Teen Review: The Calling

The Calling (The Gathering #2) by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date ~ April 10, 2012
Doubleday ~ Random House Canada ~ HarperCollins (US)
ISBN13: 9780385668545
Review copy received from Random House Canada for review

Goodreads Synopsis:
Maya Delaney's paw-print birthmark is the mark of what she truly is--a skin-walker. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly everyone else. Experiencing intense connections with the animals that roam the woods outside her home, Maya knows it's only a matter of time before she's able to Shift and become one of them. And she believes there may be others in her small town with surprising talents.

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.
I had really high expectations for this book, considering that The Gathering had left me hanging at the end.  Luckily for me, this book met all of my expectations.  This novel starts off exactly where the last left off, which I was really glad it did.  Nothing was skipped over in this addition to the trilogy.

1. Explanation and more development:
   If any of you have read the first book in this series, I'll imagine that some of you were pretty confused in the last book like I was.  I was a bit woried that I would just be expected to remember what was going on in the last book, and that nothing would really be explained.  Thankully, if you were like me, this book explains most of it.  Now don't get me wrong, not everything is revealed.  I mean, I'm still a bit confused about what's going on still, but for the most part I'm on the same page.  While it is gone over a couple of times, I didn't find it repetitive or annoying; it helped me to put the pieces together.
2. The Twists!
   I don't think that this will come much as a suprise to many of you, but this book had a fair number of twists in the novel.  I'd say it was about as twist-y as the last one, which is quite a lot.  I will admit that I'm vaguely confused about all of the twists, and what is actually going on.  Then again, neither do the characters, so at least you don't feel like you're just really slow for not understanding.  I didn't find the twists pointless or anything, which I was really glad of.

I really think that if you enjoyed the first book in this trilogy, that you will enjoy the second just as much.  I was very well-written, and it was up to my standards that I had set for it.  I don't really have too many complaints about this book, although I do wish it was longer.