My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.
All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don’t even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost- and the ghost saw me.
Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won’t leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a “special house” for troubled teens. Yet the house isn’t what it seems. Don’t tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It’s up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House… before its skeletons come back to haunt me.
Title: The Summoning
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Darkest Powers, Book 1
Start & Finished: 3/25/09
Published: July 1, 2008
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 309 (Hardcover)
Genre: YA- Paranormal
Kelley Armstrong is mainly known as the bestselling author of the paranormal series Women of the Otherworld for adults but her newest 
series is written for teens. After writing the second book in her main series, she came up with the idea for the Darkest Powers novels but it took her five years before it was published. Set in the same world as her most popular series, the first book in what is to become a trilogy starring Chloe Saunders is called The Summoning.
The Women of the Otherworld series has been one of my favorites for a few years now so when I learned the author was writing a young adult paranormal series, I knew I had to check it out. This new series is just as good as the adult one but with no romantic relationships (even if there is some budding romance). Since I am a fan of the main series, the big reveal about the truth of Lyle House and its occupant didn’t come as a surprise to me at all… mostly because I had already figured it out! The author has created a great cast of characters, (misfits though they are) with this series. Chloe and Simon are my favorites with Derek as a close third.
Armstrong touched on what it would be like growing up as a supernatural being only briefly in her Women of the Otherworld books as there isn’t much room to go into detail but she fully explores it here. What would kids do and where would they go when their powers were discovered? Especially when they’re parents are normal? Or if the kids are orphans? They would most likely be considered “troubled,” and since they didn’t know any better how would they know? As Chloe says near the beginning of the book, “If the kids were diagnosed as having a disease such as schizophrenia, pyromania, etc.” --as Chloe puts it,“If I was crazy, would I know it? That’s what being crazy was, wasn’t it? You thought you were fine. Everyone else knew better. Maybe I was crazy.”
When talking about this first book the author said, “Despite a wide age range of narrators in my adult novels, adults share a basic set of core concerns that are different from teens, and they have a very different set of tools for dealing with them. It's a fresh take on ‘my world’ and I love it.” Well, Ms. Armstrong, I can safely say after reading it that I love it too and now I need to go get caught up with your other books. A warning though, this does end on a huge cliffhanger so you may want pick up the second book The Awakening and have it ready after you finish.
Darkest Powers Series:
1. The Summoning (2008)
2. The Awakening (2009)
3. The Reckoning (2010)
First Paragraph: I bolted up in bed, one hand clutching my pendant, the other wrapped in my sheets. I struggled to recapture wisps of the dream already fluttering away. Something about a basement... a little girl... me? I couldn't remember ever having a basement-- we'd always lived in condo apartments.
Links:
- Chloe Saunders has her own webpage and MySpace!
- Kelley Armstrong has created a blog for her character Chloe on live journal
Interview:
Cynsations Blog
Imperial Beach Teen Blog
Video:
Book Trailer
Armstrong Talks About The Summoning at Kelpers Bookstore
My Related Posts:
Industrial Magic
Haunted
Broken
No Humans Involved
Picture Explanations:
Rae’s matches: One of the girl’s at Lowell House has been branded a pyromaniac
Liz’ green hoodie: Another girl at the House left this behind when she left
Wow, that first paragraph leaves me wanting more!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed The Summoning too, I don't remember having a dull moment while I read it. :) Still need to get myself a copy of The Awakening! The YA series books that I read just keep on piling up. Haha.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm the only one who didn't like this book. Hmm. I never even bothered to pick up book 2 and I am giving my copy of this one away. It's sad too because I liked most of the Otherworld series.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like any of the characters in The Summoning. :(
PS -I love the new background! I need to step out of my feed reader more often. ;)
I wasn't a huge fan of this book. It was just okay for me! I am getting book 2 from the library, though, just for curiousity...
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in her YA books cos I have read some of her other books (loved Bitten). But yes have heard about that cliffhanger
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great read - I'll have to see if my library has a copy.
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to this! My parents have read both this and the second one in the series, and they have nothing but praise for the both of them. Me, I feel like I need to catch up on the main Otherworld series first, even though the two aren't really connected; she's published a lot of new books since the last one I read!
ReplyDeleteBermudaonion: I thought it was a pretty good opening too :)
ReplyDeleteAustenfan: Oh my YA reading pile has just about gone through the roof! I haven't started The Awakening yet and I've had it for months...
Cat: Nope not the only one. I've seen a few blog reviews that didn't like it. I love the Otherworld series too. I'm actually a bit behind on reading them though. Glad you liked it! I changed my other blog's background yesterday too.
Kailana: I'm hoping that the problems I did have with the book (like that darn ending) won't happen again in this series. I'm willing to attribute it to the author being new to YA writing but somehow I still haven't picked up the next one.
Blodeuedd: She's the whole reason I actually like werewolves now! That's why I picked this up in the first place. The ending royally pissed me off but I'm willing to give this another chance because I did enjoy the story alot.
Belle: Hope you do! Might want to pick up the next one too because I wasn't kidding about the doozy of a cliffhanger.
Memory: I haven't read past Personal Demon yet. Love the series but I have a ton of others on my TBR pile and these got pushed aside for the time being. All the more to sit down and read non-stop for me though!
I really enjoyed The Summoning, and was completely surprised by the ending (which rarely happens these days). I didn't know the author had another series, so I'll have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I really enjoyed this book, and the second installment.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be such a long wait for The Reckoning.
A link to my review of The Summoning: http://abookloversdiary.blogspot.com/2009/09/review-summoning-darkest-powers-book-1.html
Lizzy: Her Women of the Otherworld series is the best but she also has a cool series about a hitwoman named Naida Standford too.
ReplyDeleteJessica (BookLover): I plan on reading the second one soon. Can't wait for The Reckoning! Off to comment on your post!
I instantly added this to the TBR list after reading your review. I read Bitten not too long ago and although I haven't reviewed it, I am looking forward to continuing on with the series. I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed this one as well...and thanks for letting us know that it ends in a cliffhanger. I hate not knowing that beforehand when I read a book.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to hear Kelley speak at a conference for work at the end of October!
ReplyDeleteI liked this book and enjoyed the second one even better. I didn't like the huge cliffhanger at the end because I felt cheated. I would have liked more closure, but I liked enough to read the sequel.
ReplyDeleteI thought she did a good job of showing actual reactions to a teen suddenly seeing dead people. And I also thought she did a good job with developing the relationships.
Great review. Lots of good stuff. Came over to check out your blog after you visited ours and am glad I did! I'll look forward to more!
Samantha.1020: I'm glad! Oh in my opinion, Bitten is one of her very best stories. Glad I could help you :)
ReplyDeleteLuanne: You're SO lucky! She's been one of my favorite authors for years. Have fun!
Alyssa Kirk: I haven't read the second one yet though I've owned it for months now. I liked how down-to-earth this seemed too. Thanks! Glad you enjoyed my review, Personal Demon also by Kelley Armstrong will be the next one up. I'll have to visit you again!
I loved this book, I became a member of the I <3 Derek team. And the second part is way good too!.
ReplyDeleteAG.
PS - Link to my review
http://animegirlsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2009/07/summoning-by-kelley-armstrong.html
I enjoyed this one, too - and I have the sequel waiting alluringly for me on my bookshelf, yay! Glad you liked it, too.
ReplyDelete