The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Awakening (Darkest Powers Trilogy, Book 2)
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Number of Pages: 357 pages
Age Level: Young Adult
Genre(s): Paranormal, fantasy, supernatural, thriller

Synopsis: Picking up right where The Summoning left off Chloe finds herself once more on the run from the infamous Edison Group and dodging bullets as she, Derek, and Simon try to get to the bottom of what was done to them and just survive.

Review: The Awakening was a great follow-up to to The Summoning, it picks up right where The Summoning left off with Chloe locked in her cell at the lab run by the Edison Group. And immediately the reader is faced with action as Chloe tries to find out just what they have on her and her friends and discovers a whole cache of information when Dr. Davidoff leaves her alone for a few minutes.

From there the action never stops as Chloe embarks on a daring attempt to both escape from the Edison Groups captivity and reunite with Derek and Simon. Plot twists are abound as Tori joins the search for Simon and Derek's father and a friend of his.

The writing is fantastic, with an attention to detail that can only be considered as being seen and retold from a film students eye for detail. Which is exactly what it is. The growth for the characters can only continue as we're given a glimpse into Derek that was not given in The Summoning. All the while Chloe is coming to realize that she needs to speak up more and stop trying so hard to not be a problem for everyone else. And the dynamic between Derek and Chloe is only getting more and more intriguing.

There's one line that stands out most to me from The Awakening was spoken by Chloe about halfway into the book and quoted below:

"You aren't going to turn into some bloodthirsty monster Derek. It'll still be you, just as a wolf."

It's a little before this that you can see that the relationship and trust between Derek and Chloe really seems to be getting deeper and hopefully leaning toward eventually becoming something more, or at least I hope we can look forward to this being the case.

If anyone is looking for a good urban fantasy, young adult novel. I would highly recommend that you give Mrs. Armstrong's Darkest Powers Trilogy a read.