The Katerina Trilogy, Vol. I: The Gathering Storm (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges was a pretty good read. It was a combination of all the elements I look for in books: Victorian Age, magic, conspiracies, Russia, zombies, and stormy blue eyes. Katerina is a necromancer, but she's kept it a secret for all her life. Not even her parents know. Until one night she is forced to use her powers. Now everyone wants her on their team, or wants her killed. Here's what I liked.1. Katerina's dad. He only wanted what was best for his daughter, and I loved that. He helped her pursue her goals to become a doctor, and never pushed her towards marriage.2. The Grand Duke George. He cared so much for his family, and then Katerina as well. He used his powers only to protect them, and it never really was to benefit himself.3. Katerina. She loved her family so much and would do anything to protect them, too. She also grew to love George. Everything she did was also to protect them.Here's what I didn't like.1. The Gathering Storm was so freaking confusing. There was so much information just dumped on me in the first few chapters. But it didn't end there. There were so many different characters, and then throw in the fact they have at least 10 different nicknames. It was so annoying.2. The conflict was such a cliche. The only reason Katerina goes along with the "nefarious plan" is because her family is "in danger". This is such a cliche, and the author made no attempt to make it any sort of original. All of her family is grown adults, I'm pretty sure they'll be okay.3. Katerina's mother. She was such a cliche as well. I'm pretty sure not every mother in the Victorian Age was obsessed with her daughter marrying to the point of not hearing her daughter say she hates the guy who she is engaged to. Overall, because of all the confusion, I had a really hard time connecting to the characters. They all seemed really one sided. So if you like really confusing plot lines, go for it. The plot was intriguing and the setting was enchanting but I found myself counting the pages til the last page. I found the main character annoying because of her indecisiveness and her misplaced noble acts. I found her logic and her actions contradictory and based too much on her unreliable and fast changing emotions. I also found the writing style too distracting. I felt like I was listening to a speech which kept getting cut short every after 5 words. It was annoying. I think the story flow would have been better if the writing style was changed. Despite that, I trudged on because I still somehow wanted to know what would happen. The Grand Duke George, for me, was the only good thing about this book.
What do You think about The Katerina Trilogy, Vol. I: The Gathering Storm (2012)?
Not written well, but a good story line. Good read for teens into the paranormal.
—shaikh
I'm so going to buy this one tomorrow. It was AMAZING!!!!
—Lyudmila
