Review: The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

The Calling
(The Darkest Rising, #2)
By: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: April 10, 2012
Genre: YA
Rating:


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Maya Delaney's paw-print birthmark is the mark of what she truly is -a skin-walker. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly everyone else. Experiencing intense connections with the animals that roam the woods outside her home, Maya knows it's only a matter of time before she's able to Shift and become one of them. And she believes there may be others in her small town with surprising talents.

Now Maya and her friends have been forced to flee from their homes during a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set. Then they're kidnapped, and after a chilling helicopter crash, they find themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness with nothing but their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home.

My thoughts...
This book takes off running right where The Gathering left off. After narrowly escaping not only being captured but a wildfire, the kids are finally safe and on a helicopter to meet up with their family members. Only, the helicopter isn't taking them to safety and soon they find themselves on the run.

It's been almost a year since I read The Gathering and I will admit that I forgot about the story of the book and who the characters were. So with not having a recap in the beginning of this one, I was lost for the majority of the story. I remembered bits and pieces about Rafe and Annie being skin walkers but that was about it. So it took a while to get my bearings and even at the end I still didn't remember who everyone was. Clearly, I need to reread the first one again.

However, with reading The Darkest Powers trilogy, this book reads about the same. They are a group of genetically altered super humans. Each has their own unique ability like warlock, necromancer, shape shifter. There are also bad guys chasing them, questions on who can and can't be trusted and they find out that their parents are either not their real parents or are in on the whole thing. So I got the jist of the story. What I'm really looking forward to is this team meeting up with the Darkest Powers team and it looks like that is where they are headed to next!

Favorite part...
"And unless I'm remembering it wrong, mermaids don't sing and sirens don't swim."
"Ariel sang in 'The Little Mermaid'," Corey said.
Sam came over to join us. "Do I even want to know why you remember her name?"



Previous reviews from The Darkest Rising
The Gathering