Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Book Review ~ The Gathering

The Gathering (Darkness Rising #1)
by Kelley Armstrong
published by HarperCollins

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet.

In The Gathering, New York Times best-selling author Kelley Armstrong brings all the supernatural thrills from her wildly successful Darkest Powers series to Darkness Rising, her scorching hot new trilogy.

My Thoughts: I'm very mixed on this one, felt like a roller coaster. I liked the beginning. The book jumps right into the action. There's a death, an almost death, everything seemed to be going in the right direction for a great read. Then it's a year later and I got bored for a large chunk of the book. I know that we needed background and world building since this is the first book but the layout didn't work for me. There were things here and there that would pique my interest and then it would wane again. About halfway through it started to pick up again.
Between the strangers in a town that never has visitors and the new kid that knows more about Maya than she does, it pulled me back in. I liked both Rafe and Daniel and was glad it wasn't set up as a love triangle. They each bring something different to the story, from the one that is like Maya to the one who may be destined to hunt them.
I don't usually have this problem with this author but the end didn't really work for me. It just seemed really rushed and too much was going on. Then it just seemed to end. I still am curious about this series and trying to fit all the pieces together so I will definitely be reading the second book.

Rating: 3.5

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