Awake at Dawn by C.C. Hunter ~ Review

Step into the world of Shadow Falls, a camp that helps teens tap into their special... talents. Once you visit, you’ll never forget it—and you’ll never, ever be the same.

From the moment Kylie Galen arrived at Shadow Falls Camp, she’s had one burning question: What am I? Surrounded by vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, fairies and witches, Kylie longs to figure out her own supernatural identity…and what her burgeoning powers mean. And now she’ll need them more than ever, because she’s being haunted by a new spirit who insists that someone Kylie knows—and loves—will die before the end of the summer. If only she only knew who she was supposed to save. And how...

But giving Kylie the most trouble is her aching heart. Gorgeous werewolf Lucas left camp with another girl, but he’s still visiting Kylie in her dreams. And Derek, a sexy half Fae who’s always been there for her when she needed him, is pushing to get more serious—and growing impatient, especially when Lucas returns. Kylie knows she needs to decide between the boys, and it’s tearing her up inside.

Yet romance will have to wait, because something from the dark side of the supernatural world is hiding in Shadow Falls. It’s about to threaten everything she holds dear... and bring her closer to her destiny.

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I'm pretty sure I'm stuck in this series.  I picked up this book, the second in the series, as soon as I finished the first.  It's a continuous story from book one to two with Kylie still at Shadow Falls camp for the summer.  She's still trying to figure out what kind of supernatural she is.  She's still struggling to forgive her dad and to decide which boy she likes.  But this book has a new issue for her to deal with.

I like the overall world the author has created.  Despite being paranormal, it models themes that most young adults struggle with.  Who is she?  How does she fit into this world?  How does she deal with friends?  How does she decide between two boys she's attracted to?  All pretty normal questions for teens.  But add do that the spell mistakes of her roommate friend, the inability to understand what a ghosts wants from you and how to convince her mother that she really needs to stay at the supernatural school without telling her she is one.  Poor Kylie does have an overabundance of problems.  But she does a good job of navigating them. 

I enjoy these characters.  They're real and make mistakes like normal teens.  I laughed a lot as Kylie's kitten had a few struggles in this one.  And I care about her two roommates.  Mostly, I really like Derick and Lucas.  Both are good guys that try very hard to be there for Kylie.  I will admit that Derick surprised me with his choices in this one.  He can read emotions and I think he knows something more than he's telling.  I did admire his choice.  But Kylie was pretty frustrated with him.  As for Lucas, I think he needs to communicate more.  Yeah, it's a universal guy thing.  Strangely, I don't have an opinion on which boy she should choose.  I would be happy with either, though I do see a direction I think she's headed.

I enjoyed the story and did guess part of what the ghost wanted, but really not the whole thing.  There were a couple of other surprises for me.  I like when that happens.  The story definitely had hold of me and kept me very interested.

Overall, this is a good book two and I'm excited to move on to book three.  I definitely have missed reading YA.  Reading this series was good life choice for me. :)