When Allie’s best friend dares their group to play a game in a cemetery—something she calls “witching”—Allie never expects what it might mean for her. When she plays, she doesn’t just find bodies, she summons their souls. But one soul wants more than Allie is willing to give.
And the boy next door could be the key to saving her.
Cody Burkhart. Straight from Montana, cowboy hat wearing, and smoking hot, he’s just the thing to help Allie become “normal” again after the death of her mother. And as her newly appointed Guardian, he’s also just the thing to help Allie ward off the vengeful spirit who’s after her soul. Except Cody has his own demons to slay that keep him closed off. But as the full moon approaches, so does their only chance to break the curse, and Cody will have to make the biggest sacrifice of all.
Review:
I don't know about you guys but I love fall, and the one thing I love even more than fall is Halloween. It just has so much potential to be deliciously creepy with the right books, movies, and activities. Therefore, when S.D. Grimm's Summoner landed on my radar with its attention grabbing tagline of "One Night. One dare in a cemetery. One new, hot neighbor," I simply couldn't resist. Dares, a cemetery, AND a hot neighbor. It looked like the creepiness and eeriness of fall & Halloween had shown up early this year!
The result? S.D. Grimm's Summoner did end up being not only eerie but fast paced; however, I will admit, it wasn't nearly as eerie and frightening as I hoped it would be.
Summoner introduces us to Allie, a high school senior who is constantly suckered into sticky and potentially dangerous situations with her best friends. When the book first opens up, Allie is trying her best to be as normal as she can be, as it's been a rough year and it shows openly in the way she acts and talk to the people who are supposed to be her best friends - the people who understand her the most.
I liked Allie from the get-go. It was easy to relate to her feelings over loosing a loved one, and I also admired how she easily accepted new people into her circle, no matter the "baggage" they may carry. I felt that Cody was a good match for her. Suffering an incredible loss himself, Cody is just as guarded and sheltered as Allie is - if not more. I really enjoyed watching them come together and develop this half playful and half serious relationship. There banter, in particular, had me laughing out loud at times.
The one aspect I didn't like that came from Allie and Cody's friendship and potential romance was the fact that they completely closed themselves off from the rest of the world. Over the course of the book, Allie completely ignores her best friends, choosing to throw them to the side to put all her attention on Cody, and that just rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, you can have friends AND a boyfriend at the same time -it's doable! Additionally, I feel that having more time dedicated to Allie and Cody's friendships with others would've added to the story - I personally would've over to know more about Allie's crew. They seemed like a lot of fun!
I found the plot in this to be interesting. I enjoyed seeing S.D. Grimm dig into what it mean to be a "summoner." I've seen books on the topic before, but S.D. managed to make it fun and interesting. It introduced some fun twists, and while some parts of the story I could see coming, some did manage to surprise me. I especially enjoyed how S.D. used the summoner line to further Allie and Cody's coming to terms with their respective losses. It was an interesting way to go about it. However, as hinted to above, I wish this book was just a tad more creepy. I wanted scare-my-pants-off/can't-sleep-with-the-lights-off-fright, and unfortunately, I didn't get that with this one. Summoner, though, is perfect for the fan who wants a paranormal thriller/mystery read on the tamer side.
While I did have some issues with Summoner, it is still a worthwhile read - perfect for fans of paranormal with an extra helping of romance. Plus I will admit: that epilogue was perfect. I had such a huge smile on my face!!
Grade: B-
Source: eARC provided by publicist - thanks Melissa at EntangledTeen!
Summoner will be released September 4th!
I don't know about you guys but I love fall, and the one thing I love even more than fall is Halloween. It just has so much potential to be deliciously creepy with the right books, movies, and activities. Therefore, when S.D. Grimm's Summoner landed on my radar with its attention grabbing tagline of "One Night. One dare in a cemetery. One new, hot neighbor," I simply couldn't resist. Dares, a cemetery, AND a hot neighbor. It looked like the creepiness and eeriness of fall & Halloween had shown up early this year!
The result? S.D. Grimm's Summoner did end up being not only eerie but fast paced; however, I will admit, it wasn't nearly as eerie and frightening as I hoped it would be.
Summoner introduces us to Allie, a high school senior who is constantly suckered into sticky and potentially dangerous situations with her best friends. When the book first opens up, Allie is trying her best to be as normal as she can be, as it's been a rough year and it shows openly in the way she acts and talk to the people who are supposed to be her best friends - the people who understand her the most.
I liked Allie from the get-go. It was easy to relate to her feelings over loosing a loved one, and I also admired how she easily accepted new people into her circle, no matter the "baggage" they may carry. I felt that Cody was a good match for her. Suffering an incredible loss himself, Cody is just as guarded and sheltered as Allie is - if not more. I really enjoyed watching them come together and develop this half playful and half serious relationship. There banter, in particular, had me laughing out loud at times.
The one aspect I didn't like that came from Allie and Cody's friendship and potential romance was the fact that they completely closed themselves off from the rest of the world. Over the course of the book, Allie completely ignores her best friends, choosing to throw them to the side to put all her attention on Cody, and that just rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, you can have friends AND a boyfriend at the same time -it's doable! Additionally, I feel that having more time dedicated to Allie and Cody's friendships with others would've added to the story - I personally would've over to know more about Allie's crew. They seemed like a lot of fun!
I found the plot in this to be interesting. I enjoyed seeing S.D. Grimm dig into what it mean to be a "summoner." I've seen books on the topic before, but S.D. managed to make it fun and interesting. It introduced some fun twists, and while some parts of the story I could see coming, some did manage to surprise me. I especially enjoyed how S.D. used the summoner line to further Allie and Cody's coming to terms with their respective losses. It was an interesting way to go about it. However, as hinted to above, I wish this book was just a tad more creepy. I wanted scare-my-pants-off/can't-sleep-with-the-lights-off-fright, and unfortunately, I didn't get that with this one. Summoner, though, is perfect for the fan who wants a paranormal thriller/mystery read on the tamer side.
While I did have some issues with Summoner, it is still a worthwhile read - perfect for fans of paranormal with an extra helping of romance. Plus I will admit: that epilogue was perfect. I had such a huge smile on my face!!
Grade: B-
Source: eARC provided by publicist - thanks Melissa at EntangledTeen!
Summoner will be released September 4th!
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I can see why the relationship between Allie and Cody would irritate you a little, it would me too. Never understood why some couples just ignore the friends they had before. Ugh.... It does sound like a good read though and I could probably look past that part. I'm glad you were still able to enjoy it too. :)
ReplyDeleteNeither do I, because as the songs go your friends are there forever, boys come and go lol but I have friends that are like that so I can see why a character would also be like that as well. But overall still a good book! :)
DeleteI don't like it when friends are cast aside for the new boyfriend either. This does sound like it was pretty good despite the issues.
ReplyDeleteYes it was still good despite that issue! It was more of a nuisance more than anything else.
DeleteOoh creepy cover! Love it. and I agree- fall and Halloween is just right for all the spooky reads lol. Bummer it wasn't just a LITTLE more scary but still sounds pretty good. Glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteRight?! Glad you agree! Even with the tamer scare capability, it was still all and all a good book. I guess you could say perfect build up to a scarier book :D
DeleteI love creepy books! And I also love the sound of Cody and Allie's relationship - good banter and chemistry is always wonderful. BUT...I totally agree that it's irritating and downright wrong to cast off friends and for them to close themselves off from everyone. That would make me angry too. And it's dispapointing, because otherwise it seems like a great book!
ReplyDeleteLovely review, Lauren :)
Amy @ A Magical World Of Words
Glad I'm not the only one who's annoyed by that sort of thing. I have friends who are like that and always makes me super frustrated but what will be will be.
Delete