The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

SPOILER WARNING!! Unavoidable spoilers from the previous two books.

The final part of Kelley's Darkest Powers trilogy.

"My name is Chloe Saunders. I'm fifteen, and I would love to be normal. But normal is one thing I'm not.

For one thing, I'm having these feelings for a certain antisocial werewolf and his sweet-tempered brother - who just happens to be a sorcerer - but, between you and me, I'm leaning toward the werewolf.

Not normal.

My friends and I are also on the run from an evil corporation that wants to get rid of us - permanently.

Definitely not normal.

And finally, I'm a genetically altered necromancer who can raise the dead, rotting corpses and all, without trying.

As far away from normal as it gets."

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 preforming 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 Andrews 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 it's stride. It's well paced with a fair bit of action and some good twists and turns. A couple 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 final 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 the first book, 'The Gathering' is due out in about a year (I think). The second trilogy follows different characters, subjects of a different Edison Group project. Kelley recently said on Twitter than right now Chloe and her friends are plotted to appear late in the second trilogy, but that it could easily change as it's not written yet. Personally, I really hope they do cause I want more of these characters.

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. Easily my favourite of the three books, and admittedly not my favourite YA series, but still worth reading. And if you've read the first and second books, you definitely don't want to miss this one! A great read.

Rating: 8/10