Review: Indigo Awakening by Jordan Dane

Indigo Awakening by Jordan Dane
Release Date: December 18, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 304
Source: eARC received through NetGalley - thanks!
Interest: The idea of Indigo children just seemed so awesome!
Buy the Book: IndieBound | Amazon | B&N

Because of what you are, the Believers will hunt you down.

Voices told Lucas Darby to run. Voices no one else can hear. He’s warned his sister not to look for him, but Rayne refuses to let her troubled brother vanish on the streets of LA. In her desperate search, she meets Gabriel Stewart, a runaway with mysterious powers and far too many secrets. Rayne can’t explain her crazy need to trust the strange yet compelling boy—to touch him—to protect him even though he scares her.

A fanatical church secretly hunts psychic kids—gifted “Indigo” teens feared to be the next evolution of mankind—for reasons only “the Believers” know. Now Rayne’s only hope is Gabe, who is haunted by an awakening power—a force darker than either of them imagine—that could doom them all.

Rating: 2 / 5 Riceballs

I realized I wrote a really, really long review... again. Here's a shorter version, in list form! In basic form,

What I liked:
- The idea of Indigo children & the portrayal of their abilities at the end - lots of action!
- The plot was still quick-paced and full of action!
- Rafe's POV was great - his relationship with Kendra, his thoughts, Benny - great!

And not so much...
- Insta-love between Rayne & Gabriel
- SO many POVs to keep track of, and some felt unnecessary
- Sometimes her language was awkward or confusing...

Longer Book Review:

I’m not exactly sure why, but Indigo Awakening just wasn’t for me. Theoretically, I should have fell in love with the book – there was an awesome concept, the plot was quick-moving, and there was a lot of action. Still, probably because of the romance between Rayne & Gabriel, I found it hard to finish and enjoy the book, especially at the beginning.

The most glaring issue, for me, was Rayne & Gabriel’s initial relationship. It might have been just me, but am I the only one who thinks these quotes just reek of insta-love? If not, they still had me rolling my eyes…*

“Rayne still felt under the influence of her hyped adrenaline, and getting saved had made her plenty grateful, but one thought took root when she looked at him again. He looked… beautiful. Seeing him in the shadows, looking up at her, did a number on her heart – a reaction she fought against.”

“Gabriel touching her face felt like the most natural thing. Rayne had a connection to him that she couldn’t explain.”

“Epic cuteness. Rayne smiled. She felt closer to Gabriel than she ever had before.” (This was about 1/3 into the book, and they had met about 15% through, and there were other POVs introduced. My main question was if they were really that close before? Maybe I’m just being picky.)

And this one might not totally be insta-love, but I was still doing eye-rolls afterwards…

“Her eyes triggered something in him – a need. The years of him running hiding, not trusting anyone – they had come at a price that she made him feel”.

* I am quoting from the eARC I received through NetGalley.

Apart from that, I found that Dane’s writing style was a bit… irkish for me, I suppose. There are some awkward transitions between the text, as well as some misused words here and there. Sometimes Rayne also refers to Gabriel (or vice versa) in strange ways. For example: (and again, I’m quoting from the eARC I received on NetGalley, so this might have been corrected)

“Her bike carried good memories and she needed the positive karma.” (Karma is good fate you get for doing good things, not for good memories)

“When Rayne shook her head, the guy named for an angel hit her with a slow smile, another weapon in his arsenal.” (For me, the language “named for an angel” and “another weapon in his arsenal” was just awkward :/)

“The whole scene looked like a disaster flick in a cheesy movie.” (So it looked like a disaster movie… in a cheesy movie?)

“With tears stinging her eyes, she winced at the kinetic energy that jolted through her body.” (Considering the actual physics definition, the use of “kinetic energy was a bit strange.)

Again, these language issues might just be me, and they might have been corrected in the final draft of the book, but this was based on my experience of reading the eARC I received.

There were also a lot of POVs to keep track of, three of them belonging to the villains of the story. I didn’t really feel the need to go into the minds of that many villains, and some of the transitions (again, maybe because of the formatting of the eARC) were awkward. I did enjoy Rafe’s POV though – the small sneak peak of the next book was actually written mostly in his POV, and I was definitely intrigued!

Despite it all, the plot was still filled with action and was quick-paced (well, when Rayne and Gabriel weren’t gazing into each other’s amber & grey eyes). Rafe & Benny were also adorable characters, and I loved their clever voices and banter. The last 10 or 15 percent or so of the book was also probably my favorite part – there was a lot of action, at a non-stop pace, and the Indigos’ abilities were well portrayed and intriguing, although I wish some of the backstory was delved into.

And on a side note, the last line of the book, “_______________ is my ______”…


… just saying …

Book Trailer: