DNF: Summoned, By Anne Pilsworth

• File Size: 1397 KB
• Print Length: 321 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0765335891
• Publisher: Tor Teen (June 24, 2014)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00HTJ05Z0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled 
• X-Ray:
  Not Enabled 
• Lending: Not Enabled
• ARC From: Raincoast - Thank you!

"While browsing in a rare book store in Arkham, Sean finds an occult book with an ad seeking an apprentice sorcerer, from a newspaper dated March 21, 1895. Even more intriguing, the ad specifically requests applicants reply by email.

Sean’s always been interested in magic, particularly the Lovecraftian dark mythology. Against his best friend Edna's ("call-me-Eddy-or-else") advice, he decides to answer the ad, figuring it’s a clever hoax, but hoping that it won’t be. The advertiser, Reverend Redemption Orne, claims to be a master of the occult born more than 300 years ago. To prove his legitimacy, Orne gives Sean instructions to summon a harmless but useful familiar—but Sean’s ceremony takes a dark turn, and he instead accidentally beckons a bloodthirsty servant to the Cthulhu Mythos god Nyarlathotep. The ritual is preemptively broken, and now Sean must find and bind the servitor, before it grows too strong to contain. But strange things are already happening in the town of Arkham...." - Goodreads

_____

My Thoughts:
Summoned was one of those novels with a great premise, but in my opinion - failed in the execution department. Below is a list of reasons why I disliked this book, and why It remains unfinished.

• Mistakes: Galore

Sentences switching in and out of tense, the occasional lack of context (He said/She said), online chatting not having any sort of possessive-citation (Usernames/ or anything to distinguish who's saying what), etc. Though this didn't happen all the time, it was jarring and odd when it did.

• Sean (personally) didn't strike me as a lead character.

I feel that when you write a novel with a small cast of characters, you kinda have to make sure those guys shine, whether this may be in feats, or just by making them "interesting". Summoned didn't quite do this for me. There wasn't enough information, or character development for me to fully* empathise with Sean's situation, and thus I found myself disinterested in book's happenings as a whole.

• I felt a lack of a "backing"

This is a bizarre one, but throughout my read, I felt as if there was something missing. The plot was there, but I didn't feel it; like there wasn't any ambience accompanied with that. For example, you know how Coraline has an eerie tone to it? And how it transfers that unsettling energy to the reader itself? Summoned was missing that quality.

My Rating: 3/5