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.
In THE CALLING, the sizzling second book in the Darkness Rising trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong pumps up the romance, danger, and suspense that left readers of THE GATHERING clamoring for more.
Like most second books in a series, I was a bit disappointed by The Calling. These are the things that stood out. For better or for worst.
THE WRITING: Like I said in my review of The Gathering, I enjoy Kelley Armstrong's writing style. Her style in this novel was just as subtle and nice as the first book and I am beginning to see the consistency of her writing. I can't say that it's the most passionate writing style, but it's exactly that. A style. It's not my favourite, but it works.
THE BEGINNING: To put it straight? I hated it. It was just as abrupt as the ending of The Gathering, which annoyed me a lot.There was a lot of mention of different characters and references to events that occurred in the first book which, due to The Gathering not being one of the more memorable books I've read, I did not remember. With a lack of back story I found the chaos annoying, abrupt, and pointless.
THE PLOT: The plot is almost the exact same as The Gathering. Minus the mysterious new boy and in a forest as opposed to a small town. They're still confused and trying to figure out what the St. Clouds are up to as well as discovering a few other "projects" and "companies". Honestly, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. After all, it is a series but... I dunno. It just felt the same, just with more information.
THE END: Not much to say about the end other than the fact that I found it a LOT more interesting than the one in The Gathering. And it was a bit of a cliffhanger as well.
LACK OF... BASICS?: I don't know what to call them, but if you're stuck in a forest for who knows how long, you're gonna need stuff to survive. Problem is, they were only vaguely referenced in a novel that pretty much wholly takes place in a forest. There was a lot of complaining. that's for sure. But I'm not even sure if they ate anything in the whole novel other than a few granola bars. I get that those things weren't essential for the story progression but I still felt that there was barely any reference to them in a novel in which you'd expect them to be.
THE TITLE PAGE: Basically, I don't understand it. It's almost highlighting the earring, just like the title page of The Gathering(which I didn't understand either) There is still no significance to any earring. I'm confused.
Overall...
It was an okay book. It kept me interested. It got more suspenseful enough and clear throughout. The main issue I found with it was the abrupt beginning and the similarity to the previous novel. I'd even suggest that the first and second books could be lumped together into one. Though if that were the case, they may get boring, come to think of it, due to the lack of complete intensity. I dunno. Just wasn't as good as I expected it to be.
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