"The Calling" by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: April 10, 2012
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 326

From Goodreads: "Maya and her friends--all of whom have supernatural powers--have been kidnapped after fleeing from a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set, and after a terrifying helicopter crash they find themselves pursued by evildoers in the Vancouver Island wilderness."

My biggest complaint about the first book in this series, "The Gathering", was that I found that as readers we were told very little about what the paranormal element actually was- I felt that we had to go out of our way to learn more about it- I personally read everything that I could get my hands on about this series through Tweets, blog posts, etc. (had I just picked this series up without ever having read any of Kelley's books before I would never have guessed that these books involved genetic manipulation on paranormal teens- I would have thought that it involved the Otherworld, Shamanism, or something of that nature). However, I didn't find that with this book whatsoever, I felt that we actually learned things in  about the genetic manipulation aspect of this book (albeit not as much as we had in her "Darkest Powers" series, but still, some is better than none IMO)- furthermore, Kelley didn't answer questions with more questions in this book like I felt that she did in "The Gathering".

Additionally, I really enjoyed that there was a greater emphasis on the secondary characters in this book and that they actually impacted the storyline- rather than just being there for the sake of being there (like the annoying mindless best friend or the socially inept quiet boy who hovers in the background that seems so prevalent in the world of YA). In fact, Corey is really starting to grow on me, I feel like he brings a lot of much needed humour to the book. Not to mention I am entirely intrigued by what sort of paranormal beings they all are (I can't believe that it still hasn't been confirmed when there is only one more book left in the series!).

However, at times I did find myself grow frustrated by one seemingly impossible situation after another (I couldn't help but think to myself, "Don't these kids *ever* get a break?)- from a helicopter crash, to near drownings, to being shot at numerous times to the likes of. But then as I thought about it, all of Kelley's books read similarly- having character after character thrown through various, seemingly impossible situations, is her "thing". If it really bothered me (RE: not superficially bothered me), I probably wouldn't have invested the time in reading all of her "Women of the Otherworld" and "Darkest Powers" books.

All in all, I am extremely glad that I continued on with this series- I think that it was better in almost way than its predecessor- I can't wait to see what happens with the gang next in the final book in this series, "The Rising"!

Rating: 5/5