The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Calling
Author: Kelley Armstrong

Publisher: Atom
ISBN: 978-1-907410-47-5
Pages: 326
Series: Darkness Rising Trilogy #2
Type: Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Goodreads


Maya Delaney now knows that she has a unique gift. She is a skin-walker and able to change her form into that of a mountain lion. But with that knowledge came horrifying revelations about her home town of Salmon Creek. Now she is stranded in the wilderness of Vancouver Island with a small group of friends after a suspicious forest fire forced an evacuation and Maya is left questioning not only can she control her gift, but can she truly trust the people she calls her friends?

This is the second book in the Darkness Rising trilogy (after The Gathering) and picks up right where the previous left off so I definitely don't recommend reading this first. There have been too many revelations for this to make much sense separate from the first volume.

Once again the story is action packed but this time the story starts with a bang meaning that it is fast paced throughout with lots of twists and turns, some picking up on little hints in the previous book. There is also a lot of internal stress as Maya and her friends have discovered that Salmon Creek was less of a medical research town and more of a paranormal playground, and that they may have innate supernatural abilities from supposedly extinct species.

Although Maya is accustomed to being out in nature, being totally stranded miles from home is new to her as is becoming the leader of a group of not-so-outdoorsy teens. She is stranded along with Daniel, Sam, Haley, Nicole and Corey which means quite a large cast of characters, although they frequently split into smaller groups which stops it from becoming difficult to keep track of everyone. Forcing such a diverse group together with snobby girls next to goths creates some tension that is great to read.

Taking a leadership role and dealing with her losses makes Maya spend some serious time considering whether her life is better or worse now she knows the truth, and her struggle with her grief is well written. Daniel is dealing with the revelations of his nature as well and trying to grasp what being a Bendanti means for him. Both grow up a lot during the book which is great to read about.

As the second book in the trilogy questions are unsurprisingly left unanswered, especially as to the supernatural species of some of Maya's friends. I'm really hoping these are revealed in the final volume as I'm looking forward to seeing which new species are introduced, particularly in Corey's case.

All in all this was another great read and I'm looking forward to The Rising.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 10/10

Overall: 48/50