Those to Come - The Shins

The Gathering
Darkness Rising, Book 1

Author: Kelley Armstrong
Pages: 359
Publisher: Harper
Review Copy Acquired From: A friend gave this to me and I do not know where he got it.

Brief Summary:
A year ago, Maya's best friend, Serena, died, drowning in a lake she had been swimming in for most of her life. Maya has trouble accepting that Serena simply drowned, what with her being the best swimmer on the school team. Still, Maya cannot do anything to prove that and is trying to get on with her life. She still has her other best friend, and Serena's boyfriend, Daniel by her side. He can be a bit overprotective, like when the new school hottie and bad boy is hitting on Maya, but his heart is clearly in the right place. Will she give in and date the persistent bad boy, Rafe? Will she turn to the best friend? Does her paw print birthmark mean anything or is it just a neat mark?

Review:
Last year, I read and really enjoyed Armstrong's teen series that begins with The Summoning. Later, I tried her Women of the Otherworld series and was not impressed, but I am planning to at least start book two before giving up on her adult fiction entirely. This new series is set in the same world as the previous, but does not have too much crossover, at least not that I've noticed (and my memory's not great, so I might have missed something). Davidoff is the only character name I recognized from before.

The plot holds few surprises, and those, generally, were not the big ones. Her relationship choices were inevitable, and future relationship drama is emerging along clearly defined lines. The emergence of the fantasy elements of the story was wholly expected as well. If you like to be completely caught off guard by your book, then Armstrong might not be for you. Remember that Armstrong has a strong basis in paranormal romance, so there are certain elements that are just going to happen a particular way.

That does not change the fact that her YA novels are compulsively readable. They go down quick and easy, and leave you wanting more. Her romances, if the previous series is something I can go by, are very cute, take a long time to come to fruition and may involve some missteps along the way (like dating the wrong guy and then realizing your feelings lie elsewhere). Although it would be repetitive, I hope for the latter yet again, as Rafe's little bad guy routine did nothing to make me like him. Bad boys are good only in certain circumstances, as better detailed in my previous post. I am fully rooting for Daniel. Normally, I would not ship her with the best friend, but I really liked him for some reason and think he has some awesomeness hiding beneath the surface.

If you're looking for something fun to read this spring/summer, you can't go wrong with The Gathering. For another review, check out Nori's Closet.

"Quaking leaves and broken light
Shifting skin
The coming night"