Waking Up

by Kasey Roper

Operating out of Henry, Michigan, a military sanctioned capture and kill division hunts vampires and werewolves, and any human who dares become one. They don't care whether it's by accident or on purpose. Their only concern is how long it'll take to be rid of their target.When Erin Thompson finds herself at the focal point of their latest hunt, she has to decide if she wants to fight back. She didn't ask to become a vampire, nor does she have the slightest clue as to who turned her into one, but with the help of a werewolf pack, Erin finds a coven willing to take her in. Willing to train her, and teach her what it means to be an immortal creature.It's a task far from easy, and Erin often finds herself wavering between accepting her new life and feeling severely unprepared, but when the division takes a secondhand approach and starts to play dirty, Erin's own feelings cease to matter. She has to swallow her fears and take a stand. Otherwise, her life won't be the only one lost.

318 pages, Paperback

Published May 23, 2016

About the author

Kasey has been writing since the fifth grade, where she penned her first short story about evil hotdogs and the Gods they served.

As an adult, she’s released three self-published books to little success yet heaps of passion, and plans to continue trying her best. Writing is her greatest stress relief, and sharing her imagination with even just one other person is more than she could ever ask for!

Reviews

[Nedra]

Interesting twist on supernatural.

Interesting take on the vampire/werewolf genre. The main character was compelling, but sometimes a little too in her own thoughts. Most of the side characters were interesting, hopefully we'll get to see more of them in later books.

[Sean]

There are parts of the book that I loved, namely the worldbuilding and characters. The long plot needed work, and the last portion of the book didn't thrill me. I will read a sequel, because of the reasons I liked the book.

[Sam]

Disclaimer: I won this book in a tumblr giveaway, but this has not influenced my review.

Erin lives in Henry, a small town in America. She has been bitten by a vampire, but thanks to a friendly group of werewolves she is not alone while she finishes her transformation. With a secret government Agency trying to hunt her down she has to learn and adapt quickly to her changed life, which is not always easy (vampire motorics take their time to learn!) It all get's even more dangerous when her mother and sister are abducted by said secret government Agency. Erin now has to figure out a way to free them.

In my opinion Erin acted quite natural after figuring out that vampires and werewolves are real and that she was on her way to becoming one. She freaked out and questioned everything, which I probably would do to. I also admired her for not getting angry in some situations which she as a plus sized black women faced.

I enjoyed Kasey's take on the mythology a lot, it was next to the diverse cast of characters one of my favorite parts of the novel.

And when I say diverse in this novel, I mean super diverse. We have our friendly neighbour hood lesbian couple, but also our vampire clan leading lesbian (with her wife, both woc) and a vampire/werewolf gay couple. And lets not forget Tier a trans boy werewolf (though as somebody whose mother tongue is german, I couldn't help but laugh at his name. Tier means animal in german and he's a werewolf haha, get it? :'D) + protective werewolf leader Mum Nadia.

Other stuff I enjoyed where the hints at Erin's old life, talk about racism and racial profiling and the bullying she had to endure due to her being not thin. I also connected with her lack of Friend-Making-Ability TM.

I really liked the sisterly bond between Erin and Demaria (fun fact: their mother let Erin pick her baby sisters name while she was a child by pointing at her favorite letters. Poor Demaria but it's so funny and sweet!) I'm super excited how their relationship will be explored more in the second book.

While the writing was not the best and I definitely think there is way for improvement I'm super excited to learn more and figure out what's going to happen next.

I had to take off one star because of all the grammar mistakes and the occasional typo (also I had the feeling that words were missing on occasion?)

First reaction: A newly turned vampire (a black girl too) having to figure out her after-life surrounded by werewolves AND hunted by the government? Niiiice! After seeing that there would be a diverse cast of characters I was even more intrigued.

Do I recommend it: Yup. Despite its grammar mistakes, I absolutely loved the vampire and werewolf lore and the loads of diversity. It was really nice to read and I can't wait for the second book.

Review crossposted to my blog here

[Kasey Roper]

(Something I wasn’t aware of at the time, but I would like to start off by offering trigger warnings for this book. Which include: sexual abuse, child abuse, fat phobia)

Seeing as I’m the author of this book, you’d think 5 Stars would be my go to, but I think I’m far enough removed from the story to acknowledge my shortcomings. It’s been seven years since I stepped into this world, and although I’ve attempted to rewrite it in various ways, I decided a few months back to simply let it be.

“Waking Up” was a passion project wrapped up in an “I have something to prove!” blanket, and did what it was meant to do for me on a deeply personal level. I love it with my whole heart and intend to transfer all the lessons I’ve learned since writing it, into my new work.

Therefore, if you happen to read this book first, I of course want to say thank you, but also that I hope you do so with an open mind. I hope you understand that I was much, much less prepared than I am now to publish, and I would like to believe I’ve grown as a writer and person. So feel free to leave whatever review you think best fits the story and my skillset at the time, even if it’s a slaughter. I welcome it all, and again, thank you for bothering to read it in the first place.