Take Two: "The Gathering" by Kelley Armstrong

We all do it, we read a book and we make an initial impression of it, whether it is a positive or negative impression it doesn't matter- just the fact that we make one matters. And sometimes the impression that we make can very well be impacted by factors outside of the book (ie. our mood while reading the book, other books we were reading at the time, etc.). We then reread the book (which I don't know about y'all, but I am totally a rereader) and notice things we didn't see the first time around, come to understand those characters who bothered us the first time around or just come away from the book with a totally different idea of how we feel about it. As mentioned, I am a rereader sort of person, whether I reread a book right after my initial time reading it, or months, if not years later, well, I don't think that really matters, what I think matters is that with time something about that book hooks us, reels us in, and forces us to once again pick it up. I thought that it would be interesting if I were to reread some books that I have previously read and/or reviewed to see if my initial impression of the book has changed, hence this new little feature I like to call "Take Two".

You can find my original review of "The Gathering" HERE.

From Goodreads: "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.

In The Gathering , New York Times best-selling author Kelley Armstrong brings all the supernatural thrills from her wildly successful Darkest Powers series to Darkness Rising, her scorching hot new trilogy."

After rereading this book I must admit that my opinion of it has changed very little from the first time I read it and I must also admit that I am quite disappointed by that fact. I was hoping that in rereading the book I would come to understand it better, connect to characters I was previously on the fence about, and things along those lines (as what does happen in some instances of rereading a book), however, I unfortunately didn't in most instances.

Again, I found that the plot to be quite slow and underdeveloped in places. And, again, I can't help but wonder why there are so few references made to the Genesis and Phoenix Projects in this book- in my opinion the first book of a series is supposed to suck the reader in, guaranteeing that they will continue on with the series and I'm not quite sure that this book is entirely successful at that. The paranormal aspect of this book plays an EXTREMELY small role, there is much more mention of cliques, wildlife, and the likes of.

That being said, I did pay more attention to the characters the second time reading this book than I did the first time, primarily Rafe and Daniel, though also Sam, Corey and Hayley. Daniel and Rafe finally made an impact upon me the second time reading this book (but no where the impact that Derek and Simon had from Kelley's "Darkest Powers" series did).

All in all, while I was a fair bit disappointed with this book (again) I will continue to read on with this series (mainly because it is written by Kelley Armstrong, one of my most favourite authors ever, and an author I know is capable of writing amazingness- though, in all honesty, I can't say that I would continue on with this series if it weren't written by Kelley as I don't find it to be near as engaging as it needs to be).

Rating: 8/10

Memorable lines from this book:

"What happened?"
"You fainted." The corners of his mouth twitched. "I believed swooned is the correct term. It's not nearly as romantic as it sounds, you know. More like a deadweight collapse. With drool" (pg. 60).

"... you're an equal opportunity hater. You pick on all of us" (pg. 118).

"I promise not to try to get you back into the woods." He paused. "For at least forty-eight hours" (pg. 198).

"You have to pass the parental exam first. It'll take you awhile to compile the data, They'd like it in triplicate... We have Kenji. We have my cell phone. Since we aren't officially dating, I'm sure you'll agree that's all the protection we need" (pg. 202).

"Dad's trying to marry me off to Daniel." I looked at him. "You know, if you offer him a new truck for a dowry, he might go for it" (pg. 221).