Book Review: The Summoning

Title: The Summoning
Series: Darkest Powers (Book 1)
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Published: 2008

Summary: 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…

My Thoughts: The same day Chloe Saunders hits puberty, unexplainable things start happening to her. She sees horrible people that others don't. Chloe is soon sent to Lyle House, a group home for troubled teens, and is diagnosed with schizophrenia. While her disease might explain some of the things that are happening to her, it doesn't explain everything. When her new friends at Lyle House are questioning her diagnose, and note her powers, Chloe is soon questioning both her diagnose, and the purpose of the Lyle House. When Chloe starts to look closer into the Lyle House history, she discover dangerous things. What's Lyle House purpose? What happens to the children who are being transferred from the Lyle House? Why are the Lyle House children diagnosed with schizophrenia and other diseases, when they might have unexplainable powers?

Chloe's questions are many, but one thing is for certain - for every day she stays in the Lyle House, she gets closer to being "transferred".

The Summoning was darker than I had expected, and I had as many questions as Chloe. Who was on the good/bad side? Who could Chloe trust? While some parts of the book was slow, the last part of the book was filled with suspense and action - and I couldn't stop reading until the last word.

Rating: 4 of 5

P.S. I own book 1 and book 3 in this series, but I don't have book 2 and can't get it from the library. Do you think I could skip book 2 and get straight to book 3? Or will I miss out on a lot of information, so I need to buy book 2?