The sequel to Falling Under, Hayes brings back Theia, Haden, and the rest of the gang. Now that Theia is back to the human world, she has some readjusting to do as she quickly realizes that things will not be the same. And that Mara, the queen of Under and a human's worst nightmare, will never let Theia go.

I have to say, I loved the first one, but this one completely blew my mind. The world that Hayes has created is haunting, chilling, twisted, dark, and incredibly creepy. She brings back this world that literally creates terror to the human world.

Theia's struggle to get back to normal and try to hide what could be her demon side that she now holds proves to be incredibly difficult. I felt like Hayes never rushed things when it came to Theia. She was able to keep a steady pace and realistically present the hardships that her heroine goes through. And with Haden, Hayes is still able to keep him a dark, delicious mystery that will make any girl want him... Read more

Dreaming Awake by Gwen Hayes
YA Paranormal Romance -Jan. 3rd, 2012
3 ½ stars

Theia Alderson sacrificed everything to save Haden Black from his evil mother, Mara, the Queen of Nightmares. Giving up everything to stay in the realm of Under and controlled by Mara, Theia was summoned back to the real world. However, Mara vows to bring her back and destroy all that Theia loves. Mara blames Theia for turning Haden into a weak, emotional human. Not only that, Theia now has an uncontrollable hunger to feed on human souls. Can Haden and Theia friends save her from Mara? Or for that matter, can they save Serendipity Falls from Mara's wrath?

The second book in the series, Dreaming Awake is as gothic as the first book even though it takes place mainly in the real-world. I like the atmosphere and vibe of the book especially when Theia visits Under in her sleep. Unfortunately, I still cannot warm up to Theia's character. She's still quite needy with Haden, but in... Read more

Gwen Hayes's Falling Under blew me away. The imagery was fantastic. The world was delightfully unique. Unfortunately, this meant Dreaming Awake had a lot to live up to--and it failed to do so.

What seemed like an understandably tempestuous and confused relationship before, now seems over the top in its back-and-forth nature. Theia should have grown at least a bit from the events of the last book, but instead she seems whiny and wishy-washy. Sure, folks do stupid things, especially in the chaos of growing up, but Dreaming Awake takes this too far. She keeps ignoring the obvious, and thus comes across as deliberately obtuse and unobservant. She went from being understandably conflicted to being the sort of heroine one wants to give a good shake to in the hopes of jarring some common sense into her brain. It didn't help that Hayden, who made a fascinating impression last time, is fairly bland through most of this book. In fact, most of the characters seemed to have lost some... Read more