A is for Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I'm one of more than a thousand bloggers taking part in the A-Z Blogging challenge this year. The goal is to blog everyday in April - except Sundays (though today is an exception since April starts on a Sunday). You don't need a theme...but I've got one.


It's called watchYAreading. Each day, I'll be blogging about a young adult book I have read - and loved. Starting with Kelley Armstrong's AWAKENING.


I have Karen to thank for introducing me to this amazing author. I first fell in love with Kelley after reading Bitten - a book that forever changed how I view werewolf romance. Just in the nick of time, I guess, since werewolves are enjoying a lot of love as of late - including in the awesome SKINNED series by the amazing Judith Graves.


The Awakening isn't about werewolves, but it does have a supernatural feel - just as most of the books on my A-Z list will likely have. I can't help it, I'm a sucker for paranorms.


The problem with series novels is that it's hard to talk about the second or third book without giving away spoilers. The Awakening is the follow-up to The Summoning, which ranks as one of the best YA books I've ever read.


The official Awakening blurb: If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl—someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I’m as far away from normal as it gets. I’m a living science experiment—not only can I see ghosts, but I can raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever. I’m running for my life with three of my supernatural friends and we have to find someone who can help us gain our freedom back before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.

Stellar character development, edge-of-your-seat action, and absolutely some of the best YA paranormal fiction on the market. If you've never read a Kelley Armstrong book before, consider me your "Karen" - you can thank me later.

Got a different "A" book you want to rave about? Tell me about it in the comments section. At the end of the month I'll choose three readers to win a copy of SPIRITED, an anthology of haunting YA fiction.

Now, go check out the rest of the blogs in the A-Z Challenge, including my Dawn Ius site where I blog about songs and artists who have inspired me, and at the Most-Wanted Monsters blog where the awesome Judith Graves and I are waxing poetic about 26 creeptastic beasties. Trust me, those posts could save your life.

- Dawn