Review: Awake at Dawn

Title: Awake at Dawn
Author: C.C. Hunter
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal


See it at Goodreads


Step into the world of Shadow Falls, a camp that helps teens tap into their special…talents. Once you visit, you’ll never forget it—and you’ll never, ever be the same.From the moment Kylie Galen arrived at Shadow Falls Camp, she’s had one burning question: What am I? Surrounded by vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, fairies and witches, Kylie longs to figure out her own supernatural identity…and what her burgeoning powers mean. And now she’ll need them more than ever, because she’s being haunted by a new spirit who insists that someone Kylie knows—and loves—will die before the end of the summer. If only she only knew who she was supposed to save. And how…

But giving Kylie the most trouble is her aching heart. Gorgeous werewolf Lucas left camp with another girl, but he’s still visiting Kylie in her dreams. And Derek, a sexy half Fae who’s always been there for her when she needed him, is pushing to get more serious—and growing impatient, especially when Lucas returns. Kylie knows she needs to decide between the boys, and it’s tearing her up inside.

Yet romance will have to wait, because something from the dark side of the supernatural world is hiding in Shadow Falls. It’s about to threaten everything she holds dear…and bring her closer to her destiny.


When I first read Born at Midnight last year, I fell in love with the series. It was a guilty pleasure, I admit, despite the sometimes silly occurrences and love triangle. I enjoyed the story in general and the characters and it was the right timing. It took some time for me to pick up book two, Awake at Dawn, and this time, I found myself being a little more harsh toward the reading maybe. Or perhaps it just was the sequel because I didn’t really get into this one as much as the first. It didn’t wow me.

Kylie bothered me most with her attitude. Anytime she was supposed to be worrying about one thing, she was off worrying about her relationship. And then when she caught herself worrying about her relationship, she’d make subtle thoughts toward being considered “a slut.” I didn’t like the thoughts most of the time behind the relationships/sex in this book, because if one person slept with their companion, to Kylie’s prude mind, they were sluts or “really experienced”. I don’t remember this much in the first book, but I saw it a lot more clearly here in the second.

Another quirk was that I really didn’t like Derek. I didn’t in Born at Midnight either. But here in Awake at Dawn, he seemed different as well. A bit more controlling and manipulative. I didn’t like the way he treated Kylie at times when she told him from the start that she wasn’t clear on where the two of them stood exactly. They tried their relationship thing for a bit and it clearly didn’t work. Luke I like. Unfortunately, every time he gets his major appearance, it’s more toward the end of the story so he’s never in the book long. So, I don’t see how Kylie even gets to know him well enough either.

This time, Awake at Dawn seems to focus more on family drama and I did like that better. It makes the reader think about how it would happen if it were them. A bit more realistic than a lion and gang members, I admit that. I did enjoy finding out more on Kylie’s powers, though the mystery still hangs in the air on what she really is at the end.

Would I still read the series after this? Of course. Like I said, it’s a guilty pleasure for me, and I do have to say I quite like Luke. Also, it's just one of those reads that when I pick it up, I can't put it down. :)