returns. Kylie knows she needs to decide between the boys, and it's tearing her up inside.
Yet romance will have to wait, because something from the dark side of the supernatural world is in hiding in Shadow Falls. It's about to threaten everything Kylie holds dear... and bring her closer to her destiny.
Review:
Upon starting Awake at Dawn, I begged it to not to be as bad as Born at Midnight was. My feelings about Born at Midnight can hardly be spoken of. Because I am being punished, it ended up being just as bad as the first book. The few improvements made are not enough to make it any less offensive. I apologize for the long review ahead of time, but there was a lot of stuff I needed to discuss.
In some ways, Awake at Dawn was an improvement on its disastrous series starter. The slut shaming that so deeply permeated Born at Midnight was noticeably absent and I was happy to see it gone, let me tell you (but I would have been happier if the whole "mean girl love rival" trope went with it). Where I had two and a half pages of notebook paper filled, front and back, with notes and rants about Born at Midnight, my notes/rants for this book barely topped one and a half.
The two books share numerous flaws and end up more similar in those respects. A plot is still nowhere to be found; most of it is romance drama and girls talking about their boobs. I wish that were an exaggeration. Juvenile, faintly condescending writing made it hard to read for long stretches of time because all the freakin's, friggin's, and oh crappers did the riverdance on my last nerve while wearing cleats. Quotes like
"Anything?" Kylie asked, not wanting to be the odd duck anymore.
"No. You're still tight as a drum. Any luck reading anyone?"
"No. Maybe I'm a supernatural retard." (52)and
"Kylie stormed into Holiday's office. She dropped down in the seat across from the desk and looked her friend and camp leader right in the eyes. "I hate boys. I'm seriously considered going lesbian." (126)perpetuate ugly stereotypes at best and are blatantly offensive at worst. Don't even get me started on the unfortunate implications of giving cancer to a girl who got unfairly maligned for much of the last book just because she had sex and had a pregnancy crisis.
Kylie is still an unbearable, judgmental brat the novel tries to characterize as an angel in need of devoted followers when she's more akin to a demon. (That was actually my guess at her supernatural identity at one point, but I changed my mind. More on that later.) She can't pay attention for her life, she's disrespectful to her friends, and she doesn't know how to take her own medicine like a big girl. Her double standards about how she can friendzone and avoid someone but they can't do the same to her can go in the trash can over there.
Then comes the point where Kylie and her roommates notice that Kylie, a sixteen-year-old girl, has gone up a cup size, gained half a shoe size, and grown an inch taller seemingly overnight. What do they think is the cause? Magic! Puberty? What's that? They never even bring it up. The growth of a sixteen-year-old girl's body can only be contributed to supernatural magic.
This is the exact point at which I cracked. Completely lost it, really. I put the book down and started laughing in the way you only hear from broken people.
Is there no sex education in this fictional Texas? Did Kylie not have to sit through the puberty and sex education videos in fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades the way I had to? I can't believe the idea of puberty making her grow wouldn't occur to her even once. Thanks to this, all arguments about Kylie being an intelligent life form will forever be rendered null and void.
And for some reason, these girls are all obsessed with Holiday's love/sex life. They do not know how she feels about Burnett and they do not get to decide how she feels about him, nor do they get a say in whether or not she has sex with him or needs to. It's her business and these brats can get their noses out of it. I have miniature rants in my notebook stemming from this situation alone, and it gets even longer if you add in the Miranda/Perry/Kevin dramarama. That their meddling and Kylie's repulsive behavior are consistently justified by the narrative drove me up the wall.
So Kylie: what is she? My original guess was that she was a demon, seeing as that would explain why she is such a terrible person. As I read further into the novel, I changed my mind. She is either
A) A chimera-thing created with the intent to kill everyone, or
B) A clone of Anita Blake thrown into Texas so they and similar Mary Sues could take over the fictional world. So what if Kylie is a blonde teenager? That's just to throw off suspicions.
And her love interests the book spends most of its time on? I don't like either of them. Derek lost me with his pervertedness and his sweat that "smelled a little like sunshine (118)". Sunshine doesn't have a scent to begin with and no boy is going to smell good when sweaty unless perfume in involved. Lucas is turning into the epitome of the creepy Nice Guy, the one who befriends a girl and tries to make her feel like she owes him for being such a nice guy to her. That's all I have to say about that. For a book that is ninety-seven percent romance, three percent other, I have surprisingly little to say about the central romance.
Taken at Dusk is in my possession and I'll be reading it too just because I managed to get a copy, but I need something good and fluffy first. One of these days, my own nature is going to be my downfall.
0 stars!
What am I reading next?: Forgiven by Jana Oliver
