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booksintheirnaturalhabitat's review against another edition
4.0
The Dark Awakening came out earlier this month (October 2018) and is D. L. Blade's premiere in the writing world! I personally feel like October was a great month for this month to come out during because it's got elements you think of around Halloween. I'm talking a coven of witches who team up with a couple of werewolves to fight off those vampire jerks.
It all starts with Mercy, who recently graduated high school and is trying to figure out who the heck she is and deal with everything after her mother attempted to murder her. There's a lot she doesn't know about herself - like that she's a witch! Some people she knows from a past life start popping up and she is forced to make some tough decisions.
As this is Blade's premier book, I really was unsure of what to expect. Now that I've finished, I'm definitely following her on Goodreads for her next book!
The Dark Awakening started off quickly and the characters are completely relatable. The only thing that confused me were the text messages they sent each other - I don't know anyone anymore (even my parents!) who send such grammatically correct texts! I could see the world these characters were in and felt the feelings of confusion, stress, and frustration that they were feeling. I loved seeing Mercy standing up for herself and making decisions regardless of who was pressuring her.
This book reminded me of Charlaine Harris's books (she's one of my favorites!). If you love Harris, you should definitely give this book a try. Who knows, it could end up on TV someday - I could totally see this book converted into a CW show!
Read this review and more on my blog! booksintheirnaturalhabitat.wordpress.com
It all starts with Mercy, who recently graduated high school and is trying to figure out who the heck she is and deal with everything after her mother attempted to murder her. There's a lot she doesn't know about herself - like that she's a witch! Some people she knows from a past life start popping up and she is forced to make some tough decisions.
As this is Blade's premier book, I really was unsure of what to expect. Now that I've finished, I'm definitely following her on Goodreads for her next book!
The Dark Awakening started off quickly and the characters are completely relatable. The only thing that confused me were the text messages they sent each other - I don't know anyone anymore (even my parents!) who send such grammatically correct texts! I could see the world these characters were in and felt the feelings of confusion, stress, and frustration that they were feeling. I loved seeing Mercy standing up for herself and making decisions regardless of who was pressuring her.
This book reminded me of Charlaine Harris's books (she's one of my favorites!). If you love Harris, you should definitely give this book a try. Who knows, it could end up on TV someday - I could totally see this book converted into a CW show!
Read this review and more on my blog! booksintheirnaturalhabitat.wordpress.com
iheartfictionalpeople's review against another edition
5.0
Review originally posted on my blog: I Heart Fictional People
INITIAL THOUGHTS
I wasn’t drawn to the cover right away because I have a thing against covers with people on them. I know, I’m weird. BUT the synopsis drew me in right away. Witches, vampires, a stalker/ex-lover from another century?? Yes, please!
WHAT I LIKED
The unpredictable suspense. “OMG!” was my reaction throughout this whole book. My 8-year-old literally kept asking me, “What? What happened now?!” (She is now a fan and wants to read this book when she’s older by the way.) There were just so many twists and turns and surprises. And I LOVED it. Usually with this genre, I can pretty much predict what will happen. I really had no idea with this one, which was so refreshing! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
The characters. Mercy has been through a lot, but she is independent, strong, smart, and brave. She is thrown into this new world full of paranormal creatures, and she not only adapts quickly, but she becomes this force to be reckoned with. We also have Riley, who is her loyal best friend and will do anything to protect her. I just love this guy. Then we have arrogant and cocky Caleb who also has a sweet, caring side. He reminds me of Damon from The Vampire Diaries, and we all know how obsessed I was with him. Plus, we are introduced to some other characters I may or may not be falling in love with, but I won’t spoil anything.
The writing. I have never read anything by this author, but I was very impressed by it all. This story was just so original. Not only were the plot and different storylines original, but the way it was written took me by surprise as well. Many times throughout the book, I was so focused on one thing happening that I was shocked that I completely missed something else happening. The only word I can use to describe the writing is magic. D.L. Blade is this uniquely gifted magician author whose writing is so amazingly fresh and entertaining that you really never see what’s coming.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I don’t really have any complaints. I guess one minor thing is that I wanted to see more emotional connections between the characters. It was there! But it wasn’t as deep as I wanted it to be. However, I think it fits with the story. Mercy is still learning who she is, so I can’t expect too much in this department.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
If you are a fan of anything paranormal, trust me when I say this: drop everything you’re doing and get a copy of this amazing book! You won’t be disappointed. Plus, you will discover your new favorite author. I can’t get over how good this book was. Not only did this book have all the ingredients for an entertaining story–romance, suspense, mystery, action, unpredictability–but it was so original and unconventional that you won’t know how to go back to reading this genre the same again. This is the first book in a series, so be prepared to get addicted. I am! I can’t wait to read the next book!
*I received an eBook copy of this book from YA Bound Book Tours in exchange for an honest review*
INITIAL THOUGHTS
I wasn’t drawn to the cover right away because I have a thing against covers with people on them. I know, I’m weird. BUT the synopsis drew me in right away. Witches, vampires, a stalker/ex-lover from another century?? Yes, please!
WHAT I LIKED
The unpredictable suspense. “OMG!” was my reaction throughout this whole book. My 8-year-old literally kept asking me, “What? What happened now?!” (She is now a fan and wants to read this book when she’s older by the way.) There were just so many twists and turns and surprises. And I LOVED it. Usually with this genre, I can pretty much predict what will happen. I really had no idea with this one, which was so refreshing! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
The characters. Mercy has been through a lot, but she is independent, strong, smart, and brave. She is thrown into this new world full of paranormal creatures, and she not only adapts quickly, but she becomes this force to be reckoned with. We also have Riley, who is her loyal best friend and will do anything to protect her. I just love this guy. Then we have arrogant and cocky Caleb who also has a sweet, caring side. He reminds me of Damon from The Vampire Diaries, and we all know how obsessed I was with him. Plus, we are introduced to some other characters I may or may not be falling in love with, but I won’t spoil anything.
The writing. I have never read anything by this author, but I was very impressed by it all. This story was just so original. Not only were the plot and different storylines original, but the way it was written took me by surprise as well. Many times throughout the book, I was so focused on one thing happening that I was shocked that I completely missed something else happening. The only word I can use to describe the writing is magic. D.L. Blade is this uniquely gifted magician author whose writing is so amazingly fresh and entertaining that you really never see what’s coming.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I don’t really have any complaints. I guess one minor thing is that I wanted to see more emotional connections between the characters. It was there! But it wasn’t as deep as I wanted it to be. However, I think it fits with the story. Mercy is still learning who she is, so I can’t expect too much in this department.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
If you are a fan of anything paranormal, trust me when I say this: drop everything you’re doing and get a copy of this amazing book! You won’t be disappointed. Plus, you will discover your new favorite author. I can’t get over how good this book was. Not only did this book have all the ingredients for an entertaining story–romance, suspense, mystery, action, unpredictability–but it was so original and unconventional that you won’t know how to go back to reading this genre the same again. This is the first book in a series, so be prepared to get addicted. I am! I can’t wait to read the next book!
*I received an eBook copy of this book from YA Bound Book Tours in exchange for an honest review*
karen_the_baroness's review against another edition
5.0
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the YA Bound Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.The Dark Awakening by D.L. Blade is an exciting twist to the whole supernatural world that we have come to know and love.
Mercy is our primary and point of view character. She comes from a long line of Salem Witches. Mercy grew up without knowing about her powers and, unfortunately, gets an information overload a few weeks before her eighteenth birthday. I love the way that Mercy just tries to keep everything in her life regular while trying to absorb all of this information. I'm not sure if I would react the same way as Mercy about a lot of things that she finds out about mostly on the whim in this book.
What I like about her is that Mercy takes everything astride and just tries to put a positive spin on it.
The world, when the book was written, was pretty much the same. Some of the things that are different are the supernatural elements and how Mercy plays a significant role. I can't precisely divulge what role she plays in, but wow. I am still reeling from everything that happened in the book, and I'm hooked. The world seems so real, and I think that it would be cool. Mercy has a lot of information given to her. Hopefully, she will do something useful with this information.
I couldn't put down The Dark Awakening by DL Blade once I started it. Ms. Blade has a way with words, and this book was well written. I loved this book so much, and I am thinking that at one point, I am going to have to finish this trilogy. I love Mercy's voice and the way that she is finding out about everything. Hopefully, she can have a semi-normal life too.
I am giving this book five stars and recommending it to anyone that likes vampires, witches, and werewolves.
Prize: $25 Amazon gift card
Can Mercy figure out her past and her powers in time to save the world?
Mercy
Mercy is our primary and point of view character. She comes from a long line of Salem Witches. Mercy grew up without knowing about her powers and, unfortunately, gets an information overload a few weeks before her eighteenth birthday. I love the way that Mercy just tries to keep everything in her life regular while trying to absorb all of this information. I'm not sure if I would react the same way as Mercy about a lot of things that she finds out about mostly on the whim in this book.
What I like about her is that Mercy takes everything astride and just tries to put a positive spin on it.
The World
The world, when the book was written, was pretty much the same. Some of the things that are different are the supernatural elements and how Mercy plays a significant role. I can't precisely divulge what role she plays in, but wow. I am still reeling from everything that happened in the book, and I'm hooked. The world seems so real, and I think that it would be cool. Mercy has a lot of information given to her. Hopefully, she will do something useful with this information.Five Stars
I couldn't put down The Dark Awakening by DL Blade once I started it. Ms. Blade has a way with words, and this book was well written. I loved this book so much, and I am thinking that at one point, I am going to have to finish this trilogy. I love Mercy's voice and the way that she is finding out about everything. Hopefully, she can have a semi-normal life too.
I am giving this book five stars and recommending it to anyone that likes vampires, witches, and werewolves.
Other Books in the Series
Giveaway
Prize: $25 Amazon gift card
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Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed this review of The Dark Awakening by D.L. Blade.
Until the next time,
Happy Reading!
This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove
aziz_reads's review against another edition
4.0
The concept of the book is great, and the writing itself is fun to read. The only complaint I could have is the pacing being all over the place. Nothing happens for the first quarter of the book, then a bunch of things happen really quickly, only to slow to a crawl again.
I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway
I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway
onebookmore's review against another edition
5.0
https://onebookmore.com/2020/03/26/the-dark-awakening-by-d-l-blade/
This is the first book in The Chose Coven series, and I was excited to win it in a Goodreads Giveaway! This is a fast-paced and suspenseful supernatural story. The story takes place in a town called East Greenwich, which happens to be a town in my state. Coincidental?
The characters in this story are dynamic and well-developed. Mercy is a multi-dimensional protagonist that is relatable. You see her good qualities and her flaws, and you see the complex range of emotions she experiences in her complicated life.
Mercy isn’t the most likable character at the start of the book. She is a bit immature and completely clueless about the supernatural world around her. She is the typical high school student who is focused on typical high school problems. She hangs out with her friends, including her best friend Riley who likes her.
As the story progresses, and some horrible and weird things start to happen to her, she quickly matures and becomes more confident and strong. She feels a sense of purpose and shows determination and selflessness, much more so than she did at the start of the book. As she learns more about herself, her family, her destiny, and her feelings for others, she is exposed more and more to the supernatural world. She learns that she is a special type of witch, which causes complications in her already complicated life.
Mercy also develops feelings for a mysterious man (I don’t want to give too much away here) that she’s been dreaming about, much to Riley’s disappointment. Can you say love triangle? When she finds out that her ties to this mysterious man in her dreams extend into her past, she determines to find out all she can no matter the consequences.
This is a well-paced and well-written book with a few twists and turns that I didn’t expect. I like the plot, as it is not the stereotypical witch story that we see in many books. It is original, interesting, and so unique and layered that I easily found myself engrossed in this multi-faceted book. Witches, werewolves, demons, vampires and more fill this book with mystery and suspense.
This is the first book in The Chose Coven series, and I was excited to win it in a Goodreads Giveaway! This is a fast-paced and suspenseful supernatural story. The story takes place in a town called East Greenwich, which happens to be a town in my state. Coincidental?
The characters in this story are dynamic and well-developed. Mercy is a multi-dimensional protagonist that is relatable. You see her good qualities and her flaws, and you see the complex range of emotions she experiences in her complicated life.
Mercy isn’t the most likable character at the start of the book. She is a bit immature and completely clueless about the supernatural world around her. She is the typical high school student who is focused on typical high school problems. She hangs out with her friends, including her best friend Riley who likes her.
As the story progresses, and some horrible and weird things start to happen to her, she quickly matures and becomes more confident and strong. She feels a sense of purpose and shows determination and selflessness, much more so than she did at the start of the book. As she learns more about herself, her family, her destiny, and her feelings for others, she is exposed more and more to the supernatural world. She learns that she is a special type of witch, which causes complications in her already complicated life.
Mercy also develops feelings for a mysterious man (I don’t want to give too much away here) that she’s been dreaming about, much to Riley’s disappointment. Can you say love triangle? When she finds out that her ties to this mysterious man in her dreams extend into her past, she determines to find out all she can no matter the consequences.
This is a well-paced and well-written book with a few twists and turns that I didn’t expect. I like the plot, as it is not the stereotypical witch story that we see in many books. It is original, interesting, and so unique and layered that I easily found myself engrossed in this multi-faceted book. Witches, werewolves, demons, vampires and more fill this book with mystery and suspense.
okiepaula0172's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first book I've read by this author and I really enjoyed it. I will definitely continue the series.
novelsandjava's review against another edition
4.0
I received the first two of these books from the author herself and I am glad she did. I finished the first one last night and I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the second one of the series. This book kind of reminded me of Twilight in a way except their are no witches in Twilight so that helped and made it not exactly the same as that series. I loved Mercy's character and how brave she is. She has learned a lot in just a matter of days and if I were id feel overwhelmed after learning so much about her past in such little time. She is strong and fierce and will do whatever it takes to save her family and friends from the evil that is upon her. Cant wait to read the second in this series.
wordy_scoundrel's review against another edition
3.0
It was a little hard to track with what was happening but I appreciated the effort put into the book and backstory.
staysea's review against another edition
4.0
Witches, werewolves, vampires and throw backs to the Salem witch trails what's not to love?
Mercy has an interesting past, I grew to like her more and more as the story developed.
Can't wait to pick up the second instalment in this series to see her come more into herself and her powers
Mercy has an interesting past, I grew to like her more and more as the story developed.
Can't wait to pick up the second instalment in this series to see her come more into herself and her powers
popthebutterfly's review against another edition
3.0
Disclaimer: I received this book from Rockstar Book Tours! Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: The Dark Awakening
Author: D.L. Blade
Book Series: Chosen Coven Book 1
Rating: 3/5
Publication Date: March 2020
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, gore, romance)
Publisher: Fifth Element Publishing
Pages: 252
Amazon Link
Synopsis: Get ready for a new kind of witch—she’s about to save humanity.
Haunting secrets, witches, vampires, werewolves, love, betrayal, & twists you won’t see coming!
Mercy’s life has devolved into a string of bad events. A brutal beating that nearly stole her life, a dangerous stalker lurking in the shadows, and a car accident, where the man who rescued her disappears right before her eyes.
But this man who she thought was a hallucination, tracks her down at a nearby cove, and claims they were once in love from another time. Another century. But Mercy has no memory of this world he shares, and instinctively doesn’t trust him. He also reveals to her a life-changing secret—she’s an ancient witch, vampires are real, and she's destined to destroy them.
There’s also the troubling discovery that her blood is lusted after by the undead, and a sadistic vampire leader sets his eyes on her, and will stop at nothing until he takes Mercy as his own.
Mercy needs to fight. Fight for her life, fight to discover the truth, fight to remember who—or what—she really is before it’s too late.
Review: This was an ok book for the most part. The book had an interesting plot and the world building was well done. The book seemed very interesting from the get go and the plot was the reason I kept reading the book.
However, the romance and the characters felt really flat and uninteresting. The characters didn’t feel like they were anything more than the paper they were wrote on and nothing really made them stand out from one or the other. The book is also very slow paced.
Verdict: It was an ok read
Book: The Dark Awakening
Author: D.L. Blade
Book Series: Chosen Coven Book 1
Rating: 3/5
Publication Date: March 2020
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, gore, romance)
Publisher: Fifth Element Publishing
Pages: 252
Amazon Link
Synopsis: Get ready for a new kind of witch—she’s about to save humanity.
Haunting secrets, witches, vampires, werewolves, love, betrayal, & twists you won’t see coming!
Mercy’s life has devolved into a string of bad events. A brutal beating that nearly stole her life, a dangerous stalker lurking in the shadows, and a car accident, where the man who rescued her disappears right before her eyes.
But this man who she thought was a hallucination, tracks her down at a nearby cove, and claims they were once in love from another time. Another century. But Mercy has no memory of this world he shares, and instinctively doesn’t trust him. He also reveals to her a life-changing secret—she’s an ancient witch, vampires are real, and she's destined to destroy them.
There’s also the troubling discovery that her blood is lusted after by the undead, and a sadistic vampire leader sets his eyes on her, and will stop at nothing until he takes Mercy as his own.
Mercy needs to fight. Fight for her life, fight to discover the truth, fight to remember who—or what—she really is before it’s too late.
Review: This was an ok book for the most part. The book had an interesting plot and the world building was well done. The book seemed very interesting from the get go and the plot was the reason I kept reading the book.
However, the romance and the characters felt really flat and uninteresting. The characters didn’t feel like they were anything more than the paper they were wrote on and nothing really made them stand out from one or the other. The book is also very slow paced.
Verdict: It was an ok read