The Darkest Powers Series, Book 1: The Summoning (Darkest Powers, #1)

by Kelley Armstrong

After years of frequent moves following her mother’s death, Chloe Saunders’s life is finally settling down. She is attending art school, pursuing her dreams of becoming a director, making friends, meeting boys. Her biggest concern is that she’s not developing as fast as her friends are. But when puberty does hit, it brings more than hormone surges. Chloe starts seeing ghosts–everywhere, demanding her attention. After she suffers a breakdown, her devoted aunt Lauren gets her into a highly recommended group home.

At first, Lyle House seems a pretty okay place, except for Chloe’s small problem of fearing she might be facing a lifetime of mental illness. But as she gradually gets to know the other kids at the home–charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek, obnoxious Tori, and Rae, who has a “thing” for fire–Chloe begins to realize that there is something that binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual “problem kid” behaviour. And together they discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home either…

• ISBN10: 0385665342
• ISBN13: 9780385665346
• Publish Date: 1 July 2008
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: CA
• Imprint: Doubleday Canada
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/isbn/9780385665346

Reviews

[Leigha]

A young woman learns she has extraordinary powers in this young adult romance.

I read the Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong ages ago. During a reading slump around Thanksgiving last year, I decided to re-read the series again. I devoured the trilogy in less than a week! I’ll be writing an overview of the series rather than a review of each book, but I will attempt to be as spoiler free as possible.

I absolutely adore the main character, Chloe Saunders. She is smart, practical, and caring without being boring or unrelatable. Her motivations are always understandable. Her film screenwriting aspiration not only developed her character beyond the immediate story, it created a more atmospheric setting. The secondary characters all contain a certain amount of depth too. I adore the relationships Chloe builds with the others, especially with Tori. Chloe and Tori have a contentious relationship throughout the series. Their relationship seems to be a realistic portrayal of two women with very different personalities stuck in very close quarters.

The action-packed pacing moves forward the characters and plot at a pleasing clip. Two devices that usually drive me crazy in a story – love triangles and short timelines – are seamlessly woven into the narrative. The intriguing world-building invests me not only in this series, but the rest of the world. I adore its focus on necromancy. Not something you read about every day!

My only complaint is the story feels unfinished. While the immediate arc is completed, so many other elements are left unfinished. I intend to read the companion series, The Darkness Rising, in hopes some of these lose ends are officially tied up.

tl;dr An action-packed thriller with a strong female character learning about love and life.

Somehow my ratings and reviews were lost for this book series, so my review won't be as detailed as before.

I loved this book series and I read them as fast as I can. I love the main character Chloe and the world the author created. Chloe and the people she meets along the way go through quite a roller coaster of events.

This has a little bit of everything with action, paranormal, fantasy, and a little romance (Which is just how I like it, just blended into the story and not the main focal point.)

I would definitely recommend this book series to people.

[Amanda]

Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2012/02/13/review-the-summoning-by-kelley-armstrong/

I spent my time reading swinging between being completely engrossed in the story and being completely frustrated with the lack of answers (or rather, the slow pace at which some questions were answered). In some ways, it is a psychological thriller, as there is so much going on here that neither we as readers nor Chloe understand. What is Chloe? What is real? What’s up with the Lyle House? Even as the book finishes, there are still questions to be answered. It’s not really a cliffhanger, but it’s obvious that the story is far far from over.

Chloe was a good main character. She was the right mix of doubt and humor. While wading through the millions of questions that she had, I felt myself doubting Chloe right along with her. But what I appreciated was that through all the niggling doubt, it never turned into simpering despair or wallowing on everything that was going wrong. Any doubts that Chloe had pushed her to answer the questions she had. If she began to spiral too far downward, she pulled herself out with humor or by turning life into a movie. The supporting characters (Simon, Derek, Tori, Rae) were an odd mix, but the

The strength of The Summoning really comes in the final quarter of the book. Up until then, I had been intrigued, but not overly impressed or falling all over myself to finish the book. Once everything in the plot started to come together, I began to understand why so many people (*cough*RubyandKelly*cough*) have told me to read this series. The ending left me scrambling to add The Awakening to my wishlist, and this is definitely one of those books that you will want to read with the second book close by.

[boghunden]

It's hard to review this book. I really liked the first 100 pages, there was so much going on and everything was exciting. And then it stopped. Then the novel was all about Chloe, who's institutionalized. Then at the last 80 pages, the action picked up again. That means that you have about 200 pages in the middle with nothing going on - except for Chloe talking to the other people at the institution. Dull!

In the end it's clear that this book is first in a series; there's a cliffhanger at the end. Unfortunately though, it just felt like a very long prologue! I won't be reading the rest of this series.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I wasn't sure what I was going to think of this book. Frankly, in YA Fantasy Lit, anything that doesn't scream "vampire" is a nice respite. So right off the bat, this was a nice break from what is the usual voice in this genre right now. Then enter Chloe, protagonist. I actually liked Chloe, which is strange for me, since I am generally inclined to loathe protagonists (don't even get me started on Harry Potter...). She's quirky, but controlled. She's your typical teenage nerd girl - proud of who she is and dealing with the world in the way she best can all while pretending to be normal. And this is before anything weird happens. Armstrong gives the reader a chance to get to know Chloe a little bit before she changes, which builds a foundation... that is nice.

Even once Chloe is in Lyle House... she is not a dunderheaded protagnist. She makes choices, she doubts herself, she acts like a human. She is not helpless and while she is a little naive, it is not so much that you literally get angry at the book while she constantly makes the wrong choices. Because to the reader... she's not making the wrong choice. It is clear that Chloe has a process through which she makes her decisions, and when something goes wrong, it's because a piece of information is withheld, and the reader is as taken aback as the protagonist. That's awesome. Loved it.

These days, with a busy work schedule, I rarely finish a book in a day or two - I positively flew through this book. Besides work, I was in the middle of a performance when I read this book... and I almost missed a cue once while reading it because I was engrossed. Armstrong is fabulous at weaving a world that quickly snares the reader, and you've read fifty pages and lost nearly an hour when you were just sitting down to read a chapter.

I believe that young adults will eat in her Darkest Powers series, if this first book is any indication. Even as a book for adults... while it's not the most impressive read, it certainly was not a waste of time, and I know that I will read the next one. Chloe, although a teenager, was not entirely unrelatable as a character. And, if nothing else, the book is a quick read. But I enjoyed it, even as things were getting a little "out of hand" at the end. I liken the style of it to books like Blue Bloods and A Wrinkle in Time - it carries a similar charm mixed with strong female protagonists who have a fighting spirit and a storyline that doesn't always go where you want... or expect. In a good way.

[Hixxup]

I gave this book three stars because at first this book was seeming to be a but tedious then in the last few chapters or so it got more interesting and once I got to the end I wanted to rush out and get the next book. So I will be continuing on with the series, though this book wasn't up to par in my book.

[angelarenea9]

I really really liked it! I think it had a really nice, believable blend of reality and fantasy. Like if someone said to me 'oh this is actually real' (and they were like credible or whatever) I might consider believing them (in a not really kind of way). Ok wait, rephrase in a less crazy way. It is believable that this could be going on without my knowledge in the world.
I liked that the author obviously researched the mental health system before writing it because there were accurate descriptions of medical things. For example: I did clinical at a youth group center (not a boarding type place, but a day time thing) and it was pretty close. I think that was my favorite thing, that there weren't huge flaws!

I also liked that Chloe did not whine internally about pointless things. I hate when I read a book and it's set in 1st person and the narrator just monologues about stupid stuff. I actually usually shy away from 1st person narrative because of that reason.

Also I love that it's a series. I always feel like there should have been another book when it's not a series.

The only thing that bugged me about the book was Derek. I feel like in the beginning he was portrayed as unintelligent like the 'big dumb brute' character, and somewhere in the middle his whole personality switched. I get that it was because he got more comfortable with Chloe, but I feel like maybe even the author didn't know where she was going with his character. But that's just the vibe I got. I know we were supposed to think that he was dumb, but she went a little overboard making us think that and he did some things that I don't feel like he would have.
Again that's just me.

But overall I really loved this book! you can always tell when I love a book because it takes no time at all to read it and so far both featured books have been like that! (Memoirs I read in a week during finals and this one in a day!)

[inlibrisveritas]

I initially thought that this was going to be just like all other young adult paranormal novels/series that revolve around a female main character. Where she's thrust into the world, is helpless until a male character comes to her rescue in some way, then she's practically doing all she can to be with him. But it's not at all, it's actually fairly different. Chloe is a normal girl that has an ability that she isn't quite use to anymore, she sees ghosts. So when she's told she's schizophrenic she accepts the diagnosis until things become strange again. I personally enjoyed the characters and how different they are, and how normal they can be dispute their powers.The story is fresh and different, and for once I look forward to the sequel.

[celinenyx]

Amazing. This is young-adult as it should be. It isn't written in a condescending petty way, but challenges us as reader, without the gory details and sex.

I'm a great fan of Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, and I was afraid I would be disappointed with her Darkest Powers series, like I was when I read Kim Harrison's YA-book. And I'm very proud to say, I was not. This is a great book for both young adults and the well, not so young adults.

Our protagonist, Chloe, is a necromancer. She can see ghosts. And that scares the shit out of her, so when she freaks out at school because a melted janitor-ghost pursuits her, she is put in a group home, Lyle House. And finally, FINALLY the main character understands, the best way to get out, is to fake it! I can get so incredibly annoyed with the stupidity of people in books, like in Fingersmith (by Sarah Waters), where the girl that is put in an asylum, keeps telling the doctors the truth. While it sounds crazy. Don't they get that the doctors think they are mentally ill and won't listen, especially if you totally freak out and struggle and scream the whole time?! I am so glad that Kelley Armstrong has finally created a main character with BRAINS.

Apart from portraying a likeable, realistic fifteen year old girl, I also have to give the author credit for evoking a quite sinister, spooky (no pun intended) atmosphere. I always love writers that make you feel uncomfortable, without going into all those gross and horrific details. Sometimes a setting and a feeling is enough to get afraid. Laurell K Hamilton should learn a lesson from this. There doesn't have to be a lot of blood and some intestines meandering around. It is nice to read something where you don't find yourself saying "this author must be totally messed up in his head". Sometimes the horrors they come up with are just freaky.

It's fast paced and interesting, just like we are used to from Kelley Armstrong. I would surely recommend this to anyone that needs a breath from all the freaky psychopaths out there and likes some suspense.

[Jo]

Chloe Saunders is just an ordinary 15-year-old - that is until she starts seeing ghosts. Ghosts that are appearing all over, horribly disfigured, asking her for help. After one ghost chases her through school and Chloe reacts badly from being terrified, she is admitted into a group home for crazy kids. As she gets used to Lyle House, things seem ok. But then she gets to know the kids at the house better, and ghosts turn up asking for her help there too. Most of the kids have something in common, and Chloe starts to doubt that Lyle House us all it appears to be.

I cannot tell you how good this book is! The Dark Powers Trilogy is one story, meaning that The Summoning doesn't have a story that is resolved at the end, and you're left with a killer cliff hanger!

The Summoning is very much a first book. Most of it is setting the series up; Chloe finding out more about herself, about this "gift" she has, and about Lyle House. It's mainly learning, understanding, and finding things out. It all comes together in the last third of the book, where things are pieced together, and they realise there's something not quite right with the group home, but they're not entirely sure what. Then the action kicks in.

Although the first two thirds are the finding out stages, there's enough happening to keep your interest, to keep you intrigued. And the characters are awesome too. Like the kids in the home; Simon is beyond lovely, Rae is enthusiastic and bubbly, Derek is just so awesome under his quiet mean and moody act, and Liz is happy-go-lucky, but also kind of odd. And by the end of the book you're sitting on the edge of your seat, adrenalin running through you just like the teens in the book, and you can't read fast enough. I have an inkling of a love triangle in future novels which makes the story interesting!

This is really an awesome book, and I can't wait to read the next one, The Awakening, to find out what happens! This is the first book by Kelley Armstrong I've read, and I'll definitely be picking up her other novels. This is a must read!