Review : The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges
Title : The Gathering Storm (Katerina Trilogy #1)
Author : Robin Bridges
Publisher : Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication Date : January 10th 2012
Goodreads - The Book Depository
St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.
An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.
The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?
Personal Thoughts
I went into The Gathering Storm not really knowing what the book was about, so I was very much surprised to learn that this was a paranormal book set in historical Russia. While I thought the concept was fairly unique, I came across a few issues that prevented me from fully relishing the book.
The Gathering Storm tells the story of Katerina Alexandrovna, in the year 1888 in St Petersburg. A debutante, her schedule is full of balls and other social events. But Katerina has a deep secret that no one knows ; she has the ability to raise the dead. She has managed to keep the secret hidden from everyone ever since she discovered her "gift", but when Katerina attempts to save the life of a member of the Imperial Family, she attracts the attention of evil.
There was a myriad of characters in The Gathering Storm, making the book at times very excruciating to read since I couldn't remember who was who. Moreover, they had similar names, so I couldn't help but muddle the characters up. When reading a book, I don't like feeling confused because then, it makes reading seem like a chore. At times, I had to go back to find out if I had previously encountered the characters. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy that aspect of the book at all. Katerina was an interesting character. She had dreams and hopes, most of which were obstructed due to the fact that women in that era were expected to be the home-makers. What Katerina craved for more than anything was to be a doctor and find cures for many incurable diseases. In that way, Katerina was a strong and level-headed young woman. She knew what her goals were and she never let anything prevent her from reaching her goals. Even knowing that her path to becoming a doctor would be full of thorns, she pushed herself to limits to achieve her dream. It was easy to see her determination and fully appreciate it. Being a Necromancer wasn't something that Katerina wanted. In fact, she thought of her gift as a curse. Because of that, it took her a while to fully embrace her abilities. One thing I didn't really like when it came to Katerina was how she always seemed to get into trouble, but would never do much to get out of them. She waited for others to find solutions to her problems. Therefore, I lost my respect and admiration for her when that happened. Some of the secondary characters were well-fleshed out and beautifully written, but there were others whose characters were simply glossed over. I attribute this to the multitude of characters, making it rather tough to describe lengthily in a span of 386 pages.
The plot of the book was enigmatic, in my opinion. There's a lot going on in the story, so it's very entertaining. Vampires, werewolves, zombies, sorcerers, necromancers all formed part of this book. It was exciting and absolutely enthralling. I also adored the setting of The Gathering Storm. The author depicted St Petersburg lifestyle in a vivid and beautiful manner. For me, it was easy to picture the setting. However, I wasn't very pleased with the pacing of the story. I wanted it to be a little more fast paced than it was. There were times I was truly bored with the endless balls, so I believe some scenes could have been cut off. Moreover, I thought the book was lacking in action-packed scenes even with all the possibilities it possessed. There was a romance, as well, in the book, but it never took first place to the plot. Instead, it remained in the sidelines and slowly blossomed at a nice speed. Robin Bridges is a fabulous writer. Her writing is very captivating and managed to pull me in from the very first page. She has a way of giving life to her book that made reading it very much enjoyable.
In the end, I found that I had a great time reading The Gathering Storm. I'm excited to get to the next book and to resume my adventures with Katerina. The Gathering Storm brought a fresh twist to the YA historical fiction. If you're looking for something unique and original, definitely give this book a shot!
Rating
Cover : 3/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 4/5
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