Wake (Watersong #1)
Author: Amanda Hocking
Expected Release Date: Aug 7, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Description:
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.
Sixteen-year-old Gemma seems to have it
all – carefree, pretty, and falling in love with the boy next door. But
her greatest passion has always been the water. She craves late night
swims under the stars, where she can be alone yet belong to the sea.
Lately she’s had company. Penn, Thea, and Lexi spend their nights
dancing, singing, and partying on the cove–and one night Gemma joins
them. When she wakes up groggy on the beach the next morning, she knows
something has changed.
Suddenly Gemma is stronger,
faster, and more beautiful than ever. As she uncovers the truth about
her new mythical powers, Gemma is forced to choose between staying with
those she loves or entering a dark world brimming with unimaginable
secrets.
“What was that?” Gemma asked, her words already coming out in a slur.
The
cave suddenly pitched to the side, and Gemma grabbed onto Lexi to keep
from falling over. Everything swayed around her. She heard Penn talking,
but her voice sounded like it was coming from under water.
“That’s not…” Gemma struggled to talk. “What did you do?”
“You’ll be alright,” Lexi said. She tried to put her arm around Gemma, maybe meaning to comfort her, but Gemma pushed her off.
She
stood up and nearly tipped forward into the fire, but Penn caught her.
Gemma tried to fight her off, but she didn’t have the strength anymore.
All her energy had left her body, and she couldn’t keep her eyes open.
The world was fading to black around her.
“You’ll thank me for this later,” Penn was saying in her ear, and that was the last thing Gemma heard.
Review:
Wake is the first book in the Watersong series. It focuses on the main character, Gemma, who is an avid swimmer trying to make it to the Olympics one day. Gemma's sister, Harper, feels responsible for Gemma and is always trying to mother her. During the seasonal tourist explosion in their town, three mysteriously beautiful girls show up and begin to take a strange interest in Gemma. At about the same time, several local boys have come up missing - seemingly disppeared into thin air. What is happening in Capri? What do these strange girls want with Gemma and are they involved in the disappearances somehow? What she will eventually discover is far beyond her wildest dreams or her worst nightmares.
I found this book to be a really fun and interesting read. It was well written with a great flow, which made it easy to lose yourself in the story right away. I haven't read many books about mermaids or sea mythology before, but this book has changed my opinion of the genre. I found the backstory of the girls very intriguing and it fit in perfectly with the story. I liked the character of Gemma - how she was so determined and honest, but with flaws like everyone else. I also identified with her older sister Harper, so it was easy to empathize with both girls throughout the novel. I thought that the ending of the book was appropriate for the first of a series. Some series leave you with a huge cliffhanger than only makes you angry and some don't seem like they left an opening for a sequel at all. I think that the author did the right amount of closure and of leaving it open to pick up in the next book. I thought that the writing was really easy and fun, which made this a fast read for me that I really enjoyed. I will definitely be waiting to read Lullaby, the next book in the series.
Lullaby (Watersong, #2) - the second book in the Watersong series
follows Harper and Gemma as they go even deeper into a dark new world.
Coming November 27, 2012
About the Author:
Amanda Hocking: I live in Minnesota with my dog, two cats, two fish,
and my roommate/assistant/platonic lifemate, Eric. I actually live in
Austin, a.k.a. SPAMTown, USA. They invented SPAM here, and the town is
quite proud of it. (Here’s a vlog with a fun tour of the SPAM museum: here.)
I do many things, most of them lame and boring, but the thing I get paid to do is write young adult books.
All three books in my Trylle Trilogy - Switched,Torn, and Ascend - were
originally self-published, but were re-released with St. Martin’s and
Pan Macmillan internationally with new bonus content in early 2012. The
trilogy has also made the USA Today Bestseller list, the New York Times
Bestseller list, and was recently optioned for a film by Media Rights
Capital with District 9 screenwriter Terri Tatchell adapting the books
for screen.
St. Martin’s and Pan Macmillan recently
acquired my new young adult four-book series Watersong, with the first
book Wake coming out in August 2012. My zombie series, The Hollows, is
being adapted into a graphic novel by Dynamite.
I also
enjoy Red Bull, Jim Henson, Batman, Jane Austen, Star Wars legos, and I
absolutely hate long walks on the beach out of my intense fear/hatred of
wet sand.
Connect with Amanda:
Amanda has generously offered a paperback ARC of Wake to one lucky winner! Enter the Rafflecopter below. US entries only please!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
