Audiobook Review: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

The Gathering
Darkness Rising #1
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Reader: Jennifer Ikeda
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Paranormal
Run-Time: 8 Hours & 8 mins
Released: April 12th 2011
Review Source: Harper Audio
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) Strange things are happening in Maya's tiny Vancouver Island town. First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, mountain lions are spotted rather frequently around Maya's home--and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. Her best friend, Daniel, has also been experiencing unexplainable premonitions about certain people and situations.

It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret, and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy--her paw-print birthmark.

Thoughts on the audio go as follow. I really liked the reader. If I have one complaint is that at times she sounded like she was rushing but that's it. She did a great job portraying the main character Maya. Even when she switched to one of the male voices, it worked well with her voice and reading. I would definitely keep following this series via audio. So if your an avid audio book listener or just beginning out with audios, this is a great one to pick up. So one word to describe the narrator would be Fantastic probably!

Now on to my thought about the story. I have read Kelley Armstrong in the past but only her Adult paranormal series. I think I tried once to pick up a YA book a long time ago and it just didn't catch my fancy. This was before blogging. So when I had the chance to listen to this audio book and it was Kelly, I jump on it. I am so glad I did. This story line is great. I'm a big fan of shape-shifters and the whole paranormal world. 

SO pretty much all books tend to find with a major cliff-hanger, well The Gathering begins with such an intense scene. You get sucked in immediately because of what takes places. The Gathering follows Maya. Maya is your regular outdoorsy type. She lives with her adoptive parents in a very small town in Vancouver on an Island. When I say small, I meant exclusive with about 200 peoples. Maya is shocked when her best friend drowns in the lake. Her best friend who was the captain of the swim team. I said it started off with a bang. Then you jump forward 1year and Maya has begun to heal. The town is noticing an increase numbers of Mountain Lion sightings too. Certain events begin to unfold and Maya, Daniel and the new bad boy in town Rafe are all involved in some shape or form. Did I mention Maya has this unique birthmark that's in the shape of a paw print. Ha! Caught your attention there I bet.

If you have not read any books by Kelly or this series, give it a try. I really think you will like it like I did. I'm excited to read The Calling next and see what happens.