The Awakening by LA Banks

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Compared to other books in the series)
Pages: 258
Genre: Paranormal (Urban Fantasy)
Series: Yes (Vampire Huntress Legend Book 2)
Publication Date: 2004

Synopsis (From Google Books):

There is a vampire war brewing in the underworld and at the center of it all is Damali Richards, spoken word artist and Vampire Huntress. But she is not just any Vampire Huntress, she is the millenium Neteru. A woman so potentially powerful that the vampire world is about to invoke a bloody battle that threatens to spill over onto her streets in order to posses her. It's just a matter of who will get to her first. Fallon Nuit, a rogue vampire, is one of the most powerful Damali has ever encountered and he has allied himself with the deadly Amanrath demons in order to claim her. But the Vampire Council has plans for her as well. And now an unlikely variable has entered into the equation, an ex-lover now turned vampire with an agenda of his own. And she must risk trusting him once more if they are to survive.

Review:

I have a feeling that I am being to become a paranormal book reader. Because of the last 6 books I have read 2 have been paranormal. And I thought that they were both excellent reads.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with LA Banks she writes the tell of a master vampire hunter (I hate the term huntress) and her band of guardians. The cast is multi-culture and come from a wide variety of religious backgrounds, which is different from some of the other paranormal books that I have read. The main character, Damali Richards, is a young black woman coming in to her hunting abilities while trying to deal with a strong attract with a drug dealer, Carlos Rivera.

I was really hesitant to read the first book in the series ("Minion") and found it to be really slow and uninteresting in the beginning but it picked up in the end. This book did not have the same problem. I was hooked from the start. I like how Banks provided a little bit of a reminder of what happened in the first book (not that I needed it). But even that had me hooked.

In "The Awakening", Banks continues to build on the world that she has created, and it is very complex. Which is good and bad. It is good because it keeps the story moving forward and allows the reader to see the rules and guidelines that govern almost everything, good and evil. It is bad because it causes her to sit up situations that explain what is going on and why, that takes sometimes and subtracts from the action vibe that the story has.

I find most of Banks character to be captivating, even the bad guys. You want to know their story and what is going to happen to them. She gives you little glimpses of pieces throughout the novel (probably so that you will read the next one), but just enough to keep the story rolling and your curiosity perked.

I enjoy Banks witting and don't find that it is very difficult to read. It doesn't take much thought, its like watching an very good action more. You don't think you just absorbed the sences that she is sitting up for you. The only problem with her writing that I have is her use of slang not only in dialog but also in her sentence structure. It service the purpose of keeping with the stories settings but it also not only dates the story but her. I find some of the terms and actions of the characters to be out of date.

Pros: Action and character development, complex fictional concepts
Cons: Slang terms, complex fictional concepts

Overall Recommendation: Read It but read the first book in the series first for background information.

Challenges:
Series Readers Challenge (1 out of 15)
TBR Challenge (1 out of 12)
Library Challenge (1 out of 25)

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