Review: Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2)

Title: Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2)
Author: C. C. Hunter
Rating: 5/5 stars

Goodreads Summary:
Now that she’s settled in at Shadow Falls Camp, Kylie Galen’s determined to discover the extent of her supernatural abilities. But with a ghost insisting someone Kylie loves is about die, a rogue vampire on a murdering rampage, and her sixth sense telling her someone is watching her, Kylie’s quest for answers is quickly put on hold.


To make matters worse, just when she’s about to give her heart to Derek, a half-fairy, he starts pulling away. When Lucas, a werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past, returns, Kylie’s feels more conflicted than ever. Her weekend with her mom should have been the just the break Kylie needs, but it turns out to be her breaking point. Someone from the dark side of the supernatural world has plans for Kylie--and it'll take all her resources to get back to Shadow Falls alive...
 My Review:
I'm a big fan of this series. First, there's so many different, uh, species, in thse books that it's hard not to love them. Each species, or maybe I should say paranormal?, brings a uniqueness to the book that's refreshing. Sometimes it's boring to always be reading about the same kinds of people. And the fact that Kylie has no idea what the heck she is kept me fascinated. She seems like she could be a mixture of things, and just when you think she might be one, she shows major signs of another. Crazy and interesting!
I feel like a lot of characters grew up in this book. Kylie matured quit a bit, and even though she vacillated through every emotion under the sky on every issue that came her way, she eventually made some really solid decisions. My favorite eomtional turmoil for her is the boys, of course.

I like that we really get to know Derek better in this book. He's one of my favorite characters and I really wish we knew more about how he's feeling. I liked him better than Lucas even in the first book (it was close though!), but this book really made me fall hard. I know it's no surprise Meghan doesn't pick one just yet. While she's mostly with Derek in this book, because Lucas is gone, Kylie still won't fully commit to him. She has a lot of unresolved feelings, and you'll find out what Derek thinks about those if you read. Remember, he can always tell what she's feeling - I feel so bad for him sometimes!

We get a huge taste of minor characters here. Some characters, like Della, Holiday and Miranda, I think are borderline major characters. There's so much between the burning, hidden romance of Holiday and Bunnett that I ate it all up!

I will say that all the different things happening to Kylie, like all the crazy changes she's experiencing, are a little hard to follow, but they were still fascinating, because it's all one step closer to figuring out who she is. At one point I thought maybe too much is changing with her, but then she stopped changing, so maybe it was just the right amount?

The threat at the end of the book seems to be a little strange to me. What those paranormals wanted seemed a little too off the wall for me, but it wasn't bad, just totally different than what I expected.

I didn't get the title of the book till I thought about it. Something keeps happening to Kylie right at dawn - a ghost appears. I won't say why or what she wants but it's got me curious about the next title, Taken at Dusk. What the heck could that mean?!

There are still so many questions left unanswered.. and so many feelings still needed to be explored, that I'm dying waiting for Taken at Dusk!! Please get here now :)