Wake (Watersong #1)

This book was really cool and interesting. I read it really fast. Basically it's about a girl named Gemma who is a really fast swimmer, and who is falling for the boy next door..sound familiar? Well it's not. Everyone around town seems to notice Penn, Lexi, and Thea....three girls who suddenly (and mysteriously) became a trio after the fourth suddenly vanishes from town. They are the talk of the town from their looks to their reasons for being there. Some people say they are movie stars from Canada ...which is a far more innocent excuse and is far from the truth. The trio suddenly becomes a saga when they set their eyes on Gemma. After a night of swimming in the bay, she is suddenly drawn to them, when they start to sing. Gemma who doesn't drink, suddenly feels like she should drink the weird thick potion Penn has. It seems innocent enough...right? Four girls having a party on a beach with a bonfire....just the regular, teenage party. But then Gemma wakes up, tangled in a net, covered in bruises, and with no memory of what happened after she drank. At first, she thinks that Penn is a witch, which is far from the truth. Suddenly, Gemma is getting her best times at swim practice, she finds weird green scales in the shower, and the water seems to sing to her.... And suddenly, the reasons for Penn, Lexi, and Thea being there doesn't seem so innocent after all, especially when teenage boys start to go missing....
Over all, wake was a great book that took me no time to read. I will definitely pick up the next book in the trilogy, lullaby, as soon as I can. Amanda Hocking is a fantastic author and her work should definitely not go unnoticed.

Background: Gemma is a normal girl, except that she is obsessed with swimming, but how else is she going to make it to the Olympics? This summer Gemma is thrown a loop when three girls appear in her small town, making her and others uncomfortable. They invite Gemma to hang out with then and she begins to uncover their darkest secrets.

Review: I really enjoyed this book, it was an easy Audiobook to listen to and it was great to listen to now because it is summer and I have been watching some of the Olympic swimming. So everything just kind of fell into place.
I was surprised at how well Hocking pulled me in, I was immediately drawn to both Gemma and her sister Harper, even though they are two completely different types of people. The suspense was masterful! I had some idea of what was happening and then I was completely thrown off guard by details.

At first I thought I was reading another love story with supernaturals in it, but in reality this was so different, yes there is a love story and yes there are supernaturals, BUT this was far closer to a horror movie than a frilly, make you swoon supernatural love tale....

The characters are great. Harper, Gemma's sister, is the protector. Gemma is the fearless jock, and Penn, Lexi, and Thea are hot and just plain creepy. It was a good mix to have.

I think that if you like focus on the supernatural in a creepy way, this is for you. If you are looking for a love tale, there is a little of that but...not really. Either way, great summer read.

Sirens are something I haven't read much of recently -- well, I don't think I've ever read a book about them. I was unabashedly excited to read this after I heard about it, and when I received an ARC in the mail, I was overjoyed. (Thank you, Jessica!) WAKE lived up to the hype, for the most part. It is much stronger than the other three Hocking books I read, the Trylle trilogy.

In the beginning of the book, we are introduced to a situation involving the main character, Gemma, with the following line, from page 3 of the ARC: "The engine made a bizarre chugging sound, like a dying robot llama . . ." O.o Immediately, from the first line of the first chapter, I was interested. Hocking's writing isn't the best. The woman needs a "show vs. tell" poster on her wall and she needs to learn how to distinguish between the two. But her writing didn't distract from the story, even though it was bland.

Gemma isn't the strongest female protagonist in the books; it took her quite a while to fight for what she believed in instead of being pushed around. The strongest aspect of Hocking's characterization, however, which is still quite great, is the sisterly bond between Gemma and Harper. Hocking knows what character traits clash, and she put them into the sisters. At first, I had a hard time believing they had as much of a connection as Hocking told us they did. However, as the novel progressed, I got a better taste of how they clashed and argued but also loved and cared, which is how the real thing works. Characterization is one of Hocking's strong points. I also enjoyed the little romances on the side, between Gemma and Alex, and Harper and Daniel. Gemma's and Alex's relationship was a bit unbelievable as well in the beginning, because Hocking told us about their backstory, and it was like we'd missed the entire foundation of their relationship. It took some warming up to get used to it, but once I did, I really enjoyed it.

Harper's and Daniel's relationship was more enjoyable for me than Gemma's and Alex's, because we got to watch it grow from the beginning. Early on, Harper, ever-so-practical, wasn't looking for romance and was therefore blinded to all moves made by men. Her relationship with Daniel was one that blossomed from there. At first, I didn't even realize they were going to have a romance. It seemed like Harper wasn't going to be able to break free of her chains and realize that love was possible for her, even with her sister, school, jobs, etc.

Reading the first hundred pages was strange: the thing that I was waiting to happen, the one that was written on the back of the book, didn't happen until nearly the end of this section. I thought it was going to happen right away. I felt like Hocking included too long of an exposition to the novel. The first hundred pages were a bit dragged out, but there was a lot to introduce, so I guess that justifies a little bit of it. The ending was intense. The organization of Wake was also better than Hocking's Trylle trilogy. The tension was barely there in the beginning, but it built and slowly crescendoed up to the finale, which was explosive and interesting. I only wish I had the next book right here next to me so I could read it as well!

I am very excited to read the next book in the Watersong quartet. Wake was a nice, smooth siren story with unique mythology and lovable characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it.