The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
Kelley Armstrong - The Reckoning
The blurb: Chloe Saunders is fifteen and would love to be normal. Unfortunately, Chloe 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 now running for their lives from the evil corporation that created them.
As if that's not enough, 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.
My rating: 4/5
Tagged: young adult, paranormal, urban fantasy, supernatural
Date I started this book: 17/02/2016
Date I finished this book 20/02/2016
What did I think? Chloe, Derek, Simon and Tori have escaped the catches of the Edison Group with the help of Andrew. A former employee of the Edison Group, and a friend of the boys' dad, he and a small group of other ex-employees want to stop the experiments the EG are performing and feel the kids may just have the information they need to do so. But Chloe and her friends are cautious. They've been through a lot, escaped and been caught repeatedly, and betrayed by those they trusted completely already, is Andrew's offer of help too good to be true? And even if it is, do they have a choice about staying with him?
I liked the previous two books in this trilogy, but I didn't love them. I always felt like they were lacking something. But this one I liked a lot more. It felt smoother, like the series really hit its stride. It's well-paced with a fair bit of action and some good twists and turns. A couple of things along the way I really didn't see coming.
The love triangle between Chloe and the brothers, Derek and Simon, played out really well and I love how it worked out. Chloe grew up a lot through this book and it really showed. Not to mention she finally learned to stand up for herself. Aside from Chloe, I felt Derek and Tori grew a fair bit through this last book as well making them that bit more 'real' to me. Simon is pretty much the same, but his character serves his purpose just fine, without being forgotten.
Aside from the romantic entanglements, the plot is not so cleanly wrapped up. The biggest things are dealt with, but not everything. Why? Because while this is a trilogy, it's the first part of a series. The second trilogy is titled 'Darkness Rising' and follows different characters, subjects of a different Edison Group project. I'm just starting the first of them, The Gathering, and hope we do get to see more of Chloe and her friends.
Back to this book. While there are certain things left open-ended, the majority of plot threads are tied up in this book, or at least enough to give a satisfying conclusion. I would have liked a little more in some ways, but given this is actually the start of a series, which has at least three more books to go, I can't really expect it to be all tied up.