The Gathering

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
★★★★★
Series: Darkness Rising #1
Release Date: April 12, 2011
Publisher: Harper Teen
Age: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Supernatural
Format: Hardback
Source: Bought

Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can’t find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students–for every grade from kindergarten to twelve. Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya’s determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya’s home, and they won’t go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts experiencing “bad vibes” about certain people and things. It does’t help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret…and he’s interested in one special part of Maya’s anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark.

Oh Kelley Armstrong, why do you do this to us! I am so glad when I read The Summoning (Darkest Powers #1) the other 2 books were already released because I never would have survived this twice. Waiting for this sequel is going to KILL me! The Gathering is another paranormal story by Kelley Armstrong. This series, Darkness Rising, is a spinoff of sorts. I've even seen it called Darkest Powers #4 in some places, but it has all new characters and setting. As a huge Darkest Powers fan (if you haven't read them, I HIGHLY recommend them) I had to have this book as soon as it came out.

The Gathering follows Maya who has seen her fair share of tragedy. I must say, everything in this book is left open for the series (much like the Darkest Powers series was done). None of our questions are answered and we are all left biting our nails and anxiously awaiting the next book. As the first book in the new series The Gathering does an amazing job of building up the story.

Holy Freaking Cliffhanger- I love saying that!

Salmon Creek is a town built around a medical research lab and seems to harbor plenty of secrets. Maya and her friends had never questioned their lives before visitors come to Salmon Creek and start asking questions. When this happens everything Maya has ever known begins to be unraveled.

I, simply put, loved this book. Maya is miss-know-it-all and then she meets Rafe and realizes she may not know everything. He has her wondering about what she might be missing. There are secrets in this town that keep the reader guessing even up to the end. And, what an ending, I can't wait until the next book comes out.

The setting kind of reminded me of Nightshade, woods and earthy.  This book definitely leaves you wanting more.

I recommend it to fans of: