The Summoning (Darkest Powers Book 1)

By Kelley Armstrong

Pub: July 1, 2008

400 pages

When Chloe Saunders' begins halluncinating dead people she's sent to Lyle House, a place for troubled teens. Imprisoned in the mad house, Chloe soon discovers that the home's residents aren't what they seem. Will Chole be able to uncover the dangerous secrets of Lyle House...or will its skeletons come back to haunt her?

I read The Summoning after seeing the sequel's book trailer, The Awakening - which is pretty awesome by the way - so when I started The Summoning I knew a few things before they were revealed, which I honestly think helped me get through it as fast as I did.

The book is enjoyable, but in the middle it seriously slows down while Chloe is trying to figure things out However, once she starts putting it all together the pace just keeps picking up speed.

The ending was good and bad. Good in that I was running to the bookstore for the sequel. Bad in the sense that the end left me feeling Kelley Armstrong cut me off rather abruptly. She ended her book in the middle of the story line - actually the peak of the story line -there was no closure, all open questions that needed answering, hence the speedy drive to the bookstore.

The only thing I didn't like about Chloe is that she would take a step back from everything and analyze it as though she were writing or directing a movie to cope with what was happening (she wants to be a screenplay writer/movie director). The first few times it was fun, but after a while it became distracting and I found myself skimming for when we got back to the plot. Other than that, Chloe is a unique character that is very easy to relate to.

On the whole, I love the triology so far and can't wait for book three The Reckoning.