The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges
- Pub. Date: January 10, 2012
- Publisher:Random House Children's Books
- Pages: 400
- Series: Katerina Trilogy
http://www.robinbridges.com
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?
First Line: Our family tree has roots and branches reaching all across Europe, from France to Russia, from Denmark to Greece, and in several transient and minute kingdoms and principalities in between.
Review:
The Gathering Storm is based during the late nineteenth century, and young Duchess Katerina just happens to be a Necromancer meaning she can raise the dead. Thinking that was all I was going to get as far as the paranormal department goes I was surprised to discover this book had vampires, witches, faeries, zombies, and many more supernatural creatures. Toss that in with a whole bunch of characters and names being thrown around at times the book got confusing because there was too much going on.
With the interesting concept I had really high hopes for the book and I did enjoy reading it but not to the extent I hoped I would. Katerina was a character I liked at times especially when she showed how passionate she was about not being part of the norm and becoming a doctor and whenever she decided to have a backbone and stand up for herself but there was also too many times in crucial moments when she let people push her around and it frustrated me so much.
As far as romance there is no real love triangle although the synopsis might make you believe that but there is none, what Katerina and Prince Danilo have is far from love...like etc it's all about the Grand Duke George Alexandrovich who in the beginning dislikes her for the dark aura that surrounds her but somehow somewhere falls madly in love with her and same goes with Katerina she can't stand him but eventually she is in love with him also...how and when that happens I have no clue but it does. Oddly I actually did like the Grand Duke.
Overall I loved the Historical Russia setting with the paranormal twist but there was too much going on and some very unnecessary pointless parts that can be taken out of the book which would actually make it a more enjoyable read.
