The Summoning (Darkest Powers, #1)

by Kelley Armstrong

[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.