And the next author you should read is . . .

[katayla]

I just finished Kelley Armstrong's The Gathering and felt compelled to come on here and tell you all how you should read her books! She writes supernatural YA (this is what I plan on selling to you tonight!) and urban fantasy. And I know a lot of people are probably sick of those genres, so I get if you don't want to read them, but if you still like the genre or want to give it one last chance, check them out!

Anyway, The Gathering is the start of a companion to trilogy to The Darkest Rising trilogy (which consists of, in order, The Summoning, The Awakening and The Reckoning), but you don't need to read the first trilogy to understand what's going on. You'll just know more if you do. (You'll also know more if you've read her adult books, since they're set in the same world.)

I've already been stealing from my GoodReads review, but now I'm going to flat out copy:

And this book was just a great reminder of what draws me to Armstrong's work. She's very good at tapping into the tropes of the genre, while avoiding the pitfalls. With both the romance in the first trilogy and the one in this book, she uses what makes the cliche supernatural YA couple appealing, while avoiding the more negative aspects. The girls might be attracted to the guys, but that doesn't get in the way of their standing up for themselves and demanding to be treated as they should.

I'm also impressed with how Armstrong handles the (for lack of a better word) bitchy characters. They start off seeming like unrealistic stereotypes, but end up getting such fascinating depth.

It's like . . . I've said to a couple of people that I want to like dystopia and this isn't dystopia (none of Armstrong is), but this illustrates why. There's something appealing about some of these crazy-popular genres. Not always the stories written in them, but the genres themselves do have value. And when I can find a book that makes the story good and not just the genre? That's awesome.

Comments

[thebigdisaster.livejournal.com]

It's ordered and coming in the mail. After I read Eona: The Last Dragoneye I will be zooming through it!! Kelley is amazing at adding depth. But I HAVE to know....Does the old crew show up in this series?

[katje0711.livejournal.com]

What is YA? Young Adult?

[stargazr324.livejournal.com]

Okay, so which of her books should I start with?

[otempora42.livejournal.com]

I'm downloading The Summoning onto my Kindle right now! I'll let you know how I find it.

[nordmaedchen.livejournal.com]

I just finished Kelley Armstrong's The Gathering and felt compelled to come on here and tell you all how you should read her books!

I somehow had a feeling that I have to check her out. LOL

[myr-soleil.livejournal.com]

I CAN'T WAIT TO READ IT. Except apparently I can because I'm considering waiting for the paperback version in order to match with my first trilogy. I'm still unsure what to do. It's a very important decision. But I'm super happy to hear The Gathering is good! :D

[torigates.livejournal.com]

Weird timing! I just finished Frostbitten, and was coming to talk to you about it! I was so happy to get back into Kelley Armstrong's world, I guess that is a sign that I should check out her YA stuff. I'm not sure I knew it was set in the same universe.

I love everything you said about her. she's so good at giving all her characters depth and it is really refreshing that even the "villains" of her world are usually given more than just surface "badness". At the very least you can say that they're all given REAL motivations.

I'm excited to read more about the werewolves now (And you know I was more into the other supernatural beings). I hope she writes more about the new guys.

[stellicidio.livejournal.com]

I saw you reading this book on Goodreads, and liking it. I'm not sure this would be my thing though as it's not really my genre but who knows maybe I will check it out sometime :)