So I started this book as I started Kelley Armstrong's The Darkness Rising trilogy. I read the first two books and enjoyed them but at the end of the second book...I realized her Darkest Powers trilogy was set before these books and that with characters from this trilogy popping up in the final book...I really had to go back and read them and boy, am I glad I did.

The Awakening was much more my sort of book. The idea of teenagers with powers being stuck in a home or hospital thinking they have mental illness really is something I love. And the supposed mental illness in this was written well. There were multiple disorders and the amount the teenagers were watched was realistic.

The characters were pretty good and I went from disliking Derek and thinking he was a creep to loving him. He demonstrates growth and Armstrong does well in explaining why he is the way he was. I found Simon more boring and maybe a little pathetic. I usually like the nicer seeming guys but...he was nothing special which was a shame. Rae I loved but I don't know, I'm maybe slightly suspicious of her for whatever reason and I hated Tori. Liz was a strong character for the short amount of time she was in the novel. Now I'll talk about Chloe. I wasn't too sure about her at first, she was a little boring at first but she grows. She's cautious and caring and knows not to give up even when she wants to. I loved her relationship with Derek.

My only problem was how quickly she was locked up after seeing ghosts. I know it was because they were carefully watching her but typically to be diagnosed with schizophrenia you have to have been suffering from the symptoms for a certain period of time which she hadn't. So that made me go hmm not right but otherwise it's a good novel and I would definitely recommend. Onto the second book!