My Take On The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

 If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl — someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets. A living science experiment — not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters, I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control; I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.
 Now I'm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends — a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch — and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.

 Everything's out in the open in this sequel to The Summoning; Chloe's found out she's a powerful necromancer, and with her supernatural housemates from Lyle House1, they've escaped the clutches of the evil Edison Group. For the moment.
 There was a lot more Chloe and Derek time in this book, still not enough for my liking, but it prgressed at a realistic pace and I feel that it will reach its penacle in book three. The dynamic between Chloe and Derek is reviting. Although his initial jerkiness makes me not want to like him2, it can't be helped because there's a lot going on underneath the acne and overprotective rages. That's another thing I find so fascinating about ths series; it doesn't veil the story and characters behind a glamor of perfection. The characters are realistic, and the world is well developed, but that's to be expected since Armstrong has already written a series in this world before3.
 What really, really makes me happy about this book, though, is the Z Factor. Zombies. Yeah, I've got a one track mind. But seriously, I love seeing how people put zombies to use in different ways. Here, they're the result of souls being necromanced4 back into their rotting shells. They're none too happy about it either, but Chloe's such a powerful necromancer that it's dang near unavoidable. The Edison Group has pretty much fudged every experiment they've ever conducted. Either supernaturals wind up too powerful to control, in which case they must be "dealt with," or they're powers are sadly deminished. Chloe and the gang have to live with these results and try to prevent it from happening to anyone else by taking down the Edison Group.
 I give The Awakening...

...Five Zombies!

 I can't wait for the conclusion of this series! Although, I will be sad to see it end. Look out for The Reckoning in May, 2010!

Happy reading!
Zombie Girrrl

footnotes__________________________________________________
1  Or as I like to call it, "Lyle House: Home for Troubled and Genitically Altered Super-Teens.
2  My inner feminist cries foul when I try to say he's a nice guy underneath the cynism.
3  The Otherworld series which she would rate R in comparison to the PG she'd give Darkest Powers.
4  Yeah, I can use it as a verb! =9