Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: March 2009
ISBN: 978-0061450549
Young Adult Paranormal Suspense
Paperback
Reviewed by Gina
Chloe Saunders has a talent and no, it’s not the one she wants as the world’s most gifted screen writer/director/producer. No, this is one she’d really rather not have. Not just because it makes her less than normal. In the short span of about two weeks she learns that this talent is making her a target by a group of the most nefarious individuals you can imagine. The thing is, neither Chloe, nor her friends, nor the reader know just how despicable these people are. We’re talking betrayal of the highest sort.
Petite, creative, yet in her own mind just your average kind of girl, Chloe is going about the business of being a student in an art school. Her father travels, a housekeeper wakes her up for school in the morning and a taxi driver gets her there on time. She copes with day to day life by seeing it through a real or imagined movie lens. It works most of the time, but one day, it all kind of shatters. First, her long awaited foray into womanhood arrives and at about the same time, she sees her first ghost. Well, not exactly her first. She just doesn’t have the most coherent recollections of the ones she saw as a little girl, the ones her dear Aunt Lauren has protected her from. Things go downhill after the ghost encounter when she finds herself in a group home, diagnosed with schizophrenia. But all in the house isn’t quite what it seems as Chloe learns when her new friend, Liz, is suddenly transported to another facility. Just what that facility is causes no end of consternation and confusion to Chloe when Liz pops back into their room one night and Chloe is able to put her hand right though Liz’s body. Life is suddenly a lot more complicated than just coming of age and getting better so she can get on with her life. In fact, Chloe’s life has changed in a way she would have never written into a movie.
While I’m not entirely certain I’d like my 12-16 year old read this, THE SUMMONING is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good mystery with nail biting suspense and a touch of the paranormal. One of the elements I like about Kelley Armstrong’s books is that they are about people who could be someone you know. Yes, they are otherworld people, but they are present, very much like your next door neighbor or friend. They rely on their smarts and wits and only when they need to rely on their supernatural skills are they different. In Chloe’s case Ms. Armstrong totally nails teenage angst and the need to fit in, on the head.
A year or so ago I heard an author speaking about mysteries and how the up and coming generation – today’s young adults – don’t read and if they do, it’s certainly not mysteries because as far as teens are concerned, mysteries don’t make sense. Their first issue is that you are never alone—you are always with your friends so you wouldn’t be out there by yourself. The other is you always have your iPod, cell phone or other method of communication. You’d definitely be texting while running away from the bad guy.
Ms. Armstrong blows that theory completely out of the water. She takes your average, text through the day while you listen to your music teen and takes away her methods of communication, takes her away from her friends and hands her several layers of intriguing mystery. Is she really seeing ghosts? What happened to Liz? What is going on at Lyle House and what is with the other residents? Before one question is answered, another curve is thrown at Chloe. And her friends? Well she makes some new ones who are, at a minimum, some of the most interesting people you would want to meet.
THE SUMMONING is the first of Ms. Armstrong’s Darkest Powers series. This series is definitely an auto buy.
Publication Date: March 2009
ISBN: 978-0061450549
Young Adult Paranormal Suspense
Paperback
Reviewed by Gina
Chloe Saunders has a talent and no, it’s not the one she wants as the world’s most gifted screen writer/director/producer. No, this is one she’d really rather not have. Not just because it makes her less than normal. In the short span of about two weeks she learns that this talent is making her a target by a group of the most nefarious individuals you can imagine. The thing is, neither Chloe, nor her friends, nor the reader know just how despicable these people are. We’re talking betrayal of the highest sort.
Petite, creative, yet in her own mind just your average kind of girl, Chloe is going about the business of being a student in an art school. Her father travels, a housekeeper wakes her up for school in the morning and a taxi driver gets her there on time. She copes with day to day life by seeing it through a real or imagined movie lens. It works most of the time, but one day, it all kind of shatters. First, her long awaited foray into womanhood arrives and at about the same time, she sees her first ghost. Well, not exactly her first. She just doesn’t have the most coherent recollections of the ones she saw as a little girl, the ones her dear Aunt Lauren has protected her from. Things go downhill after the ghost encounter when she finds herself in a group home, diagnosed with schizophrenia. But all in the house isn’t quite what it seems as Chloe learns when her new friend, Liz, is suddenly transported to another facility. Just what that facility is causes no end of consternation and confusion to Chloe when Liz pops back into their room one night and Chloe is able to put her hand right though Liz’s body. Life is suddenly a lot more complicated than just coming of age and getting better so she can get on with her life. In fact, Chloe’s life has changed in a way she would have never written into a movie.
While I’m not entirely certain I’d like my 12-16 year old read this, THE SUMMONING is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good mystery with nail biting suspense and a touch of the paranormal. One of the elements I like about Kelley Armstrong’s books is that they are about people who could be someone you know. Yes, they are otherworld people, but they are present, very much like your next door neighbor or friend. They rely on their smarts and wits and only when they need to rely on their supernatural skills are they different. In Chloe’s case Ms. Armstrong totally nails teenage angst and the need to fit in, on the head.
A year or so ago I heard an author speaking about mysteries and how the up and coming generation – today’s young adults – don’t read and if they do, it’s certainly not mysteries because as far as teens are concerned, mysteries don’t make sense. Their first issue is that you are never alone—you are always with your friends so you wouldn’t be out there by yourself. The other is you always have your iPod, cell phone or other method of communication. You’d definitely be texting while running away from the bad guy.
Ms. Armstrong blows that theory completely out of the water. She takes your average, text through the day while you listen to your music teen and takes away her methods of communication, takes her away from her friends and hands her several layers of intriguing mystery. Is she really seeing ghosts? What happened to Liz? What is going on at Lyle House and what is with the other residents? Before one question is answered, another curve is thrown at Chloe. And her friends? Well she makes some new ones who are, at a minimum, some of the most interesting people you would want to meet.
THE SUMMONING is the first of Ms. Armstrong’s Darkest Powers series. This series is definitely an auto buy.
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