The Summoning by Lynne Ewing
Those of you who are familiar with my posting on anything ever are familiar with the fact that I try to be really nice. Even if the book is rather horrible I will try to find some sort of redeeming factor that takes the edge off of my review. But what do you do when there is no redeeming factor other than the cover? In my case, I try to offer valid reasons for a negative review. I hope you will stick with me on this.
The Summoning jumps right into its plot from the first page. Young Sudi doesn’t understand why she keeps sleepwalking out of the house every night, and its becoming a problem. But that’s the last thing on her mind the next day at school when she finds a note in her locker directing her towards the Sky Terrace, a lovely little cafe-esque area nearby. She can only think of one person who would send it. Scott- her secret crush. But when she arrives at the Terrace, there is a surprise in store. She is unfamiliar with the young man who greets her, introducing himself as Abdel. With him are two unfamiliar faces, Meri (the daughter of a presidential candidate) and Dalila (a book chic girl secure in her future as an heir). Abdel has brought them together to explain their duty to the earth. They must awaken their ancient powers of transformation and courage, handed down by the pharaohs of their ancestry, and defeat the evil forces that would bring their world to its knees.
Sudi accepts her fate with few qualms. It does not seem at all out of the ordinary to her that a strange man appear to her and reveal a dark history of magic and mystery that she’d never known of before. It is the same with the other girls. And there is no reaction time between that strange meeting and when the three girls become fast friends (nothing in common other than their afternoon at the Terrace) defeating demons left and right on the streets.
I could not relate at all to the characters. It seemed that the plot wanted so very badly to be done and over with in as few pages as possible, that it completely disregarded any resemblance to character development. Sudi was just as unlikable and impetuous in the end as she was at the beginning. And no hope for the other protagonists either. Dalila was so withdrawn and full of her new and important role to the earth that I could hardly stand reading for her. Meri was so prideful she was vain and all three characters came off as overwritten.
The plot was not much better. I could barely comprehend what was happening. One moment the girls see each other on the street and the next they are sprinting away from Anubis, although I couldn’t be certain as to why Anubis was in downtown Washington, DC. Or how he got there. But I suppose everything is easier when you’re a god *sigh*. Besides that, there was no serious background and I spent every page trying to get my feet under me on characters, places, creatures, and some spattered name-dropping. It was a little like reading a sequel, although I am sure this is the first of the Sisters of Isis series.
Now for redeeming features. When Lynne Ewing takes the time to truly write for a character’s description, she does an excellent job and I enjoyed the few times she did. Another plus was a completely gorgeous cover, which drew me to the story in the first place. Unfortunately, these are not enough to redeem this short novel. If anything, I would recommend it to a younger audience, although some experiences directed towards adolescents might ruin it for them. My apologies for such a frustrated and harsh review. I hope I have given reason enough for the outcome.
2 out of 9 wicked awesome shurikens (Eep!).
Incognito,
Kyoko Fanwhist
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
can someone please tell me the theme of this book, i read it and im doing a project on it. and i dont understand theme.
thanks —marina (: