Review: The Darkest Powers Series

The Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong

publisher: HarperTeen

Book 1: The Summoning

released: July 2008

Hardcover, 390 pages

rating:


description 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…

Warning! The following book descriptions contain some spoilers for the book that came before each one!! I have hidden the descriptions---to view them, simply highlight between the hearts!


Book 2: The Awakening

released: May 2009

Hardcover, 368 pages

rating:


description from goodreads:
♥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.

Now 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.♥

Book 3: The Reckoning

released: April 2010

Hardcover, 391 pages

rating:


description from goodreads:
♥Only two weeks ago, life was all too predictable. But that was before I saw my first ghost. Now, along with my supernatural friends Tori, Derek, and Simon, I’m on the run from the Edison Group, which genetically altered us as part of their sinister experiment. We’re hiding in a safe house that might not be as safe as it seems. We’ll be gone soon anyway, back to rescue those we’d left behind and to take out the Edison Group . . . or so we hope. ♥

Review: This entire series was EXCELLENT! The Reckoning was definitely one of my most anticipated releases of this year, and it didn't disappoint---far from it!

From the very first sentence of The Summoning, this series is enticing. You meet Chloe Saunders, with her big dreams of becoming a movie director and her insecurities about things like not getting her period when all the rest of her friends have, and it bring her across as a very normal teenage girl. She is sweet, strong-minded, has a slight stutter when her confidence takes a hit...very human. I really liked her from the start. She grows immensely through the course of the series, into a person who knows her strengths and weaknesses, and learns to stand her ground when it really counts. In turn, I think she really finds out who she is and what she wants to stand for.

There were some definite creepy elements throughout this series. Within the first few pages, this one had sent a few chills up my spine! I love that in a book! Even after you find out what is happening and Chloe starts to learn more about her powers, even into the second and third books, her encounters with the dead don't seem to get any less chilling.

There's not alot of downtime in this plot! It's fast-paced; the characters roll right along in a constant and breathtaking streak of discovering secrets, running from danger, fighting for their lives, or trying to figure out who to trust, sometimes even among themselves. All while still trying to figure out their own powers. The Reckoning was my favorite of the three, so exciting and brought everything to light; it was the perfect ending to a fantastic series.

My only regret, and this is a plus for anyone who hasn't picked up this series yet, was that I didn't wait to read this series until they were all out. While each one was great it its own right, the endings of the first two books were alittle abrupt. I would almost say with the first one, that it felt like the first two books were written together and then just chopped in half at a pivotal point in the story. I would have been preferable, for me, to have waited until all three were out and just jump right into the next book. With such extreme cliffhangers, it was almost too much to bear to wait a year to find out what happened next!

I know this was suppose to be the end of this series, but the way it ended had me thinking: could there possibly be more coming to this story? While the ending was satisfying, it definitely left a little sliver of room for more of these characters' stories to come, and I would welcome another installment wholeheartedly!

Trailer for the Reckoning:


The website for this series has some fun extras on it, including a sneak peak at Kelley Armstrong's next YA series, The Gathering!! I can't wait for more info on this!!