The Awakening

👻⚡️ The Awakening (Darkest Powers #2)⚡️👻

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — *Forever one of my faves!*

Another reread… and still obsessed. 🖤
This series is honestly one of the reasons I fell back into my reading addiction and spiraled happily into the supernatural rabbit hole 📚🐇✨

Chloe, Simon, Derek, and Tori are now fully caught up in the dangerous mysteries of the Edison Group — and the deeper the secrets go, the more intense and unpredictable their world becomes. 🧬🚨

The supernatural elements grow stronger, the stakes get higher, and the characters really start to come into their own powers.
It’s fast-paced, spooky in the BEST way, and loaded with tension and twists 👀💥

💖 What I Loved

✨ The show more friendships — messy, real, and growing stronger with every challenge
✨ Their powers — developing naturally, with uncertainty and excitement
✨ The mystery — layer after layer of secrets to peel back
✨ Teenage realism — they feel like *actual* teens dealing with terrifying things

One of my favorite parts?
Armstrong doesn’t force these characters to become emotionally 30-year-olds just to fight the big bad. They’re scared, frustrated, hopeful, awkward — and still incredibly brave. 💛

They’re teenagers navigating a massive, dangerous world 😱
…while never losing what makes them *teens.* 👟🎧🖤
And it works SO well.

Tropes & Vibes

* 🧟 Necromancy & supernatural powers evolving
* 👥 Found family / friendship squad goals
* 🏃‍♀️ On the run from secret organizations
* 😑 Grumpy x sunshine sparks 👀
* 🕵️‍♀️ Clues, conspiracies & big twists

🎯 Final Thoughts

If you love:
✔️ Magic & supernatural powers
✔️ Mystery mixed with danger
✔️ A secret society unfolding piece by piece
✔️ YA that still respects teen characters

Then **The Darkest Powers Trilogy** is absolutely for you. 🔥

I own the whole trilogy (plus continued right into *Darkness Rising* 🖤) and I will **always** come back for another reread. This story just has that special magic ✨📚

**Love it — and will keep loving it.** 😊💕 show less

Chloe Saunders is a fifteen year old necromancer on the run. This book is fast paced, with good details and great characterization. To my pleasure, Armstrong complicates the classic "magic teenagers on the run from a secret organization" with touches of realism. They run into problems like being ten dollars too poor to get to their next quest point, or not having ID. They bicker and don't always make courageous choices. The werewolf has anger issues--and it's not portrayed as being a sign of what a sexy Alpha Male he is, but rather, a serious problem he needs to work on. Chloe's power is indistinguishable from mental illness to most people, and instead of it making her seem interesting and tragic, the book points out the stigma and show more mockery often attached to appearing non-neurotypical. And the relationships between the characters feel real, built by believable conversations about their interests and experiences. I look forward to the next book! show less

At the end of The Summoning , Chloe Saunders had just been recaptured by the adults running the group home to which she'd been assigned after experiencing a traumatic episode with what she was first told was schizophrenia. She and a three other teens from the group home escaped when they discovered that instead of the mental illnesses they were "diagnosed" with, each of them possessed supernatural powers - Chloe's being the power to summon and talk to the dead.

At the opening of The Awakening, Chloe is trapped in what is clearly some sort of prison/research facility, and it takes much cunning and the help of the ghost of a girl who disappeared from the group home early in Chloe's stay to escape.

Once Chloe has escaped, she has to figure show more out a way to meet back up with two others, Simon, a sorcerer, and Derek, a werewolf, and find a way to get help, either from the boys' father or a friend of their father's.

This was great - Chloe is a strong, yet believable heroine, and their troubles are not resolved through only luck, but effort, trial and error, and occasional luck. The dynamics between the characters are great, especially between Simon and Derek - foster brothers who are deeply devoted to each other - and Chloe and Derek, who are delightful (can't wait til they luuuurve each other...).

Exciting, suspenseful and thrilling - Recommended, especially if you've read and enjoyed Armstrong's adult series! (Though I found myself wanting to yell at the characters, especially Derek, "GO to Jeremy! He's Pack Alpha, and he's a good guy! He'll help you!") show less

Opening Sentence: ‘…When the door to my cell clicked open, the first thought that flitted through my doped-up brain was that Liz had changed her mind and come back …’

The second in the ‘Darkest Powers’ trilogy, THE AWAKENING picks up where ‘The Summoning’ left off.

When Chloe Saunders starts to see dead people she is sent to a home for troubled teens. She soon discovers the teens are troubled for one reason that isn’t in your average text book – they all have paranormal powers. She is a necromancer, Tori is a witch, Simon is a warlock and Derek is a werewolf. There is also the ghost of the recently deceased telekinetic Liz, who hasn’t realised she is dead yet. Liz has been killed by the group that runs the home show more because she doesn’t rehabilitate well. That is what the home is actually for, rehabilitation, and it is run by the Edison group – a secret organisation whose evil aims are unclear at this stage, but have genetically engineered each of the troubled teens mothers to control the kid’s paranormal powers. As the powers manifest the teens are brought to the home under various pretext’s to see if they can be controlled, those who fail are destroyed.

The four teens, and the ghost, escape to try and find the one adult who they think may help them. They all have to deal with their powers, Derek is going through the change, Tori has to learn to stop being a selfish she dog and work with the others, and Chloe has to deal with being able to raise zombies and attracting any ghost that wanders past. Trouble is she is scared of the dark and rotten corpses!

This is a thrilling adventure – as the four kids who mostly don’t get on – have to unite to keep themselves safe. Life on the run is not easy, there are vicious street gangs, murderous werewolves and the ever nearing Edison group.

I have the final book, The Reckoning, in my TBR pile and will be read in the near future. show less

It's a bit strange, but when I see The Awakening as a title, I always think of Kate Chopin. However, Kelly Armstrong's book entitled The Awakening has nothing to do with Chopin. It is a continuation of the most excellent novel, The Summoning. Chloe is back, along with -GUSH- Derek! The What The F-ery continues from the very opening. I would love to post a summary, but it would be unfair to those who have not read The Summoning yet.I read The Awakening in four hours, yes I am boasting. It's not because I am a particularly quick reader, but because The Awakening is akin to book-crack! There is never a dull moment, never a spot where I'm sitting there thinking, OH DEAR GOD JUST GET TO IT. Nor is characterization sacrificed in this book. I show more liked learning a bit more about Tori, even though I still hate her. There were moments when certain characters would do things, and I would legit say out loud, hands off buddy, Chloe DOES not belong with you. No, just no. GRRR arg, see Mr. Book Character, that is my scary reader face. Not that the words magically rearrange, since I'm not quite studying at Hogwarts (still awaiting my acceptance letter by Owl Post). Anyways, there is some killer tension, I would say it's sexual, but you know, teens don't do that. show less

The Awakening is definitely better than the first book of the series. There's more of a focused conflict, there's more action and adventure, and the characters are rapidly evolving. As always, Armstrong's writing is suspenseful and makes for a quick read (I don't know how she does it!)

I like that more and more is being revealed about their powers and about the Edison Group, but we're definitely still not getting the full story. In any case, Chloe is learning a bit more about her powers and is practicing more often. We get to see more of Derek, who is awesome, and Victoria, who I'm actually starting to feel bad for.

The one thing I didn't like about this novel was how stupid Victoria could be sometimes. I know she's spoiled, I know there show more should be conflict between the characters, but really? Sometimes, I just wanted to jump through the book and give her a good slap. I also got tired of Chloe continually comparing her life to the movies. I know, she's a movie buff and that's probably what a movie buff would do, but it did get overwhelming. I don't like it in general when authors use the whole "in movies/novels, it works like this, but this is real life" for when their characters are thinking. This just draws my attention to the fact that I am reading a book and it isn't real life.

However, other than those two things, The Awakening was perfect. Armstrong does not make it easy on her characters, which makes for a suspenseful, exciting read. There are also some really cool (horribly frightening?) zombie scenes when Chloe's power gets a little out of control. :) I love the weird stuff.

I am very excited to read The Reckoning. If you haven't started this series yet and you're a paranormal young adult fan, run, don't walk, to the nearest library or bookstore and pick these books up! show less

The Awakening starts off right where The Summoning left off and right after reading that first sentence there's no stopping you until you've finished the book.
*WARNING if you haven't read the first one the following might spoil it a bit for you so go read The Summoning!! Don't worry though I won't spoil Awakening for you*
Chloe and Rae were captured because Chloe's Aunt Lauren betrayed her. Now Chloe has to find a way out of this new place the Edison Group has locked her into and find Derek and Simon especially since Simon has a little dark secret that acquires immediate attention. The Edison Group is a group of people who genetically modified a bunch of kids with supernatural abilities. These people are obviously not good people since, show more as we learned, they are responsible for the death of Liz and possibly other kids.
As we all know would happen, Chloe finds a way out (!!!!). She reunites with Simon and Derek of course. Ahhh Derek!!! I love him!! :D ehem Anywho....They all have to find the one person that might be able to help them and that's Andrew, an old friend of Derek and Simon's dad, thing is they're not sure if he'll still be there after all those years especially since Andrew and D&S's dad had a "falling out". That's not the only problem though. On their journey they get separated, encounter werewolves, crazy people trying to kill them, and much more fun fun fun!! :D
This sequel was much more fast paced than the second one and I loved it!! The story just keeps getting better and better there is never a dull moment. Unfortunately like all great things, it must come to an end, and of course it did which made me soo sad :( but extremely anxious to know what will happen in the third and last installment in the Darkest Powers series. I'm very good at picturing whatever it is I'm reading in my head so it's like I'm watching a movie and I miss it!! I can still "see" it in my head and wish I could go "see" the third book already! hehe
I'm so glad Kelley's writing and creativeness is amazing otherwise I don't think I would like this book as much. :) I am a huge fan of the fact that she wrote this series in the POV of Chloe it just makes it better and I would not like it any other way.
I just LOVE Derek, he's one of my absolute favorite male protagonists. In pretty much every YA book you pick up there's always this perfect hot guy, but Derek is different and I ...LOVE that!! I'm rooting for this guy :D He hasn't really shown any feelings towards Chloe, at least not obvious ones, but I think Kelley's planning it so that in the third he does end up with her, but who knows? We can only hope hehe

And I'm really curious about what's up with her necklace changing color.
-tvandbookaddict.blogspot.com show less