As seen on The ReadventurerWhat a pleasant surprise this novel was! I did not expect to like The Gathering after being very underwhelmed by Kelley Armstrong's first YA trilogy - Darkest Powers. While I think nothing changed in terms of the structure Armstrong chose for her trilogies (the whole story is simply separated into three parts instead of presenting three separate story arcs), this book was a much better experience for me. I attribute this to the following:1) Setting - loved, loved that

Maya lives in a small research town. She is recovering after her best friend's questionable death. When she starts to look into it with Daniel, boyfriend of her dead friend. Instead of discovering answers all they find are more questions about themselves, and the town. Sometimes I feel jealous of YA novels. The covers are so pretty and there are so many. I wonder if there were so many when I was in school. I don't remember, but I think the Urban Fantasy craze picked up before I graduated. So whe...

I have a confession to make... here goes. So, anyone who knows me at all on goodreads will know that I have a few friends whose reviews I rely on without question. If they say a book is better than chocolate, orgasms and Melina Marchetta combined, even if I've never heard of it, I will believe them. Except... I didn't. I doubted, it's true, I doubted. I have had this book on my shelf since not long after it's release in April last year and I have been putting if off and putting it off. Every

Bullet Review:75 pages of plot ballooned out to 359 pages. Characters are complete morons, without a shred of common sense. All the plot twists I called A HUNDRED PAGES before the characters were told it (because investigating? Ain't nobody got time for that!). Instead, let's focus on the stupid teen DWAMA romantic plot tumor.You cannot say that I'm bloating the rating just because I liked Armstrong's earlier books. Massive disappointment; if I didn't already own the rest of the trilogy, I would...

My history with Kelley Armstrong is a long and solid one.I've read all her books in the Underworld series and Elena and Clay are one of my (few) most beloved couples in UF. I inhaled all the books where they are protagonists, they're definitely my favorite in the series.When Armstrong started writing YA lit (The Darkest Powers series) I picked up The Summoning. I wasn't very impressed, so much so that I dropped the series. This new series, Darkness Rising, is somewhat better than DP, but still h...

I do not read a lot of paranormal fantasy novels because (forgive me for being too honest), I find most of them a bit corny and the romance often cheesy but this particular book combines several elements-the setting (a really small secluded forest town in Canada that specializes in medical research), the sprinkle of science fiction and mythology and the genuine teen feel to the novel including the realistic romance, dialogues and writing making this a very refreshing read. The plot isn’t your co...

The Gathering (Darkness Rising #1), Kelley ArmstrongThe Gathering is the first book in Armstrong's Darkness Rising trilogy. Darkness Rising is the second trilogy in the Darkest Powers series. Darkness Rising follows a new set of kids. The Darkness Rising trilogy follows a sixteen-year-old girl named Maya Delaney.The setting for The Gathering is a small medical-research town called Salmon Creek on Vancouver Island. Salmon Creek was built by St. Cloud Corporation, the owners of the town and surrou...

"The cougar-a ragged-ear old top I clled Marv-just stared at her, like he couldn't believe anyone would be dumb to climb a tree to escape a cat.” I love Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series, but this was my first time trying one of her young adult series. Her writing style worked fine for this genre, easy to focus on and a breeze to get through. Not much happens until after 50% into the story, but it’s still easy to stay focused on the character-focused book. The small town setting

3.5 starsI really liked Armstrong's Darkest Powers Trilogy: The Reckoning, the Summoning, the Awakening, so I was excited that this trilogy is set in that same world with a different set of kids. The Things I loved:1) I loved that, unlike every other YA out there, Maya had a great relationship with her parents. Yes, she was adopted, so there could be potentially creepy birth-parents lurking out there, but I'm a firm believer that the people who raise you are your real parents. (view spoiler)[I'm...

The Good Stuff * I cannot believe I have never read one of Kelley's books before, she is an incredible storyteller. She is also a lovely women who sent me a signed copy of one of her books for my SB&H (Spina Bifida Association) raffle * The story grabs your attention from the 1st chapter and doesn't let go until the very last page * Maya's parents are AWESOME -- this is the first YA book I have read where the parents aren't self-involved, clueless douche bags - Thank you Kelley for this I will b...

Since I loved the Darkest Powers trilogy so very much, the realization that was already bored and did not enjoy myself particularly hit me rather unexpectedly when I started flipping forward around page 190. Certainly my heavy cold with a nasty headache included in the package has to carry part of my inability to focus on the supposedly unnerving small-town-story, but I really do not care enough about the characters' fate to prove this theory under stabilized conditions later. So. After 194 page...

First thoughts when I found this book in the library: “Yes! Score!” Full disclosure: Kelley Armstrong is one of my favorite Canadian authors. I love her easy-going storytelling style. I was a bit hesitant to pick up this book because I did not enjoy her Darkest Powers series as much as her adult series.I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was captivated by the story and could not put the book down. The Gathering is the story of Maya Delaney, a 16 year old girl who lives in an extremely iso...

4 starsSo begins my journey of rereading the first two books in the Darkness Rising trilogy and start the last book, The Rising.Can I just say that it's good to reread a book you like? Even if it's been a long time, there's still that lingering feeling of how much you liked it. It was the same for me after reading The Gathering.For those of you who don't know, the Darkness Rising trilogy is a spin-off of the Darkest Power trilogy. We follow a new cast of characters as well as a new plot that is

First read (appr. 2013-2014): 5/5Second read (2019): 5/5Third read (2021): 5/5--------------------------Welcome to my review for my second reread, which would also be my third time reading this book.The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong is the first novel in the Darkness Rising trilogy. Even though it is in the same universe as the Darkest Powers series, one series isn't required to be read to understand the other.The Gathering was one of my favorite series when I was in my last years of middle scho...

I didn't find a whole lot to like about this book. Spoilers below...1) It's categorized as YA but it reads like a upper middle grade book. Unfortunately allusions to sex and date rape mean the book ends up being a YA book that doesn't feel very sophisticated. 2) The plot moves at a snails pace. On top of that, the plot isn't that exciting.... This book is essentially a contemporary YA with only a small dash of the paranormal. And because it's a strange, poorly done hybrid of contemporary YA and

The last 1/4 of the book...I don't even know where to start.I don't know about you, but I'm not too fond of writing essays, and I was pretty terrible at it in grade school. I tend to BS my way through them then, I just ramble and make random, dramatic statements and reactions and not much actual facts until the very last part of my paper, where I realize, OH SHIT, I only have 250 words left, and I need to make a point!!!!!! Then I cram in all the facts I can and hope that my essay/paper ends up

Well written but I think my sheer impatience with the set-up got to me. References to Samuel Lyle (Darkest Powers trilogy) and the Nasts, Cortezes and St Clouds (Women of the Otherworld) were very welcome as I'm anxious to see characters from all the books connect but I'm seeing similarities with these other works too. Maya reminds me of Elena (WotO) in personality and ability but the people around her made me think of Chloe's crowd. Daniel is Chloe's Maya's best friend and she wants to keep it

Slow and underdeveloped start to new trilogy, 2.5 starsIn Kelley Armstrong's THE GATHERING, Maya Delaney lives in a small medical research town on Vancouver Island. A year after her best friend's death, Maya and her friend Daniel still don't have answers about how Serena died. When other people start to show up dead in the woods and Maya begins to have strange moments of connection with animals, she decides to start looking for answers. All the while, things are heating up between Maya and bad b...

Here’s the thing that you need to know before you pick this up: it has no resolution. It’s three hundred and fifty nine pages of introduction. A wild and eerie setting is described, a cast of powerful teenagers is introduced, a few mysteries are presented, and a romance begins. And then it just ends. There isn’t even a real cliffhanger. However, I have to say that the elements that are present – the setting, the characters, the conflicts, and the romance – are all pretty well done. I don’t know

I really liked this book for several reasons. First, I should say that I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was fantastic! The opening scene was scary and interesting. Loved the new take on shifters. The end was left open for a sequel which I will pick up as soon as I can. Daniel was my favorite character though Rafe was interesting too. Love the three legged Fitz!