The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
(Darkest Powers Trilogy, #1)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Format: ebook
Read: 1/17/2012 — 1/19/2012
In Six Words: So many questions, so few answers.
Links
Kelley Armstrong — Website | Twitter | Facebook
Amazon — Paperback | Kindle
Add it to Goodreads
Book Order
1. The Summoning
2. The Awakening
3. The Reckoning
Synopsis
After years of frequent moves following her mother’s death, Chloe Saunders’s life is finally settling down. She is attending art school, pursuing her dreams of becoming a director, making friends, meeting boys. Her biggest concern is that she’s not developing as fast as her friends are. But when puberty does hit, it brings more than hormone surges. Chloe starts seeing ghosts–everywhere, demanding her attention. After she suffers a breakdown, her devoted aunt Lauren gets her into a highly recommended group home.
At first, Lyle House seems a pretty okay place, except for Chloe’s small problem of fearing she might be facing a lifetime of mental illness. But as she gradually gets to know the other kids at the home–charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek, obnoxious Tori, and Rae, who has a “thing” for fire–Chloe begins to realize that there is something that binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual “problem kid” behaviour. And together they discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home either…
-from Goodreads
Why I Started Reading This Book and Final Verdict
I was epically and publicly dared by Ruby to read The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong, but I only have The Summoning, so that is what I read. It’s my understanding that it’s better to start with this one anyway? The Summoning was a slow build for me, but by the time things got going and unraveled, the wait was worth it.
My Thoughts
I spent my time reading swinging between being completely engrossed in the story and being completely frustrated with the lack of answers (or rather, the slow pace at which some questions were answered). In some ways, it is a psychological thriller, as there is so much going on here that neither we as readers nor Chloe understand. What is Chloe? What is real? What’s up with the Lyle House? Even as the book finishes, there are still questions to be answered. It’s not really a cliffhanger, but it’s obvious that the story is far far from over.
Chloe was a good main character. She was the right mix of doubt and humor. While wading through the millions of questions that she had, I felt myself doubting Chloe right along with her. But what I appreciated was that through all the niggling doubt, it never turned into simpering despair or wallowing on everything that was going wrong. Any doubts that Chloe had pushed her to answer the questions she had. If she began to spiral too far downward, she pulled herself out with humor or by turning life into a movie. The supporting characters (Simon, Derek, Tori, Rae) were an odd mix, but the
The strength of The Summoning really comes in the final quarter of the book. Up until then, I had been intrigued, but not overly impressed or falling all over myself to finish the book. Once everything in the plot started to come together, I began to understand why so many people (*cough*RubyandKelly*cough*) have told me to read this series. The ending left me scrambling to add The Awakening to my wishlist, and this is definitely one of those books that you will want to read with the second book close by.
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24 Responses to “Review: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong”
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Aww, thank you for linking me by other reviews! :D
The book definitely picks up at the end… And the second one is really good too, I haven’t read the third yet. I’m glad you liked it! ^^
I recently got the second book, so I’m hoping to get to it soon. Glad to hear the next one is just as good. :)
This is one of my 12 YA picks for this year :) I am glad that you enjoyed it, that gives me hope!
Minimal angst in this one!
Yes! I had a hard time getting into this one, but once I did – it was full steam ahead! I’d been reading her Women of the Otherworld series for ages before these came out, and it never occurred to me that it was the same world when I was reading. After I finished this trilogy and then went back to the first series, I realized how clueless I’d been. Needless to say, I <3 everything Kelley Armstrong writes.
This was my first introduction to Kelley Armstrong. I’d definitely pick up her other series.
I had the EXACT same reaction to this book. I was just meh about it, up until the end, then I totally needed the next two books STAT! Glad you enjoyed it!
TWINSIES!
I only have the second book. Hopefully that will tide me over until I get the third.
I’m so glad you like it! This is one book where I not only ordered the next 2 in the series immediately upon finishing, I also turned around and reread it while waiting for those books to come.
I’ve got the second book… now I just need the third.
Yes, definitely need to keep book two handy. I gobbled these up like fistfuls of candy corn.
I finally got book 2! I just haven’t had the time to read it yet. =/
So glad to read that you enjoyed this book! I just acquired it this past week. :)
Awesome! Hope you enjoy it, too! :)
Yet another book that’s sitting on my shelf calling my name…sigh. Glad you liked it though!
There are far too many of those. I can barely hear myself think.
Derek is probably one of the OG werewolves for me, despite his extreme youth. I’m crazy about him and he completes the story for me. Teenage alpha males don’t often work for me because their immaturity tends to lead them into the alphahole territory. I’m stopping now before I say something uber-spoilery. READ BOOK TWO! GET BOOK THREE!
I’m getting there!!! The Awakening is high on my TBR list!
LOVE this series. I think this was the first book that got me into reading English YA.
Awesome! I’m excited to continue reading the series. :)
Your review makes me want to give it more love. I was kind of meh, but then the end…I was like “what the crap?”! Maybe I read it next to something that didn’t compliment it enough. Maybe I’ll give book 2 a chance.
You should give it a chance! You could read it with me!
I still haven’t read The Awakening. Arg. :/ I LOVED the setting for this book!
You and I should read that one together.