The Darkest Powers Trilogy: The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

Publisher: Orbit

Format: Paperback

Published: 2010

Book: Bought

Numbers of Pages: 391

Genre: Dark Romance, Action, Supernatural, Fantasy, YA

The nail-biting climax to Kelley Armstrong's bestselling YA series. Chloe Saunders is fifteen and would love to be normal. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. First of all, she 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 on the run from the evil corporation who created them. To top it all, 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... 

Review:

This is last in the trilogy that has become one of my favourite paranormal series ever, and by far the best book in it.  I absolutely devoured it, desperate to know what was going to happen. 

It picks up more or less where the other stopped, after Chloe, Tori, Derek and Simon’s escape from the clutches of the evil Edison Group, with the help of former employs, who are now working on bringing the EG down.  Chloe and her friends had been through a lot in the previous two books, and none of them are who there were at the beginning.  They know now that you can’t trust everyone.  Can they trust these people?  After all, one of them is the boys’ father’s friend, the one they were told to go to if they were ever in trouble.  But they’ve already been betrayed by those they trusted more than anyone, so can they really trust these people, and is their offer simply too good to be true?

These are the questions that were running through my mind, practically falling over one another; I just needed to find out what would happen.  On the other hand, I was almost reluctant to finish the book, because I knew that if I did it would mean no more stories about Chloe and her friends.  But the book was far too absorbing for that, and besides, there’s a second trilogy coming out, about a different group of kids caught up in a different Edison Group project.  It should be coming out something this year, and will be called Darkness Rising, the first book being called The Gathering.  There’s a rumour that Kelley Armstrong will write the gang from The Darkest Powers series into the new one, in a later book in the trilogy, and I really, really hope she does, as I think there are a few unresolved issues, and besides, I just want to read more about these characters.

Chloe really grew up in this book from a naive, scared little kid to a brave young woman who really knows how to handle her powers – and how to stand up for herself, something that had annoyed me a little from the other two books.  As Tori said in one of the books, Chloe was just too nice, but it was great to see her finally come in to her own and realise you didn’t have to be horrible to defend yourself.  One of the things I love most about her is the way she has of looking at everything as how she’d film a movie when times get tough for her: it made her feel far more real, and I loved her for it.  I must admit, I kind of saw her getting feelings for Derek coming after the second book, where they get left behind because Derek starts going through his first Change.  I wasn’t really sure who she was going to choose, but I was really happy with how the love triangle turned out.

Derek really grew during this book, and I loved him more as it went on.  You finally get to see his vulnerable side, the sweet side, and it made him feel really real.  Also, you discovered more about his life before the story started, and you love him even more when you find out what he’s been through.  Tori also changed a lot, turning from a complete and utter spoilt, little girl into a powerful witch who shows she actually has the ability to have emotions.  And you also find out more about her life, too, and I really liked her by the end.  Finally, Simon; he didn’t really change much, but why change something already good?  I loved him before and I loved him all the way through this book.

Fast-paced, suspenseful and with a genius plot and incredible characters, The Reckoning is my favourite in the series and kept me glued to my seat all the way through.  I can’t wait for the new series, and they will definitely be an auto-buy: I just love the way Kelley Armstrong tells her stories, and the plots are absolutely incredible.  I recommend this to everyone who likes the whole witch-werewolf-supernatural genre (particularly the ones who liked The Secret Circle, Dark Visions, Evernight and the books below.  It’s also quite similar to Maximum Ride by James Patterson – both are about genetically-modified teens on the run from the organisation that created them – and to Night World by L. J. Smith ­– because of the whole underground-supernatural-community part).  Read this book!  You definitely won’t regret it.

Star Rating:
5 Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

The Darkest Powers Trilogy - The Summoning and The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Challenges It's Taking Part In:
100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)
Horror and Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)