Kelley Armstrong

Sixteen-year-old Maya suspects there may be a relationship between her paw-print birthmark, her connection with wild animals, and strange events occurring in her tiny Vancouver Island community, where a medical research facility harbors big secrets.

The gathering

Monicap

I expected... not to dislike this series, but I didn't think I'd like it much at all. Because I read the original series and those characters aren't here (although I think they come in the third book) and also, I thought that I would be holding this to that, which I sorta was, but...

THIS IS A DIFFERENT STORY. It doesn't even feel the same. 
The setting is different, the atmosphere is different, the MAIN CHARACTERS are so different! 

Though... this was very slow at the beginning. Then, Last night, I sat down and i started reading, and that I read, the more that I wanted read. the longer I was in the story, the more I was invested in it. And I started hearing that silky siren call...just one more chapter... and I gave in, again and again. I nearly finished it that night. 

The plot is very, very subtle. You don't realy notice it building, but you FEEL it building, so on the surface, this book is not as exciting or immediate as the original series was, but it's pretty good.

Also... let's talk Rafe. (I'm pronouncing like Rafe from Penryn and the End of Days, sounds like Raw Feet. You?) Anyway. He's certainly no Derek, but he's pretty damn good. When Maya found out their whole relationship was based upon an ulterior motive, all I could say was "You know what? I still like him."

Also, MAYA. I LOVE her as a main character. The way she's thinks is so... analytical, which usually turns me off, but in this story, with this charcter, IT'S SO RIGHT.

Final thoughts on this book... Not as good as the original series, but still prety good.

Sarah Sammis

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong is the first of the Darkness Rising series. It brings together so many of my interests that it's hard for me to write a review that doesn't just dissolve into a pure fandom ranting. If rural Canada, secret labs, Native American creation myths and shape changing aren't your thing, then The Gathering won't be your cup of tea. If they are, then you will probably love the book.

Maya Delaney lives with her adoptive parents on Vancouver island (not to be confused with Vancouver city) in British Columbia, Canada. Her father is a ranger and he like everyone else works for the lab that owns the town. Think Eureka but set in Canada.

Maya is still reeling from the death of her best friend, Serena, a girl who was on the high school swim team and new the lake better than anyone. Despite that, she somehow drowned over the summer. Serena and she had planned to head into town for Maya's birthday to get her paw print shaped birthmark made more permanent through tattooing. When Maya and her mother make the trip, Maya's life is turned upside down and that's where the book for me when from pretty damn good to fricking amazing.

Before I explain why, let me step back and discuss the cover. It's a photograph of a girl in 3/4 profile. She has dark hair, dark eyes, red lips and blue to turquoise skin. Even before opening the book the cover made me think of Turquoise Woman who is an aspect of Changing Woman in the Navajo creation myths. Carrie Schechter, the photographer of the cover, acknowledges the desire to convey Maya's Native American heritage, but doesn't specifically mention the Diné connection.

The tattoo parlor, though, does. While there, Maya who suspects she's Native American, but doesn't know specifically from which people, is recognized as Diné. But there must be something wrong with her as the Diné don't give up their children. The birthmark, though, seals everything for the old woman and she exclaims Yee n'aldooshi. And that's when I feel head over heels in squee for The Gathering.

I'm including a long list of other reviews that go more into the YA aspects of the book. As there are so many reviews on that piece of the book, I decided to stick with the pieces that made me jump up and down with excitement instead.

I am eagerly awaiting the second book, The Calling which comes out April 2012.

Vicky  Nuñez 

I became a a Kelley Armstrong fan with her last YA series, so I was really excited for this one knowing in was in the same world. 

I loved the past series, so I was really looking forward to see ties between this & the Darkest Powers, but they really weren't many which disappointed me a bit, but it's great for those who haven't read the other series. Although honestly, if you haven't you are missing on a lot.

I love all of Armstrong's characters, all her women are strong and are not afraid of battle. Maya, for example, she is a really headstrong character who hates to show weakness. She is not the damsel in distress.

Having read the Darkest Power series & this one I can't help comparing them. And I felt this one wasn't as great. I really hope we get to see more in the sequel I feel this was only an introduction to the characters & there are so many unanswered questions, but it's only the beginning, so I can't wait know more about it.

Ayesha ahmed

If I saw this book without reading it's summary online at first, I would have never picked it up because it looked too fictional. Judging from the book's cover, it looks like a story for young teens (which it actually is) but when I started reading it, I could not put the book down. I did not expect myself to find this genre interesting but realized that when it comes to young adult's fiction I get attached to the characters much more. This book was definitely a change from my usual type of books and I loved it. I cannot wait to start reading the second part!

Mellanie Ann Duque

I got this book when I was still in college, around 2016 to be exact. I've been thinking why this book is quite cheaper than the other hard bounds from our local bookstore. After purchasing it, I did read a few chapters and end up not finishing it because of my busy schedule, until yesterday I finally had one!

The first chapter will give you so much hint what will happen throughout the story, like BAM! it's a mystery novel! I didn't expect to unlock other things that what happen at the first place but I'm pretty much impressed.

The concept of the story is quite similar to some sci-fi books I have read before but still like how it turned out; it will definitely give you Twighlight saga x Huger Games vibes (not that I'm saying that they are completely I dentical but the atmosphere does!)

I came to the point that I just wanted to put the book back to my shelf because everything was quite developing slow which bored me a bit but still managed to continue it. Character development was a bit slow too but I love their personalities.

The setting is dark, and dreamy which I love but somehow similar to Twilight which made me imagine things easier. I slightly dislike the fact that the story was slow and it doesn't get too much thrilling until you're just a few chapters away before you finish it.

but the literature that the author link to the story made me intrigued. I really like that! I hate that it was a cliffhanger!

Emmalie Stearns

I found this book very slow, and not exciting. I have finished the book and I still have many of questions. If this book was just about Maya as a teenager, dealing with Serena's death I think I would of enjoyed it, but the ending was very quick. BUT I loved the romance in it.

Lynn Braden

The Gathering is the first of a series of three books. I had some trouble with this book because I kept wondering when I was going to get to the real story. By the time I finally got to the meat of the story, the book abruptly ended in the middle of a forest fire of unexplained origin. The beginning of the book was about the mysterious death of one teenager who was captain of her swim team and yet drowned in a lake. The other teenager who survives becomes the protagonist. The rest of the story mildly unfolds. A young teenage girl in a small Canadian town who tries to deal with her parents and figure out her relationships with friends is a pretty familiar plot line and doesn't change until the middle of the book when we finally get clues about the possibility of the young girl being a skin-walker. Though we see signs throughout the rest of the book that this might be true, there is also a murder and several unsolved mysteries that the author leaves hanging at the end of the book. The book does attempt to grab the readers' emotions at several points in the story, it just doesn't grab hard enough. I'm not yet sure if I want to take the time to read the other two books in the Darkness Rising series.

Kaeli Wolf 

I think that this book was a good book. Usually when I read a novel with werewolves in it I think that everything else is completely boring. In this book everything was exciting and there was not a point when I could put the book down. This book is awesome for teenage girls and maybe even for teenage boys, although there is a little bit of romance. Most of the book is action-packed and it is a complete page turner.

Celia Adams

After reading and being unimpressed with the first series, Darkest Powers, I had no desire to continue on with this series. However, against my better judgement and after a convincing yet inaccurate book trailer, I decided to give this one a go, promising I wouldn't force myself to continue if I wasn't into it. Unfortunately I am no more impressed by this book than the last one, though I do wish I'd had this moment months ago right after I read the Darkest Powers series, so I'd understand the references that I can remember but not place. Also unfortunately and unfaithfully, I feel I will end up giving the other 2 books a shot, because though I didm't like the story, Kelley Armstrong has a talent for weaving complex plots that propel you with desire to find out what happens.

Hannah Nugent

Ashley shackelford

Rianne van der Wiel

Ashley Holland 

Briar's Reviews

karrington pease 

Katy

Brittany Reynolds 

Jessica Deaner

Luna

Gaja N

The world seemed to dip and darken and I smelled wet earth and thick musk and fresh blood. The wind whipped past, like I was running. Running so fast the ground whizzed beneath me and the wind cut across my skin . . . Maya Delaney has always felt a close bond with nature. The woods around her home are a much-loved sanctuary - and the pawprint birthmark on her hip feels like a sign that she belongs. But then strange and terrible things begin to happen in the tiny medical-research town of Salmon Creek (population: 200). The captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Mountain lions appear around Maya's home, and won't go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts experiencing 'bad vibes' about certain people and things. One of those people is Rafe - the new bad boy in town. What is he hiding - and why is he suddenly so interested in Maya . . . ?