Review: The Katerina Triology, Volume 1: The Gathering Storm

Title: The Gathering Storm
Author: Robin Bridges
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: January 10, 2012
Book: Netgalley

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.                                                                        


The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

This is the first book that I have read that has a necromancer as a main character. I immediately became excited. I dove into the book and took off. I was ready too enter the world of Katerina. However, as I kept reading the pages kept turning slower and slower and I was losing the speed I once had when I took of from the start. I thought I was going to force myself to finish this book but I didn't give up hope. As the book was coming down to its last 100 pages, it started to pick up.

The plot was easy to follow and it proved to be a somewhat fast read. Except for those few bumps in the middle. I loved the characters, especially the bad characters, due to the fact that they prove exciting. 

I ask all readers to read this book and give it your opinion. Maybe for you this book will be a easy read right from the start with no bumps. 

I give this book 4 souls!

Truthfully, I was excited when I read the synopsis of this book to just go ahead and dive in. However, when I first started reading this book, it started off at a slow pace for me. I kept reading hoping it would pick up and thankfully it did but not till the last quarter of the book. I was hoping it too have picked up sooner but sadly it didn't.

The plot was easy to follow and it had its share of twists and turn to make the book more exciting. The problem that the book lacked for me was that it dragged. I kinda had to force myself to read this book until it finally started the pickup and then from there to the end it was all fast paced for me.

The way this book is presented to the reader was good, in the sense that you want to start off slow and then pick up. For me I like books that catch me right from the very start and keep hold of me too the very end.

Although this book wasn't the book for me, I let all readers know that this book is worth the time. Who knows, maybe there is someone out there who can present a different look towards the book that I missed. So reades, check it out when it comes out.

I give this book 3 souls!