The Gathering (Darkness Rising #1)
The Gathering (Darkness Rising #1)Kelley Armstrong
Published: April 12, 2011
ARC Provided by HarperTeen
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. – Goodreads
Well, I’ve never read a Kelley Armstrong book and I’ve gotta say – if all of her books are as good as this one I am missing out! I really loved everything about this book. The setting, the characters, the writing – it was all great and I flew through it.
At the beginning of the story we are introduced to Maya, who experiences the trauma of seeing her best friend drown right in front of her a year before. Talk about awful. Can you imagine that happening in front of you? I can’t. That’s one of my biggest fears. Well, that and spiders. So, she’s a little messed up but making it through okay.
I really loved the setting in this story. I live in the mountains. We are out in them almost every weekend 4wheeling and cooking out. So, the setting of this story was fun for me. I’m also a huge animal lover and loved that Maya was too. I would totally be taking care of all the animals like Maya.
I really liked the new supernatural beings that Armstrong is creating. Right now I’m not really sure WHAT they are but its very interesting and I can’t wait to find out more about what it’s all about.
The characters in the story are well written and likable. Maya is a very strong girl and I was glad she didn’t put up with Rafe’s crap OR that the relationships in the book wasn’t instalove. Yay for a believable relationship! I also really liked Daniel and think that in the next books there will be feelings for Maya coming from him. We will see. I also love Maya’s parents. You don’t get a lot of parent interactions in YA books and her parents were front and center in the story.
One thing that did bother me was that I felt like we got no answers with the end of the book – just a ton of questions that we have to wait to have answered. Even when books are part of a series I still feel like there should be some sort of wrap up – even if there is a big cliff hanger. The Gathering definitely leaves it wide open with us just getting a glimpse into the world Armstrong is building.
I did love the book though and can’t wait to find out what happens with Maya, Rafe, and Daniel now that they are being pulled into unknown territory.