Awaken Me Darkly (Alien Huntress Novels, #1)

by Gena Showalter

[Angie]

Awaken Me Darkly is a book that I've been dying to read for awhile, so I jumped at the chance to read it as soon as I could. I'm glad I did, because I quite enjoyed it. It reads more like an Urban Fantasy rather than a Paranormal Romance, which threw me off at first, but I was drawn into Mia's story quick enough. Mia is an alien huntress in a futuristic Chicago where aliens have come to live on Earth. Some are peaceful and work and live among the humans, but of course, there's also those with nefarious intentions. Those are the ones that Mia and her team go after. There's been a string of abductions, some of the bodies are turning up, and it has evil alien written all over it.

The first thing I really liked about Awaken Me Darkly was the world building. It does a great job of introducing us to New Chicago, which is set sometime in the not so distant future. I wasn't quite sure how far into the future it was set, but since nothing is too drastically different, I would say not that far. Aliens have figured out how to open portals, allowing them to come to Earth. As a result of their arrival, security measures have been put in place to protect humans. I found some of the technology quite interesting, and luckily nothing seemed too far fetched.

As much as I liked Awaken Me Darkly, it definitely could have had improvements in the characterization and plot department. Mia is great. I liked her. She's one tough cookie, trying to prove herself in a man's world. However, everyone else seemed flat, even Kyrin, the love interest. Yes, he is the typical Alpha Male who has had his sights set on Mia forever. I didn't quite believe it though. His alphaness was really the only part of him we get to see, and that he's loyal to his family rather than his race. He also conveniently held all of the answers to the murder plot, but withheld that all until near the end for tension's sake. I also felt like the conclusion was incomplete. We find out who the murder is, what their evil plan was, but we don't find out why they were leaving the bodies to be found or one other important piece that I won't mention because it's a spoiler. One more chapter probably could have taken care of this.

Awaken Me Darkly was still a good introduction to the series though, and I'm definitely interested enough to want to read more. Like I said before, this one felt more UF than PNR, but this is in fact a PNR series. I don't think we got enough of Mia and Kyrin in this book, so I am kind of sad to leave them, since I would like to see their relationship develop. However, I am eager to get know more characters in this world, especially since there are so many different type of aliens roaming the planet.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.