Review: Wake by Amanda Hocking

Goodreads description:

Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone's attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs. She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back. Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever. She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove. They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price. And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

First line: Sorry guys! Forgot to write this down before I turned the book in to the library :(

I feel like this book needs a lot more development in order to be good. Not saying it wasn’t good, it just needed a lot of work.

For instance, this book is about sirens. Sirens are basically evil mermaids. The book is revolved around water, yet I didn’t feel a strong connection to the water. Sure, one of the main characters is a swimmer. But the setting is near the sea. Use that to your advantage. One of the characters lived on a boat. Why don’t the main characters? Gemma and Harper’s mom got hurt in a car accident. Why not a boat accident? There was so much opportunity there that was wasted.

I’ve read quite a few reviews about this that say it lacked character development. I agree, but I wasn’t so much bothered by it. I got enough feel for the characters. Some people are different. They like to be connected to the characters. In this case, I was fine with how the characterization played out. I feel like most of it just needs to be interpreted.

I don’t think this series was meant to be this heavy, in-depth, experience. There’s not quite much you can do with sirens, in my opinion. So, I don’t know. I’ll probably read the sequel. I hope it’s better than this one. Yes, I did like this but I also want to see improvements in the future.

Favorite quotes:

Pg. 27
“‛He breaks his glasses, and he can’t read, and he’s all upset. So that’s why I eat carrots so much.’”