The Summoning

"That's sharks! You idiot, sharks and dinosaurs can't find you if you stay still. This isn't Jurassic Park!"

I have to admit, when I first picked up the book, I was sceptical. I mean, a whiny teenage girl from a very much dysfunctional family discovers she could see ghosts and ends up in a house for “special” kids? What a.. cliché. I decided to give it a shot anyway, because at this point you (don’t ask who I’m referring to.. maybe the smartass, sarcastic voice in my head that just refuses to leave me alone) and I both know, I’m a sucker for these kinds of stories.

Surprisingly, I found myself racing through the pages, getting pulled in more and more with each chapter, unwilling to put down the book. Okay, I have to be honest here.. many, many chapters were written beautifully, and some.. not so much. I’m not sure what the author was trying to achieve here, but it felt like I was reading bullet points on a PowerPoint presentation; it all seemed a little.. rushed? It had no flow and it confused me to the point where I had to go back and reread the whole damn chapter.

Chloe. Oh Chloe. Whiny, scared through 80% of the book (rightfully so but.. excessive, much? I mean.. get a grip Chloe!), naïve and well, is supposed to be the heroine of the book but ends up being the least interesting and likable character. I enjoyed the other characters though, especially Simon and Rae. As for Derek.. well, his sense of timing just really sucked.

Ah just as we get closer to the ending, the tension builds, the plot twists (more like annoyingly overly tangles for no apparent reason. You know, like when you pull your headphones out of your bag and you have to spend 30 minutes untangling them. Yeah, pretty much that.) and then, all of a sudden, the end. Wrong. Wrong. WRONG!

And just like that, it was ruined. The whole damn book was ruined just like that, with one stupid move. As you can probably tell, I wasn’t a major fan of Chloe from the get-go but right at the end there, man did I want to hurt her, badly. And don’t even get me started on the author trying way too hard to slide in a faint love triangle without anyone noticing. I see you, stop it.

So here I am, feeling empty, betrayed.. let down. And as much as it pains me to say, I need to read the next one.

Chloe Saunders is your typical out of place not yet developed teenage girl. I have to admit that I found her a little bit annoying, more often than not, but she's a kid so I just rolled with it. The book opens with what she calls her 'normal' life. Living in an apartment all on her own cause her Mom is dead and her Dad is some big executive that is never home. She starts the morning with a lecture from her housekeeper before heading off to her private performing arts academy.

She complains about being too skinny, hair too mousey and ginger, body too boyish. She gives herself red streaks in her copper hair to try and look more mature but the only person who seems to appreciate them, is her.

The book then starts out with the big red dot.

THE PERIOD!

As comes with every young girls period are sudden insane illusions of people no one else can see. Wait... no, that's definitely not normal. So here's where things actually start to take an interesting turn! A perfect example of how science constantly misdiagnosis us with disorders we do not have, Chloe sees one ghost and is labeled as a schizophrenic. ONE GHOST PEOPLE. Geeze, do all Mediums have this trouble?

So she is sent to Lyle House a place for troubled teens where they say she will have a quick recovery... I wasn't aware that having a mental illness made you a 'troubled teen' but okay, also since when can you recover from schizophrenia? All of that aside, Lyle House is where the mysterious but awesome story really begins.

read the full review: http://yafangirlreviews.blogspot.ca/2015/12/the-summoning.html

Kelley Armstrong is #1 on my list of favourite authors thanks to her phenomenal WOMEN OF THE OTHERWORLD series, so I thought it was high time that I gave her Young Adult trilogy a chance. Like most first installments, this audiobook has its share of flaws, but still managed to do a decent job of introducing the characters, and the DARKEST POWERS universe. The paranormal elements were subtle in the earlier chapters which was kind of disappointing, and the author immediately painted all of Chloe’s parental figures in a distasteful light which is a personal pet peeve of mine where this genre is concerned. I liked how Saunders conquered her fears by putting everything into the context of a movie, it was very teenage overactive imagination, and I’m confident that Derek and I will get along just fine. There was of course a cliff hanger which twisted my arm into binge listening to all three.

Cassandra Morris’ narration was appropriate for these audiobooks, her voice fit that of the fifteen year old MC’s, and she incorporated Chloe’s speech impediment into the dialogue admirably. However, as the story progressed and the heroine evolved, the child-like tone would have benefited from a slight adjustment. I had zero issues with listening to these installments one after the other because the performance was homogeneous, and the character voices didn’t deviate. The pacing did Armstrong’s writing style proud, and the built-in creep factor that comes with seeing ghosts was always present. I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase another Young Adult title that featured Morris as the narrator.

Chloe Saunders is schizophrenic...or so everyone keeps telling her. But when she starts talking to people only she can see, what other explanation is there? Because of her “hallucinations” she is sent to Lyle House, a group home for troubled teens. There she meets Liz, Rae, Tori, Simon and Derek; all are around her age and all have been diagnosed with some type of disorder. But none of them are buying it. Simon and Derek know the truth--that Chloe is a necromancer. With help from the two brothers, Chloe finally comes to terms with the fact that she can indeed contact the dead. Good thing too because a fellow necromancer (now deceased) is eager to warn her about the history and dangers of Lyle House, dangers her and her new friends are about to discover.

The book is almost fully set at Lyle House--minus the beginning and the end--and spans about a week. So much is jam packed into that week, however, that it feels like Chloe has been there much, much longer. During her time at the house she learns a lot about herself, her family and a world she never even knew existed, one that she is now a part of. The beginning was a bit slow because it was mostly to introduce all the characters and the story. We learn about Chloe’s necromancer power right along with her. The action really picks up in the second half of the book which is when everything important starts to happen. I had trouble putting the book down!

The book also has a very good cast of characters. Chloe is a really great MC. I like that she fought what everyone kept telling her--even when they continually insisted--and that ultimately she followed her gut. She almost gave up a few times along the way, but who hasn’t thought about just quitting when something gets too hard or scary? I know I would have hidden under the covers if I kept seeing dead people everywhere. As for the others, they were all interesting. My favorite of the girls, besides Chloe herself, would probably be Liz. I wish we had seen more of her in this book, but I have a feeling she’ll be very present in the next one. The foster brothers, Simon and Derek, were strange at the beginning but they grew on me as I kept reading. I couldn’t figure out if there was any romance brewing between either of the brothers and Chloe. If anything does happen in the next two books though I’m definitely rooting for Derek--I have a soft spot for brooding “bad” boys.

I really enjoyed this book and am kind of mad at myself for waiting almost 5 years to finally read it. I honestly have no idea what took me so long. I can’t wait to get my hands on the second because of that darn cliffhanger!

This book had a very different and unexpected plot loved the storyline about how chole and all these other supernatural kids are thrown together in a "group home' for troubled teens when really it's because they are different in a supernatural kind of way from a werewolf to witches and a necromancer this book has something for everyone! very different from what you usually see in teen reads, Kelly's writing really pulls you into the story and has you crying and cheering with the charters . while you're holding your breath wanting to know the truth yourself unbelievably good!

The Summoning starts off with a truly spooky dilemma as Chloe Saunders comes face to face with a ghost who has been grotesquely disfigured. It scares her so badly that she has a breakdown right in the middle of school and must be sedated. She is immediately sent to Lyle House, a place for teens who are mentally ill, but this abrupt decision and the other teens who inhabit the place leave her wondering if maybe the people in her life whom she assumed she could trust aren’t really to be trusted at all.
Her fellow mentally ill teens consist of a pyromaniac, a girl with a poltergeist, and a guy with some serious rage and hygiene issues to name a few. The events that slowly unfold at Lyle House are evenly paced and work to build a world of mystery, thrilling suspense and serious conflict as the kids eventually realize that maybe they aren’t the crazy ones, and their jailers are fully aware of it. This first book in the series sets the stage for a mystery spanning several decades previously. One that must be unraveled if these supernatural teens hope to survive. The characters are nicely developed and the friendships are rooted in a common goal: to escape Lyle House.

THIS BOOK WAS SURPRISINGLY GOOD!!

I loved this book! The day I recieved this book, I was lying in my bed getting bored, no book to read and then a knock on my door, a courier arrived and i was like ‘YAY! Finally something to read!’. I started reading this book and I was a bit dissapointed with start, it was kind of weird and I got the feeling that this book is not gonna be a lovable book but once Chloe arrives at the Lyle house the story starts to take place and I started to enjoy it.

From when Chloe was little she saw ghosts in her basement, at her age it was normal having nightmares of boogeymen in your basement so no one really took them seriously not even her. But now again at the age of 15 she has again started to see ghosts, everyone thinks she’s crazy and now comes Lyle House, a house for ‘special’ kids, where she is sent to cope with her “schrizophenia”. But there is something not right, other kids at Lyle House are far from normal (and not because they are mentally ill). There is a reason certain doors are locked and Chloe Saunders is eager to find out…..

The summoning is fun read, it is mysterious and addictive. This book is captivating, it holds you captive until you are finished with it. I couldn’t put it down and tried to finish it in one sitting. The story line of this book is awesome and so are the characters, each one made with his/her unique role. This book is full of secrets waiting to be discovered and when you do discover them, you will be shocked. Kelley Armstrong’s writing style is thrilling, she has written her books in such a way you can’t see what’s coming next, and when it comes, it takes you by surprise.

So, in the end all I have to say is, if you are a fan of not so scary paranormals defenately give this book a try.

The whole idea of this book interested me. The story-line was incredibly interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed Armstrong’s take on supernaturals. I had never read anything with necromancers before, so I found this to be refreshing. The pacing of the story is a bit slow in the beginning, but once it picks up there is no putting it down. It took a while to get going. The action at the end of the book was great, and I wish the book had gotten to it sooner.

Chloe is a very likable character, as is Rae. Both are very relatable, aside from the supernatural powers. It is easy to see where the characters are coming from, and why they make the decisions they make. Derek is really annoying, and while Chloe often felt bad for him, I couldn’t bring myself to care. Simon seems like he has potential and I would really like to learn more about him.

One thing I really enjoyed, was how Chloe thought in terms of a movie. She would take the situation at hand, and turn it into a movie scene in her head. It was amusing when Chloe would think about how in a movie one thing would happen, but in real life it never works like that. I found that funny, simply because it was a book and not real life.

I really liked that Chloe wasn’t boy crazy, like a lot of other heroines. While Simon clearly has the potential to be a love interest, there wasn’t really any romance in the book. Chloe even gets offended when people assume that talking to a boy means you like him. The author shows that girls don’t need a boyfriend or love interest and the story can still be enjoyable. Although, I will admit that I would not be opposed to Simon and Chloe in the future.

The one downside, is that the end to the book kind of brings the reader full circle. I feel like we have been thrust back to the beginning of the book once again. I sincerely hope the next book isn’t a repeat of this one. All in all, this is a good read, and readers who enjoy the supernatural will enjoy this.

What was that weird part about her needing to get her lunch bag after drama club? and then all the sudden Nate is back. Like couldn't he have just been with her? Her being alone and afraid of the dark was not suspenseful one bit. I almost stopped all together right there. Why does the world revolve around her period? Maybe this book is just to young for me.

I got through it. It got better. But not great. Just ok. I am interested in the story, so I will move on to the next one.

I've been wary of reading paranormal lately- it tends to hit a lot of my hot buttons with cliches like insta-love, boys-who-know-best, and weak female characters, but Kelley Armstrong started and finished strong.

She started with a prologue from the point of view of the main character Chloe when she's very young. The narration felt authentic for Chloe's age and reeled the reader into the upcoming creep factor of the novel. Add that to the fact that she mentioned Sailor Moon (in passing) and I was hers. (Side note: I totally snickered over the fact that there was a girl named "Rae" with pyro tendencies)

I mentioned the creep factor before, but it bears repeating. Chloe (and by extension, I) was never sure what to believe or who she could trust in Lyle house. Even during more relaxed scenes, the niggling sensation that I couldn't forget the larger issues hung over me, which made me feel further connected to Chloe.

There were some more unusual magics explored in The Summoning, which made me want to throw my arms up and cheer "Hooray! Not every paranormal is about a vampire or a werewolf! There are other kinds of magic people out there!"

The mysteries of Lyle house unravel at a satisfying pace and the end is full of turns, plenty of action, and a gratifying twist.

Overall rating: 4/5. I seem to constantly be undertaking new series, but I don't regret undertaking The Darkest Powers trilogy. I look forward to grabbing the next one!

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I thought this book was a page turner. Some parts moved a little slow but was interesting.

Chloe is 15 years old and she is very small for her age. She also is starting high school and is upset that she hasn't started her period, gotten boobs or curves yet like all her friends. She also has been having some strange dreams about ghosts in a basement. The only thing is Chloe doesn't ever remember living in a house with a basement so she calls her aunt and finds out it was the house she lived in when she was 5 years old before her mom died. She decides to make herself look a little older to put red streaks in her hair so she skips class and does it in the girls bathroom. As shes leaving she starts seeing things; a janitor from the school that is burned and she has a breakdown. The have to tackle her and call an ambulance to come get her. At the hospital she finds out before she will be allowed at back at school with out the incident on her permenant record, she has to go to the Lyle House for crazy kids to get help. Little does she know her entire world is going to change.

Chloe just wants to get better and get back home. At the home she meets Simon who is cute and worries a lot about his brother Derek. Derek is not very sociable at all and actually scares Chloe. Liz is her 1st roommate and she is really nice. Her best friend Tori is the mean, rich girl of the group. Tori thinks it all is about her and her alone. Rae is Tori's roommate and very nice, but quite. Tori is just mean to everyone but Simon and thats because she has a major crush on him.

Lyle House likes to lable the patients as soon as possible. Chloe is helping with the laundry and starts to hear voices in the basement. She tries to ignore it but Derek tells her he knows about the ghost at her school and the one she is hearing in the basement. Chloe tries to get away and Derek gets a little aggressive and hurts her. Her aunt finds out and tells them to keep Derek away from her. Soon though through Simon she finds out that he was trying to help her. He wants her to know what she is that she is a supernatural, a necromancer, that can see and talk to the dead. That Simon can cast spells, Derek is super strong. Of course they don't tell her the whole truth about Derek. They try to help Chloe with her powers. Liz can't control her power of course at the time Chloe had no idea she had one, but she gets kicked out of Lyle House. This really upsets Tori and she wants to blame Chloe even though its not her fault. Once Liz is gone to give Tori space Rae moves in the room with Chloe and they all seem to be doing good. Until Tori locks Chloe in a crawl hole in the basement. Things get interseting fast. Chloe raises the dead and finds out things thats going on at the Lyle House. Simon, Chloe and Rae are suppoe to break out and go look for Simon and Dereks dad to get them all help. Things don't go as planned and they have to split up and Chloe gets left to help Derek. They wind out leaving after they realize all the workers know Simon and Rae left.

Chloe soon finds out someone close to her betrays more than she ever thought could happen.

Chloe Saunders just wanted to be normal. But when she sees her first ghost, she knows nothing will be normal again--least of all herself. Now she's been sent to Lyle House, a home for troubled teens. There, the doctors tell her she's schizophrenic, while the other residents tell her she's a necromancer with the power to communicate with and raise the dead. Which is true, she doesn't know, but she does know that there is something not right about Lyle House and its residents are more than they seem...

Meet the younger generation of supernaturals residing in the world of Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld in her Young Adult trilogy, The Darkest Powers.

In The Summoning, Chloe is a 15-year-old high school sophomore with great ambitions of being a movie screenwriter and director. But that dream comes to a screeching halt when she starts see ghosts and has a total freakout in the hallway of her school. Now she's being sent to a home for troubled teens! Lyle House seems on the up-and-up, but Chloe has been hearing whispers that suggest otherwise.

With the help of housemates Simon and Derek, Chloe uses her abilities as a necromancer to learn from those who lived in Lyle House before them--and died, of course--that Lyle House was owned by Samuel Lyle. He did unspeakably evil and horrible experiments on other supernaturals. Samuel Lyle was a sorcerer using dark magic on those supernaturals he lured to him, offering them a better life. Most stayed far away from the sorcerer and his house, but there were those who were beguiled by his words of hope.

Once they realize that it's not a coincidence that Lyle House is full of supernatural teens, Derek, Simon, and Chloe plan to escape and search for Simon's father. But housemates Rae and Tori learn of the escape plan too. One wants to tag along and the other betrays them into the hands of those running Lyle House. Now the race to escape is on. Who can be trusted when your own family betrays you?

I loved Chloe as the heroine of this series. She starts off like a scared little girl, but quickly becomes a young woman who takes crap from no one. We get a glimpse of the kind of woman she'll become. I liked that she has dreams and ambitions--she's not a heroine who is just drifting along not knowing what she wants in life. Chloe is a smart girl and she shows it. I was most surprised by her great sense of humor and sarcastic wit. And finally, liked that though she was scared of Derek when she first met him, she quickly grows a backbone when it comes to him and doesn't back down when he gets in her face.

Chloe's power as a necromancer is more advanced than is normal for someone her age. When she communicated with one of the ghosts in Lyle House, he said that her power is too strong, too much, too soon, and unnatural. And when Chloe asked another of the Lyle House ghosts if she was in danger, she said, "You're a supernatural. You're always in danger." I'd say that Chloe has a lot to worry about, but at least she's not alone.

Simon and Derek are two of my other favorite characters besides Chloe. Simon is a sorcerer and Derek is a werewolf. Being foster brothers, and knowing the danger they are in, they are pretty tight and don't really trust anyone else. But for some reason Chloe is different--I would love to read their first meeting for the guys POV to see what they thought of her--and when they realize that she's in just as much danger, they let her in and protect her. There are definite signs of a love triangle forming.

The prologue to The Summoning sets the tone for the whole book. We have a young Chloe who is left with a babysitter who doesn't know that she's not allowed in the basement. Chloe knows that she's not to go down into the basement, but the babysitter is asking her to come down and help her look for the Coke. Chloe hopes that if she can get the Coke and run back upstairs before Mrs. Hobb sees her. No such luck. When Chloe turns around to go back upstairs, Mrs. Hobb is there, her death replaying over and over while she's standing there smiling at Chloe, all the while the babysitter is upstairs screaming Chloe's name, trying to find her. The first thing Mrs. Hobb says to her is, "Welcome back, Chloe."

How creepy is that? This prologue sets a dark undertone to the story. The foreboding just screams something bad is going to happen. The Summoning and the Darkest Powers is definitely one of the darker YA series out there.

I thought this book was a page turner. Some parts moved a little slow but was interesting.

Chloe is 15 years old and she is very small for her age. She also is starting high school and is upset that she hasn't started her period, gotten boobs or curves yet like all her friends. She also has been having some strange dreams about ghosts in a basement. The only thing is Chloe doesn't ever remember living in a house with a basement so she calls her aunt and finds out it was the house she lived in when she was 5 years old before her mom died. She decides to make herself look a little older to put red streaks in her hair so she skips class and does it in the girls bathroom. As shes leaving she starts seeing things; a janitor from the school that is burned and she has a breakdown. The have to tackle her and call an ambulance to come get her. At the hospital she finds out before she will be allowed at back at school with out the incident on her permenant record, she has to go to the Lyle House for crazy kids to get help. Little does she know her entire world is going to change.

Chloe just wants to get better and get back home. At the home she meets Simon who is cute and worries a lot about his brother Derek. Derek is not very sociable at all and actually scares Chloe. Liz is her 1st roommate and she is really nice. Her best friend Tori is the mean, rich girl of the group. Tori thinks it all is about her and her alone. Rae is Tori's roommate and very nice, but quite. Tori is just mean to everyone but Simon and thats because she has a major crush on him.

Lyle House likes to lable the patients as soon as possible. Chloe is helping with the laundry and starts to hear voices in the basement. She tries to ignore it but Derek tells her he knows about the ghost at her school and the one she is hearing in the basement. Chloe tries to get away and Derek gets a little aggressive and hurts her. Her aunt finds out and tells them to keep Derek away from her. Soon though through Simon she finds out that he was trying to help her. He wants her to know what she is that she is a supernatural, a necromancer, that can see and talk to the dead. That Simon can cast spells, Derek is super strong. Of course they don't tell her the whole truth about Derek. They try to help Chloe with her powers. Liz can't control her power of course at the time Chloe had no idea she had one, but she gets kicked out of Lyle House. This really upsets Tori and she wants to blame Chloe even though its not her fault. Once Liz is gone to give Tori space Rae moves in the room with Chloe and they all seem to be doing good. Until Tori locks Chloe in a crawl hole in the basement. Things get interseting fast. Chloe raises the dead and finds out things thats going on at the Lyle House. Simon, Chloe and Rae are suppoe to break out and go look for Simon and Dereks dad to get them all help. Things don't go as planned and they have to split up and Chloe gets left to help Derek. They wind out leaving after they realize all the workers know Simon and Rae left.

Chloe soon finds out someone close to her betrays more than she ever thought could happen.

Chloe Saunders just wanted to be normal. But when she sees her first ghost, she knows nothing will be normal again--least of all herself. Now she's been sent to Lyle House, a home for troubled teens. There, the doctors tell her she's schizophrenic, while the other residents tell her she's a necromancer with the power to communicate with and raise the dead. Which is true, she doesn't know, but she does know that there is something not right about Lyle House and its residents are more than they seem...

Meet the younger generation of supernaturals residing in the world of Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld in her Young Adult trilogy, The Darkest Powers.

In The Summoning, Chloe is a 15-year-old high school sophomore with great ambitions of being a movie screenwriter and director. But that dream comes to a screeching halt when she starts see ghosts and has a total freakout in the hallway of her school. Now she's being sent to a home for troubled teens! Lyle House seems on the up-and-up, but Chloe has been hearing whispers that suggest otherwise.

With the help of housemates Simon and Derek, Chloe uses her abilities as a necromancer to learn from those who lived in Lyle House before them--and died, of course--that Lyle House was owned by Samuel Lyle. He did unspeakably evil and horrible experiments on other supernaturals. Samuel Lyle was a sorcerer using dark magic on those supernaturals he lured to him, offering them a better life. Most stayed far away from the sorcerer and his house, but there were those who were beguiled by his words of hope.

Once they realize that it's not a coincidence that Lyle House is full of supernatural teens, Derek, Simon, and Chloe plan to escape and search for Simon's father. But housemates Rae and Tori learn of the escape plan too. One wants to tag along and the other betrays them into the hands of those running Lyle House. Now the race to escape is on. Who can be trusted when your own family betrays you?

I loved Chloe as the heroine of this series. She starts off like a scared little girl, but quickly becomes a young woman who takes crap from no one. We get a glimpse of the kind of woman she'll become. I liked that she has dreams and ambitions--she's not a heroine who is just drifting along not knowing what she wants in life. Chloe is a smart girl and she shows it. I was most surprised by her great sense of humor and sarcastic wit. And finally, liked that though she was scared of Derek when she first met him, she quickly grows a backbone when it comes to him and doesn't back down when he gets in her face.

Chloe's power as a necromancer is more advanced than is normal for someone her age. When she communicated with one of the ghosts in Lyle House, he said that her power is too strong, too much, too soon, and unnatural. And when Chloe asked another of the Lyle House ghosts if she was in danger, she said, "You're a supernatural. You're always in danger." I'd say that Chloe has a lot to worry about, but at least she's not alone.

Simon and Derek are two of my other favorite characters besides Chloe. Simon is a sorcerer and Derek is a werewolf. Being foster brothers, and knowing the danger they are in, they are pretty tight and don't really trust anyone else. But for some reason Chloe is different--I would love to read their first meeting for the guys POV to see what they thought of her--and when they realize that she's in just as much danger, they let her in and protect her. There are definite signs of a love triangle forming.

The prologue to The Summoning sets the tone for the whole book. We have a young Chloe who is left with a babysitter who doesn't know that she's not allowed in the basement. Chloe knows that she's not to go down into the basement, but the babysitter is asking her to come down and help her look for the Coke. Chloe hopes that if she can get the Coke and run back upstairs before Mrs. Hobb sees her. No such luck. When Chloe turns around to go back upstairs, Mrs. Hobb is there, her death replaying over and over while she's standing there smiling at Chloe, all the while the babysitter is upstairs screaming Chloe's name, trying to find her. The first thing Mrs. Hobb says to her is, "Welcome back, Chloe."

How creepy is that? This prologue sets a dark undertone to the story. The foreboding just screams something bad is going to happen. The Summoning and the Darkest Powers is definitely one of the darker YA series out there.

The Summoning is the first book in the Darkest Powers Trilogy. I have heard reviews range from bad all the way up to amazing. So when I picked up the trilogy to read, I didn't really know what to expect. I knew it was about a group of kids that had been genetically altered and have special supernatural powers, but I wasn't sure about what kinds of powers they would have.

This book started out pretty good. I was liking the plot twists and how Chloe is put into the Lyle House. Unfortunately, after she arrives at Lyle House, the book really starts to slow down. Yes, there are some interesting and exciting scenes, but they are far and few. The pace was not constant. It would be pretty slow for a few chapters and then we would have one exciting scene. They would only happen once every couple of chapters. This wouldn't have been such a bad thing, but the parts that didn't have the action were just drawn out and not much to get worked up over. I wouldn't say those slow scenes were boring, but they did drag the book down. It felt like it was more of filler pages to lengthen the book.

I found the plot premise to be an interesting one though and continued on in the story. I am curious to know what Derek could be -- even if I have a good idea what it is -- and how this will effect the outcome of the final book. I also enjoyed how the author used a mixture of supernatural elements instead of sticking to just one type. With Chloe having the power of necromancer, Liz and Tori having different powers that could be either witch-like or poltergeist, and Simon having his own mystical powers, it could bring a whole new plot upon the reader before finishing the series.

While the series left me with more questions than answers, I wouldn't say it was horrible. I would say that I am still intrigued enough to finish the series, but nothing really stood out as noteworthy yet. I am hoping the books following The Summoning will improve and keep me invested in the final outcome.

None of the hype wrapped snugly around the Darkest Powers series could've prepared me for the darkly edged mystery, the quick-paced plot, and the band of teen characters passed off as mere crazies that no paranormal fiction reader should do without! From the appetizer of the story, in which a teeny-tiny Chloe is lured into the basement of her house by something sinister, to the action-rampant, sinfully addictive full course, Armstrong tossed me into a supernatural world that held me as much captive as the characters turn out to be by the work of the operators of Lyle House. The entire series itself is so powerfully hooking that there is absolutely no way to avoid extending out a hand with an expectant, More, please, which comes out sounding less like a tentative question and more like a resounding demand.

Normally, Chloe Saunders would be the last fictional girl in the world I would choose as the lead to an explosive paranormal series such as this. But, as I progressed through the story, I realized that there would've been no one more perfect. Chloe goes through a stage of genuine denial about the ghosts she's seeing - it doesn't help that the "experts" at Lyle House are persuading her to believe that there is something psychologically unbalanced at the root of her behavior, her "hallucinations." However, as the pieces begin to fit, Chloe begins to believe in what she's been otherwise enforced to dismiss. I like a girl who can keep her wits about her in a brutal situation, who can formulate her own opinion, make up her own mind based on the evidence given. She's not stupid in the least. At first glance Chloe is a self-proclaimed Plain Jane with a yearning to be something more exciting (a relatable wish), but she's smart and, over the course of the book, she develops some spine.

Unraveling the deeply disturbing mystery of Lyle House and the kids' connection to their ominous captors while simultaneously being introduced to the other characters is as entertaining and riveting as a soap opera, as dangerous and creepy as a murder mystery novel/movie, with minor (perfect) touches of teen drama you can only find in your average American television drama series. A jealous girl quick to exact predictable revenge in surprising ways, eerie adults waiting and watching every move being made, and unknown consequences for misbehavior that give off waves of untold horrors make for an irresistible plot line and an unbidden desire for answers that compels you to move through the book swiftly!

There is no immediate romance, and I don't mean instalove. There are romantic interests of a kind, but no romance is introduced in this book. Still, the name Derek being passed around in squees and shouts between bloggers around the blogosphere was enough to coax me to read these books. And because I obtained some pre-knowledge on this area of the novels, boundless excitement for the romance to play out hummed throughout my time reading the book and it's sequels.

The Summoning is a flawless kick-off to the electrifying Darkest Powers series, and in my eagerness to read more, I forgot to note favorite parts in the book before returning this book to my library. This book is so amazing, though, that I'm almost certain I would've wanted to copy and paste the whole book! This is a series that, if you haven't by now (a minor setback, really), must be taken up and read immediately!

Title: The Summoning (Book One in Darkest Powers Series)

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Publisher: HarperCollins

Number of Pages: 390

Date Released: 2008

Synopsis From back of book:

She sees dead people-and they see her.

Chloe Saunders used to have a pretty normal life. But that changed on the day she met her first ghost. Locked up in Lyle House, a group home for troubled teens, she finds out that there's more to the home's teen residents that meets the eye. Will Chloe be able to uncover the dangerous secrets of Lyle house . . . or will its skeletons come back to haunt her?

Review: I have been meaning to read this book for a really long time. Now that I have read it needless to say I am addicted to the series! I loved how the book was written so eloquently. Kelley Armstrong mixed teenage fears of being mentally unstable with supernatural powers. I found myself utterly mesmerized by how these two topics wound around each other. I didn't know until the end of the book that it was a supernatural novel. Kelley had you fooled and hooked from the beginning to the sort of cover story of Lyle House.

Chloe Saunders can't really remember her past. She knows though that she was always afraid of the basement. When her mother dies and her father starts traveling all the time Chloe is all alone in the apartment with housekeepers. Her Aunt Lauren keeps an eye on her though and Chloe knows she can always talk to her. Chloe starts seeing people that aren't there and they talk to her. She ends up in Lyle House a place for troubled teens. Chloe finds the teens there very weird but nice. Derek is big, antisocial and sneaks up on Chloe all the time without meaning to, his brother Simon is charming and quite nice. Chloe finds she would do anything for these guys, but what one does she really like. Is she really a person who communicates with the dead or just plain crazy.

I extra highly recommend this to anyone who is into a mysterious type of read. I loved this book so much! I went out and bought the rest of the trilogy. I don't spend money on books willy-nilly either, which is because I am broke. Anyways I knew I would not be disappointed in these books and you won't either. Go run as fast as you can to a bookstore with that hard earned money you worked for, or check it out at the library! You will not be disappointed I promise you that!

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So, Chloe can see dead people. This power of hers comes on pretty suddenly, thus earning her a one-way ticket to Lyle House and a quick diagnosis of schizophrenia. She meets several teens who seem fairly normal if maybe mentally troubled. But as you already know, dear reader, all is not as it seems at Lyle House and Chloe needs to get to the bottom of things pretty fast or else...

Ok, I have to keep remembering that Chloe is fourteen-going-on-fifteen so that I don't get frustrated with her poor decisions and inability to listen to reason or logic or her instincts. You guys know I'm a fan of a Kick-Ass Heroine and Chloe is not one of those, by far (but maybe soon...).

Overall, I do like her, however, she has a rabid love of movies (as do I, and I love the references). She's funny, fairly smart, concerned for others and an overall good-girl. The cast of characters surrounding her are intriguing. Tori is the token bad girl with secrets yet to be revealed. Simon is the token love interest who is smart, nice and funny. Liz is the sweet roommate who shows Chloe the ropes and would do anything for her. Rae is the street-smart wise-cracker and Derek (Simon's brother) is a grouchy, dark and brooding mystery.

A note on Derek: I know Simon is the evident love interest for Chloe, but I really hope Armstrong takes Chloe is an unexpected direction and hooks her up with Derek. (Although, sometimes, I don't think Chloe deserves him.) Derek is crazy-smart, super-tall and strong, harboring a dark secret and constantly bailing Chloe out of jams. On the downside, he has been hit with a "puberty smackdown" and has horrible acne and smells gross despite taking two showers a day. He has all of the makings of a hottie-in-training and I really hope he grows to be one.

As usual in YA the adults are peripheral characters (for now, I think) and simply represent mistrust, neglect, non-understanding or downright danger.

I feel like Armstrong does a pretty good job of not underestimating her target audience and while some mysteries have obvious answers, many were well-concealed. Overall, a great start to what I am sure is going to be an excellent series.

Loved....Loved...Loved This totally made me a Kelley Armstrong Fan.
it is really hard to put this book down. Beware it may cause Book Hangover. it will mess with your head trying to figure out the plots lol. Chloe and Derek are amazing characters. this book is so good I even had my sister and all her coworkers addicted lol.
Kelley Armstrong is Amazing with her Supernatural Stories. this is a clean read that I totally would have my nieces read it. yes there is a cliffhanger but it's totally worth it and the best part is that next book is available so no waiting. Yes it's a great read and totally recommend.

Chloe has just hit puberty and with puberty has come some strange happenings, she has just started to see ghosts and they are making her scared and crazy. She finds herself in a semi-breakdown , next thing she knows her father and Aunt Lauren pull her out of the school and into a special rehab titled Lyle House. When Chloe arrives at the house , she discovers that not all is what it seems and that all the students in the house have special gifts from fire to necromancer. As the story goes along, we read as dangerous situations start arising and at one point it turns out that the basement of Lyle House is a graveyard burial and that Samuel Lyle was a dark magic practitioner and the people dead are test subjects and now it seems that the current occupants are all part of a new group of test subjects.
Can Chloe and her friends summon the bodies of those from the past in order to survive or by summoning bodies will they accidentally summon the ghost of Samuel Lyle ?
Find out in Book #1 of Kelley Armstrong's teen series "The Darkest Powers

"I see dead people." No really, she does. Sure, it's encased in a maybe schizophrenic condition, but other than that, Chloe Saunders totally does. See dead people, that is. And what's more intriguing than a person who sees dead people? Not much. Now , I usually bitch and moan when it comes to young-adult fantasy novels just cause they tend to bug with the contrived storylines, cheesy romance plots, and extremely pathetic and unlikeable heroines. So, I pretty much proceed with caution when it comes to these types of books. Luckily for me, The Summoning didn't really suffer from these maladies.

The whole storyline with the necromancer thing was intriguing. Like I need more NOW intriguing. That was my favorite part of the storyline. I really wanted to know more about Chloe's (as well as her friends') powers. I was a bit bummed at the fact that this was only slightly alluded to. Sure, I understand the need for mystery especially since this was going to be a trilogy, but seriously, couldn't Kelley Armstrong just given us A BIT more knowledge than what she did give? Anyway, intriguing plot that wasn't totally contrived (sure, some of this did remind me of The Sixth Sense and more than a smidge of Supernatural, but it wasn't wholly unoriginal)? Check. Sort of.

Cheesy romance plots? Not really. Yay for me, who hates cheesy and borderline unhealthy romances ala Twilight. There is some potential for romance and maybe a love triangle (must there be a love triangle? I've had enough of those from my numerous viewings of Dawson's Creek as a preteen/teenager), but in The Summoning, it doesn't seem to be the focal point like it does for mostly every other young adult fantasy novel. Again, yay.

But the most important thing for me when reading a young-adult novel with a female protagonist is a strong heroine. None of that pathetic, "the only thing I want is a boyfriend with whom I can surrender my dreams and passions for" behavior. I want a teenage heroine who is smart, independent, and not a bitch. Not much to ask for. Chloe Saunders was all three of these things. Except for one tiny, teeny little thing. MILD SPOILER HERE: Okay, so Chloe, it's okay to be shocked when you are duped by someone because you didn't think that the nasty behavior would manifest. You didn't think it'd go that far after the behavior seemed to exhaust itself. So, again, it's okay to be shocked THE FIRST TIME. But you still remain vigilant around that person. You don't let it go that fast. But when you let your guard down because you seriously thought that it was over this time, you give up the right to be shocked. Because you really should've known better. Especially if you've watched all those movies. Otherwise, you tend to have a teeny bit of that dumb heroine in you. END OF SPOILER. So smart, strong, independent heroine? Semi-check.

I have one actual complaint though (besides the mini ones above). This book was a tad bit bloated. It felt a bit repetitive and it didn't go as fast as I had assumed it would. I kept thinking, "I have HOW MUCH left?!" A big book is fine. I love big books as long as everything in that book seems to be necessary. Not everything seemed necessary in The Summoning. Maybe some of the things are foreshadowing what's coming next with the other two books (that I have on my Kindle), but otherwise, it needed to be cut down a smidge.

So, The Summoning wasn't really my favorite young-adult fantasy novel (far from it actually), but I did like it. It had an intriguing and creepy premise, interesting characters, and not a lot of eye roll inducing moments. I'm definitely going to read the next two in the series (although not this month. I have too many creepy reads stacked up) since I have to know what happens. All in all, not a bad fluff book and highly recommended.

Chloe Saunders life changes from one second to another when she sees a ghost at her high school and get's a panic attack because of it. Because of this incident Chloe is sent to Lyle House, a special home for troubled teens, where she is told that she has schizophrenia. But Chloe soon begins to question the diagnosis because weird things are going on in Lyle House. She realizes that all of the teens there are special in a supernatural way and that the adults that work at Lyle House can't be trusted.
Will Chloe be able to discover what's going on with her and will she be able to get out of Lyle House before it's too late?

I bought "The Summoning" spontaneously when I saw a good deal for it at a bookstore and it was the first book I ever read by Kelley Armstrong. Before starting the book I didn't know a lot about the story and expected a light-hearted book with some paranormal elements - I couldn't have been more wrong.
The book has paranormal elements but it's definitely not light-hearted. The longer I read the darker and more complicated the story got, towards the end I wasn't sure whom Chloe could trust and what would happen with her. However I was definitely not disappointed that the story was different from what I expected. In contrary, I loved the story, the characters and even the cliffhanger at the end of the book.

I enjoyed everything I learned of Chloe. Reading about her struggle with the new developments in her life was fascinating and I admired that she never gave up. She is intelligent, quiet and all in all a pretty normal teenager. She cares about what happens to others and I can't wait to learn more about her, her abilities and her future.
I also enjoyed that even though there is the possibility of a relationship between a boy and Chloe, that's not the main focus of the story. This relationship will have more time to develop slowly in the next two books and that's something I like.
At the end of "The Summoning" it's unclear what Lyle House really is and the reader can only speculate about what happened there in the past. But one thing is sure, if a teenager doesn't act as he /she is supposed to, then it can end deadly.
The book ends with a cliffhanger and even though I normally hate these, this time it fit to the story and I'm excited to learn what will happen next. I will definitely go on with reading this mesmerizing series, Kelley Armstrong has a new fan.

cover
I like the cover, it's pretty and looks a bit mysterious.

final appraisal
Kelley Armstrong has created a thrilling story that makes me want to read the two other books in the Darkest Powers series as soon as possible. Don't expect a light paranormal story, get ready to be amazed by a dark, complicated world.
I would recommend this book to all readers (adult and young adult) who enjoy stories with paranormal elements.

Darkest Powers series
1. The Summoning (2008)
2. The Awakening (2009)
3. The Reckoning (2010)

Chloe Saunders is experiencing strange hallucinations where she sees and interacts with ghosts. After a particularly dramatic encounter at school, Chloe is sent to live at Lyle House for troubled teens, where she will be monitored and receive counseling for her mental illness. Once Chloe starts to examine her surroundings and fellow students at Lyle House, she begins to realize that all is not as it first seems, and Chloe isn't so sure that her ghosts are only hallucinations after all.

This was an interesting premise for the series, but this first book fell a little flat for me and lacked depth. The only character I felt close to was Chloe, the others seemed to be stereotypes of their kind; eg; the evil doctor, the moody teenage girl. The plot was being built up towards what Lyle House really is and how it all fits into Chloe's world, but I feel that a few more answers could have been given in this first book. An ok read, I will be continuing on with the series hoping for a deeper look into this world.

Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker.

Despite what a dead mother, a barely-there businessman father, and being an art school student might imply, Chloe Saunders is a fairly normal girl. Well, except for one or two things like having her period at fifteen and seeing ghosts. After her powers kick in at school, she is sent to Lyle House, a group home for teens with mental disorders like schizophrenia and anger issues. Making friends and enemies among her housemates, Chloe's powers, waved off as hallucinations, grow stronger and it appears that she may not be the only teen in the house that is the supernatural kind of different.

Until Kayla finally convinced me to take a look at the book and give it a try, I had no plans to ever read The Summoning or any of its sequels. The blurb just didn't do it for me and I wasn't interested. Then I lent Kayla my favorite book (oh The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, how I miss you!) and I decided a book exchange was in order now that I had time to read The Summoning. Thank goodness for friends that push books at you because otherwise, I might never have read this great book.

I love, love, loved Chloe. In a sea of heroines who rarely have any idea where they're going and have love on the brain, she was a breath of fresh air. Boyfriends were at the bottom of her list and the career she had in mind was so cool too--being a director?! So awesome. I liked Rae and my psychic senses made me like Tori because I know she's going to get development and become a great character even if she's just the mean girl right now. If she doesn't, it a true crime. Simon and Derek... I didn't really care for either of them. I didn't hate them (well, maybe I disliked Derek a little because of the way he treated Chloe half the time), but I didn't get in a tizzy over them either.

And Aunt Lauren? I really, really dislike her. That is all.

One could tell that the premise had a lot of thought put into it. Using the excuse of mental disorders to cover up supernatural powers was smart. That would explain the abnormal things they do (as long as witnesses are taken care of, which they usually are) and possibly, as it happened with Chloe, convince the actual patient that their powers are just delusions and make them question themselves. No one will believe unusual things said by a person in such a home, so any confessions of truth are less believable to an outsider. Another thing I loved? The lack of romance. Breaks from love are appreciated in a genre where every book and its cousin has a romantic plot or subplot. It makes me kind of sad to know that a love triangle is going to enter the picture in a later book. But that's just me.

Certain elements of the book involving Derek and Lyle House were very predictable for me. I'm not sure whether or not these had already been spoiled for me because I forgot, but I felt that the signs were very obvious. How easily the teens could sneak around the house and trick the employees was also a little implausible. The teens may have been the "learning to deal with it" kind, but they still had mental disorders that required supervision. Would they really be able to sneak around so easily at night and trick the employees into thinking they took their meds? I'm sure they've seen the "hide the meds under the tongue" trick before.

I liked these books and thought the concept was really interesting and all, but I'm not sure if I want to keep reading. I don't really feel the motivation to red the sequels, for whatever reason and I'm aware that there is a lengthy TV Tropes page for this series (which is a great testament to its popularity). I've already got too many books on my hands, including two that are ARC/review copies and slightly high-priority, so I definitely can't read the sequels now. Hold on to The Awakening and The Reckoning for now, Kayla. And give me Frankie back. And maybe even let me snatch a few more books.