Review: The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

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.

Review: Dearly Departed by Lia Habel

Dearly Departed by Lia Habel

• Pub. Date: October 18, 2011
• Publisher: Del Rey 
• Pages: 470
• Series: Gone With the Respiration #1

http://www.liahabel.com

Love can never die.


"Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie? 


The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.


But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.


In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love."

First Line: "I was buried alive."


Review: The futuristic Victorian steampunk world that Habel created was pretty amazing. I had no problems visualizing the world in which the characters lived. I liked the fact that although there was romance between Bram and Nora there was a whole lot more to the book. It was especially interesting reading about the conflict between the Punks and the Royals.

Nora and Bram were solid characters but they were not my favorite. I really liked Nora's friend Pamela. As the book progressed I found myself looking forward to her point of views more then the other characters. I felt like she was the character that really changed and evolved the most. Speaking of point of views there were quite a few of them, I counted a total of five. That was my only real issue with the book and I felt like so many point of views took away from me enjoying the book as much as I would have.

I really loved the other zombie characters they were fun to read about. Also there are good zombies who still have a hold on their minds and bad zombies who are out biting and eating people. Although the good zombies eventually lose their minds as well. Which is why I am interested to see how Bram will handle that predicament when he is faced with it...which I'm assuming he would be in the future books.

Will I rush out and buy the next book? If it has several point of views like Dearly Departed did then probably not but I will eventually pick it up. If you like Zombies I would recommend this book.




Memorable Quotes 

"Mostly I hate the fact that mine isn't the face of a girl who studies war and history instead of hem lengths. It's not the face of a girl who's top of her target-shooting class. It isn't the face of a girl who can stand up for herself, who's lost almost all of her defenders and doesn't want any more-who just wants to be left alone to slog it out as best she can."

"See?" He thumped his book for emphasis. "Vampires are just zombies with good PR! That could be us in a few years!"

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