The Reckoning

Title: The Reckoning

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Level: Young Adult

Location: YA Armstrong

This review discusses the plots of the first two books in the Darkest Powers series. If you have not yet read The Summoning and The Awakening, skip to The Bottom Line.

The Reckoning begins right where the last book left off. Chloe, Derek, Simon, and Tori have once again escaped the clutches of The Edison Group, this time with a little help from Andrew, an old friend of Derek and Simon’s dad. Andrew is also a supernatural, though not a genetically altered one, so he brings the group to his mansion in the middle of nowhere and introduces them to his supernatural friends. Even though Chloe and her friends are happy to be finally safe, the creepy, old mansion holds even more terrifying secrets about the Edison Group’s past experiments and the horrific failures that resulted. Why has Andrew brought them to a place with such a bad history? Can Andrew and his friends really be trusted?

I can’t say too much about the plot of this book without giving a lot away. Even though the writing is still great for this series, this book definitely moved more slowly than the first two. Armstrong tries to keep the plot moving, but much of the action that takes place in the first half is minor and fails to build on the suspense that carried over from The Awakening. The book does start to pick up around the middle and it really explodes in the last quarter. Armstrong does a wonderful job of deepening a few of the main characters in this last book, particularly Chloe, Derek and Tori. The reader gets a little more insight into Tori’s motivations and loyalties. Plus, Chloe finally figures out which boy she prefers, which I think will be a surprise to no one. As a whole, I really enjoyed this book. Even with the dragging plot in the beginning, I liked the way Armstrong developed her characters. The ending is fantastic and action-packed. This was a great ending to the series and I think fans of the books will definitely enjoy it.

The Bottom Line: The Reckoning was a great ending to the series even though it did lack some of the excitement present in previous books. The characters are a little deeper and the ending is utterly thrilling. With this last book, Armstong ties up the story nicely while leaving a few threads dangling presumably for her next young adult series.