the Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

the Summoning by Kelley Armstrong.

Borrowed from my local public library.

*** "Scary!"

From the inside cover: "My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again. All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost - and the ghost saw me. Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't wat it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House...before its skeletons come back to haunt me."

Sometimes I just browse the shelves at the library, hoping that something will "jump out at me". The cover art and blurb appealed to me, so I thought I'd give this one a go. It was published under the harperteen imprint, but was shelved in adult fiction (not young adult fiction), so I wasn't sure whether I'd like it, or find it a bit young. Not that I'm that mature (!); I do read books that are aimed at children/young adults rather than adults (Harry Potter, Twilight). I enjoyed this book, but have decided not to continue reading the trilogy (the Awakening and the Reckoning follow), but instead seek out some of Armstrong's adult titles. Click here to check out Armstrong's website.

A word to the wise if you or a young adult you know are going to read this book: IT'S SCARY! I've read and watched other things covering similar subject matter (ghosts, supernatural beings/powers, death), but I found this scarier than most. While my daughter Alana looooves the Twilight saga, I know she'd never make it through this.

I also felt that Armstrong rushed through the introduction of Chloe and her experiences in this book. As the reader, I had no trouble connecting the dots, but felt that Chloe took great leaps in attitude and behaviour that did not seem believable. To me it seemed as though Armstrong was just a little too eager to get to the meat of her storyline, without giving her main character time to develop. I was, however, carried along by the plot, and I do feel a little bit sad that I've decided not to find out what happens next.

Certainly an enjoyable read if you like the supernatural teen genre.