The Reckoning, Kelley Armstrong

 Book: The Reckoning
Author: Kelley Armstrong Her Site
Series: Darkest Powers Trilogy (#3)
Genre: Supernatural/ YA Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Moral: 2/5

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.

The Reckoning finished off the darkest powers series with a bang, and left me wishing for another book...

The Plot:
Kelley Armstrong knows how to write plot twists. I think she actually enjoys it. I love how she fooled me. That being said, there wasn't a lot happening. The story had it's dramatic moments, but the stakes weren't there. The ending felt a little too optimistic for me. I mean, really, Chloe freaking raises the dead. I felt like their should have been more secrecy and horror. There was a bit of action, but it was all too easily solved. The plot was still fast, and the characters were still interesting. There was somethings I really loved about the story-line. Mostly, I just didn't like the ending. 

The Characters:
Chloe had a character arch! I was rather impressed since most of the other characters had one. I mean, Simon stayed the same since book one. Derek is slightly more revealed, but technically still the same. Tori also had a character arch as well, definitely better than Chloe's. Chloe had to learn to stick up for herself, which she did. That's a common character arch. Tori, on the other hand, had to learn to be nice. I call that interesting. I loved Tori in the Reckoning. In fact  I think she has been my favorite from book one. She is secretive, her motives are mostly hidden. In the last books you get to see glimpses of the real her. It was brilliant actually. 

The Setting:
Most of the story takes place at a giant castle-like hideout. There isn't a lot of room there, other than the woods outside it. It seemed too happy. I might just be used to Harry Potter, and it's hard for every writer to live up to that. The setting was still beautifully creative. 

The Standout:
Hmm... I may have elaborated earlier, but Tori was obviously my favorite part of the story. Also, unanswered thoughts. Chloe manages to contact her mother, despite the rule that necromancers can't contact their dead relatives. This was an interesting piece in the story, but sadly it wasn't realized. I could see a whole other book written for that tidbit. We know that Chloe has been genetically altered so her powers are immensely stronger than other necromancers. So this little piece added a certain mystery to the story. 

The Moral:
It is a sad day when I am not sure what the moral is. There were great morals in the book, but I didn't learn anything from the plot. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the book, but bits and pieces were missing. Thankfully, the story was written correctly for it's age category. There wasn't sex or even a lot of swearing.

So, I hope what you got from this was that the story was amazing, though slightly flawed  and a perfect ending to the series that made me wish for another book.