Review : The Summoning
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
Pages : 390
Genre : YA, Urban Fantasy
Series : The Darkest Powers, Book 1
My Rating : 
From the author’s website :
Chloe Saunders sees dead people. Yes, like in the films. The problem is, in real life saying you see ghosts gets you a one-way ticket to the psych ward. When a particularly violent ghost haunts her, she gets noticed for all the wrong reasons. Her seemingly crazed behaviour earns her a trip to Lyle House, a centre for ‘disturbed teens’.
At first Chloe is determined to keep her head down. But then her room mate disappears after confessing she has a poltergeist, and some of the other patients also seem to be manifesting paranormal behaviour. Could that be a coincidence? Or is Lyle House not quite what it seems…? Chloe realizes that if she doesn’t uncover the truth, she could be destined for a lifetime in a psychiatric hospital. Or could her fate be even worse…? Can she trust her fellow students, and does she dare reveal her dark secret?
The Summoning wasn’t my first Armstrong novel : in my pre-blog era, I read four books of the author’s Otherworld adult urban fantasy series. Two of them I really enjoyed, two of them really disappointed me. So I was a bit unsure where her YA series would fall. I am happy to report that I really enjoyed the first book, enough to go on reading the second one right after finishing this one! And if I didn’t read the third book right away, it was only because it wasn’t out at the time.
From beginning to finish, The Summoning is a book filled with action and mystery, lighten with a pinch of humor. Though Chloe isn’t immune to boys’ charms, romance isn’t really part of this first book of the series. Instead, the author chose to focus on Chloe’s discovery of her abilities and the characters surrounding her. Romance seems to be a primordial aspect or paranormal and urban fantasy YA novels, probably even more since Twilight appeared, and I really appreciated to see that Chloe was able to concentrate on her ghostly problems instead of thinking only about boys. (Still, romance fans, don’t despair! There are clear hints indicating love is hanging around, maybe even in the form of a love triangle.)
As a main character, I found Chloe to be a solid one though not that original one. Still, she’s a good voice to carry the story, intelligent, independent and curious enough to keep things interesting. She’s also a movie buff, which gives her personality but could be annoying to certain readers, I guess. She often refers to her favorite movies or to their various attributes and characters. I found it mostly fun, as I often do the same thing with books!
The ending was pure cliffhanger, so as I said before, I was glad I had book number two on hand when I finish reading this one! So, if you plan on reading The Summoning, be prepared for that! 🙂
Series Reading Order :
- The Summoning
- The Awakening
- The Reckoning
Everyone seems to love these books, but I’m a little reluctant to dip into the paranormal and urban fantasy genres. Great review!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this book and it’s safe to say the series just keeps getting better and better. And wowza, that was a super cliff-hanger wasn’t it?
this book was beautiful, compared to the next 2 books that follow it. although the ending was unbearable, as it was a horrible cliffhanger that left me waiting, the way the author portrayed the main character was good. she was vulnerable, yet strong. not like one of those superhuman characters who could have no faults. something everyone should try out once!