Book Shelf: Indigo Awakening (The Hunted #1) by Jordan Dane

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.

A fanatical church secretly hunts psychic kids—gifted “Indigo” teens feared to be the next evolution of mankind—for reasons only “the Believers” know. Now Rayne’s only hope is Gabe, who is haunted by an awakening power—a force darker than either of them imagine—that could doom them all.

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Review:

Having previously read Jordan Dane’s debut novel In the Arms of Stone Angels, I must admit I had high expectations for this book. The synopsis caught me and considering it was well written, it had all the potential to be a brilliant read. Yet, unfortunately for me, it just fell flat.

As a storyteller, Jordan Dane is very talented. Her writing is flowing and deep and very detailed. Indigo Awakening had all the elements I was looking for; interesting storyline, possibly intriguing characters and plenty of action, but in the end I struggled to connect with the characters and the story and for all her brilliance as a storyteller, in this one instance, Jordan Dane struggled to make me care.

There were times with this book when I would see a little spark that had the potential to flame brighter but ultimately burned out. The mystery and high stakes were there but I felt disconnected from the characters and their plight. The idea of the Indigo children was lost on me and even though the idea was interesting there wasn’t enough explanation and detail to really have me enticed.

The connection shared by the characters was one I liked and even though I emphasized with them throughout the book I never really felt invested in their story. I also didn’t feel the connection and chemistry between them that I wanted to see. Told in various POV’s Indigo Awakening introduces us to various characters that we follow throughout the book. Featuring Lucas Darby an Indigo child and his sister Rayne, as well as Kendra, Raphael and Gabriel other Indigo children the various perspectives did allow us a broad view of the story as well as POV’s from the ‘bad guys” but I never loved the characters.

That’s not to say I didn’t want to, because I did. I really did. I waited to find a moment when I would fall into a rhythm with a character I was reading about but it never came. Rayne was feisty and Gabe was quite interesting, but their relationship and connection came on too strong, too fast and that deterred me. Kendra I could see had incredibly good intensions, but there was just something about her that I couldn’t connect with and Lucas…..well, unfortunately he just did nothing for me.

If I had to pick a character I liked the best, I think I would have to say Raphael. He and his ‘little man’ Benny were insanely sweet and even though they weren’t brother by blood the bond between them was a strong as. They were worth reading about.

Unfortunately this book was just a major disappointment for me. I was hoping for something fierce and brilliant like I know Dane is capable of writing, but this just wasn’t the case with Indigo Awakening. I’ll definitely read more by Jordan Dane, simply because I know of the incredible books she can write, but this one just wasn’t for me……

Rating:
Source: Sent for review by HarlequinTEEN Australia (Thank you Polina!)
Format: Paperback
Buy it: Booktopia | The Nile | The Book Depository | Amazon
My Recommendation: While this book wasn't for me, fantasy fans may enjoy this.
Cover: The cover I do like--I think it's awesome.
Will I read sequel/continue with series: No