The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

The Calling - #2 in the Darkness Rising series by Kelley Armstrong. 

Click here: The Gathering for my review of the first book in the series. 

Maya, and her friend Rafe, Daniel, Corey, Nicole, Haley and Sam, were all rescued from the forest fire that ended the first novel. All 7 of them are in a helicopter, heading for the mainland to reach their families and safety.

Only Maya, with her keen sense of direction, realized that they were going in the wrong direction. When she confronted the pilot about it, he made some excuses, but Maya wasn't buying it.

After figuring out that the pilot was part of the St. Cloud corporation, all 7 of them find out a way away from the helicopter - sure, it was by crashing the aircraft into the ocean, but they weren't going to get caught by the St. Cloud  corporation again.

Following that, the teenagers were on the run away from two different groups: St. Cloud and another group where the leader claims to be Maya's biological father.

Because Maya is a shape-shifter, who changes into a cougar, she is very familiar and comfortable in the forest. She leads the group to their hometown, hoping that their families will be there and that things will get resolved once they arrive.

Along their trip, they lose one person after another. First Rafe falls from the helicopter before it crashes, obviously pronounced dead as no one could survive from that horrible fall.

Then, Nicole gets captured right after the helicopter crashes on the beach. After 3 days in the woods, Haley was captured.

Only none of them were killed... They were shot with tranquilizer darts, so obviously St. Cloud wants them alive...

In the end, it's Maya, Daniel and Corey. Their plans changed throughout their adventure, but they find some interesting news of other "supernatural" people from a different project. Now their mission is to find these 6 teenagers to stay away from St. Cloud.

My Thoughts/Reflections
Kelley Armstrong did it again! I didn't think this story could get much better than the first novel. True, the first one was a little more romantic with Maya and Rafe, but since Rafe was missing throughout this novel, it was a little bland in that category.

However, the reader learned more about each character and their abilities. And some even used their abilities. Maya got to shape-shift!

Also, while this novel was a lot of them on the run, it was a very fast paced novel and you wanted to run right along with them to stay away from St. Cloud.

I love Maya's character. She was very mature in the first novel and she just grew even more mature in this second one. She also became even more of a leader when she had to take them into the forest. It's her domain, her primary place to be, so she was a natural born leader to stay away from the people chasing them.

Since I've also read the Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong (reviews are here for #1, #2, and #3) I was able to see the connection between these two books. It wasn't a connection that is very dominate, so if you haven't read her first YA series, it won't be a big deal.

I'm hoping that they will be connected in the last, and final, book in this series, though, because I loved the Darkest Powers series and I absolutely adore this series.

For anyone who's interested in supernatural, shape-shifting, running from the government, survival... This novel is definitely something you should look into. Make sure, though, that you read the first novel in the series before picking this up so you understand all of the events fully!

The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

The Reckoning - #3 and Final book in the Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong. 

Click here: The Summoning for the review of the first book in the series and here: The Awakening for the review of the second book in the series. 

**NOTE** There will be SPOILERS in this review from the first two novels in this trilogy. 

Just when Chloe Saunders thought she escaped from the corporation she was running from, she's right back in the middle of it as an experimental test.

Chloe, Simon, Derek, and Tori have been saved by Andrew and taken into hiding. They don't feel safe, though, especially because Lauren, Chloe's aunt, and Rae are stuck in the facility that Chloe and Tori escaped from.

While hiding out, Andrew's co-workers come in and try to help the teenagers with their powers - each specializes in the abilities Simon, Chloe and Tori have.

When Chloe's mentor, Margaret, takes Chloe to a cemetery, Chloe is very uncertain she should be there - considering she can raise the dead without even trying. When the test trial goes wrong and Margaret sees just how powerful Chloe is, Margaret thinks that they need to get more help since she's unqualified for the job.

That's how all of the mentors think when they see the teenagers try their powers.

After getting ambushed by other werewolves, Derek and Chloe find out that Andrew was part of a mission to get all of the teenagers under one place, watched by guards.

So it seems the teenagers went from one prison to another.

The main mission the teenagers are on is to find Derek and Simon's father. He will help them out and know what to do.

Will the teenagers have to run for the rest of their lives? Can they finally break free from the prisons they are always being taken to? Read this final installment of the Darkest Powers Series to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This was a great finish to this series! I like how it was just as action packed as the first two, making the reader zip through the pages to find out what happens in the end.

Knowing it was the final book, I was anxious to find out the ending, and I just loved it! Everything gets resolves, and while there may be a story with Chloe and the guy that she picks (not going to say because I want to keep something non spoilery), I'm overall really happy with how things ended.

I would definitely recommend all three of these books to other readers! It's definitely different than the novels written today and we get to experience different types of supernatural (necromancer, werewolf, sorcerer, witch, demons, etc.) so it's not just one type of paranormal species.

If the author decided to make another novel continuing their story, I wouldn't mind that either, but for now, I'm very content as to how this novel finished! :)

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

The Awakening - #2 in the Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong

Click here: The Summoning for my review of the first book in the series.

**NOTE** There Might Be Spoilers in this review for the first novel in the series. 

Chloe Saunders used to be an ordinary girl. That was before she found out she was a necromancer - a person who can raise, talk, and summon the dead spirits. Now, Chloe and her friends she made at the Lyle House (Derek, Simon, Liz, Rae, and Tori) are running away from the authorities that kept them in the house.

They wanted to run tests on all of the teenagers because they are supernatural. Derek is a werewolf, Simon is a sorcerer, Liz (who was killed but her ghost lives on) is telekinetic, Rae can manipulate fire, and Tori is a witch.

Together, Derek, Simon, Chloe, Tori and Liz are working as a group to get away from the "scientists" who want to run experiments on them to figure out their powers.

When the group reaches a close friend of Derek and Simon's father, they find out that Andrew used to be a part of the "scientist" group for supernaturals but now is trying to destroy that company.

In order to do that, though, they need Chloe and her friend's help to make sure it will be fully destroyed.

My Thoughts/Reflections
I think I liked this book even more! There really wasn't much going on, just everyone trying to find a safe place to meet up and figure out what to do next.

During the journey, though, we see Chloe's supernatural power some more - sometimes out of order and others when Chloe tries to use it. We also see Derek fighting his metamorphosis into a wolf.

There is some subtle romantic feelings in this book, just like the first, between Chloe and both Derek and Simon. I know most might pick Simon because he is the cuter, more outgoing out of the two brothers, but I think I would like to see Chloe and Derek together. Derek is the not so good looking one since he's in his puberty stage still, but every time Chloe and Derek were together he was always protecting her and got emotional when Chloe was "causing trouble". I think they'd make a cute couple!

Even though this was mostly them running from place to place, we learned more about the organization hunting them and we learn more about all of the characters.

I'm excited to see what happens in the final book of this series and where Kelley Armstrong goes with it.

I would definitely recommend these books to teens who like paranormal stories, and want to read another novel about necromancers since there aren't too many out there yet.

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

The Summoning - #1 in the Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong

Going to an art school for classes about film directing was a normal day for Chloe Saunders. Until the day her monthly cycle came and she saw a janitor with burn scars chasing after her in the hallways.

That janitor, though? He wasn't alive. He was actually a ghost trying to talk to Chloe, as she was the only one who would see him.

After that episode, where the teachers had to sedate Chloe as she was trying to run away from the ghost, Chloe was sent to a "house for troubled teens". Now she has to prove to everyone that she can't see ghosts - that it was just a mistake.

Which is kind of hard to do when ghosts keep popping out of nowhere scaring her each time. The more time Chloe spends in the Lyle House with the other teenagers, the more she realizes that things are not as they seemed when she first got there.

With the other teenagers: Derek, a 6 foot, acne face 16 year old; Simon (Derek's older brother); Rae, a girl who likes looking at fire; Liz, the perky, happy one of the bunch; and Tori, the snarky, queen of the House, Chloe learns more about each teenager and how they are not so normal as she first thought...

After teenagers have left the house, Chloe forgets the idea of trying to be a "normal, non-ghost seeing girl" and starts to contact the spirits. What she finds would make anyone in that situation get goose bumps...

My Thoughts/Reflections
I was sure what I would think of this book. I've read great reviews and I read Armstrong's newest book series The Gathering, so I wanted to see how this book would pan out.

After figuring out some mysteries, I'm now hooked. There aren't too many books being written about talking to the dead/ghosts, so the storyline was new and refreshing. Also, there wasn't a heavy romantic appeal - at least in this first book of the series - which kept me hooked on the story rather than who the main girl would choose to fall in love.

This was a very easy and fast paced book to read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes paranormal but is getting tired of the fallen angel/vampire/werewolf stories that are being over written lately.

This is also the first book of a triology, which all books are finished and available for purchase/checking out so there is not waiting for the start/ending of the story!! Yay!

Reviews will be up for the second and third book very soon (As soon as I read them :))

The Gathering

I read The Gathering in a matter of hours. This was a quick, easy read but the story content was amazing! We first start by reading about Maya's experience when she sees her best friend drown in their lake. The strange part is that her friend, Serena, was the best swimmer at her school and she always swam in that lake.

After that, Maya's life dims down and she just lives day by day. She lives in a small town, literally 200 people make up the town and it's mostly set in the middle of the forest that Maya has grown up with for most of her life.

A new guy transfers to her school, Rafe, and this is very unusual as Maya's town does not get newbies - everyone that goes to school has known each other since they were in diapers. For some reason, Rafe is set on becoming friends with Maya, even though he has been seen with almost every girl at school, even though he will just chase them and then leave em once he gains their attention. Maya didn't want anything to do with him, but there was a certain attraction between the two of them...

This was very well written. I was not bored at all throughout this novel and I didn't want it to end (a note about the end - Armstrong has a sequel following it so it's not concluded at the end :-/ ). The second book, The Calling won't be out until April 2012! I do know, though, that when April comes around I will definitely be checking it out to find out what happens to Rafe and Maya.

Oh, and did I happen to mention that Maya has a collection of pets? Like a pet cougar and how the wild cougars (not her pet one) protects her from strangers? I would definitely like to have a wild animal protect me rather than hunt me for dinner!