The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

The Summoning - #1 in the Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong

Going to an art school for classes about film directing was a normal day for Chloe Saunders. Until the day her monthly cycle came and she saw a janitor with burn scars chasing after her in the hallways.

That janitor, though? He wasn't alive. He was actually a ghost trying to talk to Chloe, as she was the only one who would see him.

After that episode, where the teachers had to sedate Chloe as she was trying to run away from the ghost, Chloe was sent to a "house for troubled teens". Now she has to prove to everyone that she can't see ghosts - that it was just a mistake.

Which is kind of hard to do when ghosts keep popping out of nowhere scaring her each time. The more time Chloe spends in the Lyle House with the other teenagers, the more she realizes that things are not as they seemed when she first got there.

With the other teenagers: Derek, a 6 foot, acne face 16 year old; Simon (Derek's older brother); Rae, a girl who likes looking at fire; Liz, the perky, happy one of the bunch; and Tori, the snarky, queen of the House, Chloe learns more about each teenager and how they are not so normal as she first thought...

After teenagers have left the house, Chloe forgets the idea of trying to be a "normal, non-ghost seeing girl" and starts to contact the spirits. What she finds would make anyone in that situation get goose bumps...

My Thoughts/Reflections
I was sure what I would think of this book. I've read great reviews and I read Armstrong's newest book series The Gathering, so I wanted to see how this book would pan out.

After figuring out some mysteries, I'm now hooked. There aren't too many books being written about talking to the dead/ghosts, so the storyline was new and refreshing. Also, there wasn't a heavy romantic appeal - at least in this first book of the series - which kept me hooked on the story rather than who the main girl would choose to fall in love.

This was a very easy and fast paced book to read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes paranormal but is getting tired of the fallen angel/vampire/werewolf stories that are being over written lately.

This is also the first book of a triology, which all books are finished and available for purchase/checking out so there is not waiting for the start/ending of the story!! Yay!

Reviews will be up for the second and third book very soon (As soon as I read them :))