The Summoning & The Awakening

The Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong

I have to admit, I did not give this series a fair try when I tried to read them initially. It didn’t help that the book I picked up was The Awakening- the 2nd book in the series. But when I did start reading The Summoning, I was hooked. Chloe is an interesting main character because she was a normal teenager going to an Arts school where she liked studying cinematography and getting excited about going to a high school dance. Then Chloe becomes a ‘woman’ in the literal sense of the word. And all of a sudden, Chloe is being chased by a disfigured janitor’s ghost that she cannot get away from and she is the only person who can actually see him. Everyone thinks Chloe has had a mental breakdown, and so she gets shipped off to Lyle House, a home for troubled youths. At Lyle House, Chloe meets a number of interesting characters. There’s Derek and Simon- foster brothers who look and act nothing alike, but understand each other without even having to say a word. Tori and Liz are friends, but where Liz is nice and easy-going for the most part, Tori is a rich girl with a bad attitude. And there’s Rae, who seems very street smart and becomes friendly with Chloe. But there’s something more mysterious about the Lyle House than it first appears. All the kids (with the exception of Simon) are in Lyle House because of unexplainable events, actions, and behaviors. Chloe has to determine what exactly it is about Lyle House and its doctors that gives her the creeps- which means she has to look at making some unexpected allies and a way to get out before something happens to her.

I cannot wait for the 3rd book to come out in 2010. It is titled The Reckoning and it is the third and final installment in the series. I for one am looking forward to see how Chloe and her gang of allies are going to take on the organization behind Lyle House, if Chloe will be reunited with her father, if there is a certain love interest Chloe will end up with (I’m cheering for the w***), and whether or not Derek and Simon will be reunited with their father as well.

I recommend this series to fans of paranormal fiction. While Kelley Armstrong’s adult books might have been a little too much for me in the past, I definitely enjoy her YA books, so I may just give her adult books a second or third try.