Review - Reckoning (Darkest Powers, Book 3) by Kelley Armstrong (4.5/5 stars)

This is the third, and final, book in the Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong.   It was an excellent conclusion to the series and I actually liked it a lot better than the previous two books.

This book starts with Tori, Chloe, Derek and Simon with Andrew at the house they are hiding out in.  Andrew is part of a rebel group that is focused on shutting down the Edison Group.  Chloe and her friends want to go back and rescue Rae and Chloe's aunt from the Edison Group; while Andrew and his crew want them to be patient so that the rebels can stage a larger coup.  Chloe is again running into evil ghosts, as she finds out that the house they're staying in has its own violent past.  Chloe and crew finally get some training in their powers, but there is a still a question of who they can really trust.

I thought this book was much better than the previous books in this series.  We are finally getting some insight into how the characters' powers work and we get to watch them test their abilities.  The characters gain more dimension (especially Tori) and are more interesting to read about.

I thought that the chemistry between Chloe, Derek, and Simon was awesome in this book.  You can just feel the heat between Chloe and Derek as an undercurrent to every action they do.  Derek struggling with his werewolf abilities (which we saw a bit of in the last book) really adds depth to Derek's character and shows some vulnerability that makes him a character to cheer for.  Chloe is finally taking some initiative and learning how to use her necromancer powers to defend herself (although she still spends some time whining about how little she helps in battle situations).

A lot happens in this book.  Chloe and Derek are being hunted, there are more betrayals, and more revelations.  It was a very hard book to put down, I ended up reading it all in one day.  It was hard to catch your breath at times.

The ending is satisfying and I really enjoyed it.  There are a few questions left unanswered and the future of the characters is uncertain.

Overall this was an excellent close to this series.  I thought it was, by far, the best book of the series.  It is exciting and the characters really mature.  I wasn't a huge fan of the first two books in this series, but after reading this book I agree that this ended up being a pretty good series.  As far as reading more of Armstrong's works, I am not sure.  I read her Women of the Otherworld series for a bit but didn't love it, same with this series.  We will have to see what future works she writes.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The Young Adult Reading Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

 

Review - The Awakening (Darkest Powers, Book 2) by Kelley Armstrong (3/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong.  I liked this book slightly better than the first book in the series.  I have read the first few books in Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series and liked those okay.

The beginning of this book finds Chloe and crew trapped in the medical facilities; while Simon and Derek are still at large...right where the first book left off.  The medical team wants to get Chloe and her friends to help find the boys.  A jailbreak ensues and most of the book deals with Chloe and friends living life on the run; trying to hunt down Simon's dad and figure out the bigger evil plot that is going on.

This is another story of genetic engineering gone arwy and leaving people (in this case supernaturals) with unpredictable power.  The powers aren't well defined and the characters don't put a lot of effort into testing their abilities or trying to understand them...they just kind of stumble through the story.  The story is still engaging because the characterse are constantly on the run and being hunted.

I am still not that into the characters in this series.  I thought the first book was okay and this book is only slightly better than the first one. Chloe is still pretty helpless, although she tries to get a better handle on her powers in this book.  Derek and Simon are by far the most interesting characters in this series.  This book did move faster than the first one and overall, was paced much better.  The story was engaging, but I am still not finding it all that exciting.

The characters and their problems seem kind of blah to me...maybe I just read too much paranormal.  I feel like this plot has been done many times before.  None of the characters really grabbed me and I didn't feel like there was great chemistry between any of them either.  I am still trying to decide if I will even read the third book in this series "The Reckoning" because to be honest I have absolutely no interest in what happens to these characters.  This book ends with another cliffhanger...and I always hate it when authors don't give any closure to the reader.

Overall an okay book.  Nothing to write home about.  I still think there are other better YA paranormal series out there.  Try Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead,  Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz, or Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz .


This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The Young Adult Reading Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

 

Review - The Summoning (Darkest Powers, Book 1) by Kelley Armstrong (3/5 stars)

I have read the first four book in Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series and thought the first three were great and the fourth was just okay.  When I saw Armstrong was going to write a young adult series I was excited to see what she would write.  This book is okay, but it is nothing special.

Chloe just wants to go to her awesome art school and not be the new kid for once.  All that changes when she starts seeing ghosts and ends up committed to the Lyle House, a group home for troubled teens.  Chloe is diagnosed with schizophrenia and promised quick release as soon as she is "better".  Well Chloe is starting to find out that all the kids in the Lyle House are "special" in different ways that may not be so much medical as magical.  She is also finding out that Lyle House is more than it appears to be.

This is an okay book, but it didn't blow me away.  It takes a long time to get the story going.  I felt like 2/3rd's of the book was spent setting up the story.  Then things pick up and start to get mysterious and interesting.  But that first part was a pretty boring read.  Chloe is an okay character but spends most of her time trying to runaway from her problems, trying to blend in, or hiding.  I really didn't find her all engaging as a character and the same can be said of the rest of the characters in this book.  This book was also creepier than I thought it would be, almost more of a horror than a paranormal read at times.

The idea of supernatural powers as mental illness is interesting but has been done before.  Amelia Atwater-Rhodes did an interesting take on this in her book Persistence of Memory.  At the end of the book the plot starts to expand some and things get much more interesting.  Right at the end of the book we also see Chloe trying to act with some sort of conviction.  So, I am hoping the next book will find Chloe a more likable character.

The writing is nothing special, but it is easy to read and somewhat engaging.  Not a ton of action in this book either.  Armstrong is creating an interesting world but we only get a partial idea for it in this book.  The book ends on a total cliffhanger with absolutely nothing resolved, which always irks me.  So, I would recommend having the second book on hand or else you will be totally unfulfilled after the first book.

I already have the second book on hand so I will read it.  I am not all that impressed with this series so far though.  The characters were weak and the pacing was slow.  Things did pick up at the end of the book, so I am hoping that the second book will prove to be more interesting.

Overall it was an okay book but there are better series out there to read.  Melissa de La Cruz's Blue Bloods series is very good, Maggie Stiefvater's books are great, and Lesley Livingston's books are also interesting reads if you are looking for good supernatural teen series.  I also enjoyed Aprilynne Pike's Wings and Michelle Rowen's Demon Princess series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The Young Adult Reading Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge
- 1st in a Series Reading Challenge

 

Many Bloody Returns, various authors (4/5 stars)

Usually books with a number of short stories in them have some big names with great stories and some unknown authors with either surprisingly good or surprisingly bad stories. This was not the case with this book. All of the stories were really good and there was a larger variety of writing styles than I expected given the genre. All of the stories have to deal with vampires and birthdays.

The main reason I read books like this is to get a sampling of some authors I haven’t read and get a glimpse into the series that they are writing. This book was a good read and I found a couple new (to me at least) authors to check out from it. Because of this book I will read more of PN Elrod’s work, check out the Morganville vampire series, see what else Hallaway and Kelner have written, and possibly check out some of Jeanne Stein’s work too. Below is a quick comment/synopsis of each story.

Dracula Night by Charlaine Harris
This story is an addition to the Sookie Stackhouse series and addresses the celebration of Dracula Night by the vampire community. It’s a fun read; although there’s not a ton of content here.

The Mournful Cry of Owls by Christopher Golden
The only other book I’ve read by Christopher Golden is “The Boys are Back in Town”; which I liked pretty well. This story follows a girl as she learns about her unique heritage. I enjoyed it and it was well written and mysterious.

I Was a Teenage Vampire by Bill Crider
This was probably my least favorite story of the anthology. The story was predictable, boring, and seemed quickly and lazily written.

Twilight by Kelley Armstrong
I liked Twilight okay. It was a little boring and moved slowly but it was well-written and dealt with the topic of vampires dying of boredom.

It's My Birthday, Too by Jim Butcher
Fun addition to the Dresden Files series. I enjoyed a story in which Thomas played a main role. I especially enjoyed the role-playing; being a DnD player I thought it was hilarious.

Grave-Robbed by P.N. Elrod
This was my first time reading anything by PN Elrod and I liked it. The main character, Jack Fleming, is a bit campy. Some of it reminded me of Harry Dresden a bit. I enjoyed it and will read more of Elrod’s writing.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life by Rachel Caine
This was a story that took place in the world of Rachel Caine’s young adult vampire series “The Morganville Vampires”. This was my favorite story in the book and now I am interested in reading this series. I’ve read some of Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series and that is also a good series.

The Witch and the Wicked by Jeanne C. Stein
This story creeped me out. I believe Stein is the writer of the Signs of the Zodiac series. The writing style wasn’t my favorite since it was kind of plain and straight-forward; not as much flare to it as I had hoped. The premise is pretty darn creative and creepy though.

Blood Wrapped by Tanya Huff
This was a nice addition to Henry Fitzroy’s world; it was a fun read. It really brought home the fact that I haven’t read the last few books in this series yet. I was like, what do you mean Vicki is a vampire?

The Wish by Carolyn Haines
I’ve never read anything by Carolyn Haines but I did like this story. The story is very sad and yet it is beautifully written and really grabs a hold of you. It is a very beautiful and well-written story, if not as fun as the rest of the book.

Fire and Ice and Linguini for Two by Tate Hallaway
I’ve never read anything by Tate Hallaway before; this was a fun story. I was intrigued by the witch having a demon trapped in her and by the elemental evil forces at work. I could really sympathize with the characters and the cold weather, being from MN myself.

Vampire Hours by Elaine Viets
I really enjoyed this story. I liked that the main character was an older woman dealing with day-to-day issues a lot of women deal with (okay maybe not as extreme as these issues). I liked how the woman cleverly got back at everyone; it was funny and a quick read.

How Stella got her Grave Back by Toni L.P. Kelner
I’ve never read anything by Toni Kelner, I really liked this story. I liked the idea of vampire dams and I liked the mystery solving that went on in this story. The characters were fun and likable. I really want to know the history between them now.