Bookshelf Tour!

These are the books that are currently in my room. I have not read all of them. The books are organized by author's last name and date of original publication.

Thank you for watching! See you guys in February!

The Reckoning - Kelley Armstrong

This is the third and final installment in the Darkest Powers series, this review will contain spoilers for both the Summoning and The Awakening, the first two books in this series.

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 also on the run from an evil corporation that wants to get rid of us-permanently.

Definitely not normal.

And finally, I'm a genetically altered necromancer who can raise the dead, rotting corpses and all, without even trying.

As far away from normal as it gets.

The first few chapters of The Reckoning were slow, especially after the fast-paced energy that ended the last novel. Thankfully it did get better and I was able to maintain interest in the characters as they, once again, run from the Edison Group.

The plot was ok, it felt like the plot was going in circles with the whole running-from-the-Edison Group thing. I understand that they are the main problem in the story and that is who Chloe and friends are running from, but I feel like there should have been another obstacle. It just would have made the book a little more interesting. There is also more drama going on and the love triangle between Simon, Chloe and Derek is still going on. I don't think that the love triangle messes up the story, and it's not a huge part of the main plot. It's just something extra. I also don't think that the love triangle was needed, but I'm a sucker for love triangles and it was nice to be able to escape from the whole Edison Group drama into the drama that surrounds Chloe with Derek and Simon. For those of you who hate love triangles, this one wasn't obnoxious, and I don't think you'll mind it.

One of the problems that I had with this book was that some of the key players in this novel were introduced in the previous novels and then they kind of dropped off the face of the earth for a while and then they came back and I couldn't remember who they were and what they did. I feel like this trillogy could have just been combined into one big book and I'd be happy with it.

I was not a fan of the ending. If you can even call it that? I mean the book did end, but I didn't really get closure from it. There were just too many questions left unanswered for me to be satisfied by the ending of this trillogy. I've heard that Kelley Armstrong will be continuing this series with a spin-off, however, Simon, Chloe, Tori and Derek aren't included in it. I will definitely be picking up the next few books, which include The Gathering (Darkness Rising #1) and The Calling (Darkness Rising #2), and I believe they will be published in April, 2012.
This book gets a 4.5/5 from me and the series also gets a 4.5/5. If you like supernatural conspiracy books, then this series is the one for you. :)

The Awakening - Kelley Armstrong

This is the second book in Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers series. It will contain spoilers for her first installment, 

The Summoning. 

If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average 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 running for my life 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.

I thought that the first part of this trilogy was ok, and I saw room for improvement and there was definitely improvement. Chloe and her friends have run away from the terrors of the Lyle house, and are living anywhere they can in order to survive while battling numerous feelings for each other.

Now, I'm not one for love triangles, but in this series I really don't see one. I like Chloe and Derek's relationship and, to be honest, Simon annoys me. I'm not a big fan of Simon, or Tori for that matter. I think that they're both annoying, however, they're important to the plot, so, they stay.

I felt like the pace was much better in this book than in the last, however, it was still somewhat confusing at times and the lack of detail continued to annoy me. I usually don't like much detail, but some detail about something other than a living dead thing is needed in order for me to pay attention and not skip the little detail that there is and go straight to the dialogue.

Over all, I felt that this book was a better-than-ok read. So, I'm rating it a a4/5.

My review of the next, and final, installment of the Darkest Powers series will be posted on 1/24/12.