Dreaming Awake

Dreaming Awake, by Gwen Hayes
Source: Borrowed from the library
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
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First off, my apologies if this review seems rather vague, but it's really hard not to get spoiler-y when I'm talking about the second book in a series. But I'd rather tread on the safe side than risk giving too much away for someone who hasn't read it yet!

All that being said, I really did enjoy this sequel to Falling Under. The Twilight parallels have quieted themselves down and the story really can stand on its own two feet, so to speak. The similarities have nothing to do with the actual plot and everything to do with the characteristics of Hayden as a supernatural "being" and the way he interacts with Theia. (I'm not going to tell you what exactly Hayden is because it isn't revealed on the book jackets -- you'll have to read to find out!)

All the things I loved about the first book can also be found in this one, particularly the friendships and the quirky minor characters. There were definitely a lot of unexpected developments and crazy twists & turns that kept me turning the pages, but everything gets resolved by the end. I don't feel like the ending left me hanging and I haven't heard anything about this being a longer series, though I imagine it easily could be. It comes to a natural stopping point, but it would be interesting to see what happens to Hayden and Theia in their "next chapter." But even if this is truly the end, I'm satisfied with the way things turned out. It isn't too neat or perfect or unrealistic either since there were a lot of sacrifices made, but I do feel this book did the story justice.

Overall, I'd say these books were good one-time reads. I wouldn't add them to my list of favorites, but both books were enjoyable nonetheless.

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This book counts toward my reading goals for:
2013 Series Catch-Up Challenge