Monday, April 30, 2012

The Calling, by Kelley Armstrong

The Calling
Written by Kelley Armstrong
"I've always thought of myself as an open-minded person.  I had no patience with anyone who put down other kids because of their race, religion, or sexuality.  But that's just one kind of open-mindedness.  There's another kind, too, the kind that's willing to see people for who they really are and admit when you were wrong about them.  That's the part I still need to work on." -- Maya, The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

I've anxiously been awaiting the arrival of this book ever since I finished the first book in the Darkness Rising series by Kelley Armstrong, The Gathering (you can click that link to read a summary of The Gathering).  Although I didn't write a review, I adored it and I did give it a 4/5 star rating.
If you haven't read the first book, you may want to hold off on reading my review here of The Calling, as it does have some spoilers from the first book.  I can't think of any way to give it an adequate review without mentioning some of the things that are unknowns at the beginning of The Gathering, that are givens in The Calling.  So if you haven't read the Calling, stop right now and go read it first.  Then come back.  :-)

The Calling starts out where the Gathering left off.  With Maya and the other teens in a rescue helicopter with the mayor.  Right away the mayor observes that they aren't heading in the right direction and the chaos that follows will leave you bereft with disbelief. 

As their harrowing journey continues Maya must hold the group together as they come to terms with the horrific challenges they continues to face.  They will discover more about each other and themselves than they'd ever known as they struggle to come to terms with their own identities and try to figure out why they are being hunted and who they can trust.  Along the way they realize that what had divided them in the past was nothing compared to what would bring them together now. 

It is easy to forget how young these characters are, as you read this book, because most of the time they are so mature and self-reliant.  When they have those inevitable lapses into typical crankiness and bickering amongst themselves, you're suddenly hit again with how horrible it is that they aren't given the luxury of being a normal teenager.

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