Even crazier is, I read it. And I actually enjoyed it. It is the first of a proposed trilogy. At first, I was expecting the kind of dumb albeit hilarious humor that I expected from the show. President Reynolds , and the world press is on hand in the central station, waiting for the train to arrive. Somehow, the creation of the new subway has opened up a here-to-fore sealed off cavern where these creatures have remained for centuries.
Carnage ensues. Kudos to Murray and Wearmouth for writing one of the most exciting sci-fi action thrillers that I have read in a long while. I think, though, that the only way this is going to influence my review is by making me go into a bit more detail than I would have otherwise. This book is okay.
I'm going to get the caveat out of the way ahead of time: I don't read a lot of modern horror, so I'm not that familiar with the genre. I do, however, watch a lot of horror movies.
This book felt like the authors wanted it to be a movie. It felt like a movie pitch, and that irritated me, because if I'm reading a book, I want character development and creeping horror. I don't want a scene where a monster slowly snips the buttons off a woman's shirt.
That's irritating. You know what else was irritating? Because it felt so much like a movie, I started noticing how poorly it was doing on the Bechdel test. It takes until and I don't have the copy with me, but I'll check when I get home, something like page EDIT: I checked when I got home and it was page before two women speak to one another. Also, the women characters are few and token.
It kinda sucks though when there's only one of them. Everyone else is a dude. I can make excuses for that kind of thing in science fiction from the seventies, but I'm not going to stand for it in something written this year.
I was also annoyed by how the characters' romantic relationships are used, like Hawkeye's surprise family in Avengers, to make you care if they die or not, rather than actually giving the characters any actual depth or likeability. You don't want this guy to die because he's just started trying to fix his marriage! You don't want this woman to die because she's just agreed to let the guy try to fix their marriage!
Why Nazis? Why did it have to be Nazis at least tangentially behind everything? Like, you can have a shady global organization and NOT have them be founded by a Nazi. It would have been a lot better had it not been Nazis, because that would have left some interesting ambiguity about the motives of the shadowy organization.
That is a useful thing to have the reader questioning. Is it worth certain sacrifices in order to protect the bulk of humanity? Is blackmail 0kay if the money is used to protect the world?
And I think that's what my review boils down to. This book wants to be a movie, and it wants to be the kind of jump-scare action-horror movie that doesn't take the time to explore subtleties. And it's really too bad. Jun 30, Cheryl rated it liked it. What was once underground is now coming to the surface. I grew up watching "Creature Features" and loving monster books and movies. This book, written by a writing team, lacked a spark for me.
Parts of it were good but more parts were repetitive and lacking depth. There is also an underwater pavilion built to commemorate the vast ventur What was once underground is now coming to the surface.
There is also an underwater pavilion built to commemorate the vast venture. But on opening day monsters crawl out of the depths and an all-out slaughter begins. Out of the many characters presented in the book I only identified with a couple.
Some I downright disliked and some were like cardboard cutouts. I understand after reading the whole book that this is the first book in a trilogy.
I won't be reading the other two books. I was sent a copy of this book for review by the publisher. I am looking forward to it. It sounds like it has potential to be a good creepy read. Awakened, written by James S.
Murray and Darren Wearmouth, is a story that involves a big fear of mine: underground subways. I am not getting out and walking in that… bye. Awakened Awakened, written by James S. Awakened is the story of New York finally getting an express train that connects itself with even more communities than ever before.
It goes fast, too! We open the book with the inaugural run of the express train and all the bigwigs are there for it. But what we see first horrifies us. The train cars come back empty, soaked, and covered in blood!
What the hell? Things I really enjoyed about this book: the opening few chapters, the pace at which the book reads, the badass female character we have in Bowcut. We have primal creatures and a political conspiracy combining as a huge threat to mankind. But that is where the book also begins to lose me. I was expecting FULL on horror, and that is how the book began. But it morphs into this action-packed political thriller with government conspiracies and a history of corrupt people.
The few times we see more of the creatures I was enthralled — I loved them and they were seriously freaking me out! There seemed to be the wrong mix of action vs. I would recommend this book, but not as a pure horror novel. It is more of a thriller with monsters than it is a monster horror book with suspenseful moments, if that makes sense. It is a quick read with some great moments and I was entertained most of the book. The reader is also left to assume there is going to be a sequel in the works.
I am going to give it three out of five stars. If there is a sequel, I know I will read it. Thanks to Harper Voyager for sending a copy in exchange for an honest review! This book starts out relatively good and creepy and then gradually devolves into something genuinely terrible. The overall feel of the book is a SciFi Channel original movie and not one of the good one.
The beginning is fun and somewhat promising, by the middle it is bad to the point of being awesome, and then the end is just weak and boring. If you want secret organi This book starts out relatively good and creepy and then gradually devolves into something genuinely terrible.
If you want secret organizations fighting monster go with Monster Hunter International. Below is an example of the absurdity of this book.
Because that is a great plan and is how getting pregnant works. I am not making any of this up. Awakened is a fast-paced exciting thriller along the lines of James Patterson or Dan Brown.
The characters are well crafted which to me is one of the keys to a successful thriller as the more vested my interest in the people, the better the thriller grips me and keeps me turning pages to find out what happens next. From about the midpoint of the novel on, I was pretty sure that the novel was laid out to be the first in a series and while I was correct I appreciate that the immediate events in th Awakened is a fast-paced exciting thriller along the lines of James Patterson or Dan Brown.
From about the midpoint of the novel on, I was pretty sure that the novel was laid out to be the first in a series and while I was correct I appreciate that the immediate events in this novel were wrapped up to make it more of a stand alone in a series not one where the reader is left hanging and has to wait an extended period to tie up loose ends. The authors left me wanting more, but nothing that I have to have immediately which I appreciate.
Overall, Awakened is a pretty solid debut novel that I enjoyed. I will definitely be on the lookout for the sequel s. Originally posted on Creature From the Book Lagoon blog.
Murray and Darren Wearmouth. Audio book, published June 26th by Voyager, 9 hours and 12 mins. Narrated by James S. Underground creatures attacking a subway?
Hell yeah!! Right on up my alley. Awakened definitely did not disappoint in the creatures, either. You saw them plenty. There was much death and destruction, with a side helping of lots of gore, at the hands claws of these unknown beasts. Like I said, I love creature stories, and I read as much as I can, and I do not recall seeing anything exactly like these monsters.
Through the whole book, these creatures kept growing and evolving, their powers becoming stronger. And there are just so many of them! The main characters in this book really have their work cut out for them.
Along with the creatures, we are introduced to several human characters. The main characters are made up of a few of the people who are stuck down in the tunnels and a few of the people who go in to the tunnels in order to rescue the people in trouble.
There is another group of humans caught up in the mix and this group is just as bad as the creatures. At first it seems like there are too many characters going on, but it surprisingly never gets too overwhelming. Awakened is book 1 in the start of a new trilogy.
These creatures are a world wide problem. There is a shady secret organization pulling a lot of strings in the background. This group has known about the creatures for decades and plan on using them to their own devious designs. The storyline was as usual complicated and everything was happening at once.
There was a lot happening This book was also very up and down emotional wise. Something horrible would happen, and then something happy and then horrible again. It changed constantly. To start off I have to say She annoys me to no end and I hate the choices she makes.
I feel like she carries on sometimes over things and she just gets on my nerves. I was really shattered by Jacks death. He was such a sweetie and one of the truly good characters in this series; it was sad to see him go.
His death and the moments after it with the funeral and everything were really emotional and it was impossible not to feel sad.
My heart broke for Damien. I loved the moment when Stevie-Rae let everyone know about her and Rephaim. It was very sweet. That meeting and caring about Stevie-Rae the way he does makes him want to be different. I was ecstatic when he chose Stevie-Rae over his father and then Nyx allowed him to be human from dusk until dawn.
I loved it! Now for some things that really irk me He and Stevie-Rae have been through enough As for Heath I mean really. How many guys does one girl have to get mixed up with? Jan 05, Mari rated it it was ok. I honestly don't know why I'm still reading this series. Maybe as ridiculous as the story gets, I want to know how it will end. I'm thinking I've slugged through seven books already so 2, 3 more shouldn't be too hard They're bringing Heath back for cryin' out loud.
C'mon, didn't we read an entire book mostly about Heath dying and finally being happy in the Otherworld? And it seems that they're br I honestly don't know why I'm still reading this series. And it seems that they're bringing him back in Neferet's "vessel" and he'll be the tiny flicker of good in an otherwise evil creation.
Uh, isn't that the same as Rephaim's story? And why bother with bringing Heath back when the awesomeness that is James Stark is already with Zoey? And that bit about Kalona having access to Stark? If the authors decide to make Stark bad again just to make Heath look good, I'm done with this series. Stark's pretty much the only character I like at this point. Rephaim, Stevie Rae and Aphrodite are okay I guess. The rest are so annoying, Zoey first and foremost. And aside from Zoey's gang and Lenobia, is everyone in the House of Night so frakking dumb that they go with Neferet's pronouncements right after they've seen and heard what Nyx had to say?
That to me is a cop-out. It seemed like the authors were willing to make everyone else stupid just so they could get on with the story. Another thing I hate is all those pop-culture references that doesn't add anything to the story. It only makes the characters sound childish and cheap - trying too hard to be hip and "now" - removing any chance of the story being timeless.
I guess it doesn't matter since the books are raking in profits now. And that may also be the reason why this series isn't ending any time soon, recycled characters and story lines be damned.
View all 13 comments. Jan 21, Fangs for the Fantasy rated it did not like it. Or Aphrodite changing species? Or Stevie-Rae and the Fledglings dying and coming back? Remember any of this? All about Zoey. Having an all-about-Zoey holiday so she can be all schmoopy with Stark the Redeemed Rapist and have a whole new set of vampires declare how super duper awesome she is just causes migraines.
Redemption storylines mean actually working to earn forgiveness and being a better person. Wave the woo-woo of Nyxness and suddenly declaring yourself team good guy is not a redemption storyline. Nyx even totally comes to seal the deal! And, no, angst is NOT Redemption. Totally makes up for murdering my wife! This is another really nasty problem House of Night series has — not just speeding people down the Redemption lines at a great rate of knots, but we also have this cult of forgiveness.
Their misdeeds totally forgotten. And look, he even let Rephaim switch sides! I shudder, but the more Neferet is demonised and the more we seem to be cutting Kalona some slack the more I can see this happening. Because that is what this series wants — a female villain. Nothing about how Neferet is written suggests the slightest attempt at a redemption storyline for her. No way. She is evil evil evil through and through, embracing the darkness, kicking puppies and generally being universally awful.
Of course she does nothing. This series needs to make up its mind. OR she is an involved deity actively guiding, supporting and helping her supplicants — in which case she needs to get up a little earlier in the morning and getting her lazy deity arse in gear.
Read More May 16, C. Oh God! I was really being patient with this series. After all the make outs,hook ups, betrayal,death,resurrection,hoe-ing. I really thought this was the last book. Can you say overkill? Why kill a person, oh wait make that 4 or more people, if all of them will just live again. All of them? The biggest overkill for me is Kalona bird man immortal warrior and his bitch deity Neferet. Is he really a bad guy? If he's so powerful and smart then how come Neferet have him on a leash.
You wanna know this book's life saver? Aphrodite and Darius they are such a great team. I hope the two of them doesn't "die". Stevie Rae and Rephaim's love story is also adorable. And again I hope they dont "die". Oh I almost forgot I just really wanna let it out May 04, Anne rated it did not like it Shelves: read-in , paranormal.
I'm done. This book annoyed me in ways I didn't think were possible. Was I really thinking that this book would be any better than the last one? God, I'm such a retard. There are so manymanymany different ways that this got under my skin, but I won't drag this review out. Instead, let me just sum up the entire experience for you with one example of the bizarro hell that is Not every freakin' gay dude prances around being kind and sweet!
I'm just saying. Sad, right? Oh, there were tears running down my face, but they were the tears of laughter. Only, I don't think it was supposed to be funny. See, the evil chick needs to sacrifice an innocent incorruptible soul duh! He knows he is going to die, and begins to make his peace with death.
Cue dramatic music! He then proceeds to sing a song. A song that he heard on the tv show, Glee. I've never seen Glee. So how do I know it's from Glee? Apparently, him singing the male part of a duet from this show should have brought me to my emotional knees. It didn't. Unless you count that I had to pick myself up off the floor, because my sides hurt from spasming so hard with laughter That scene alone was worth reading the entire book! View all 4 comments. Dec 26, Nancy rated it it was ok.
I'll start out with the positives - Okay, I can only think of one. Such a great concept for a series of books. Bottom line - Zoey is a regular teenager girl who is going to high school when she is "Marked. She's shunned by all and eventually reports to "The House of Night," a school for others who are beginning the change but not before she drives to see her grandmother, a Native American Zoey is part and experiences a spirit Oh. She's shunned by all and eventually reports to "The House of Night," a school for others who are beginning the change but not before she drives to see her grandmother, a Native American Zoey is part and experiences a spiritual experience with the goddess, Nyx, goddess of the moon.
Zoey is destined to be a great leader. Zoey arrives at the school which is very big into practicing Wicca. The high priestess, Neferet is stunningly beautiful but seems to be evil.
Yada, yada, she really is evil, Zoey steps up, Zoey and her friends develop powers and affinities for the elements, have weird experiences, etc.
Fantastic content for young adult audience. Then it goes downhill. This book starts with Neferet having sex with some random warrior. He's not the one she wants so she kicks him out. But at least he's beautiful. She goes to the dungeon where she is keeping Kalona, an immortal, who used to be the Guardian of the goddess Nyx and who just failed to kill Zoey.
Now he's a slave including sex to Neferet. Next scene: Zoey is on the island of Skye, recuperating from Book 7 with her guardian, Stark. They have sex in a grove and Zoey decides to stay on Skye forever. By the way, Stark is beautiful. Interruption: Mothers, Are you feeling how appropriate this book is for young adults? But, wait.
There's more. Neferet has a debt to pay "darkness," the evil tendrils she commands to harm, maim or kill those she commands. She chooses to kill very sweet, very purple, very gay Jack, Damien's lover. And, oh, the stereotype is all over this one. Jack and Damien are completely about rainbows, puppy dogs, interior design, and painting their love for all the world to see. Did I mention these characters are sixteen?
Neferet makes her appearance at the council and - Surprise! All the adults are just too darn stupid to realize Neferet is evil. Because, as a rule, grown-ups just don't get it and really are not people to trust. Meanwhile, our stereotypical southern, Stevie Rae is talkin' all southern for us and lamenting about her love, the Raven Mocker Rephaim.
Rephaim is a great big bird, beak and all. But she loves him. It's important to point out how Rephaim was conceived. Kalona, his father, raped his mother and she died in childbirth. Continuing with socially unacceptable sexual practices, Kalona, Rephaim's father, discovers that he has a connection to Stark, Zoey's sex toy. He can travel into Stark's mind. She's 17 years old! Much to my better judgment, I did finish this book which gave me one more sexual anomaly.
Neferet "gives herself completely" to the white bull. That's right, folks, beastiality. Let's go over that list one more time: 1. Casual sex even though they really LOVE each other 2. Homosexuality and stereotyping of gay boys. Rape 4. Statutory rape 5.
Almost insignificant is the book jacket that, if I had seen the inside of it, would have been a good indicator. Turn it inside out and you get a full poster of a teenage boy, well defined muscles, low slung jeans looking morose.
With four more books in the series to be written, I implore the authors to PLEASE develop a social conscience and 1 write better characters 2 stop insulting the reader with such garbage and stereotypes and 3 take writing workshops. I know P. Cast has earned prestigious awards but the characters lack depth, the story is not well developed, description of surroundings and action scenes lackluster or are absent, and the dialogue loses the genuineness by including the Scottish accent, Southern accent, and African American accent.
Give the reader some credit in allowing us to create the accents in our heads. We know how to do that or sometimes we choose to concentrate more on content rather than worry about how something is said. View all 9 comments. Jan 10, Angela rated it it was ok Shelves: young-adult , vampires , magic , pn-romance , read-in Neferet has returned to lead the Tulsa House of Night after being exonerated by the High Council, and she continues to grow stronger with Kalona now under her control.
The rogue Red Fledglings are terrorizing the city, and Stevie Rae and Rephaim continue to struggle to define their relationship. With new threats and tragedies occurring in Tulsa, Zoey must decide where her conscience leads her and what she will do. Despite my concerns with this series, I always come back to the next book with hopes for improvement. The use of slang, unrealistic "teen talk," dated references, and racial and homosexual stereotypes continue even though it's obvious the authors are trying to be inclusive.
This stylistic back-and-forth remains frustrating, especially given the sheer number of characters included. Very limited character growth happens for anyone, especially Zoey. As a character, I'm no longer able to take her seriously.
For example, Zoey refers to other characters as being "gross" for "playing kissy-face," and then she's depicted as sexually and emotionally mature a few chapters later, which seemed unbelievable. While things moved forward plot-wise a bit more in this book, the pace still felt stagnant for the first half. The major conflict remains Neferet and Kalona, with little change, and predictable plot outcomes continue.
At the end, the book also concludes at a moment in which the authors resurrect a painfully overused plot point. On the positive side, as mentioned, there is a bit more movement in the plot when compared to the previous two installments.
The relationship between Stevie Rae and Rephaim remains interesting, and character development occurs in Rephaim, a bit in Kalona, and even a little bit in Erik. Damien and Jack's relationship also gets some more attention, and it's depicted as healthy, loving, and meaningful. While the switch from first-person point of view to third-person remained bumpy at times, the transitions were smoother and the writing was better in the third-person sections than in previous books.
With four book more books to go in this series, I'm finding it difficult as a reader to motivate myself toward picking up each additional one. If I do, I hope the Casts move beyond the set conflict or kick it up a notch, along with some significant character growth for Zoey and her friends.
Apr 30, Lissy Liz rated it liked it. My first book on this series There wasn't too much plot to this one to be quite honest, I still liked it but not as much as the last one, the ending was just depressinggggg I don't own any further books so this is the end for me for now! Jan 26, Shannon Rogers rated it liked it. I was a big fan of this series starting out, as I thought it was innovative and interesting, with a great pairing of vampire myth and magic. I still like those pieces, but my enjoyment of the series is being tried a bit with these latest installments.
I feel like characterization has taken a hike somewhere along the way, as most of the characters seem to have become rather stagnant. As far as the main characters, it seems like we've reached somewhat of a standstill. On the one hand, Zoey is now s I was a big fan of this series starting out, as I thought it was innovative and interesting, with a great pairing of vampire myth and magic. On the one hand, Zoey is now starting to see who she belongs with, thankfully, as she's spent the majority of the series flip-flopping back and forth between her many guys.
So I am glad to see this part somewhat resolving itself. Stark has always been an interesting character to me and I still love him. He's strong, he cares about Zoey, and I like where his story is going as far as his role as her guardian. My favorite character in the story, however, is Kolona, as he has the most to learn, to change, to grow, etc.
I see great potential and possibility in where his story might be headed. What did I like about this installment: I like where Kalona and Stark are going. I think this is a unique twist that might be developing here, and I have hope that Kalona is actually going to end up reconciling with Nyx. Although this is purely speculation for me. What I did not like was that we don't seem to be advancing too much in the overall story. I didn't really buy the idea that everyone's believing Neferet might be innocent.
She threw out some rather silly and childish explanations for her actions and then everyone believed her except for Zoey's small group of friends? I just don't buy that they're the only ones who would be able to think and reason their way through this. The explanations are simple enough that a child could see through them. Tempted House Of Night 6 P. Cast Views 46, Published Awakened House Of Night 8 P. Cast Views 8, Published Destined House Of Night 9 P. Cast Views 12, Published Revealed House Of Night 11 P.
Cast Views 13, Published Redeemed House Of Night 12 P. Cast Views 9, Published Sera looked up as Liam appeared in the doorway. His eyes glinted merrily as they landed upon her. Now Jack, Mike, Doug, and David were gawking at him.
Sera grinned at him. As far as she was concerned they didn't need any vows, they had already made them, but she had always dreamed of a wedding. He strode across the room and knelt before her as he took hold of her hand. He smiled as he wrapped his hand around the back of her head and kissed her. The touch of his lips instantly sent a bolt of lust through her.
She pulled back before she could completely lose herself to him. We'll need a dress, and a caterer, and we're going to have to find a hall! I'm sure Oregon has some beautiful places!
We'll have to start looking immediately, unless you want to wait until after you have the baby, then it will have to be a winter wedding! Kathleen continued to prattle on about the plans. Sera's grin widened as she slid her arms around Liam's neck and kissed him again.
Label Me Proud by Stephie Walls. Scottish Swag by Cristina Grenier. Wrath by LJ Baker. Rock This Christmas by Mia Madison. Always You by Denise Grover Swank. Her Perfect Affair by Priscilla Oliveras. The Long Weekend by Jennifer Chapman. Scored by Marquita Valentine.
Finally, Phillip: Rakes vs.
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