Review: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Title/Author: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Number of pages: 390

Series: Darkest Powers #1

How I got it: Barnes and Noble

Rating: 4/5

Goodreads Summary:

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…

My Review:

This was my first book (i think) that involved ghosts or talking to ghosts. It was new and interesting for me! Chloe isnt exactly the most exciting or likable character to me but the story was interesting enough.

I enjoyed trying to figure out what all the other characters "problems" were. I dont know why but I like to read stories that involved group homes/boarding schools/etc ..

One thing that annoyed me was the dialogue between characters. It's like the author didn't like for the characters to finish their sentences. what the heck, let them talk! The characters were constantly butting into the other person's sentence which was just beyond frustrating.

I kinda felt like the whole "supernatural" thing was forced too. Nothing was really building up to it and it didn't really go into much details about supernaturals either. hmmm... I guess the second book will fill us in?? But I'm going to try not to criticize the author's writing style too much because I really did enjoy the story!

One other thing that bothers me is when a book leaves off without an ending, so you don't have a choice but to read the next book to find out what happens. Thankfully I have the second book in this series so it's not too much of a burden, but still >_<

Okay so to sum it all up, YES i did enjoy the story! I definetly recommend buying all 3 books in this series at once though (I'm sure the 2nd one leaves off just like this one did).

Reading Challenges: 100 Books in 2011 ; 1st in a Series