The Reckoning (Darkest Powers Trilogy #3) by Kelley Armstrong

Genre: teen fantasy and science fiction

Age Group: Young Adult

Book #: three
Pages: 391
Synopsis: My name is Chloe Saunders. I'm fifteen and I would love to be normal. But normal is one 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 on the run from and evil corperation that wants to get rid of us--permanently. Definately not normal. And finally, I'm a genetically altered necromancer wh ocan raise the dead, rotting corpses and all, without even trying. As far away from normal as it gets.

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Oh, my goodness! The Reckoning was, in my opinion, the best one out of the three in the Darkest Powers trilogy! (See my reveiws of The Summoning and The Awakening.) The plot was amazing, the twists were surprising, and the mysteries were nail-biting thrillers.

Chloe is no longer innocent and immature in this book, which I found to be gratifying. I can only stand so much of a wimpy main character. This book was the one I was expecting throughout the entire Darkest Powers Trilogy. There were perfect twists (and, trust me, there were a LOT of twists) and the mysteries keep piling up.

There are half-demons, full demons, telekenetic demons, werewolves, murderous shamans and necromancers, witches, sorcerers, and, of course, ghosts. That is also something that I got more of in The Reckoning than in the other two. Ghosts! They were everywhere! It was amazing!

Over all, Armstrong hit it dead on in The Reckoning. It was at-a-lose-of-words amazing, with gripping scenes and on-the-edge-of-your-seat action. A swoon-worthly and hilarious romance and hair-raising spectacles! Need I say more? Add these series to your TBR piles, people. It's gonna be worth it!

The Cover: Again, the cover really had nothing to do with the book. But we do find out what the necklace is used for! It kind of summed up my guesses, too. But the necklace isn't purple. I believe it's still blue.

P.S.: this counts for yesterday! Oops :)

The Awakening (Darkest Powers Trilogy #2) by Kelley Armstrong

Genre: teen fantasy and science fiction

Age Group: Young Adult

Book #: two
Pages: 357
Synopsis: If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage 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 on the run 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.

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I had hopes for this book, and those hopes did come true. The Awakening was better than The Summoning (see my review here). It was more action packed, there was more side character and main character interaction, and it was just better.

Chloe is stuck in the Edison Group's lab where she plays innocent until she gets a chance to escape. Derek and Simon haven't been found, and she just found out that Liz is a ghost. Tori is also there because of her mother's connections. Chloe is looking for a way out, when Dr. Davidoff (the man doing this to everyone [that is, the kidnapping, the interrogations, the manipulating]) gives her a perfect opportunity. When Chloe is sent to the library, she opens up Dr. Davidoff's computer and finds out that she, Derek, Simon, and Tori are all a part of a Genesis project to heighten their powers. Chloe finds out that Liz, Brady (another boy from Lyle who left before she got there), Tori, Simon, Derek, she, and others, are all a part of the project. And that Brady and Liz were killed because of it. It was so awesome, I couldn't put the book down by this part.

Then Dr. Davidoff recruited her and Tori to help find the boys (Derek and Simon) so that they could come back to the lab. And they take that as their chance to run. A few brawls later, Chloe and Tori are huddled in a warehouse until Derek and Simon come to save them. That's when they break out and head for a hiding place that Derek and Simon had set up ahead of time. But when they're discovered, they're back on the run and Derek and Simon tell them of an emergency contact that their dad had left before he'd disappeared. A man named Andrew who could help them. That's when it all gets more and more interesting.

The entire book is generally Chloe, Simon, Derek and Tori on the run from the Edison Group while trying to find Andrew without looking too suspicious. Derek and Chloe get separated from the group when Derek gets sick and needs to Change (into his werewolf form, that is). Chloe stays with him and they head out together where they get into more brawls and run from truck drivers, werewolves, and the Edison Group. They eventually make it to Simon and Tori, but that's at the near end of the book. I got my times mixed up throughout the book, mostly because times seemed longer than they were.

Over all, The Awakening was far better than The Summoning. I loved the action, the mystery, and the side character-main character interactions. Chloe seemed less opinionated  and considered other ideas more. She seemed to grow more in this book, taking in the rough surroundings and street-smarts as she went along with Derek. I really liked this book and am very excited for The Reckoning.

The Cover: her necklace does come up more in this book and it does turn blue, but the model is wrong again. This time, Chloe has to dye her hair black because her father has a reward put out for her. There's still no answer to the talisman, but this cover is my favorite of the three in the Darkest Powers Trilogy.

The Summoning (Darkest Powers Trilogy #1) by Kelley Armstrong

Genre: teen fantasy and science fiction

Age Group: Young Adult

Book #: one

Pages: 416
Synopsis: She sees dead people--and they see her. Chloe Saunders used to have a pretty normal life. But that changed on the day she met her first ghost. Locked up in Lyle House, a group home for troubled teens, she finds out that there's more to the home's teen residents than meets the eye. Will Chloe be able to uncover the dangerous secrets of Lyle House...or will its skeletons come back to haunt her?


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Maybe my expectations for this book was too high, but this was not one of my most favorite books. It bugged me most of the time, and the ending left me going, "Are you serious?" Hopefully the rest of the trilogy will be better.

It starts out with a young Chloe and her encounter with ghosts in her basement. That's when I said, "This book is going to be amazing!" Then it got into Chloe's life as a teenager, undergoing school and such, and I thought, "OK, just giving me a feel for Chloe." But then she got sent to Lyle House and nothing happened. The entire time, she talked about Liz, Rae, Tori, Simon, and Derek (the other inmates), but there was nothing mysterious about Lyle House until they go into the closet in the basement and up into the crawl space. That's when I said, "This is going to get really lame if nothing interesting happens." And nothing interesting did happen until the last couple of chapters.

There were hardly any ghosts to! That's what probably bugged me the most of this book. It says, right up there, first line in summary, "She sees dead people--and they see her." But there are only the ghosts in her basement as a child, the burned janitor, and the one in the basement at Lyle House. Other than that, zilch! Three ghosts in a book about a necromancer (someone who can see and talk to ghosts). Another thing, Chloe was so willing to accept her "condition" even though the facts were staring her in the face that she wasn't mentally ill and that they were lying to her! Ugh, frustrating!

Over all, The Summoning was not one of the best books I've ever read. But I wouldn't be setting it aside just yet. As annoying and frustrating as Chloe is, the book had its strong points. The idea that the home is a place for paranormal teenagers is very creative. There is mystery surrounding the home itself, but Armstrong pushes it aside with Chloe's thoughts about the home and Chloe's conclusion about the home. The Summoning was frustrating, but the sequel (The Awakening) has been very interesting so far. I have hope for the trilogy yet.

The Cover:  This cover hardly has to do with the book. Chloe is described as a petite girl with strawberry blond locks with red streaks. Her necklace does pop up in the book, but it's only barely brushed upon and hardly comes up. I do like the models position, though. And I think it would get my attention at a library or book store.

Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell

Genre: teen adventure
Age Group: Young Adult
Book #: one
Pages: 368
Synopsis: Like her parents, 16-year-old Vassar is a Planner with a capital P! She leaves nothing to chance (guess where she plans to go to college?). Never, that is, until the doorbell rings one night, and before you can say unexpected, Vassar finds herself backpacking through the jungles of Southeast Asia with Gertrude, her madcap artist grandmother. How could her parents have permitted this? Well, it has something to do with what Vassar thinks of as The Big Secret. Will she solve the mystery before she's completely undone by fallout from Grandma's relentless acts of spontaneity?

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This is one of those books that don't get well known, even though they should. I was introduced to Carpe Diem last summer (which is the summer of 2010) by a friend of mine who had picked it up at the library. She had adored the book and I read it while on vacation, and it was a laugh-out-loud read. Cornwell did an amazing job of making a teenage girl who was raised to plan, and then suddenly switch her into a girl who couldn't. The change challenged Vassar and I thought Cornwell was wonderful at the switch in emotions.

The best part of this book was the humor. Vassar's friends were cute, although not dwelt upon. They show up in the beginning, before Vassar goes with her grandmother on their vacation, and during the vacation, when Vassar answers their emails. Vassar herself was hilarious in what she does when she's forced to make the epic change from planning everything to having to wing it all the time. Vassar's grandmother was so funny when Vassar mentioned planning and sanitation. Hanks, Vassar's crush throughout most of the book, was Vassar's knight in shining armor, saving her from every weird thing she got herself into. I couldn't stop laughing!

Overall, I loved Carpe Diem. Cornwell's plot was so unique and creative, it couldn't compare to many other teen books. Vassar was funny and different and Cornwell's perception of the teenage girl was great. The side characters weren't dwelt upon, but they were there, adding twists to the book. The mystery of the Big Secret was shocking, and it left me laughing in a strange sort of way. Although the mystery is there, Cornwell writes so much happening around it that that's not the central part of the book. Amazing. Marvelous. Hilarious!

The Cover: I think this depicts the book well. I thought that it doesn't really speak Vassar until the end of the book, when she really learns to LIM. I love the neutral colors and how they represent Vassar's time in southern Asia. I also think the natury feel of the cover fits the mood perfectly.

Release: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand and Night School by Mari Mancusi

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees. . . Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what it is, though, isn't easy. Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place--and out of place, at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make--between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

After their parents' shocking revelation about their fae heritage and an attack on their lives, the McDonald twins are forced to hide out deep in the Swiss Alps at Riverdale Academy, a secret vampire slayer training facility. And with no way to contact their vampire boyfriends for rescue, they're going to have to play nice with the locals.But when Sunny starts acting strange, Rayne realizes that there's more to fear at Riverdale than getting staked by the student body-leading to a showdown in Fairyland that may cost the twins their lives.




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I have heard nothing but good things about these two books (actually, I've heard nothing but good things about the single Unearthly book, and I've heard good things about the entire Blood Coven Vampire series). Unearthly is said to be "...a perfect a perfect blend of realism with a supernatural twist, not to mention a unpredictable plot line and a beautiful love story." --Kristi from The Story Siren. And I've had a friend who has read the Blood Coven Vampire series and said it was hilarious and amazing. I've also heard it's a totally different twist to vampires, which is always welcome. Unearthly is also said to be nothing like the other angel books out there, which, in my opinion, are generally the same plot wise (girl meets fallen angel, girl falls for fallen angel, horrible battles occur, etc. etc.). Both are on my must read list and I hope they are as good as they seem.

Daily Dose (3)

Daily Dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly where we share inspirational photos we've found around. Like, on other blogs, floating on the Internet, or on websites.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (3)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey where we share what books we've read, what we're currently reading, and what we're hoping to read. Whew, break finally let me catch up on my reading. But, of course, there's more to come. Here we go:

Read:

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Extras (Uglies Series #4) by Scott Westerfeld

Reading:

The Summoning (Darkest Powers Trilogy #1) by Kelley Armstrong

To Read:

The Awakening (Darkest Powers Trilogy #2) by Kelley Armstrong

The Reckoning (Darkest Powers Trilogy #3) by Kelley Armstrong