Series Overview: The Darkness Rising Trilogy – Kelley Armstrong

Series: The Gathering, The Calling, The Rising
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Darkness Rising
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Publisher: HarperCollins
Average Series Rating:
 

Series Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn’t know much about her background – the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip – but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.
Until now.
Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town – from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend’s hidden talent for “feeling” out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel….different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya’s biological parents and it’s easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet. (Taken from Goodreads)

Judge A Series By Its Covers:
The covers keep on getting better and better as the series goes on! My favorite cover is The Rising, I love the cover model’s position and that particular shade of blue.

What I Liked:

•  Kelley Armstrong sure knows how to write suspense, heart-grabbing scenes that make you want to curse like crazy, pace around the room, and cry in frustration.
• You can easily connect with all of the characters. They are extremely likable and relatable; you will most likely cheer for them throughout the book.
• The Darkness Rising trilogy talks about supernaturals I’ve never, ever, read about before. An example: skin-walkers.
• You get to see the characters from Kelley Armstrong’s Darkest Powers trilogy. (If you haven’t read the Darkest Powers trilogy yet, read that first, then the Darkness Rising trilogy.)

What I Didn’t Like:

•  The Calling and The Rising basically doesn’t have any plot, the characters are just running around and hiding from the people that want them.

Do I Recommend It?
Definitely. It’ll be best if you read Kelley Armstrong’s Darkest Powers trilogy first. Why? We meet the Darkest Powers trilogy characters in the last book of the Darkness Rising series, The Rising.

Favorite Book in the Series:

•  Oh man. I read both The Gathering and The Calling more than a year ago, so it’s hard to decide. I’ll say that The Rising is my favorite book in the series because it gives us readers a semi-happy ending.

Favorite Character(s):

•  Definitely Daniel. There’s no doubt about it. He’s an awesome best friend: always there for Maya, protective, patient, and Maya could talk to Daniel about absolutely anything.

Effortlessly Quotable:

•  Quotes from The Gathering and The Calling soon to come.
•  “We had a long road ahead of us, and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But I had everything I wanted – everything I needed – and I’d get through it just fine. We all would.” (The Rising, 406)