The Gathering (Darkness Rising #1) by Kelley Armstrong
YA Paranormal
Hardback
April 12, 2011
Harper Collins
Reviewed by Tori
Favorite Quote: “Oh my God. What are you guys? Twelve?”
“No. Just really, really, immature.”
This is my first time reading Kelley Armstrong’s YA. Completely character driven, we watch and learn with our protagonist, Maya, about the small research town she lives in and the slow unraveling of it’s secrets.
Maya is a great heroine in that she is not your normal emo YA character. No poetic prose speaking of first love and it’s loss in here. Maya has a wonderful snarky sense of humor and a strong emotional base. The dialogue between her and her parents is hilarious.
“I like Daniel. He takes care of you.”
“Oh my God. Did you just really say that? He takes care of me?”
“I didn’t mean it like that…”
“Takes care of me? Did I go to sleep and wake up in the nineteenth century? Ack! I can’t go to school like this. Where is my corset? My bonnet?”“You know, if you offer him a new truck for a dowry, he might go for it.”
She has enough imagination to understand the unbelievable without being a total push over and just accepting it. She’s intelligent, strong willed, and flawed. She’s not perfect and that makes her even more intriguing.
The secondary cast of characters are just as personable and viable as Maya. Ms. Armstrong allows Maya and her friends to be normal teenagers. They play, argue, go to school, sneak beer into parties, and have romantic interludes. Her best friend Daniel is a calming influence in her life, allowing for a welcomed male friend role without romantic overtones. Rafe, Maya’s love interest, is mysterious enough to fascinate us right along with Maya. The romance comes on a little faster and stronger then I’m used to in YA but it’s not ‘creepy’. There is no soul mate vibe; which seems to be what some YA’s think teenagers must be in order to like each other. Rafe’s mysteriousness is resolved pretty quickly yet adds to the overall main storyline. We learn, through Rafe, that Maya’s (and maybe the other kids) on that island for a reason and the reasons may not be amicable.
While overall I enjoyed The Gathering, I didn’t get the same sense of the action or adventure I normally get from Ms. Armstrong’s books. The Gathering spends the majority of it’s time laying the ground work for the main conflict and introducing us to the characters. We get clues and hints through the entire book but the ending cliffhanger doesn’t leave us with any definite conclusion or answers, just more questions.
Regardless of the abrupt ending, The Gathering looks to be the beginning of another wonderful YA series by Kelly Armstrong. It’s a comfortable read. Not overly emotional and tense, it gives just enough to keep you wondering and reading. I look forward to the second in this series, The Calling (Darkness Rising, #2), due to release April 2012.
Rating: C
Recent Reviews:
My Bookish Ways – 4/5
Goodreads
Although this doesn’t hold true for her adult series, what I learned from her first YA trilogy was to wait until all the books are released to read them at once. I read the first one alone and got NOTHING out of it. Then once all three were released I read them all in a row and loved them. So I’m waiting until the next books are published before reading this one. Maybe once the trilogy is completed it’ll be easier to appreciate!
That sounds like a brilliant idea. I”m glad that you over all enjoyed them.
I still have not read anything by Kelly Armstrong yet, high time I started! I really am in the mood for a new urban fantasy series though.
This is my first YA read of hers. I have read all of her adult series and really liked it.
While I loved Kelley’s first YA trilogy, The Darkest Powers, The Gathering was just alright to me. The characters reminded me too much of previous characters, and the plot was too slow.
I’m almost thinking maybe I should have read the first YA trilogy in order to understand this one.
I’m waiting for the library to send me The Gathering, but I recently finished her first series in the same world (Darkest Powers). If you read them, it might clear up a bit about The Gathering. I don’t think it’s essential but it might help with the plotting world. It’s also vaguely related to her adult series.
The thing I love about Armstrong’s YA is that her female protags aren’t Perfect Pretty Princesses. They have some snap to them. They’re not meek, either. But they don’t really think they’re superheroes over. I like the balance. Also, in the Powers books, Chloe was not Tori was not Rae. There was individuality and experience to each female. The males were vastly different, too. Derek wasn’t Simon wasn’t Andrew. And each have their own motivations.
I also like when she has a couple different groups battling, not exactly just black and white. I’m hoping The Gathering series continues that.
I am curious I do confess to that. I like her adult books, but then aghain I only loike Clay adn Elena so….oh hard!!!!!
Clay, Elena, Jeremy, Jamie…I loves them all.