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jimjamreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, and Murder
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
3 ⭐ CW: suicide, mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc.), Youth group home/force hospitalization, descriptions of corpses, descriptions of blood and gore, emotional abuse, Harry Potter references
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong is the first book in the Darkest Powers series. I went in knowing nothing about this book, which is why I mistakenly included this book in my witch stack. Instead we have necromancy. This book was released in 2008 so there are some dated references. This was a good read for Spooky season, but I think I would have enjoyed this more when it came out when I was actually in high school (holy sh*t I'm old).
We follow Chloe Saunders as she realizes she sees ghosts and can talk to them, but has been sent to a group home for teens with mental illnesses. She finds out that her diagnosis is wrong and that she is actually a necromancer, and she's not the only one at Lyle House with peculiar abilities. Lyle House is more than it seems.
The premise is certainly interesting and I like the different take from magic school to magic mental institution (although I feel like this could be problematic). The pacing in places was a bit weird. The beginning was slow then everything happened all at once and we end on a cliffhanger. I also found Chloe to be kind of annoying, I get that she's a late bloomer and sheltered a bit, but she still read younger than 15 to me. We do get an MC with a stutter.
This was a good read for Spooky season, but I don't think I'm interested enough to read the rest of the series.
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong is the first book in the Darkest Powers series. I went in knowing nothing about this book, which is why I mistakenly included this book in my witch stack. Instead we have necromancy. This book was released in 2008 so there are some dated references. This was a good read for Spooky season, but I think I would have enjoyed this more when it came out when I was actually in high school (holy sh*t I'm old).
We follow Chloe Saunders as she realizes she sees ghosts and can talk to them, but has been sent to a group home for teens with mental illnesses. She finds out that her diagnosis is wrong and that she is actually a necromancer, and she's not the only one at Lyle House with peculiar abilities. Lyle House is more than it seems.
The premise is certainly interesting and I like the different take from magic school to magic mental institution (although I feel like this could be problematic). The pacing in places was a bit weird. The beginning was slow then everything happened all at once and we end on a cliffhanger. I also found Chloe to be kind of annoying, I get that she's a late bloomer and sheltered a bit, but she still read younger than 15 to me. We do get an MC with a stutter.
This was a good read for Spooky season, but I don't think I'm interested enough to read the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Blood
Minor: Child abuse
btwnprintedpgs's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Apparently I've never written a review for this one, despite it being an all time fave.
I'll admit, the book does have some stigmatised language by way of teenage judgement, but as a whole it holds up over time. A bit of paranormal, a bit of mystery, this book remains one of my favourites! Happy it was also the first book I decided to annotate, too.
I appreciated Simon and Rae more this time around. Since the future books mix up the cast a bit differently, I always forget about Chloe and Rae's dynamic, as well as the fact that Chloe really only knew Liz for like a week. I also forget how sweet Simon was in book one - he really did come to Chloe's defense a lot more than I remembered and I loved their budding friendship.
My favourite book of the series is next so I'll see y'all on the other side of that one!
TW: blood, injury detail, vomit, fire injury/death, death, body horror, gaslighting; mentions death of a parent, suicide, murder, torture
I'll admit, the book does have some stigmatised language by way of teenage judgement, but as a whole it holds up over time. A bit of paranormal, a bit of mystery, this book remains one of my favourites! Happy it was also the first book I decided to annotate, too.
I appreciated Simon and Rae more this time around. Since the future books mix up the cast a bit differently, I always forget about Chloe and Rae's dynamic, as well as the fact that Chloe really only knew Liz for like a week. I also forget how sweet Simon was in book one - he really did come to Chloe's defense a lot more than I remembered and I loved their budding friendship.
My favourite book of the series is next so I'll see y'all on the other side of that one!
TW: blood, injury detail, vomit, fire injury/death, death, body horror, gaslighting; mentions death of a parent, suicide, murder, torture
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, and Murder