The Dawnkeepers by Jessica Anderson

Before I go onto this review I ask everyone who reads this post to do what they can to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. You can Donate online at www.clintonfoundation.org/haitirelief to help provide immediate relief and long-term support to earthquake survivors or Text "HAITI" to 20222 and $10 will be donated to relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

Onto the Review:
I have completed book two in the Doomsday series by Jessica Anderson. "Dawnkeepers" was another complex and busy novel. Almost too busy to be honest. I felt like I was still being introduced to the plot from book one.

This story's focus is, on the surface, about Alexis and Nate.
Alexis has bought into the "Nightkeeper" lore and not only accepts her destiny but actively seeks her place in the hierarchy of the group. Nate is the exact opposite. Not only did his parents die on that fateful day when nearly the entire tribe was wiped out by the Banol Kax but so did his winikin, (guardian) and he was left to the vagaries and dangers of the foster care system. He is hard because he's had to be. He doesn't believe that his life has already been plotted out by the whims of fate. The story also spends a time on the character, Rabbit. He is the son of Red Boar. He was a Nightkeeper who gave his life in the cause in the previous book. I have to say I found Rabbit's story more compelling than I did Alexis and Nate's.

I pretty much knew what to expect from the couple. They fight their attraction. One is needy while the other is distant. They realize they are truly meant for each other and then they conquer the bad guy or spirit. What was unexpected in this part of the story was Ms. Anderson's use of love and nurturing in the form of a Mayan Goddess who bonds with Alexis to really send home the message "Love Conquers All". I connected to this portion of the story. It is a part of me I am trying to use more in this real world of upheaval. I was sorry that it really only took shape toward the end and wasn't more woven through the whole.

Rabbit is different. He was raised to believe in all the stories and magic of the Nightkeepers but he has been taught he isn't a Nightkeeper. He is Red Boar's son. He is among them but because of his mysterious birth he is not one of them. He is a teenager and coming into his own so rebellion is part of this stage of his life but when you can make things burn and mentally pick locks any rebellion can become dangerous real quick. He feels unwanted and he isn't wrong. His father certainly didn't want him and while Strike and Jax care for him they fear him a little too. His story takes some big turns in "Dawnkeepers" and I am very interested in where the saga takes him in the next installment, "Skykeepers".

The story also touches base on Strike's sister and her coming to terms with her own destiny and becoming a seer. She also discovers why she is having such problems in her marriage.
There is a new bad guy in town. He is a Xilbalban which is the evil version of the Nightkeepers.
The married Nightkeepers are having unknown, unnamed problems.
Jax is working through regrets of letting go of the love of his life in order to be true to the prophecies and what he believed was expected of him.
Then there is the whole search for 7 artifacts which once collected will help undo the final prophecy.
WHOOO! Like I said there is a lot going on in this book.

Overall the "Final Prophecy Series" has been an interesting read. I appreciate Ms. Anderson's effort to tell a good story. It is more complex than a regular paranormal romance novel. I think that she is trying to put together a story that appeals across genres and genders. Ms. Anderson has so much she wants to include and I appreciate that but if each story is going to focus on a couple coming together then lets stay there more. If it is about beating the Final Prophecy then I want more suspense and action.
With all that said I will be getting the next one.