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beccadavies's review against another edition
3.0
One word: disappointing.
Characters felt weak and I kept getting confused with the different girls.
Story line also weak and very predicitable.
I love Kelley Armstrong but so unhappy with this current series. Will read next book just because I'm hoping they will meet up with the Edison group kids.
Okay so I'm its over a year later and I've read it again.
I'm still not that attached to Maya or Daniel or anyone but it deserves more than the 2 stars I gave it way back when. I've bumped it to a 3. But I still feel the same way and I can't wait till they meet up with Chole and Derek and co. in The Rising.
Characters felt weak and I kept getting confused with the different girls.
Story line also weak and very predicitable.
I love Kelley Armstrong but so unhappy with this current series. Will read next book just because I'm hoping they will meet up with the Edison group kids.
Okay so I'm its over a year later and I've read it again.
I'm still not that attached to Maya or Daniel or anyone but it deserves more than the 2 stars I gave it way back when. I've bumped it to a 3. But I still feel the same way and I can't wait till they meet up with Chole and Derek and co. in The Rising.
owlswithfins's review
5.0
I read this book last year and can't remember what happened, so I thought that I might as well just read it again since I bought it on Kindle. I'd like to read The Rising, and this book is a great refresher of what happened! I can't believe I can be so into a book I've already read. I usually don't reread books because there are so many new ones out there, but I can definitely see why people do it!
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
4.0
The Calling is the second book in the Darkness Rising trilogy and therefore this review will contain spoilers for the first book, The Gathering.
After fleeing the forest fire, Maya and her friends start to suspect their helicopter pilot doesn’t have their best interests at heart. When a scuffle breaks out, they lose control and crash land on the shore of Vancouver Island. Miles away from civilisation, they must find their way back to their parents without getting caught. But Maya has only just discovered what she is; a skin-walker. Can she trust her friends with the truth and will they even believe her?
After putting The Calling off for months, I ended up liking it a lot more than the first book in the trilogy. It somehow seems more like a Kelley Armstrong book, perhaps the presence of the cabals is the cause or the concept of supernaturals trying to get to grips with their powers, which is common in her work. For a moment, I thought she was going to make the mistake of teenagers being able to fly a helicopter (really, computer games do not prepare you) but it’s fine, they crashed. I know, I sound cruel, but the resulting trek across Vancouver Island makes for a surprisingly gripping story.
There’s bickering, misunderstandings and jealousy. Everything you’d expect when a bunch of hormonal teens ended up stuck together in the woods, even without taking their supernatural situation into account. I found the bits about Rafe a bit predictable but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to keep on reading just to make sure! The ending at least felt a little bit more like an ending this time too.
After fleeing the forest fire, Maya and her friends start to suspect their helicopter pilot doesn’t have their best interests at heart. When a scuffle breaks out, they lose control and crash land on the shore of Vancouver Island. Miles away from civilisation, they must find their way back to their parents without getting caught. But Maya has only just discovered what she is; a skin-walker. Can she trust her friends with the truth and will they even believe her?
After putting The Calling off for months, I ended up liking it a lot more than the first book in the trilogy. It somehow seems more like a Kelley Armstrong book, perhaps the presence of the cabals is the cause or the concept of supernaturals trying to get to grips with their powers, which is common in her work. For a moment, I thought she was going to make the mistake of teenagers being able to fly a helicopter (really, computer games do not prepare you) but it’s fine, they crashed. I know, I sound cruel, but the resulting trek across Vancouver Island makes for a surprisingly gripping story.
There’s bickering, misunderstandings and jealousy. Everything you’d expect when a bunch of hormonal teens ended up stuck together in the woods, even without taking their supernatural situation into account. I found the bits about Rafe a bit predictable but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to keep on reading just to make sure! The ending at least felt a little bit more like an ending this time too.
thebasicbookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
papidoc's review
3.0
A continuation of Maya and friends as they come into their powers, deal with relationship issues (in a teenage sort of way), and try to figure out who is friend and foe. There are some mild adventures, but nothing especially edge of your seat...if this were a movie, it would be rated PG.
heyjudy's review
4.0
~4-4.5/5
[Taken from my blog: http://geekyreading.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-calling-darkness-rising-2-by.html ]
This series is getting really good. I am so excited for the next one, and so upset that I have to wait, probably, another year. That is way too long!
The first book gave us little information, and this one didn’t give us too much more. For most of the book, Maya and her group of friends are traveling around in the woods, deserted from everyone else, unable to call anyone, not knowing who to trust, along with their classmates (or whatever) not really believing that someone is after them.
It was suspenseful, and even though they were mostly traveling, quite a bit did happen. At first, I had a hard time figuring out who all of the kids were, what their purpose was, and what they did in the first book. Probably because we didn’t see too much of them in the first book, and I didn’t pay them too much mind. I have a somewhat better grasp now, and hopefully still will by the time the next one comes out.
I am mostly looking forward to the next one, honestly. I want to find out more about Maya and what her friends are, and see them using their powers, since we’ve mostly only got to see Maya use hers, and then just barely. I want them to find their parents, and see who knows what to do with the project; particularly Maya’s parents, because they are awesome, and get to see (more of) who her biological parents are. I’m excited for them to get their friends back.
The biggest thing I want, though, is for them to find the characters from the first trilogy. Every time Project Genesis was mentioned, and the experiments from both projects, I got so excited. And they were mentioned several times, too. Because I know Armstrong has mentioned them meeting up, and they were heading out to find them at the end of the book. I want to see Chloe and Derek and all of them again, and how they react to Maya and her friends (Derek in particular; I bet he’ll get protective). I want it to happen! Stop teasing me already!
Anyway. I like Maya, and I really like Daniel (although I don’t really see much romance between them, and am unsure how I would feel about that, if it were to happen), and want to get to know Rafe more. I believe that she and Rafe will be together, and I don’t really mind that, and I see it, but I don’t really get a lot of, um, tingly feelings or anything from reading about them, possibly because he wasn’t in a lot of this book. Hopefully there will be more chemistry (or something) in the next one.
So, that’s pretty much it. I loved it, and I want the next one, immediately, and so I am bummed about waiting for it. Although I’m wondering how long the next book is going to be, and what all is going to happen in it, because I feel like there is a lot of stuff to get cleared up: the parents thing, getting to the people in charge of it all, finding Project Genesis, getting their friends back, discovering their powers. A lot for one book. Still, I'm looking forward to it.
[Taken from my blog: http://geekyreading.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-calling-darkness-rising-2-by.html ]
This series is getting really good. I am so excited for the next one, and so upset that I have to wait, probably, another year. That is way too long!
The first book gave us little information, and this one didn’t give us too much more. For most of the book, Maya and her group of friends are traveling around in the woods, deserted from everyone else, unable to call anyone, not knowing who to trust, along with their classmates (or whatever) not really believing that someone is after them.
It was suspenseful, and even though they were mostly traveling, quite a bit did happen. At first, I had a hard time figuring out who all of the kids were, what their purpose was, and what they did in the first book. Probably because we didn’t see too much of them in the first book, and I didn’t pay them too much mind. I have a somewhat better grasp now, and hopefully still will by the time the next one comes out.
I am mostly looking forward to the next one, honestly. I want to find out more about Maya and what her friends are, and see them using their powers, since we’ve mostly only got to see Maya use hers, and then just barely. I want them to find their parents, and see who knows what to do with the project; particularly Maya’s parents, because they are awesome, and get to see (more of) who her biological parents are. I’m excited for them to get their friends back.
The biggest thing I want, though, is for them to find the characters from the first trilogy. Every time Project Genesis was mentioned, and the experiments from both projects, I got so excited. And they were mentioned several times, too. Because I know Armstrong has mentioned them meeting up, and they were heading out to find them at the end of the book. I want to see Chloe and Derek and all of them again, and how they react to Maya and her friends (Derek in particular; I bet he’ll get protective). I want it to happen! Stop teasing me already!
Anyway. I like Maya, and I really like Daniel (although I don’t really see much romance between them, and am unsure how I would feel about that, if it were to happen), and want to get to know Rafe more. I believe that she and Rafe will be together, and I don’t really mind that, and I see it, but I don’t really get a lot of, um, tingly feelings or anything from reading about them, possibly because he wasn’t in a lot of this book. Hopefully there will be more chemistry (or something) in the next one.
So, that’s pretty much it. I loved it, and I want the next one, immediately, and so I am bummed about waiting for it. Although I’m wondering how long the next book is going to be, and what all is going to happen in it, because I feel like there is a lot of stuff to get cleared up: the parents thing, getting to the people in charge of it all, finding Project Genesis, getting their friends back, discovering their powers. A lot for one book. Still, I'm looking forward to it.
thero159's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The second book in Kelley Armstrong’s Darkness Rising trilogy, The Calling, is definitely a victim of the second book in a trilogy curse.
The book picks up right where the first book left off- the children are currently fleeing the forest fire that is threatening their homes. However, it doesn’t take long for danger to once again find the group and so they must work together to reach safety. As a premise, the plot is promising, offering more action and intrigue than the first book, which was one of my main complaints for The Gathering. However, in practice, the plot is pretty underwhelming. I found that the plot kept repeating the cat and mouse elements throughout the book, which honestly became quite dull and repetitive once you have experienced it a couple of times.
The characters were also quite underwhelming. I understand that in a YA novel, the children have to be given some agency in order to allow the plot to progress but in the case of The Calling, the children are intelligent because every single adult is utterly stupid and incompetent in their role. This means that every encounter that the children overcome an obstacle, it feels cheap and not something they achieved on their merits. I also personally found Maya quite irritating. In every single encounter, she is the one with the solution, which not only makes the other characters redundant but also makes Maya this perfect person who makes no mistakes. I just found that it got very dull very fast. Still, I did enjoy seeing each character discover their abilities, I just wished they had as many opportunities as Maya to use them.
Overall, The Calling was an OK read. It is clear that the goal of the book is to set up the events for the final novel, The Rising and so the plot in this novel suffers for it. I like the exploration into other supernatural races, I just wished the supporting characters had a chance to shine with Maya, The Calling suffers being the middle book in a trilogy as it tries to set things into motion for the final book, but lacks enough unique events to make itself more engaging than the first book.
lobeliaparides's review
5.0
I adored it!! I was so happy to find Rafe alive but disterbed when I learned more anout Nicole. I hope that they can fix Annie and make it so that doesn't happen to Maya or Raf. I can't wait to read the next one!!!