The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet. 

So I picked this book up because I'm a fan of Kelley's Darkest Power series, if you've read those you know that they are kind of a supernatural thriller with some romance thrown in, and they're a tad bit dark, by dark I mean scary and not very happy go lucky, less laughs more thrills. So that is what I was kind of expecting from this book.

I really enjoyed Maya as the main character, I loved her interactions with her parents and the confidence she had in herself. I also liked the way she approached Rafe (the sexy bad boy) she wasn't taking his bull, even if she did find him a little bit really sexy. That said I did like Rafe, he seemed nice and I did believe that he cared for Maya, however I would have to say that if Armstrong decided to create a love triangle between Maya, Rafe and Daniel (Maya's best friend) I would have to side with Daniel.  Daniel was nice and loyal, and I loved him!


The plot line of this book seemed predictable at first, but the end had me going "ummm what just happened?" I loved loved loved the shape-shifter thing, it's a paranormal aspect that I've always found intriguing but I feel like is never brought up outside of werewolves. I also liked how this book had serious parts but still had parts that made me laugh, quite hard in fact. As I said before Armstrong's Darkest Powers series was lacking in the laughs so the fact that this book had a lighter aspect was a surprise.


This book left me longing for the next book, and intrigued by the beautiful cover! The earring! The dark hair! The red lips! Give me more Maya, Daniel, and Rafe please!