Wisteria and Whitford Allgood are back in the second book in a dystopian series where the world has been taken over by the New Order, and their magical skills would seem to be the only hope of the Resistance. While the first book seemed to be nothing more than a prologue to explain the world in which the series is set, The Gift does a good job of being presenting an interesting story that is a blend of science fiction and fantasy.

The One Who Is The One seems to have recognized the gift of great magical power that Wisty has within herself. As he has been doing with their parents and others with magical abilities, The One is hoping to drain them of their magical power with the hope of bringing it into himself, making him the most powerful person in the world.

His secret police are actually able to capture the Allgood siblings and bring them into one of their schools, which are really more retraining/reducation centers to instill kids with support for the New Order.

Byron Swain, the traitor that has wormed his way into the Resistance, proves to be constantly bumping into Wisty and Whit. The result is a bit confusing for the Allgoods, who hear his words of love for Wisty and see his constant attempts to help them. At the same time, his father is a New Order ranking official, and he always seems to be around when things go bad.

Wisty and Whit find themselves on the run, reaching out to all sorts of allies like Whit's dead and ghostly girlfriend Celia, an old family friend, and the other kids in the Resistance as they get a handle how their powers seem particularly tied to the creative arts like music and writing.

The result of all this is a pretty fun and quick-paced action story. There is little character development, and the authors continue to slowly release details of what brought the world to this point so the story is a bit two-dimensional, but the series is improving. Maybe the next book in the series will be even better.