I really, really enjoyed Ms. Armstrong's The Darkest Powers Series. For any of you that have loved it too, you should check out the darkest Powers blog. Kelley has continued the story with all of the characters that we loved from the series. Anyway, I had really expected to thoroughly LOVE this series too, but the first book was a little disappointing. 
 The Storyline.... 
 I had expected the storyline to go somewhere else I guess. Never did I expect shape shifters living in the middle of nowhere! I think that if I would not have read the first series, I guess that I would have enjoyed it more. The first series had more of the paranormal elements that I enjoy. The more that I read, the more I got into the story, but it actually took me awhile and I felt that the book started off slowly. 
 The Characters.... 
 The character of Maya was a strong lead. She does have a mind of her own and NOONE will tell her what to do. As for her love interest, I was torn. I do not care too much for Rafe. He seems nice enough, but there is something about him that rubs me the wrong way. Daniel *swoonworthy*, He is the one that I believe Maya should be with. He is very protective and watches her back. I really believe that Daniel is in love with Maya, but she just cannot see it yet. 
 In Conclusion... 
 I have a feeling that this series may get better with the next book, The Calling, Due out in April 2012. My suggestion is to read it. It was not awful, I guess I just loved the first series so much that my expectations were set really high for this one. Let me know what you think!!!