Dreaming Awake [Paperback]

Gwen Hayes (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 3, 2012

Haden Black changed Theia Alderson's life when he appeared in her dreams. And to save Haden, Theia sacrificed everything, but the dangerous bargain she made could have lasting repercussions. Now Theia is susceptible to the same deadly hungers that Haden has long struggled with-and their return to Serendipity Falls could test their control. And someone from Haden's past is determined to destroy Theia from the inside out, starting with those closest to her...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gwen Hayes lives in the Pacific Northwest with her real life hero and a pack of wild beasts (two of whom she gave birth to). She is a reader, writer, and lover of pop culture (which, other than yogurt, is the only culture she gets).

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (January 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451235541
• ISBN-13: 978-0451235541
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gwen Hayes lives in the Pacific Northwest with her real life hero, their children, and the pets that own them. She writes stories for teen and adult readers about love, angst, and saving the world.

Gwen's first novel, Falling Under, was released in March of 2011 by NAL/Penguin and followed up by the sequel, Dreaming Awake, in January of 2012.

She is represented by Jessica Sinsheimer of the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency.



For more information, please visit http://www.gwenhayes.com or sign up for her non-spammy newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/v-4Xj

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Too "ordinary" compared to its predecessor February 1, 2012

By H. Grove TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Gwen Hayes's Falling Under blew me away. The imagery was fantastic. The world was delightfully unique. Unfortunately, this meant Dreaming Awake had a lot to live up to--and it failed to do so.

What seemed like an understandably tempestuous and confused relationship before, now seems over the top in its back-and-forth nature. Theia should have grown at least a bit from the events of the last book, but instead she seems whiny and wishy-washy. Sure, folks do stupid things, especially in the chaos of growing up, but Dreaming Awake takes this too far. She keeps ignoring the obvious, and thus comes across as deliberately obtuse and unobservant. She went from being understandably conflicted to being the sort of heroine one wants to give a good shake to in the hopes of jarring some common sense into her brain. It didn't help that Hayden, who made a fascinating impression last time, is fairly bland through most of this book. In fact, most of the characters seemed to have lost some of their luster.

It seems to me as though Hayes sacrificed the aspects of Falling Under that made it so beautifully unique in order to create a more mainstream, ordinary paranormal YA book in Dreaming Awake. And that's a shame, because we already have plenty of those.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I highly recommend this book for Twilight lovers looking for stories of the same vein. February 7, 2012

By Bookaholics Reviewer

Format:Paperback

Dreaming Awake by Gwen Hayes
YA Paranormal Romance -Jan. 3rd, 2012
3 ˝ stars

Theia Alderson sacrificed everything to save Haden Black from his evil mother, Mara, the Queen of Nightmares. Giving up everything to stay in the realm of Under and controlled by Mara, Theia was summoned back to the real world. However, Mara vows to bring her back and destroy all that Theia loves. Mara blames Theia for turning Haden into a weak, emotional human. Not only that, Theia now has an uncontrollable hunger to feed on human souls. Can Haden and Theia friends save her from Mara? Or for that matter, can they save Serendipity Falls from Mara's wrath?

The second book in the series, Dreaming Awake is as gothic as the first book even though it takes place mainly in the real-world. I like the atmosphere and vibe of the book especially when Theia visits Under in her sleep. Unfortunately, I still cannot warm up to Theia's character. She's still quite needy with Haden, but in an interesting twist, she's the one running hot and cold this time. She's afraid of harming Haden with her new-found powers and tries to break up with him at one point of the book. Haden, on the other hand, doesn't seem to play such a big role in this installment. I felt that the book was mostly about Theia and how she copes with the new situation.

Overall, this is a good read for those who love angsty teenage romance with a dash of the supernatural and goth. I highly recommend this book for Twilight lovers looking for stories of the same vein.

Reviewed by Pauline from the Bookaholics Romance Club

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars My holy trinity of bad read qualities: boring, cliché, and predictable. January 5, 2012

By Abigail TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This has not been a good year for sequels. Some of my least favorite reads this year were follow ups to books I loved. For various reasons, the magic had been snuffed out, and I unfortunately have to add DREAMING AWAKE to that list. DREAMING AWAKE is all the more disappointing when compared to the dark and delightful FALLING UNDER. There were only two chapters in this entire book that I liked, two of the three chapters not written from the protagonist's POV. Not a good sign.

The three words that kept coming to mind while reading this book are what I like to refer to as my holy trinity of bad read qualities: boring, cliché, and predictable. Nothing happened for the first two hundred pages. Theia worried about everything it was possible to fret about. Her sassy friends quipped and offered platitudes to her at every opportunity. Haden smoldered and leered on every page, attempting to wield his supposedly lethal sexuality until all the characters (and the reader) were choking on it. He was a far cry from the dark and dangerous character in the previous book. He was possessive and jealous and if Theia had been a more interesting character, I might have said he didn't deserve her.

Even beyond Theia and Haden's flat romance, the actual plot involving Haden's demon queen mother Mara showing up and slinking around town wreaking havoc doesn't start until the last third of the book. The two interesting chapters I mentioned occur even later. Theia's BFFs Donny and Amelia each have to face the dangers of their own hearts and their chapters are both well written and moving (especially Amelia's), but the same can't be said for the rest of the book. As much as I loved FALLING UNDER, since I liked only two chapters out of the couple dozen in DREAMING AWAKE, I can't recommend this.

Sexual Content:
Kissing. References to sex.