The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

From when Chloe Saunders was just a little girl, she saw ghosts. Of course then, she thought they were only nightmarish imaginary friends. And her life seemed to become almost normal when they moved out of that haunted house and after her mom died. But when Chloe hits puberty, she starts seeing the ghosts again. Now she’s forced to stay in Lyle House so she can learn to cope with her “schizophrenia.” But the other kids at Lyle House have also been incorrectly diagnosed with mental problems. There’s a reason certain doors remain locked and there special kids are gathered in this institution. As Chloe works to uncover these sinister secrets, she starts to question everything around her, from her “schizophrenia,” to what happened to her roommate who was taken away, and even to her mother’s death.

My first reaction after finishing this novel was WOW. Kelley Armstrong does an amazing job of connecting Chloe’s past with her present and weaving the other characters’ stories in as well. the story was highly suspenseful and action-packed and the exciting twists and turns kept me guessing. The novel focuses mainly on plot, so there isn’t much characterization, but the suspense, secrets, and action were more than enough to hold my interest.

I most definitely recommend this novel, especially to fans of the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson or the Uglies and Midnighters series by Scott Westerfeld. The Summoning will be part of a trilogy, which I am very excited about, and will be published by HarperTeen in late August, which those of you who don’t already have a copy of this great book should be thrilled about.

Rating: 4.5

Review copy from publisher HerperCollins