The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Book review #52
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong  (Darkest Power's #1)
Rating: Five stars

Summary: (taken from Goodreads)
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” behavior. And together they discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home either…

Paranormal romances aren't usually my "thing", but after reading The Summoning I can proudly say I'm a paranormal type of girl. The Summoning really took me by surprise. I guess I could say I was blown away! Action-packed, horror, and suspense was splattered throughout the many pages.

Chloe strives to be normal and to have a regular life. Things are pretty much on the normal side aside from the occasional sounds and voices she hears. One day at school she has an encounter with a ghost causing a huge scene. Chloe was almost as shocked as everyone else. Her aunt decides to "save" Chloe by placing into a group home for kids with special circumstances. The Lyle House seems ordinary enough, but there is a lot more than meets the eye.

The setting combined with the unique characters really puts this novel on top. The Lyle House was really creepy, it even scared me! It sounds and looks so normal-with chores, homework, and strict scheduling. But it's not normal at all. The members all have to take pills to cure their supposed illness and they have to talk to these shrinks that convince them that they have a common illness. The teachers/directors were so secretive. I felt like it was all one big science experiment. And I haven't even started on the members of the group home!

Chloe was a fantastic main character. She started out regular, just like all of us. She even wanted to be a director, so she imagined she was in a movie scene whenever something crazy was happening. (This may distract some people from he main action, but I enjoyed it.) I like how she handled her whole situation, very gracefully in fact. I would have probably done some stuff way more drastic. It's hard to describe the other members of The Lyle House. They each have distinct characteristics and personalities, that really stick with you. Derrick stood out the most of the bunch. He was very mysterious, I really wanted to know his story. What I loved the most about him was that he wasn't the flawless handsome character seen in most paranormal romances, he had full blown acne.

The Summoning was a wonderful start to what looks like an amazing series. I was always kept on the edge and was almost thrown off at all the twists and turns that kept popping up. Even if paranormal novels isn't your usual type of genre, you should definitely give this one a try. I can't wait to see what happens next :)