Dark Child (the Awakening): Episode 4

Dark Child #1.4

by Adina West

Perfect for fans of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, this intriguing urban fantasy follows the story of Kat Chanter, who discovers that the world she knows is controlled by ancient creatures who feed on blood. And she might just be one of them ...Despite all the people surrounding them she still couldn't help feeling Alek was . . . dangerous. There was so much pent-up savagery in him. She let out a shaky breath as his dark blue eyes caught hers and held.Then his hands slid around her wrists, alive with energy, and she forgot to be afraid. It wasn't just a touch, but a caress that left melting warmth in its wake.She'd heard the words before, but not spoken like this. His voice was liquid honey, lingering where others like Miklós had hurried, and imbuing each word with textured layers of additional meaning, as what had been stock phrases took on erotic promise."Whatever you desire, you need only ask," he added softly at the end, as he lifted her wrist and brushed it with his lips. When her breath caught, he gave a slow smile, displaying sharp white teeth.Kat's unalil protectors are on high alert in their mountain stronghold. The remote location has delayed the Directorate finding Kat, but now an attack seems imminent.Kat's finding her 24/7 guard frustrating, especially since Alek, most predatory of the unalil, seems determined to take his role as protector to the next level . . .This is a novella length episode of Dark Child (The Awakening)*, first in the Dark Child series. All five episodes are also available bundled as Dark Child (The Awakening): Omnibus Edition. Look out for the next in this series, Dark Child (Covens Rising) available July 2014.*Dark Child (The Awakening) was originally published in 2013 as Dark Child Episodes 1-5 and Dark Child Omnibus Edition.Recommended Dark Child reading order Child (The Awakening) Episode 1Dark Child (The Awakening) Episode 2Dark Child (The Awakening) Episode 3Dark Child (The Awakening) Episode 4Dark Child (The Awakening) Episode 5followed byDark Child (Covens Rising) Episode 1Dark Child (Covens Rising) Episode 2Dark Child (Covens Rising) Episode 3Dark Child (Covens Rising) Episode 4Dark Child (Covens Rising) Episode 5OR Dark Child (The Awakening) Omnibus Editionfollowed byDark Child (Covens Rising) Omnibus Edition

Genres: Paranormal

120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2013

About the author

Adina West grew up on a remote property on Australia’s east coast, in country New South Wales. She spent most of her childhood curled up with a book, and her first teenage job was shelving books at the local library, where she was cautioned more than once for reading them instead of putting them away.
Her first stories were laboriously typed up with two fingers on her parents’ old typewriter. Her dream of one day being a published writer progressed much faster after she learned to touch type and switched to a computer.
Now, Adina lives in Sydney’s leafy north-west with her IT guru husband, two children, and a couple of unwelcome possums who really don’t know how to take a hint. Her Dark Child paranormal fantasy series, is available from all good e-book retailers. It’s an eclectic mix of ancient cultures, modern cities, tarot, witchcraft, suspense and romance, and she loves that writing it made watching Vampire Diaries necessary research.

Reviews

[Lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This serial must be read in order. The first episode is Dark Child (The Awakening): Episode 1. The second episode is Dark Child (The Awakening): Episode 2. The third episode is Dark Child (The Awakening): Episode 3. This is the fourth episode.

Kat fled the city with Char's maker and Anton and now she is being guarded by a unalil family from the Tabérin's assassins. This is strange for her. She is not sure she will turn but everyone else is sure she will as she has been showing the signs. She feels trapped and nervous and she hates lying to her mother but she likes the family a lot except for maybe Also as he seems to want to seduce her. How will she change? Will she be Tabérin or unalil? Or something else entirely? With the threat of death in an unspeakable manner hanging over her head she feels lost.

This episode was definitely an eye opener and answered some of the questions I hav had about what will happen to her. I can't wait to read Dark Child (The Awakening): Episode 5 to find out the outcome of her transformation!

***This serial book is suitable for mature young adult through adult readers

[Gillian Murrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Not as good as the previous books I'm finding Kat to be a bit of a wimp. There still no indication as to what Kat will turn into if she survives the transition. The decision of can Kat stay with the the family and have them protect her has finally been decided. I don't know why there have been no discussions as to who Kat's father is this is, surely that should have been one of the main things discussed.

[Laura Clode · Rating 5 out of 5]

So freaking awesome! Read the whole 5 instalments in a day totally worthy reading!

[Annabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of answers about the nature of the world Kat has found herself in the middle of are given in this section. The threat of the Directorate continues to grow, with a scheme to kill Kat. A little romance is introduced, though it did feel a times like the sort of romance where the two people involved have no real reason to like each other, other than that the story needed a bit of snogging throwing in. That aside, this was another solid instalment, with things building towards an exciting finale.

[Eleni Konstantine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Review will be of omnibus version

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Adina West, Pan Macmillan Australia, and ‘Never too old for YA books’.)
This is part 4 of the ‘Dark Child’ serial, and picks up where part 3 left off.
Kat is now learning more about who she is, and the other supernatural creatures that she is living with. Whether she will be allowed to continue living at the house is discussed, without her, and her possible transformation is also touched upon.


I dislike not knowing how a story ends, so seeing as I have read parts 1-3 of this serial, I figured I ought to read the other 2 parts, and find out what actually happens to Kat. The problem is, that even taking a break and then coming back to this story, I had real trouble getting through this one. I’m not even sure what the problem is, but for some reason I’m just not invested in this story, and it’s really difficult for me to focus and read it, my mind just keeps wandering, and I was tempted to just stop reading this right the way through.
In my opinion Kat needs to man-up a bit, and stop relying on everyone else for her health and wellbeing, and the story needs to pick-up the pace. I’m also totally confused as to what the bad guys are really up to, which makes it even harder to really care about what is happening in this story.
I have to say that I’m also beginning to hate the way some books are split into parts for a serial. This is the third one I’ve read, and it seems that they have all failed to please. I’m wondering if this book would benefit from being shorter, and being published as one book. My thoughts are that at around 500 pages, this book is a bit long, and that condensing the action would probably help to keep the reader focused.
Overall; I’m confused, and I’m finding it difficult to keep reading this series.
4 out of 10.

[Janis Rocha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kat is in the mountains still hiding from the people who want to kill her. The group must decide if they are going to protect her and welcome her into their home to stay or make her leave. After some debate the group votes and decides to protect her and give her a proper welcome into the home. She is being protected day and night now as they have found a pack of animals who have been sent by Humas to hunt her down and kill her. Alek is wanting a bit more from Kat and she finds him so confusing yet when she's near him she can not deny the attraction.

This is the 4th installment of this novella and I enjoyed this episode very much. I am looking forward to reading part 5. A definite must read for anyone who enjoy supernatural stories.

[Briana Polden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a part of the omnibus book. I am so glad I did I would of hated to sit there and wait for the next one. I hardly wanted to put it down.