The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

“Remembering. Forgetting. I'm not sure which is worse.”

The Calling is the second instalment in the Darkness Rising trilogy, its picks up where The Gathering left off. Full of mystery, suspense and intrigue, any fan of Kelley Armstrong will definitely love this series.

Maya has discovered that she and her friends are part of an experiment that has genetically altered their DNA to enhance previously dormant traits. They now have powers that have not been seen in hundreds of years and were thought to have died out. Maya is a shape shifter like Rafe and can change into a cougar, her friend Daniel and Sam are 'benandandi', an extinct witch/demon hunter.

Maya and her friends are stuck in the Alaskan wilderness, desperate to get home but after the events of the first book, who can they trust? Are their rescuers really rescuers at all, or just people from the mysterious research facility, waiting to take them back.

I really liked this instalment, yes the plot isn't face paced but their is plenty of exhilaration and chase scenes to keep you occupied. Armstrong constantly keeps us on the edge of our seats with who our characters can trust, friends become enemies and enemies become friends.

Once again the main aspect of this book is the character development, Armstrong builds on the characters we've previously met. This I find is where Armstrong's talents lie, she is able to create believable and well rounded characters that when put in harrowing situations react in a way most of us would (if you'd just been in a helicopter crash and witnessed the death of three people, wouldn't you freak out just a little bit), Maya is strong willed, level headed and smart, we get to see her in a leadership role in this book and struggling to come to terms with her blossoming powers. I also thought that Armstrong's secondary characters came into full effect in this book, we got to see more of Sam and understand her actions and hostility a little bit more and of course my favourite Daniel the lovable best friend.

The plot doesn't really move on much, they start off in the woods and are pretty much still there when the book ends which is a little annoying, even though I was never bored when reading the book, I did feel that it just ended and wished we had had a little more progression, saying that though Armstrong has set us up for what should be an explosive finale, where Maya and her friends will face off against the scientist who have experimented on them (and a little spoiler Chloe and the gang will be back from the Darkest Powers series).

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

“I want you to have big dreams, big goals. I want you to strive to achieve them. But I don't want to see you beating yourself up every time you make a mistake.” 

Maya lives in a very secluded research town in Canada, her father is a park ranger and so Maya has always grown up around animals, she feels a connection with them and the outdoors. After her best friend mysteriously drowned, things started changing for Maya, she knew it was no accident but hasn't been able to discover the truth and now she is starting to realise that this small town holds more secrets than she could have imagined.

This book is set in the same world as Armstrong's Darkest Power series and so you should probably read those first before moving onto this one as you wont get the hints dropped unless you have.

I loved this book, Maya is a great female lead, I loved her connection to the Mountain Lions and nature in general, I'd love to be able to experience the freedom Maya feels when exploring the forest. She is funny and loyal but she has her flaws, she can be quick to judge and doesn't forgive people easily. I think what I liked about her the most is that she was able to stand up for herself, she didn't run to her friends for help at the first hint of a crisis but she also knew when she should. She didn't want to accept who is was at first, or what she would turn in to but I liked her rational approach, she didn't freak out, she sorted through the facts and knew what Rafe was telling her was the truth.

Rafe, even though at the beginning I was unsure about him, I thought he would be your typical bad boy turned good, he actually surprised me at the end. Everything he does, he does for his sister and even though he does really like Maya, he is honest about why he came to find her but I think my heart belongs to Daniel, he was sweet and kind, always looking out for Maya but you can see he has a temper and I think  I know where this story is going to take these characters. The rest of the support cast seem really well rounded, this is what Armstrong does best, create real characters, whose emotions and reactions seem plausible given the situation they are in.

Even though this book ended on a cliff hanger, its set so much up for the next book, I can't wait to dive in. Its full of mystery and intrigue, what's really going on at that research lab and what really happened to Maya's friend?  Whilst its not face paced, Armstrong builds the world and the characters superbly well and leaves you wanting more.