The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong


Chloe feels like her life is finally settling down. After moving from place to place due to her dad's job she's finally enrolled in a arts high school that her dad has promised her she'll be able to stay in for all four years. But then Chloe wakes up one day and begins to see ghosts - which freaks her out just a bit (understandably so) - and her school forces her into group home for treatment where she learns the others kids have some pretty unusual abilities as well.

The beginning of the book was super S-L-O-W. The author spent an inordinate amount of time setting up accessory characters and background information that were either never mentioned again or that could have been explained at a later date. That's not to say the action does pick up with a vengeance - literally once things got going I couldn't bear to put it down. Chloe is smart and thinks each situation through and the major cliffhanger ending had me pulling out my hair saying 'Eek! That's it?!?' I especially liked the villains in this book - they are nasty and vindictive and not at all who you would suspect. Yea for bad guys who aren't made of cardboard!!

My biggest beef is why is Chloe so interested in Simon (another kid at the group home)? Unfortunately for him, he has the personality of a turnip. Now, Derek - that boy has potential. I can't wait to see what he does in the next book.

Silly side rant: If have to read one more book where the protagonist's name is Chloe I think I'll shoot myself in the head.

reading order:
~ The Summoning
~ The Awakening

1 comment:

Vivian Mahoney said...

Thanks for the review. I wanted to stop by and let you know you've won the books by Jo Knowles!