Book Review: Indigo Awakening by Jordan Dane

Title: Indigo Awakening (The Hunted #1)
Author: Jordan Dane
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publishing Date: December 18th 2012
Length: 304 pages
Keywords: YA, fantasy, special powers, love, friendship, spirit
Source: Netgalley

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.

Summary by Goodreads

 

Set in Los Angeles, INDIGO AWAKENING invites us to follow the story of a whole bunch of characters. The story is told by an omniscient narrator, 3rd person point of view. There should be a character for every reader to possibly identify with. Among them are Rayne, Gabriel, Lucas, Kendra, Mia and Raphael. We mainly follow the three Darby kids, Lucas, Rayne and Mia, on their journeys. Lucas is one of them and he's got to overcome major obstacles to fight for his freedom and discover his true identity.

Both his sisters, Mia and Rayne, are searching for him. Both with very different intentions in mind. INDIGO AWAKENING is a lot about the power struggles between these two girls and overall between children of Indigo origin and their terrific antagonists.

Other characters I really liked, were Gabriel and Kendra. They are similar in their strong and determined personalities, but very contrary in their ways of living. Gabriel is the lone wolf and is always on the move, his only comrade his dog Hellboy. Kendra however is living in a community and is the leader of the Indigo children of L.A. And great parts of INDIGO AWAKENING are about this alliance Kendra has built and the relationships between various members.

Now, with such a big character cast, there are numerous opportunities for intertwinings of their lives. There will be love stories to cheer for and rivalries that demand you to take sides. In the end though there were just too many characters and jumping between perspectives for me. I would've preferred to follow only three or four selected characters and dive deeper into their thoughts and pasts. Further I would suggest to cut the scenes telling the story from the antagonists' point of views, like Boelens, O'Dell and Fiona, in the sequel. These parts of the story seemed to reveal too much and take away aspects of anticipation or surprise I would've hoped for. 

Jordan Dane introduces us to the concept of Indigo and crystal children who are connected through a collective mind and special powers. It's a fascinating world, but it's not safe. They are hunted by a group of people called the Church of Spiritual Freedom. A great battle is about to break and threaten to doom the Indigo children to a life in imprisonment. I'm really hoping for more detailed information and explanations about them in the next book.

1) of the comfort and protection the Indigo community has to offer
2) of becoming a family
3) of its various perspectives who allow a fast reading pace
4) of exceptional talents
5) of a true companion in spirit and soul
 

3/5 *** INDIGO AWAKENING – A multifaceted read with spirit and a bunch of Indigo powers in tow!

There is still a lot of explanation to expect concerning the Indigo powers and the origin of these specially gifted children, which I definitely missed in INDIGO AWAKENING. So expect the sequel to INDIGO AWAKENING to be filled with many new stories fans can be thrilled about. 

* Read an excerpt of INDIGO AWAKENING here.

* Watch the book trailer.

* Want to meet Jordan? Click here for a list of appearances.

* Want to find out more about Gabriel and Kendra? Read my character interviews here.

* Visit www.jordandane.com for further information about Jordan Dane and her books.