Monday, October 24, 2011

Review: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong (The Darkest Powers #1)

The Summoning (Darkest Powers Series #1) by Kelley Armstrong: Book Cover

The Summoning
Darkest Powers #1
By Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Young Adult
Sexual Intensity: None
My Rating: A

I just finished this book about 10 minutes ago, and before I dive into The Awakening, I wanted to get my review done so I don't confuse books in my reviews!

I read this book in a day, a very quick, easy, fun, and entertaining read. The lead character is Chloe Saunders. She's 15, a seemingly normal teenager going to an Art school. She has dreams of becoming a screenwriter and director and sizes up all situations as if they were parts of a movie. The normality of her life ends the day she starts seeing ghosts. 

The day she sees her first ghost occurs at her school. A few teachers try to calm a very frightened Chloe and it seems Chloe is fighting the teachers, when in reality, she's trying to fight off the ghost. The school has her carted off to a hospital, and then she's sent to a group home, The Lyle House.  

Here at the Lyle House, Chloe meets other troubled teens. Liz--her roomate, Derek and Simon--unseparable brothers, Tori--the mean girl, and Rachelle (Rae). The day in-day out life at the Lyle House is pretty mundane. School during the day, chores and homework at night. A visit with the resident shrink falls somewhere in there each day. The kids are rarely allowed time to be alone, forced instead to be among each other. 

As the days go by, Chloe sees more ghosts and tries to hide her abilities. Her doctor has diagnosed Chloe with Schizophrenia. Chloe believes that if she goes along with the diagnosis, takes her medication, and agrees that she has this disease and tries to get better, the doctors will release her back to her own home with her Aunt. 

Chloe learns that her fellow residents may also have some supernatural powers and through the book, the   teens are trying to figure out why strange things have happened in the house, and why the five of them are all coincidentally in the house at the same time.

I really enjoyed this book. It grabbed me from the very beginning and wouldn't let go until I finished it. I plan on starting the next book in the trilogy, The Awakening, as soon as I publish this post!

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