The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong Review

This is the second book in the Darkest Powers series that moves seamlessly from the last page of The Summoning to the first page of this engaging teen supernatural novel.

Summary courtesy of Amazon:

“Chloe Saunders used to be a normal teenage girl - or so she thought. Then she learned the shocking truth - she is a walking science experiment. Genetically altered at birth by a sinister group of scientists known as the Edison Group, Chloe is an aberration - a powerful necromancer who can see ghosts and even raise the dead, often with terrifying consequences. Even worse, her growing powers have made her a threat to the surviving members of the Edison Group, who have decided it’s time to end their experiment - permanently . . .Now Chloe is running for her life with three other supernatural teenagers - 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?”

As I have said in all my other Kelley Armstrong book reviews, I am a huge fan of this Canadian author. An effortless read and real page turner, well rounded characters and an engaging narrative make this book a must read for all lovers of supernatural fiction. Having said this, as I am very familiar with her work, I saw the conventions of her invented supernatural races much before they may have been obvious to new comers to the author.

Despite this, a number of times whilst reading the book I found myself blaming their challenges on a dramatized metaphor for puberty, but after reading a number of other reviews I have to agree learning that you can bring dead people back to their bodies while you are sleeping are more than the average struggles of a hormone riddled teen.

Overall I do love this series, and this instalment in particular, but it is for a younger audience. I quote my good friend Sam Crossley when talking about the series as a whole: “they are good, a bit teen occasionally, but that is the audience after all”. Despite this, we both finished this book in record time, myself in just under two days and moved straight on to the next one.

I have really struggled not giving this 5/5 but I just didn’t enjoy it as much as other books I have read.

4/5 (lower that the first book for the pure reason I am trying to avoid half marks)

Thanks for reading,

Rie xx

Read my review of the first book 'The Summoning' here.

Chris Carter – The Executioner. A Book Review by Sam Crossley

 I met Sam at school and we have been close friends since, particularly in College. He has been a big supporter of my blog and is also a fan of reading. So when he mentioned he had a bit of time of his hands and a pile of books this weekend I asked if he would like to write some reviews.

And this is the result :)

Please enjoy and comment your opinions on this book, and I look forward to hosting more of his reviews in the future.



Chris Carter – The Executioner

This book is thriller, and it’s not scared to go into detail! A detective in LA, specialising in serial killers, his psychological background making him perfect for analysing the evidence and working out the motive of “The Executioner”. His name is Robert Hunter and unfortunately this is the second book in the series, I have a feeling I have the first book at home, unread, which is a pain because although the other book is only briefly mentioned once or twice and has no effect on the plot of this one, it would lend something deeper to the characters in this book. It’s obvious whatever happened in The Crucifix Killer had a dramatic effect on the main characters.


Anyway, it’s a very easy read; the writing style is very fluid, coupled with the incredibly short chapters it keeps thesuspension up whilst giving you plenty of places to stop. If you feel inclined that is. I didn’t and finished this 472pg, 142 chapter book in 6 hours. Throughout the book you gain more and more knowledge about the main characters, Hunter and his partner Carlos Garcia. Towards the end you are even able to guess comments made before you read them. Their partnership is very fluid, although my only criticism is that the partnership is very one-sided with Hunter the wealth of knowledge and Garcia the less experienced sidekick who is sometimes ignored in my opinion.

The author, Chris Carter, was a criminal psychologist before he took to writing; this really shows in this book. You really get a feel for the type of person the detectives are facing as they slowly unearth the clues from each horrible crime scene to the next. Each thought up with detail that’s slightly more sinister and cruel than the last.

I feel that reading the first book would have given you a better understanding of the characters and possibly solved a few of the odd niggles I felt about the partnership, but other than that a very enjoyable read. One of the first things I intend of doing upon getting home is read the first one.

I give this a 3.5/5

Love Rie & Sam xx