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A review by cari1268
Wake by Amanda Hocking
3.0
I started this one a couple of months ago when I was going through bad morning sickness. This is not a morning sickness friendly book. I was hoping that there was a significant plot point when the author described trash that smelled like a dead animal. There wasn't. But seriously. Who's trash smells THAT bad?
I admit that this was an easy book to put down. It was s.l.o.w. Although the last 30% of the story picked up.
Maybe I would have been glued to this book if I would have liked the characters a little more. Gemma acted like a weakling and was at times, dumb. I wanted her to stand up to Harper at some point but she never really did. Her few weak efforts were just too little too late. Also, once learning what she had been turned into, she never did any sort of investigation on her own or even just googled it. Maybe it's wrong for me to assume that most people would do that. It especially frustrated me that she made such a huge decision on the advice of her (mentally limited) mother. I'm not even going to go in to the moral implications of her eventual decision.
Gemma's sister, Harper, was a more likable character. However, too often she came off as a grumpy control freak. She wasn't someone I would necessarily want to befriend.
I also had issues with the male characters. They were both depicted as losers and so it was hard for me to like them all that much. (Although Alex's dance at the computer scene had me smiling.) Harper is depicted as being judgmental for not liking Daniel, who wasn't doing very much with his life. While it was wrong of her to judge him so harshly and treat him so poorly, I found nothing wrong with wanting to be friends with or date people who have similar motivations and goals in life.
Despite these flaws, I think the author showed signs of brilliance. The pacing at the end kept me glued and even though her characters weren't the most likable, they weren't completely unlikable either.
If I see the next book in the library, I'll probably pick it up.
Three Stars.
I admit that this was an easy book to put down. It was s.l.o.w. Although the last 30% of the story picked up.
Maybe I would have been glued to this book if I would have liked the characters a little more. Gemma acted like a weakling and was at times, dumb. I wanted her to stand up to Harper at some point but she never really did. Her few weak efforts were just too little too late. Also, once learning what she had been turned into, she never did any sort of investigation on her own or even just googled it. Maybe it's wrong for me to assume that most people would do that. It especially frustrated me that she made such a huge decision on the advice of her (mentally limited) mother. I'm not even going to go in to the moral implications of her eventual decision.
Gemma's sister, Harper, was a more likable character. However, too often she came off as a grumpy control freak. She wasn't someone I would necessarily want to befriend.
I also had issues with the male characters. They were both depicted as losers and so it was hard for me to like them all that much. (Although Alex's dance at the computer scene had me smiling.) Harper is depicted as being judgmental for not liking Daniel, who wasn't doing very much with his life. While it was wrong of her to judge him so harshly and treat him so poorly, I found nothing wrong with wanting to be friends with or date people who have similar motivations and goals in life.
Despite these flaws, I think the author showed signs of brilliance. The pacing at the end kept me glued and even though her characters weren't the most likable, they weren't completely unlikable either.
If I see the next book in the library, I'll probably pick it up.
Three Stars.