Review: Kelley Armstrong - The Gathering

Darkness Rising Series:

Book 1:

The Gathering: Maya, Daniel, Rafe

Summary:

Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. And when I say small it is small, less than 200 people. No one really noticed that that the kids might be a little different, the kids excel at athletics or music or in Maya’s case, healing and an affinity for animals. Lately, things have been getting a little odder, especially with Maya as she approaches her 16^th birthday. The wild animals are approaching Maya more and more, her healing abilities seem to be stronger healing animals’ way before they should be healed. Now there is a new kid in town, Rafe, and he has taken a strong interest in Maya, but she wants nothing to do with him, until he shows up at her 16^th birthday party and then things change…

Review:

So this is the first YA novel I gave read in a really long time and the first reviewed for this blog. If the novel hadn’t been written by Kelley Armstrong I probably wouldn’t have bothered, but since I enjoy K. Armstrong’s writing and I won the book from a context I figured why not. I am certainly glad I took the risk! Normally I don’t enjoy young adult that much, but this novel was very thoughtfully written and didn’t read at an elementary level. The main characters were mature and didn’t whine or have low self esteem, while still being believable teenagers with teenager behaviors. Armstrong kept the storyline moving and the kids are intriguing as well as the town dynamics.  The book sucked me in quickly and it was hard to put it down at bed time! This is an excellent read for readers of all ages!

Rating: