Zodiac Book Reviews: Kelley Armstrong YA Challenge

Showing posts with label Kelley Armstrong YA Challenge. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Challenge Review: Darkest Powers Bonus Pack 2 by Kelley Armstrong

Title: Darkest Powers Bonus Pack 2
Titles Included: Facing Facts, Belonging
Series: The Darkest Powers #3.5, #3.6
Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Supernatural Fiction

Elements: Sorcerers, Werewolves, Necromancers, Witches, Ghosts
Setting Location: Unknown (they've gone incognito, remember?)

Publisher: Traverse Press
Format: Kindle Edition
ASIN: B009H6XPV4
Release Date: September 25, 2012
Source: Amazon.com
Rating: 4/5

Purchase Here: Kindle

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: In Facing Facts (a short story set after The Reckoning) Tori discovers who her father is, and Chloe deals with a vengeful ghost. Narrated by Chloe. This was previously published in Enthralled.

In Belonging (a novella set after The Reckoning) Derek's werewolf family comes to claim him. Narrated by Derek.

Review:

This Bonus Pack has a short story from Chloe's POV that was originally published in the Enthralled anthology, and a novella from Derek's POV. Both take place after The Reckoning. So we get to see how their life is after the series main story ended.

Facing Facts - Chloe's POV

In Facing Facts, it's been a month since they were reunited with Kit and Lauren. Kit feels this is the time to inform Tori that she's his biological daughter. She doesn't take the news well and storms out of the house. Chloe volunteers to talk to her, but Tori is hurt that Chloe suspected the truth a didn't say anything to her. That friends don't keep that kind of thing from each other. She runs away from Chloe, but Chloe gives chase. Tori runs toward the one place she knows Chloe can't follow her: an abandoned house.

Derek tracks Chloe to the mall where she saw Tori run, but it turns out that Tori really did go into the abandoned house and it was the ghost of her mother, Diane, that lead Chloe to the mall.

Diane is still trying to control Chloe and knows that she still feels guilty for killing her and then using her zombified body to kill Dr. Davidoff.

What I loved most about this short story was how Chloe stood up to Diane, declaring that she will not be controlled and that she's not going to feel guilty anymore for killing her, because it had to be done and Chloe wouldn't want anyone else to shoulder the guilt that came with it. Then she gives Diane a big mental shove, sending her back to the other side. That moment was just really awesome and I liked seeing how strong Chloe's becoming.

Belonging - Derek's POV

In Belonging, we learn that Derek really is Zachary Cain's son and the Cain clan intends to claim Derek as he should have been when he was young. But their motives aren't all for Derek's benefit. They've been told how smart Derek is and how fast he is coming into his powers. If the Cain's have Derek, it would make them a serious threat to the Pack.

Back at the escapee camp, Derek and Chloe's three month anniversary is coming up! Chloe's off at the mall with Tori and Derek is feeling the anxiety of not being there to watch over her. And his anxiety isn't unwarranted this time, Carter Cain is moving in on Chloe!

Once a week, Derek and Chloe go into the woods so he can work on Changing on command. While he's trying to Change, Derek thinks back to the first time Chloe stayed with him when he first started Changing behind Lyle House. It was the first time he saw someone he could imagine as a friend, besides Simon. Now, though he's Changed around others before, it's never as comfortable as it is when it's only him and Chloe. Derek manages to Change, but it's during their hide and seek game that the Cains make their move.

In this novella we see how strong Derek and Chloe's relationship has become. I loved how Chloe didn't let the Cains take Derek without following them back to where they were staying. The only backup she had was Liz, and she's a ghost, although a pretty dangerous one. Derek and Chloe will do anything to protect each other. I was worried for a bit that Derek would want to stay with the Cains, but I was relieved to be wrong. I loved the anniversary gift Derek got for Chloe, although it was kind of disappointing that we weren't told what she got for him.

What I like about both Facing Facts and Belonging is that they take place after the end of the main story. We get to see what's going on with everyone after they escape together. I can only hope that Kelley Armstrong chooses to write novellas like these for the Darkness Rising series too.

About this Author:

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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Challenge Review: Darkest Powers Bonus Pack 1 by Kelley Armstrong

Title: Darkest Powers Bonus Pack 1
Titles Included: Dangerous, Divided, Disenchanted
Series: The Darkest Powers #0.5, #1.5, #2.5
Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Supernatural Fiction

Elements: Sorcerers, Werewolves, Necromancers, Witches
Setting Location: Buffalo, New York

Publisher: Traverse Press
Format: Kindle Edition
ISBN: 9780987703149
Release Date: November 15, 2011
Source: Amazon.com
Rating: 4/5

Purchase Here: Kindle

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: Contains three companion stories to the #1 NYT bestselling Darkest Powers trilogy.

Dangerous (prequel to The Summoning) The story of how Derek and Simon came to Lyle House, told from Derek's point of view.

Divided (set between The Summoning and The Awakening) Derek and Simon's adventures while separated from Chloe and Rae in the factory. Also told from Derek's point of view.

Disenchanted (overlaps part of The Awakening) Simon and Tori continue their journey after Chloe and Derek are left at the truck stop. Told from Tori's point of view.

Review:

What I love about some novellas is that they can be from the POV of a character that you're just dying to know what they are thinking while you're reading the main storyline. In the Darkest Powers, Derek is that character for me, and most of the novellas are from his POV.

Dangerous - Derek's POV

This novella is the prequel to the main series and it starts 10 years before, when Derek was 5 years old and living in the lab with the other werewolf pups. I really liked being able to read about what Derek's life was like before Simon's dad took him. And even at 5 years old, Derek felt better being around Simon and was just as protective of him.

We read about why Simon and Derek ended up at Lyle House, but it was just a vague explanation given to Chloe. But in Dangerous, we get to read about what really happened. We see how Derek protected Simon from a bully with a knife, which resulted in that bully being put into a coma. We see how people judged Derek by how he looked, assuming he was up to no good. Then we see what happened when they arrived home one day to their dad missing and what they went through to try to find him. Which then led to them being caught an sent to Lyle House. I felt this was a pretty good lead up to the main story when Chloe arrives at Lyle House and meets Simon and Derek.

Divided - Derek's POV

This novella takes place between The Summoning and The Awakening when Derek, Simon, Chloe, and Rae escaped Lyle House and were being pursued in the factory. This is Derek and Simon's side of the story when they end up separated.

Derek is really not happy with Chloe not following the plan and having stayed with him while his Change began. We learn why Derek used Chloe to escape Lyle House: Simon had withdrawn into himself and Chloe was bringing him back to himself. Chloe needed their help and Derek used that to get Simon to leave Lyle House. It wasn't until Chloe confronted Derek about using her and still staying with the plan that he started seeing her as a person and feeling responsible for her.

So when he realizes that Chloe and Rae are nowhere in the factory and that she called her aunt, he begins to feel anxious. Derek and Simon go from library to library trying to find information on where Chloe could be, while still trying to find their dad. It's during this that he notices a paper with the reward notice of $500,000 that her dad is offering for her return. You can imagine this doesn't make Derek very happy. You can also imagine Derek's relief and annoyance when they return to the factory and Chloe's there, but with Tori in tow.

I really liked reading this novella because while Chloe and Rae are hiding in the warehouse and eventually recaptured, we get to see what is happening with the other half of their group. Derek is almost desperate to get to Chloe and you can see small changes in the way he sees and feels about her. While I believe that the true changing point in his feeling for Chloe was when she stayed with him when he started Changing again at the truck stop, I think the beginning of those changes started here.

Disenchanted - Tori's POV, partially Simon's

Now Disenchanted takes place during the time that Chloe and Derek were left behind at the truck stop, but this is the story of Tori and Simon's continued journey to Andrew's.

Simon wants to go back for Derek and Chloe, while Tori wants to continue on to Andrew's place. Tori gets her way and they eventually make it to Andrew's. But along the way, Simon doesn't bother to hide his dislike for her and Tori knows that they don't want her there. When they get to Andrew's house, he's just gone, like Simon's dad was just gone. It's while they are hiding out in the pool house waiting for Derek and Chloe to arrive that Simon tells Tori why he doesn't like her. She's inconsiderate and selfish, only thinking of herself.

I think the moment that really got Tori thinking was when Simon protected her from a perceived threat, someone he doesn't even like. It's after this point that Tori slowly begins to change. Although she can still be a brat sometimes.

About this Author:

PART OF....

Monday, January 28, 2013

Challenge Review: The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Calling
Series: Darkness Rising #2
Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Supernatural Fiction

Elements: Shapeshifters, Psychic Abilities, Demons
Setting Location: Salmon Creek, Vancouver Island, Canada (fictional)

Publisher: Harper Teen, Harper Collins
Format: Hardcover, 326 Pages
ISBN: 9780061797057
Release Date: April 10, 2012
Source: Borrowed from Wentworth Library
Rating: 5/5

Purchase Here: Kindle // Paperback // Audiobook

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: Maya Delaney's paw-print birthmark is the mark of what she truly is -a skin-walker. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly everyone else. Experiencing intense connections with the animals that roam the woods outside her home, Maya knows it's only a matter of time before she's able to Shift and become one of them. And she believes there may be others in her small town with surprising talents.

Now Maya and her friends have been forced to flee from their homes during a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set. Then they're kidnapped, and after a chilling helicopter crash, they find themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness with nothing but their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home.

In THE CALLING, the sizzling second book in the Darkness Rising trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong pumps up the romance, danger, and suspense that left readers of THE GATHERING clamoring for more.

Review:

Maya and her friends are being evacuated from a burning Salmon Creek when they notice something isn't quite right. Mayor Tillson is unresponsive and Maya finds signs that he's been drugged. The pilot is acting suspicious, and as the helicopter loses control, a friend is lost. Injured, but having escaped their kidnappers, they find themselves lost in the wilderness of Vancouver Island. As they make their way back to Salmon Creek, secrets and revelations are brought to light, some of which are better left in the dark.

Project Phoenix is an experiment where the St. Clouds are trying to resurrect extinct supernatural types. Mina Lee had given Daniel a list of terms that included: benandanti, yee naaldlooshii, xana, and sileni. We know that the yee naaldlooshii were an extinct Native American skinwalker, and that that's what Maya, Rafe and Annie are. Sam reveals herself to be a benandanti and that she believes Daniel is one too. The benandanti were an extinct race of demon hunters who evolved into general evil hunters. Like the skinwalkers, the demon hunters hid their powers through intermarriage and the St. Clouds resurrected the genes to bring them back.

SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT!!

Now, it isn't said in The Calling what the xana and sileni are, but I looked them up and found out what they are. The xana (ha-na) are female water nymphs or fairies. They are extraordinarily beautiful, usually small, slender, with long blonde or light brown hair. Their hypnotic voices can make one feel a sense of peace and love or feel suffocated and driven insane, depending on the purity of the soul. They can be kind, but are territorial. Serena, Hayley, and Nicole all fit this description. It would also fit with Sam's suspicion that Nicole was responsible for Serena's death. Nicole thought of Daniel as her territory and destroyed Serena for invading it.

Sileni were drunken followers of the Greek dog, Dionysus, who ruled over the grape harvest, wine, ritual madness and ecstasy (or possibly followers of his tutor, Silenus, the oldest, wisest, and most drunken of Dionysus's followers). Silenus was believed to possess special knowledge and the power of prophecy when drunk. I feel pretty bad for Corey in this case, because this fits him and the emergence of his powers. Corey is known for his drinking and it seems to help keep his headaches away. It is while he is drunk that his visions come.

There have been some developments in each of their powers, but it'll be interesting to see how much more they could change in The Rising, especially when those who don't know what they are find out.

The man that held a gun on Maya and looked like her in The Gathering when they were escaping turns out to really be her father, like she suspected. But he's aligned himself with the Nast Cabal to search for her and her friends. He claims to have been searching for her and her brother ever since her mother ran off with them. Do I believe that? I'm not sure. Calvin Antone seems suspicious to me and like he's still hiding something.

Then they made it back to Salmon Creek, the town was completely deserted, their parents believing them to be dead. But the St. Clouds haven't given up on capturing them. Maya, Daniel, Corey, and Rafe split up. Rafe and Corey act as decoys so Maya and Daniel can get away and get help--they end up captured. As they are running, Daniel gets shot with a tranq and tells Maya to keep going. But Maya's not going to leave her friends behind and waits for her chance to rescue them. She Shifts into a cougar and...well...it's really awesome, she was amazing. But while Maya was able to free Daniel and Corey, they didn't make it in time to the helipad to get Rafe, Annie, Sam, and Kenjii.

Before all this happened, Rafe gave Maya a note, and it turned out to be memos on the Buffalo escape and the failed Genesis Project. Rafe left a contact his mother gave him and told Maya to find him and then come back for them. I believe this contact to be Simon and Derek's dad, Kit. The moment I've been looking forward to the most in this series is when the groups from the Darkness Rising and Darkest Powers series come together. I have a feeling it's going to be amazing.

About this Author:

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Challenge Review: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Gathering
Series: Darkness Rising #1
Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Supernatural Fiction

Elements: Shapeshifters
Setting Location: Salmon Creek, Vancouver Island, Canada (fictional) // Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, Canada

Publisher: Harper Teen, Harper Collins
Format: Hardcover, 359 Pages
ISBN: 9780061797026
Release Date: April 12, 2011
Source: Borrowed from Wentworth Library
Rating: 5/5

Purchase Here: Kindle // Paperback // Audiobook

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: Sixteen year old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background--the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip--but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town--from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel...different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet.

In The Gathering, New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong brings all the supernatural thrills from her wildly successful Darkest Powers series to Darkness Rising, her scorching hot new trilogy.

Review:

Strange and unusual things happen in Salmon Creek, one of them being Maya Delany's best friend Serena drowning. How could a star swimmer have drowned in a lake she swan in her whole life? Maya has never gotten over her friend's death, and she's never forgotten how strangely it happened. She's still looking for answers.

Maya is a half-Native who was adopted by her parents when she was a baby. They moved to Salmon Creek when she was 5 years old. And she has a faded mark on her hip that looks like a paw print. There is a lot that she doesn't know about her birth parents, and therefore herself. And it's never bothered her until an old woman called her a witch.

Through varying sources, but most importantly from Rafe, a new student and resident in Salmon Creek, Maya learns that she's a Skinwalker. That definitely explains why she feels most energetic outside and how she can wield some control over animals, as well as being able to heal them. Turns out that when their mothers found out about the testing being done on them, they went into hiding. Maya's mother's family hid by intermarriage--that's why she's half-white. She even learns that she has a twin brother out there somewhere.

Now the baddies are, of course, the St. Cloud Corporation, better known to the supernatural world as the St. Cloud Cabal. Dr. Davidoff makes annual visits to Salmon Creek, and you can bet that nothing good happens anywhere that man goes. There's even a statue of Samuel Lyle in the town center! If that isn't a clue that these are the same people behind what happened in the Darkest Powers series, I don't know what is.

Mina Lee, a "reporter," was working with someone to get information on the town and the kids that live there, but mostly those who weren't born there--Rafe, Maya, and Sam. There's mention of the Nasts and Cortezes, rival Cabals. The screw up in Buffalo that happened in the Darkest Powers series is brought up, along with Project Genesis and even an Elizabeth Delaney. Someone Maya is related to?

Then the woods surrounding Salmon Creek catch on fire, sending everyone fleeing from the town. But Maya notices that the fire is headed straight for Salmon Creek in an unnatural way, and there are armed men searching the blazing forest. But the most shocking thing is that one of the men who tried to get Maya to follow him looks just like her! Could he really be Maya's father?

I loved the Darkest Powers series, and this first book in the Darkness Rising series was just as exciting. There is so much left unsaid that it leaves you wanting to know what's going to happen next. I can't wait to read The Calling to see how things turn out for Maya and her friends.

About this Author:

PART OF....

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Challenge Review: The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Reckoning
Series: Darkest Powers Trilogy #3
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Supernatural Fictions, Young Adult Fiction
Elements: Necromancers, Werewolves, Sorcerers, Witches, Ghosts, Demons, Zombies
Publisher: Harper Teen, Harper Collins
Format: Hardcover, 391 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-06-166283-6
Release Date: April 6, 2010
Source: Borrowed from Wentworth Library
Rating: 5/5

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: My name is Chloe Saunders. I'm fifteen, and I would love to be normal.

But normal is on thing I'm not.

For one thing, I'm having these feelings for a certain antisocial werewolf and his sweet-tempered brother--who just happens to be a sorcerer--but, between you and me, I'm leaning toward the werewolf.

Not normal.

My friends and I are also on the run from an evil corporation that wants to get rid of us--permanently.

Definitely not normal.

And finally, I'm a genetically altered necromancer who can raise the dead, rotting corpses and all, without even trying.

As far away from normal as it gets.

Review:

Now that Chloe and her friends are safe with Andrew and his rebel group things seem to be settling down. They have a warm place to stay and tutors to help them control their abilities, but there are dangerous secrets roaming the halls of the old house and unrest is forming among members of the rebel group. When a member of the group witnesses Chloe's true power, fear and greed lead to betrayal as Chloe and her friends are forced to run again.

When their enemies begin to close in from all sides, help comes from an unexpected but very welcome ally. Chloe knows that life on the run won't be easy and nothing will ever be close to normal again, but she's come to accept this life and the person she has become.

In the very first chapter Chloe has a visit from the ghost of a Volo half-demon who lures her to the roof with the promise of information on the experiments. It is later found out that he was the nephew of Todd Banks, the founder of the Genesis Project. Royce and his cousin, Austin, were the first subjects if the very first Genesis Project (yes, there was more than one wave of testing), but even more disturbing is that there are also the Icarus and Phoenix Projects. What those entail, no one knows, but it can't be good. But back to Royce. He is a very disturbing ghost and not very nice (i.e. using his Volo powers to pelt objects at Chloe), even when he was alive. He's probably one of the most powerful ghosts that Chloe has had to deal with so far, and he's very persistent, in a twisted way.

I found the members of the rebel group so infuriating. They used to work for the Edison Group at one time, so they should very well know what EG is capable of, but when Chloe tells them all that has happened to them, they chalk it all up to her overactive imagination. Margaret, the necromancer, annoyed me the most. She took Chloe to a cemetery! How stupid can you be to take a genetically altered necromancer, with unknown abilities, to a cemetery full of corpses? Chloe even warns her that all she basically has to do is step into a cemetery and bodies start rising. But it's not until the ground cracks open in earthquake-like proportions, the dead start moving and moaning, and the living begin screaming, that she believes Chloe tell the truth.

One good thing came from Margaret though. I had been wondering about Chloe's necklace, what its function is and the reason for its color change. The necklace is supposed to reduce a necromancer's glow. That is what the ghosts see and Chloe's is really (and I mean REALLY) bright. But when Chloe asks why it changed color (from ruby to sapphire to amethyst), Margaret blanches and just says something about superstition. So I'm still left wondering about the reasoning for the color change.

I loved how defensive Chloe becomes of Derek. Andrew voices his concerns about how "attached" Derek seems to Chloe and how it's different for Derek with his wolf instincts than it is for Chloe. Chloe realizes that they don't see Derek, they only see the werewolf. Chloe can relate to Derek very well and understands his position better than anyone. They both have powerful abilities that can be quite dangerous, and because of that people only see what they are and not who they are.

I felt kind of bad for Simon in this book. Simon and Chloe went on their first date, but when he kisses her at the end of the night, he realizes that there is someone else. It looks like Chloe was leading him on all this time, but she didn't even realize the truth of his words until that kiss. This creates a wedge between Simon, Chloe, and Derek for a little while. After Derek completes his first Change (yay!), Simon gives Chloe a drawing of her crouching beside a black wolf with her arms around its neck, and a message for Derek saying "It's okay." This makes me wonder if Simon had walked out to the woods unawares when Derek was Changing. How else could he have known what Derek looked like as a wolf? Seeing Derek and Chloe together during his Change would definitely show Simon the bond forming between the two of them. But I liked that he bowed out in typical sweet Simon fashion by giving the drawing and message.

Another message that Chloe received is after she freed the demi-demon Diriel. Diriel's master demon tells Chloe to "Grow up strong, little one. Strong and powerful." I can't wait to see just how strong and powerful Chloe will become.

Book Trailer:

The Reckoning Kelley Armstrong Book Trailer by cosproductions

Excerpt (Page 100):

"You're telling me you can raise the dead simply by summoning?"

"Yes."

"My God," she whispered, staring at me. "What have they done?"

Hearing her words and seeing her expression, I knew Derek had been right last night. I'd just done something worse than raising the dead--I'd confirmed her worst fears about us.

About this Author:

Friday, June 22, 2012

Challenge Review: The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Awakening
Series: Darkest Powers Trilogy #2
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Supernatural Fictions, Young Adult Fiction
Elements: Necromancers, Werewolves, Sorcerers, Witches, Ghosts, Demons, Zombies
Publisher: Harper Teen, Harper Collins
Format: Hardcover, 360 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-06-166276-8
Release Date: May 4, 2009
Source: Borrowed from Wentworth Library
Rating: 4.5/5

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl--someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets. A living science experiment--not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters, I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control: I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.

Not I'm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends--a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch--and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.

Review:

Betrayed by her Aunt Lauren, Chloe and Rae are now locked up in some kind of lab, unable to escape and meet up with Simon and Derek. Worse yet, Dr. Davidoff and Mrs. Enright want Chloe to help them capture Simon and Derek, using Simon's diabetes as a way to persuade her to give up their location before Simon dies. Unwilling to trap her friends, Chloe gives them false rendezvous points until she can come up with a plan of escape.

When trying to summon Liz, Chloe accidentally summoned Brady instead, who was then taken over by a demon who has been trapped by the Edison Group. The demon tells Chloe of the experiment that she and her friends are a part of. The Genesis II Project is genetic modification meant to suppress a supernatural's power, but not all subjects were successful. Unsuccessful subject's powers are uncontrollable and based on their emotions. Those who cannot be rehabilitated are "terminated." Simon was a success, Rae and Tori are in progress, but Chloe and Derek are left with "???" next to their names.

With an uncertain future and a half million dollar reward out for Chloe's safe return, Chloe's new normal is a dangerous and deadly life on the run, but there is no going back now.

Chloe has really grown since The Summoning. She's stronger, more courageous, and taking a more active part in their escape. She thinks logically and thinks of each scenario that could happen. She's still a little rash sometimes, especially when Derek annoys her. Chloe is even trying to be friends with Tori and trying to make her feel like part of the group, instead of a tag-a-long.

The triangle between Simon, Chloe, and Derek heats up in this book. Simon and Chloe start spending more time together when they begin a comic chronicling the events of their journey. But Chloe and Derek's connection grows as Chloe sits with Derek as he tries to go through his change again. It always seems like Derek and Chloe are being pushed together as their journey continues. I like Simon, but I always wanted Derek and Chloe to end up together. Even though they fight and bicker a lot, they also have a lot in common, and they both have uncertain futures.

I'm glad that I've started reading Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, otherwise I never would have noticed the references made to the series in The Awakening. One reference made is about how Tori's mother heard about another witch (Eve) bearing the child (Savannah) of a sorcerer (Kristof) and had to do the same. And mix-blood spellcasters are dangerous. And another reference I noticed was when Derek was anxious about being in Syracuse where the Pack lives. He definitely wouldn't want to run into Clay, Elena, and Jeremy. But Derek and Chloe did run into a couple werewolves who remarked that Derek looked like a Cain, in reference to Zachary Cain who was one of the werewolves who went against the Pack in the first book of the Women of the Otherworld series, Bitten.

When I read a series that is either a side story or spin-off of another series, I like seeing the characters of the main series, like with Women of the Otherworld and the Darkest Powers. It only makes sense since these two series take place in the same world.

I mentioned in my review for The Summoning that I was going to pay closer attention to Chloe's necklace. When I re-read The Summoning, I noticed that her ruby necklace was changing color. In the beginning of The Awakening, it was a purplish color, but by the end her necklace is almost blue. I really want to know what the deal is with the necklace. It must be important since focus is being put on how it's changing color.

The Darkest Powers Trilogy comes to a close with the next and final book, The Reckoning. As the title suggests, there's going to be a reckoning and not everyone will make it out alive. I can't wait to see what I notice when I re-read the conclusion to this amazing series that I didn't the first time through.

Book Trailer:

About this Author:

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Challenge Review: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Summoning
Series: Darkest Powers Trilogy #1
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Supernatural Fictions, Young Adult Fiction
Elements: Necromancers, Werewolves, Sorcerers, Witches, Ghosts, Demons, Zombies
Publisher: Harper Teen, Harper Collins
Format: Hardcover, 390 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-06-166269-0
Release Date: July 1, 2008
Source: Borrowed from Wentworth Library
Rating: 4.5/5

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.

All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost--and the ghost saw me.

Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't what it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House...before its skeletons come back to haunt me.

Review:

Chloe Saunders just wanted to be normal. But when she sees her first ghost, she knows nothing will be normal again--least of all herself. Now she's been sent to Lyle House, a home for troubled teens. There, the doctors tell her she's schizophrenic, while the other residents tell her she's a necromancer with the power to communicate with and raise the dead. Which is true, she doesn't know, but she does know that there is something not right about Lyle House and its residents are more than they seem...

Meet the younger generation of supernaturals residing in the world of Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld in her Young Adult trilogy, The Darkest Powers.

In The Summoning, Chloe is a 15-year-old high school sophomore with great ambitions of being a movie screenwriter and director. But that dream comes to a screeching halt when she starts see ghosts and has a total freakout in the hallway of her school. Now she's being sent to a home for troubled teens! Lyle House seems on the up-and-up, but Chloe has been hearing whispers that suggest otherwise.

With the help of housemates Simon and Derek, Chloe uses her abilities as a necromancer to learn from those who lived in Lyle House before them--and died, of course--that Lyle House was owned by Samuel Lyle. He did unspeakably evil and horrible experiments on other supernaturals. Samuel Lyle was a sorcerer using dark magic on those supernaturals he lured to him, offering them a better life. Most stayed far away from the sorcerer and his house, but there were those who were beguiled by his words of hope.

Once they realize that it's not a coincidence that Lyle House is full of supernatural teens, Derek, Simon, and Chloe plan to escape and search for Simon's father. But housemates Rae and Tori learn of the escape plan too. One wants to tag along and the other betrays them into the hands of those running Lyle House. Now the race to escape is on. Who can be trusted when your own family betrays you?

I loved Chloe as the heroine of this series. She starts off like a scared little girl, but quickly becomes a young woman who takes crap from no one. We get a glimpse of the kind of woman she'll become. I liked that she has dreams and ambitions--she's not a heroine who is just drifting along not knowing what she wants in life. Chloe is a smart girl and she shows it. I was most surprised by her great sense of humor and sarcastic wit. And finally, liked that though she was scared of Derek when she first met him, she quickly grows a backbone when it comes to him and doesn't back down when he gets in her face.

Chloe's power as a necromancer is more advanced than is normal for someone her age. When she communicated with one of the ghosts in Lyle House, he said that her power is too strong, too much, too soon, and unnatural. And when Chloe asked another of the Lyle House ghosts if she was in danger, she said, "You're a supernatural. You're always in danger." I'd say that Chloe has a lot to worry about, but at least she's not alone.

Simon and Derek are two of my other favorite characters besides Chloe. Simon is a sorcerer and Derek is a werewolf. Being foster brothers, and knowing the danger they are in, they are pretty tight and don't really trust anyone else. But for some reason Chloe is different--I would love to read their first meeting for the guys POV to see what they thought of her--and when they realize that she's in just as much danger, they let her in and protect her. There are definite signs of a love triangle forming.

The prologue to The Summoning sets the tone for the whole book. We have a young Chloe who is left with a babysitter who doesn't know that she's not allowed in the basement. Chloe knows that she's not to go down into the basement, but the babysitter is asking her to come down and help her look for the Coke. Chloe hopes that if she can get the Coke and run back upstairs before Mrs. Hobb sees her. No such luck. When Chloe turns around to go back upstairs, Mrs. Hobb is there, her death replaying over and over while she's standing there smiling at Chloe, all the while the babysitter is upstairs screaming Chloe's name, trying to find her. The first thing Mrs. Hobb says to her is, "Welcome back, Chloe."

How creepy is that? This prologue sets a dark undertone to the story. The foreboding just screams something bad is going to happen. The Summoning and the Darkest Powers is definitely one of the darker YA series out there.

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Saturday, April 28, 2012

Challenge: Kelley Armstrong YA Challenge

Welcome to the Kelley Armstrong YA Challenge hosted by Darlene's Book Nook!

The books in the Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong are:

The Summoning (Book #1)
The Awakening (Book #2)
Darkest Powers Bonus Pack: Contains Dangerous (prequel to The Summoning, Book #0.5), Divided (set between The Summoning and The Awakening, Book #1.5), and Disenchanted (overlaps part of The Awakening, told from Tori's point of view, Book #2.5)
The Reckoning (Book #3)
Belonging (Book #3.5) [you can read it on Armstrong's website HERE]

The books in the sister series, Darkness Rising, by Kelley Armstrong are:

The Gathering (Book #1)
The New Guy: Gathering Bonus Short (Book #0.5) [you can read it on Armstrong's website HERE]
The Invitation: Gathering Bonus Short (Book #1.5) [you can read it on Armstrong's website HERE]
The Calling (Book #2)
The Rising (Book #3) [expected publication 2013]

Please read below for the challenge guidelines:

1. This challenge will run from April 27, 2012 to April 28, 2013. As challenge host, I reserve the right to extend the challenge period if The Rising has not been released before the challenge is supposed to end!

2. You can join the challenge at any time. All books read during the challenge period count for the challenge, regardless of when you sign up.

3. This challenge can cross-over to your other reading challenges.

4. You do not need a blog to participate! If you are not a blogger, you can post your reviews at Goodreads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing and link them up here.

5. All formats of books are acceptable: Bound copies, e-books, and audiobooks (unabridged only).

6. There are three levels for the challenge:

a. Just A Taste: Read 1-3 Armstrong YA books.

b. Halfway There: Read 4-7 Armstrong YA books.

c. All The Way: Read 8-10 Armstrong YA books.

7. When you write your sign-up post, you must choose your level. You can go up, but you cannot go down!

8. There will be a link-up for your reviews, which will be posted on THIS page.

9. There will be a link for your wrap-up post at the end of the challenge, which will be posted on THIS page.

10. Create a sign-up post and link back to this post. Sign up with Mister Linky below! Be sure to use the direct url to your sign-up post and not the url to your blog.

11. Grab the challenge button and post it in your sidebar.