Select one of the keywords
The Rising: Darkness Rising    by Kelley Armstrong Amazon.com order for
Rising
by Kelley Armstrong
Order:  USA  Can
Doubleday Canada, 2013 (2013)
Hardcover, e-Book
* * *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

Kelley Armstrong's The Rising follows The Gathering and The Calling to complete her fast moving, thoroughly engaging Darkness Rising trilogy.

The Gathering introduced Native American skin-walker Maya Delaney, adopted as a baby into a loving family. Her closest friend, Daniel, senses wrongness in people. They lived in an isolated, top-secret medical-research community run by the St. Cloud Corporation in Salmon Creek on Vancouver Island. Maya fell hard for bad boy Rafe Martinez, also a skin-walker.

After a forest fire (set deliberately), Maya and her friends were pursued over land and sea by bad guys (including Maya's birth father). The Calling was filled with captures and escapes. Maya learned to Shift and the teens found out the St. Cloud's project resurrected extinct supernatural types, and that they all have special abilities.

The pursuit (plus more captures and escapes) continues on the mainland in The Rising as the teens try to contact their families (at their own funeral service!) Seeking adult help, they discover Corey's talent. Maya fights her bestial instincts from taking over and meets her brother. And, after a reunion with Rafe, events force her to examine her feelings for Daniel closely - is he really only a friend and how does he see her?

The series conclusion is very satisfying, tying in Darkest Powers series characters as well as adult supernaturals from the Cabals of the richly imagined Otherworld novels. I enjoyed Darkness Rising even more than the Darkest Powers stories - don't miss either series!

Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.

Find more Teens books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews