Awaken Me Darkly

By: Gena Showalter

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Ridding the world of evil, one alien at a time: That's Mia Snow's mission.

Snow is in the forecast.

In a time and place not too far away, Mia Snow is an alien huntress for the New Chicago Police Department. Heading up her expert team of Alien Investigation and Removal agents, Mia's unmatched at battling the elusive enemy among us, and she's the perfect girl for the job. She's seen her brother die at the hands of aliens. She's earned each of her scars. And she'll die before she cries. Now, a series of killings have Mia and her partner Dallas tracking alien suspects - but a sudden blast of violence leaves Dallas fighting for his life.

They are ice and fire.

The chance to save Dallas appears in the form of a tall, erotic stranger. An alien. A murder suspect. Kyrin en Arr, of the deadly Arcadian species, holds the power to heal the injured agent but not without a price. For Mia Snow, that price is surrendering to Kyrin's forbidden seduction... and embracing their electric attraction. She's walking a knife's edge, risking her badge and even her life. The closer she gets to Kyrin, the more Mia learns about her own heart, her human needs - and the shocking secret that will shatter everything she's ever believed.

©2005 Gena Showalter (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

I thought this would NEVER end!!

Interesting world building but there was a lot of potential gone to waste. Also, there was a “not bad” story going on but it was pretty sketchy, like an outline, never really fleshed out. This was all because G.S. spent the entire book creating the most obnoxious, arrogant, rude, dumb ass, bitch of a character I’ve ever wasted time listening to. I found myself yelling out loud “Shut the fuck up!” when Mia was screeching about how her itty bitty badass self was gonna whip a real badass’s ass. It was like G.S. was trying to do a not very good tribute to Anita Blake. What the main dude saw in this chick is beyond me. She spent the whole book beating him up, like she was a guy. He was kinda of a dumb ass too now that I think about it. The narrator, dear Justine, has a voice you either love or hate, it’s a personal decision. I’m on to the next book, hopefully it will be better, I’m an optimist.

Don't waste your credit

Very unlikeable main character and the narrator was almost laughable. I'm not willing to devote another 4 hrs of my life finishing this one.

Wow was this hard to get through

I normally Love this Author but the story was weak, and the people annoying beyond belief. For a shorter story it took me 3 days to get through Ugg. The Narrator was horrible with men's voices to top it off

So bad I can't even finish the story

What disappointed you about Awaken Me Darkly?

Ok, I did this backwards and purchased and listened to Dark Taste of Rapture first, which I found entertaining and fun. If I had purchased this one first, I would not have listened to another in the series. The main character is so outlandish and the disregard for anyone's rights makes you pull for the bad guy.

Would you ever listen to anything by Gena Showalter again?

Yes I think that she totally missed the mark with this book

How could the performance have been better?

The lady reading the book is soooooooooooooo bad. Or is it the material. The where both really really bad.

What character would you cut from Awaken Me Darkly?

The main Character, she made me sick

Any additional comments?

This was so bad it makes me wonder about purchasing book 2. I loved book 7 Dark Taste of Rapture so I'm on the fence for books 2-6. I'd really hate to purchase book 2 and find out that I wasted such a valuable credit.

Must love Paranormal

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

actually, if you are a paranormal or G. Showalter fan, then this was good. This had a good outline, but it read as if it was just the outline. Author was setting fans up for a series and you could tell when she did it to a character she wanted to expand.

What was most disappointing about Gena Showalter’s story?

Our hero was not as strong as I like them. If you like a tender hero, this is it. Our heroine is strong, but not like the Lt. Dallas of J.D. Rob, and she could have been but was not.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I like readers' male voice only. I purchased this book based on the reader, as I have about 4 now. Her female voice is just ok for me, so future buys of this reader will have to be based on the story.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I am not a Paranormal lover, but author has a big following, so I thought I would combine author and reader for a buy. This author is just not for me.

the narrator is terrible

I've read the story before having to listen to this woman read was Dreadful I don't know why anyone would willingly make a character sound so nasally

It actually hurt to listen

“He wore danger like a cloak- erotic danger, lethal danger.”
Snork! If only Chelsea Handler narrated this with throaty, campy, over the top enthusiasm.
But no, this story wants to be taken seriously … yet, it’s just…so…bad.

Minor thugs: “(gasp) You’re Mia Snow!”
I like this narrator for breathy regency romance, but when the FMC is supposed to be a kickbutt alien assassin, the PowerPuff Girl, nasal sex-kitten voice is all kinds of wrong. Add a laughable police force, where the cops are like Judge Dredd executioners, authorized to bust down doors and kill aliens who are merely suspected of wrongdoing. Then add Barney Fife style detective work, where they keep going after aliens, but apparently take zero defensive precautions against known abilities like mind control.
Yeah… the mystery side of the story made no sense.

“Promise you’ll never leave! I need you too badly! I crave you too fiercely!”
Too bad the MMC was such a wish washy bore. He’s constantly chaining her, stripping her, dressing her in sexy nighties, imprisoning her with a type of doggie stun collar, and generally being a creepy stalker. His emo-professions of devotion and tortured poet angst were the opposite of a strong, sexy man and presented a terrible match for her.

“You look like sex, rare, carnal sex.”
Rare sex looks like what, exactly? Um, okay. This book tried way too hard to shoehorn sexual chemistry into a dull story, especially when the actual sex was scant and as clunky as the rest of the story.

Disappointing

I'm a big fan of Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld and the White Rabbit Chronicles series. Alien Huntress series … not so much. I'm very glad I got this book on sale, otherwise I probably would have returned it. I got about 3/4 of the way through, convinced it had to get better (it's a Gena Showalter book; surely it will improve), but no such luck so that's as far as I got.

Boring main characters, boring non-sensical story (they don't know some aliens have mind control, then they do know some aliens have mind control, but they seem to forget to guard against it, as if they don't know some aliens have mind control. Huh?)

It's possible I might like the story better if I had read it, and not listened to it. Justine Eyre is not my cup of tea. Her overly sultry sex-kitten voice does not fit at all with this story, and her interpretation of male voices (nasally/whiny) just about makes my ears bleed. I've listened to a YA series by Jennifer Armentrout that was read by Justine Eyre, and I forgot how excruciating it was to listen to. I must always remember to check out who the story is read by before getting the book. I will never listen to another book narrated by Justine Eyre, even if it's free.

Repetitive Dull and Disappointing

Any additional comments?

After reading the Introduction i was excited to get listening to this book. I enjoy books with Alien/Human romance with some Thriller/mystery thrown in. This book could of been so much better than it was. It is very repetitive in places and i found myself drifting away from the story, a lot. I skipped a few chapters and had no trouble catching up either (Not a good sign). There also could of been more romance between Mia and Kyrin. I found the build up to the sex plain boring. There is not much sex in this story either. Justine Eyre's narration was annoying. Her voice is not suited to the story. With such a hard cold hearted Main lady her voice really needed to be more firm. I found it quite sickly sweet. I don't think i will bother with anymore books in this series. All in all this book was disappointing.

BORING AND TOTALLY HORID!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

This book was impossible for me to get into. The characters were boring and just did not capture my attention in the least.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I'll try another series - this one did not have a good start at all.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Justine Eyre?

Jusstine Eyre didn't do a bad job - just the book sucked.

What character would you cut from Awaken Me Darkly?

All of them.