Okbo Lover

I’ve heard so much hype about this book I finally gave in and decided to give it a try myself. I’d have to say, my fellow book bloggers have never dissapointed me so far. This one was another great read and no regrets listening to them!

The Summoning is about Chloe Saunders, a student at an art school who’s heavily into movies and making them. It wasn’t until one day she starts seeing dead people and her life is turned upside down. Because of her sudden visions of the dead, she’s sent to a special group home for unstable teenagers. Yet she finds there’s more to it than “pyromania” and “schizophrenia”. There’s definately more to it than meets the eye. Chloe soon finds out what the group home is really about and learns more about herself and her friends.

This book was great. I felt myself turning page after page and wanting to read more. Although the beginning wasn’t what I quite expected, it wasn’t such a bad thing and the ending was awesome and I am definitely going to add the sequel to my wishlist. The plot was great from beginning to end. It was well written, clear and had enough teasers, and although naturally all questions weren’t answered some which bugged me the most were so I wasn’t entirely left hanging. This book had a great way of gradually introducing you to the paranormal aspect of the plot, sort of as if you’re Chloe herself and just learning about it with her. I like the way it’s done as it makes it more realistic. The plot is darker than I expected and more serious for a YA book. The paranormal parts, especially when Chloe starts practicing her gift, has a skin crawling creepy effect and it’s definitely well written to give you the goose bumps. The ghosts she sees, are also well done and their descriptions are chilling and menacing.

I’m not that attached to Chloe even though she’s the main character. I found as I read later into the book I suddenly became much more frustrated and I wanted to hit her upside the head for her stupidity at times. I’m surprised Derek has managed to keep his temper in check with Chloe bumbling about sometimes. Although Derek may seem abrasive, I actually like him the most in the book so far. He’s surprisingly mature despite his surly manner and horrible attitude. He seems to be the strongest character, I think in the book. Tori was horrible and I was hoping Chloe would clock her across the face. Perhaps sometime I’ll be satisfied to see Tori in a horrible demise. She’s just an awful person and I hope I never meet anyone like that ever. Chloe does seem to develop through the novel although I don’t think she really matures yet. I think perhaps because she doesn’t really have all the information and facts concerning her and her “condition/gift”. So, she still has room for development which I am looking forward to seeing in the next book.

When I said the beginning wasn’t what I expected, I meant that I expected a lot of paranormal activity to happen. It didn’t. It was gradual, and even then there is bits and parts of it, but not as much as I thought. There’s a lot of “real life” in the book and it adds realism to the plot and it’s a refreshing surprise to read something like this. So it’s not really a criticism, it was just interesting to read and something new to see, I think.

Overall, a wonderful creepy page turner, mix in realistic life scenes and a huge cliffhanger ending, you’ll want more from this series. A lot more.

I give it a 9 out of 10.