Review: Awake at Dawn by C.C. Hunter

Published Date: October 11th, 2011
Finished Date: January 9th, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400
Series: Shadow Falls #2
My Rating: 4/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
Now that she’s settled in at Shadow Falls Camp, Kylie Galen’s determined to discover the extent of her supernatural abilities. But with a ghost insisting someone Kylie loves is about die, a rogue vampire on a murdering rampage, and her sixth sense telling her someone is watching her, Kylie’s quest for answers is quickly put on hold.

To make matters worse, just when she’s about to give her heart to Derek, a half-fairy, he starts pulling away. When Lucas, a werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past, returns, Kylie’s feels more conflicted than ever. Her weekend with her mom should have been the just the break Kylie needs, but it turns out to be her breaking point. Someone from the dark side of the supernatural world has plans for Kylie--and it'll take all her resources to get back to Shadow Falls alive...

My Review

I've been putting off reading AWAKE AT DAWN for quite some time cause I didn't have an urge to start on it. That said, I thought it was not bad, higher than average with lots of good fun. Fun in the romance sense, friends-together fun sense, and lots of plot surprises sense.

My Brief Summary
Kylie Galen is back at Shadow Falls,  with her best friends, Miranda (witch) and Della (vampire), and boyfriend-in-all-but-name, Derek (faery). She's back to where she belongs, but the one big question and mission of her life is still the one constant burden in her heart - what is she? She's still finding for answers, but the ghost that continuously comes to her at dawn dressed in a gown dripping blood who keeps repeating, "You have to stop it, Kylie. You have to. Or this will happen to someone you love." and nothing more isn't helping, and she's been developing some new powers of late that appears to points to her being a vampire, then a wolf, then a faery. And on top of her shit pile, Derek is starting to pull away from her. And then on top of the top of her shit pile, Lucas is back and her feelings are once again in a mess.

Great. And when Kylie was starting to deal with her problems, there's the other issue of a wolf and vampire stalking her, and two random normals were found dead minutes after meeting Kylie.
End of Summary

AWAKE AT DAWN has a very rich content, and many plot surprises. That's one of the things that's best about it. Not taking into account the delicious moments Kylie and Derek had together, but you get what I mean.

Derek took centre stage for this book. I didn't believe it when I read in other reviews how other readers were bought over to Team Derek in AaD, and I strongly believed that I will never sway from Team Lucas. But boy, was I wrong. Derek really won me over too! He was awesome! Cool, suave, hot, understanding. But it was after that when he started pulling away that made me like him a little less. I understand why he wanted distance - which is because of Lucas' return and because Kylie kept feeling guilty about thinking of Lucas and since Derek is a faery and can read emotions, he'd know when she does think of Lucas - but shouldn't he fight harder for her? Why surrender when the war's just started?

Lucas acted more of the infatuated friend when he was back cause Kylie will only accept him as a friend. But boy, was Lucas' reason to leave Shadow Falls cool! And very unexpected. I've been wondering what would constitute as an excusable reason for Lucas to elope with Fredricka (ok fine, elope is too strong a word, but he did run away with Fredricka), and wow, I forgave Lucas the moment he spilled the beans. Good one, C.C.! My love for Lucas has not diminished one bit.:P

Anyway, I thought that the rogue vampire in here was COOL! Everything's so unexpected and twisted that I can't even guess what's going to happen next! But, the reason why I took one star away was because it was a little monotonous for the most part of the front of the book. The hype did rise a few times, but they were more like tiny spikes of anxious moments. There was a climax at the end - a good one at that, mind you - but it was so short! Good, thrilling, suspenseful, action-packed, good Lucas-Kylie moments (oops, did I just spoil that for you?:/) climax, but too short! I want moreeeee!:( Haha. Especially that Lucas-Kylie part.

I wonder how many times I mentioned the word "cool" in this review... So you see, this book is a great sequel to a fantastic start. Even though I read this book in three or four sittings, it didn't disappoint, and I am eagerly awaiting TAKEN AT DUSK, book 3 in the Shadow Falls series.

My Rating