The Summoning
By Kelley Armstrong
Pub: July 1, 2008
400 pages
Pub: July 1, 2008
400 pages
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Synopsis:
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. When Chloe begins seeing dead people she's locked up in Lyle House, a group home for troubled teens. Imprisoned in the mad house, Chloe soon discovers that the home's residents aren't what they seem. Will Chloe 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, I think that helped me get through it as fast as I did.
The Summoning is a very good adventure, although 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 and you are flipping pages at lightening 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, with many 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.
I loved the opening scenes when Chloe sees her first dead guy - and totally freaks out. Very funny and realistic in her reactions. I also thought Armstrong did a good job with the main characters and their relationships.
On the whole, I love the trilogy so far and can't wait for book three The Reckoning. Kelley has a great website if you want to check out more about her and see the listing of her many books, most of them adult urban fantasy and very popular.
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