The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Genre: science fiction
Series and Book #: Darkness Rising Trilogy #2
Pages: 326
Summary:

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 connection with 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.

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The Calling was jam packed with action and suspense! It just kept coming! Armstrong left nothing for review as she jumped the reader from action scene to action scene.

I loved the mixture of mythology Armstrong intertwined with the novel. Not only Maya's skin-walker heritage, but also Daniel and Sam's banadanti ancestors. That plus the science made this a unique clash of traditional and modern beliefs.

Maya is such a complex character who is always willing to make sacrifices for her friends. Unlike other heroines, she's also willing to accept that she did something wrong, and that she can fix it. She's a nice, head-strong girl that makes this story even more interesting, because you know that Maya will never go down without a fight.

Overall, this was kind of the awkward second book when nothing truly happens. The best part about this, that will fuel my need for the final book The Rising, is that Armstrong is going to bring Maya and Chloe together! :D *dances with joy* I can't wait to see how she mixes the two trilogies!

The Cover: I love how the model is staring at the reader, as if she's daring them.

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Genre: science fiction, folklore
Series and Book #: Darkness Rising #1
Pages: 359
Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn’t know much about her background—the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw print birthmark on her hip—but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in the tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town—from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend’s hidden talent for “feeling” out people and situations to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel…different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya’s biological parents and it’s easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet.

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Just like in the Darkest Powers Trilogy, Kelley Armstrong's made another strong trilogy that I'm so excited for! My favorite part of this novel was the inclusion of Native American folklore. Obviously Armstrong did her research, because the myths and the beliefs of Maya's Native background were in depth and descriptive.

Armstrong did an excellent job of making the secluded area of Salmon Creek come alive. The small town idea was well played. Maya described the place as having nothing nearby, and there was literally nothing. A couple small stores and one restaurant with the nearest town one hour away. The wilderness then became a very strong point of the book, and this is where Maya's rising "special talents" were excellently shown.

I thought the cues that Armstrong placed throughout the novel suggesting who Maya was kind of ruined the climax. Maya was smart and she pieced together everything just as I did. So when Rafe (the sexy bad boy described above) tells who she is and what that means, she doesn't freak out and she doesn't doubt it. She totally accepts it and this, I think, made the novel less about what Maya was and more about where she came from. As with the Darkest Powers Trilogy, medical research was a key part of this novel. I would have preferred if it was more supernatural and less of a scientific reason for everything.

Overall, another strong novel with another strong cast of characters. This book came off better than The Summoning. I'm more animated and excited for the next novel, waiting for Maya's upcoming Shift and her sparking romance with Rafe. The Calling's calling me!

The Cover: like the covers of the Darkest Powers, I don't really get the significance of the earring. But the darkness and the model definitely grab my attention.