The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong
5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Shape Shifters
Pages: 326

Summery:

Maya and her friends where forced to leave town when a forest fire gets dangerously close. As time goes on they realize they aren't safe and end up in an accident where the helicopter they were traveling in crashes. Soon enough secrets are being revealed and now they kids are stranded in the wilderness of Vancouver Island. They are on the run and are being chased by what seems like two different groups of people who are after them. Now they must work together and use their new powers to help them get home. 

My Say

I thought this book was great. There was chases, kidnapping, deaths that just kept everything interesting and I needed to know what happens next. I liked that I got to know who was what and what power did they have. The only person that wasn't revealed of what he was Cam. Spoiler (highlight to read) :  There was subtle hints in my opinion that he is like a foreseer possibly getting visions of the future. But that is just my guess I could be wrong. I guess I wont know until I get the next book. I like that Maya is a leader and even if at some points she could've ran away and saved herself she kept going back to help her friends in time of need. I liked that she was smart and a quick thinking and help saved their buts and help her friends survive in the woods. When her friends where complaining about everything and when they were hurt shed help them no question about it.

When it comes to my rating in order for it to have 5 stars It must have action, suspense, a bit of secrets being revealed and humor, in some cases a decent love story and even thought I hate to say it cliffhanger. There was a bit of everything in here to keep me wanting more and not want to finish till its through.

I've been noticing other reviews on this book that many Kelley Armstrong fans didn't like it so much because it's already been done before. I haven't read her first trilogy  I mean I read the first book a while ago like when it first came out, I think it was the start of my interest of supernatural books. Anyways it's been years and a bazillion books later so I don't remember to compare if its already been done. I don't usually find that much of a problem when it comes to stories like this, I find that a lot of YA supernatural books have pretty much the same plot but they just spice it up to make it a bit different from the rest. Its not a problem for me, maybe some of you other readers out there will have the same problem with this.  

I was nearly jumping for joy when the library told me they had this audio book for me. I had a copy of this audio book but apparently it was missing the last CD which made it an ultimate cliffhanger and I had to wait a couple of days to finish this book. Thank goddess no cliffhanger like the first book. So I can handle reading a couple different books before I read the next. If there was a cliff hanger I'm pretty sure I would've rushed to the nearest bookstore to get it. 

Highly Recommend!

The Gathering by Kelly Armstrong

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

4 of 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Supernatural, Romance, Shapeshifters, 

Pages: 359

Summery

Everything in Maya's life was perfectly normal until her 16th birthday came around. Now Cougars seem to cross paths with her more often. Then there was a strange encounter with a seemingly senile old women. And the strange fainting spells and visions she seems to be having. Adding everything up with the help of a new student and love interest,  Rafe, she learns things the never new about herself and begins to question everything  This also raises questions on why her late best friend, who was a swim captain, had a freak accident and drowned.

My Say

This book was interesting enough that I managed to read this book within 24 hours wondering what was gonna happen and was left with a cliffhanger in the end. Goddess I hate cliffhangers >_< . 

As you can see from the summery the book has the same premise as most YA books so you got the idea of how the book is. Girl living a totally normal life until the new hot guy comes into the picture, girl possibly hates the guy then learned the guy is misunderstood and falling for the guy. Then strange things started to happen and find out some life altering information about themselves. 

I for the most part thought the book was good, I wish there was more conflict going on to keep me interested. The pace for the book was pretty low which is a problem for me. The story felt like I've read it many other times before. Despite that, I think the book was interesting enough and hope that the next book surprises me. I found the characters very likable and the main character Maya funny at some points where I couldn't keep my laughter to myself with her little comments that she would say. I would've liked to know more about what was going on with the project, or about her heritage, or what happened to Serena. I don't expect any of it to just be answered in the first book but at least give us a bit to go on, solve at least one of the questions that many may ask of this book. 

Overall I enjoyed the book even if its a cliche and look forward to the next book hopefully some of the questions I want answers will be done in the next book.