Review Detail

I just love mermaid stories. Make it a story about killer mermaids and I'm even more entranced. I had a lot of fun reading Wake by Amanda Hocking.

While the plot didn't amaze me, I was intrigued. I hate to say this, but there is only so much you can do with a story about sirens. It was everything I expected it to be, and very little more. Now, don't take that the wrong way. I did enjoy it; it just didn't break the mold.

Gemma was a decent character. She was strong and beautiful-- perfect bait for a gang of deadly sirens. I know the majority of the story focused on Gemma and her plight, but I was really more interested in Daniel. He was mysterious and fun. He had this aura of bad-boy swirling around him that had me hooked from the beginning. Alex was that "boy next door" kind of character, which worked well with being Gemma's love interest. Gemma's sister was also decent as far as foils go. Overall, the characters were all balanced out and did a nice job of supporting one another-- but I'm still team Daniel.

What review of a book about mermaids would be complete without mentioning the main characters? These sirens were not all singing crabs and sunshine. These girls were hard-core. Penn is certainly the most vicious of the three. Talia came across as aloof and uninterested. I'm sure there will be more to that in future books. What I did enjoy about this book is that the focus really wasn't on sparkling mermaid tails. Yes, it was mentioned a few times, but not as much as you would think. There was certainly an underlying mystery that was more prevalent to the plot. The mythology that was subtly introduced was also used in a very clever way. I am curious to see how Gemma and the other unravel that mystery in future books.

Overall, Wake was a fun read. It was quick and had enough romance to make it a page turner. (Very clean romance by the way.) I feel like this was a nice introduction to the upcoming books, which will probably have more plot twists in store.