Review: "Wake" by Amanda Hocking

In a nutshell, I read the first 200 pages in one night, and the following day counted down the hours and tasks and jobs and mommyhood that stood between me and the ending. To conclude: I can't wait for the sequel - "Lullaby" which is set to be released next winter.

Now to dive a little deeper. What I enjoy most about all of Amanda Hocking's books is how real her characters feel on the page - no matter how fantastical their DNA. If I pick up one of her books, I know I can count on believable, endearing quirks, true conflict, quiet sacrifice, and natural dialogue, and "Wake" did not disappoint. I really appreciate that her characters have limits: they get brassed off if someone does something mean, sneaky, shady, etc. As they should. And it's so refreshing.

Amanda also did a great job presenting the story through two third-person points of view. There wasn't a ho-hum page from 1-309*, driven forward seamlessly from one sister's perception to the other. I was also very pleased with how the first book in this new series ended. Yes, there are a ton of loose ends, but a critical decision is made and carried out in the last few pages.

A couple of side-notes: I am a sucker for a great character name, and Gemma -the water-loving protagonist in Wake - is now at the top of my list for favorite names ever. The only thing that really unnerved me about the book was that Gemma goes swimming in the ocean alone at night on a regular basis. It works for the character and the story, but it 100% creeps me out. I get paranoid in the deep end of a swimming pool and am scared to touch the bottom of a lake. The idea of diving into a big black pool with things that can and will eat me on a nightly basis honestly gave me a case of the heebiejeebies every single time she headed for the bay.

* the hardback version of "wake" has 309 pages :)

End-of-summer trip and reading list

We're planning on going to the beach in a few weeks. I'm looking forward to sun, sea, and built-in-babysitters (my parents are coming with us) so that I can get some reading and writing done. I've just signed with WiDo Publishing (LOVE them!) and will likely have a first round of edits to tackle (very nervous, very excited.) I also have a few books I'm looking forward to escaping into:

Wake - Amanda Hocking. This girl is an inspiration for me. She built her own online empire from the ground up and then graciously moved into mainstream publishing. And her other books kept me up til I finished them.

Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare. I am so interested in this series, but I haven't read any of them yet so I'm starting with the prequel, which is a best-seller.

Platform - Michael Hyatt. A coworker of mine is one of those amazing people who can inspire anyone within five minutes of meeting her. Example: a few years back she gave up everything (and i mean everything) she owned and moved to third-world parts of Africa to do whatever she could to help. So what does this have to do with Michael Hyatt's book: Now she's back and has started a blog. She's linked to other blogger/author people and they all swear by this book for developing an author platform. Cool. I'm in.

Upcoming releases: I'm also very excited about a couple of releases coming up soon: "Defiance" by C.J. Redwine and "Super Sweet 16th Century" by Rachel Harris. I've heard fantastic things about Rachel Harris's new book via pre-release reviews. Check out this one I just read: http://eileenlisblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/my-super-sweet-sixteenth-century-by_24.html. And I just watched the trailer for Defiance (check it out here: http://cjredwine.blogspot.com/2012/07/defiance-trailer.html.) OMG it gave me goosebumps.

This feels like a reasonable place to make a plug for my most favorite book of all time: "Bloodroot" by Amy Greene. Rural south, mountain folk, magic, love, and betrayal.... what's not to like?

Feel free to comment about your own summer reading list or books you think should be on mine!