Loved it.
The Calling is the second book in the Darkness Rising series by Kelley Armstrong. This series falls under several genres such as young adult, fantasy, supernatural, and shapeshifters.
A few facts about the author, Kelley Armstrong.
Armstrong's fantasy writing style is similar with other fantasy author such as Laurell K Hamilton, Kim Harrison, and Charlaine Harris.
Kelley's greatest inspiration is the people around her. Her character are supernatural but they are based on people she meets everyday, and them overcoming challenges without superpowers.
Armstrong said Stephen King is one of her most important literary influences.
I loved the fact that there was more Daniel in this book. Maya and him work together so well. Maya knows so much about the forest and how to survive, and Daniel knows a lot too. I loved that no matter what they were feeling or how beaten down they were, they supported each other and helped them keep moving forward. It shows their relationship and how strong it is. I like how they don't always agree with each other but they don't get mad when it happens.
{"I wasn't angry with Daniel for opposing me. I saw his point, too. We had no idea where to look for Nicole. She wasn't at the cabin. We didn't have the energy to go back over the mountain, to see if she'd still be there. I really doubted she was. Leaving her behind was just a really, really tough decision to make, and I admired him for having the courage to make it."}
I know that Maya's love interest is still Rafe but when I read about her and Daniel in the forest I had a little bit of hope that maybe she would end up with Daniel. Keep that in mind for my dislikes of the book. Here's my little spark of hope that there is something between her and Daniel.
{"I'm sure that when I fell asleep, I'd been lying on my back, looking up at the sky as I talked to Daniel. But when I woke up, I was on my side, nestled with my back against him, his arm over me. I jumped up so fast I kicked him in the shins and he let out an "Oomph.""}
I really liked Sam in this book. In the first book she isn't mentioned too much, just as an outsider. But it turns out Sam new everything from the start and was only trying to protect herself. Sam seems to be protective over Maya, and they kinda bond as friends. Especially when Sam tells Maya a secret, which they keep to protect Daniel. I think Sam's powers are going to really show in the third book. At least I hope. On the note of late bloomers powers, I am curious to see what's Corey's power. Corey is Daniel's best friend.
I really love that Maya starts finding herself during all of this. She finds out that she has been a snob when she thought she was a good person, and she decides she needs change how she looks at people. She decides to stop judging and assuming everything is how it looks. She learns she needs to look deeper.
I am kinda disappointed in this book. It was slow like the first one but it was a lot of action to have, almost like an action movie. It was almost like the first book not enough going on, and now the second one too much going on. Don't get me wrong, I still loved the book.
To refer to Maya's love interest, you can see that her and Daniel have something though we don't know yet. I am afraid I was too quick to say that I was happy that there wasn't going to be a love triangle. Of course it's not with Serena, it's with Rafe, Daniel, and Maya. If Kelley is trying to make it a love triangle, there needs to be some conformation. I feel like she is in undecided whether she wants to make it or not.
The father portion got me. Not her adopted dad. But her biological father. At the end of the first book it kinda tells you but not completely. I liked this and disliked it. But I really disliked it. I mean if I found my biological father I would be freaking out. Reeling with all kind of questions. And I can relate because I am actually adopted. So I just feel like she didn't really have a honest enough reaction.
I feel like Maya should have realized her powers before, or at least shifted at the beginning of the book. Waiting til the end kinda made it where pointless, and the time she did shift it was when she was asleep so it wasn't really helpful. She just stirred up trouble. I feel like her shifting could be a lot more insightful if we saw it more often. Daniel uses his power a few times and it's helpful or not so helpful but he uses it. Maya doesn't have control of hers at all, and I am afraid that Kelley is either gonna skip over the controlling part of her powers or she isn't gonna have great control in the third book.
I am starting the third book, The Rising. I have some hopes that this book will be the best. I hope I don't get let down.
_Fantastic Fiction_
Loved it!
The Gathering is the first book in the Darkness Rising series by Kelley Armstrong. This series falls under several genres such as young adult, fantasy, supernatural, and shapeshifters.
A few things about the author, Kelley Armstrong.
She loved reading as a kid. She mostly read paranormal books which effected her writing as well as her love for animals, especially werewolves. One of Kelley's novel Bitten has became a T.V. series. It became a big success which paved way for book sequels.
I am super interested in reading more of her books! I read The Gathering in one day. It was pretty interesting. A few things I loved about this book was that the main character, Maya, had a great relationship with her parents even though she was adopted. A lot of young adult book use the stereo type rebellious teen to wrap their plot around. I absolutely love that Kelley didn't do that with Maya. Maya is a good girl that her parents trust and they have an open relationship with her about her adopted family. It mentions in the book that Maya's parents were actually worried that Maya wasn't concerned with the fact that she was adopted. She actually made a joke about how her biological parents could have left a note with medical history.
{"Abandoning me had been inconsiderate. I'd said that to my parents once, and they'd laughed. It was a strange word, I know, especially from an eight-year-old. They'd then given me the whole spiel on how my mother was a good person blah, blah. What I meant was that she should have left a note detailing my family background and medical history"}
Kelley did a great job of catching my attention. She is truly a great writer. I devoured the book. It was detailed and entertaining. She threw surprises in there. When I first started reading, I was afraid that Maya, Serena, and Daniel were going to have a love triangle going on, but I was pleased to find out that wasn't going to happen. Serena was Maya's best friend and Daniel's girlfriend, but Serena died in the first part of the book by a freak accident. It caught be by surprised and made me dig deeper into the book. I couldn't put it down.
I really loved Daniel. He is Maya's best guy friend. They grew up together, and they really just go together so well. His relationship with his dad is strained so when his dad and him have a fight, he goes to Maya's and her parents trust them to stay in the same house because Daniel is such a gentlemen. Throughout the whole book Daniel is who he says he is. He looks out for Maya no matter what happens in the book. Maya's dad has something to say about that.
{" I like Daniel. He takes care of you."
I blinked. "Oh my God. Did you really just say that? He takes care of me?"
Dad flushed. "I didn't mean it like-"
"Takes care of me? Did I go to sleep and wake up in the nineteenth century?" I looked down at my jeans and T-shirt. "Ack! I can't go to school like this. Where's my corset? My bonnet?"
Dad sighed as Mom walked in with her empty teacup.
"What did I miss?" She said.
"Dad's trying to marry me off to Daniel." I looked at him.
"You know, if you offer him a new truck for a dowry, he might go for it."}
(That excerpt also shows what a rock solid relationship Maya has with her parents)
Usually when you love a few things, there are a few things you could do without. Now I honestly loved this book. I wouldn't change it for a thing. But there are a few things I dislike.
Rafe.. The bad boy. He is Maya's love interest. Now Maya doesn't like him in the beginning because he is a bad boy, and has already gone through most of the girls in town. He is portrayed as a player. Near the end of the book you see why he goes through all those girls just to find a paw print birthmark on their hip. Which the back of the book tells you that Maya has. But the way that Rafe uses the girls to find what he is looking for makes me dislike him no matter what he reasons are. I don't care if he comes clean to Maya or not. I don't like that he keeps so many secrets and at the end of the book where he leaves a note because he is leaving. Who cares if he doesn't make it out of town, he was gonna leave without a word! I am hoping by the end of the series that Maya comes to her senses and ends up with Daniel, but I don't want to hope too much. Rafe is being made out to be the bad boy with a heart of gold. Which Maya buys mostly because of his love for his sister.
The book was slow. Very slow. There wasn't much happening but drama. We knew what was happening from the very beginning but the kids weren't catching on or even really trying to. Weird stuff was happening, and if I was having visions when touching animals or hitting people without actually laying a hand on them, I would be researching and trying to figure out what was going on. I just feel like it was a very slow book. Not much was happening.
The ending was wow. It wasn't much of a cliffhanger. You are almost relieved when they get onto the helicopter. There wasn't much of a feel that they were escaping one disaster only to enter another one. The kids didn't feel any urgency to think about what they are or what powers they posse. I feel like the ending could have hooked me more.
Otherwise I loved it. The writing was still great, and no matter how slow it was I still wanted to read the next one. And I did. That post will be coming up.
_Fantastic Fiction_
Hey guys,
I am 18, and married. I am a stay at home wife so I read often. I plan on making my blog somewhat of a book shrine. I love fiction, and mostly supernatural stuff: Vampires, werewolves, witches, and anything like that. I would love it if people would recommend books that you think I would like or something you love and you want everyone to love too. I will read everything I can get my hands on. I live in Germany next to a military base so my resources are limited to what I can get. If the library on base has it, I can read it. If they don't I may be able to find it online, and if it's not super expensive I might even buy and read it. I will be brutally honest whether I loved it or not. I am a super fast reader if I like a book. But even if I am not all the interested in it, I can finish in two or three days. If it takes longer than a day, I will post an update on how far I am and how much I like it so far. I plan on posting everyday, and maybe even twice a day if I have finished more than one book or if I just wanna share some love. I really want to get this blog out there so if you checked me out and loved me, please tell your friends. And hey, if you hate me, you can tell someone else and they can check me out too. If you want me to read a book leave a comment or shoot me an email @ fantasticfiction13@gmail.com. I will eventually get a facebook page up and running and then you can shoot me a message on there. I want to get a twitter for this page too so I can tweet updates on what I am reading and you can tweet about me and get me out there for other book lovers. I am gonna post an update on a series I am reading. Hope you follow my blog!
_Fantastic Fiction_
I loved the fact that there was more Daniel in this book. Maya and him work together so well. Maya knows so much about the forest and how to survive, and Daniel knows a lot too. I loved that no matter what they were feeling or how beaten down they were, they supported each other and helped them keep moving forward. It shows their relationship and how strong it is. I like how they don't always agree with each other but they don't get mad when it happens. 
