Darkest Powers by Kelley Armstrong (Series Review)

The  Summoning (Darkest Powers #1)

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 what 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.

Hardcover, 390 pages
Published July 1st 2008 by HarperCollins
Personal Rating: 4/5 

Genres: Young-Adult, Paranormal
Order online in Alibris

The Awakaning (Darkest Powers #2)

Chloe Saunders is on the run

and raising hell. Literally. 

Chloe Saunders is not your average supernatural teenager. Genetically altered at birth by a sinister team of scientists, she can barely control her terrifying powers. Now the team that created her has decided it's time to end the experiment. Permanently.

Now Chloe is running for her life along with a charming sorcerer, a troubled werewolf and a temperamental young witch. Together they have a chance for freedom - but can Chloe trust her new friends?

Hardcover, 360 pages
Published April 28th 2009 by HarperCollins
Personal Rating: 5/5
Genres: Young-Adult, Paranormal
Order online in Alibris

The Reckoning (Darkest Powers #3)

Chloe Saunders is fifteen and would love to be normal. Unfortunately, Chloe happens to be a genetically engineered necromancer who can raise the dead without even trying. She and her equally gifted (or should that be 'cursed'?) friends are now running for their lives from the evil corporation that created them.

As if that's not enough, Chloe is struggling with her feelings for Simon, a sweet-tempered sorcerer, and his brother Derek, a not so sweet-tempered werewolf. And she has a horrible feeling she's leaning towards the werewolf...

Definitely not normal.




Paperback, 391 pages
Published April 12th 2011 by HarperCollins
Personal Rating: 4/5
Genres: Young-Adult, Paranormal
order online in Alibris

TOTAL SERIES RATING: 4.3/5

... AND THE REVIEW :)

Hello there :) 

First of all, i have to say that this review belongs to the "Darkest Powers" series as a whole, as i could not judge the books as seperate individuals - the series has a strong feeling of continuity. But, as i didn't want to upset anyone, i marked the spoilers throughout the review. 

Starting off with the negatives:

1) This series lacks of depth of language and descriptions. Well, don't mistake that line as crazy off-road expectations but, the way it is right now, i had to put my galloping imagination into work so that i would fill in the gaps. And yet, the same boring words and expressions, into my face day after day. 

2) I wouldn't place it at the "Yound-Adult" range. I coped with it because in the age of 19, i still fancy bedtime stories. It probably should be addressed as "teen fantasy fiction", as it is absolutely suitable for readers who are in their early-mid teens.

... And moving to my fave part :)

1) Personally, i distaste the group of books which contains Twilight,  Hush, Hush and  Fallen. And probably that's why i stick with Darkest Powers and  The Mortal Instruments. I like it when the heroine is a quick thinker, who knows how to overcome obstacles even if she has her moments of self pity and hard self-critic. Yes, our journey starts with a rich, self centered and i-am-the-good-girl Chloe, but in the end, she shows us and finally admits that she changed. Still the rich girl, but her aims benefit the team, and when her beloved ones are in danger, she flashes some claws. 


[SPOILER]

2) Our Chloe does not fall for Mr Charming, who in our case, goes by Simon. Instead, she falls for the most unlikely choice: The not-so-pretty, moody and rude Derek. And its not the classic crap of "Love at first Sight" thing. At first, he ignored her. (as Derek confirms in Darkest Powers Bonus Pack 1 ). The feeling was almost mutual because she almost hated him. But, love knocked their door ONLY when they had faced their biggest problems together, and entirely accepted each other. Makes me think of Beauty and the Beast, and that's what makes me feel that this relationship is incompetent.

[END OF SPOILER]