Review: Call Forth the Waves (#2) by L.J. Hatton

Earth, not so very long from now: the silent, inscrutable alien visitors who bathed the planet in transforming rains have moved on, leaving behind a world much changed.

Penn Roma, age sixteen, is blessed—or cursed—with supernatural talents she has always concealed. Her sisters, likewise afflicted, are prisoners of the Commission, the government agency tasked with controlling these strange children. Penn’s determination to save them only gains urgency when she learns of the horrifying plans the twisted Warden Dodge has for the peculiar charges.

But Penn herself must remain hidden, navigating a series of fantastical havens with her embattled allies, similarly enhanced teens also in the Commission’s crosshairs. Worse, her vast, half-understood powers have become unpredictable, failing at critical moments and activating outside of her control.

Can Penn trust a rogue warden, supposedly opposed to Dodge’s schemes, to help free her family…or has the Commission set its most nefarious trap yet?

Paperback, 336 pages
Published March 22nd 2016 by Skyscape

I really enjoyed reading Sing Down the Stars (book 1) and excited to jump into the next book to see where the story would go. This second book did not bring as much excitement for me as the first one, and from the cover I was actually hoping for more of it to take place underwater. I was not completely disappointed as we do get some under water action, exciting things to happen and even some surprises.
The majority of this story is learning more about the characters in general and their abilities. It takes place upon a floating city where the group has hidden from the Wardens. What I have enjoyed most about these books is the writing style of the author. She really has a talent for visuals and exciting new creatures/robots that really brought out a feeling of "wow, that is cool" The books have a carnival-like feel to them, yet it's a powerful modified human / alien-adjacent like story. The aliens are the ones that made the humans have certain powers, but we never really meet the aliens in the books.
What we follow is how the laws have had to change to safeguard humanity from those that had been altered, and the loved idea of those that take power for granted. I absolutely hate the villain in these books and I cannot wait to see how Penn and her unusual family will make him pay. I really enjoyed both books so far, perhaps only saddened by not getting more than what was given, but it only heightens my excitement for the next book to arrive.
A great teen magical fantasy story that is hugely imaginative and beautifully written.

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