The Gathering Storm

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? (From Goodreads)

This book was really, really good. There were so many different aspects that I loved about it, and I'm definitely going to read the second book in the trilogy. 

First off, the setting. RUSSIA. I think this was the first book I've read that's set in Russia. And what was even better was the fact that the setting actually had something to do with the plot; Bridges weaved in stories about the tsar. So there were the balls and parties and stuff, but there were also the creepy parts in the woods and stuff. And I liked the fact that Russia's need for alliances with different countries like Montenegro also played a role in the plot. This book nailed the setting.

There was surprisingly little romance. But that was okay, because the romance that it did have also related to the plot. It also shaped Katerina and helped her change for the better, which is what any good romance does. Even though she had to do horrible things, it was all in the name of something good. And even though the blurb suggests a love triangle, it wasn't really one. Yes, there was the whole two-guys-one-girl thing going on, but she never really tried to decide between the two. 

Katerina was a kickass girl who wasn't afraid of taking matters into her own hands. The plot was her actually doing things, not her sitting around watching other people do things for her. She was a little naive at parts, but not so naive (like Emily from Elizabeth Miles' Fury) that she made me want to strangle her. All in all, one of my favorite MC's that I've read about in a while. And her power was appropriately creepy, too. My only complaint is that it would have been nice to read about it a bit more - where it came from, what it felt like as she was using it, that sort of thing. But hopefully that will be explained in book two.

Most YA books tend to leave out characters as the book progresses, most often the parents. But in The Gathering Storm, the parents weren't forgotten. In fact, they actually played a large role in this book, and especially because Katerina did several things in the name of protecting them and her brother. 

My only real problem with this book was that it got a tad confusing at times, especially with the different types of supernatural creatures and the people. Lots of people and creatures were introduced in a short time, and many of the names sounded similar. At some points, it was hard keeping track of who was who and what was what. But other than that, this book was awesome. 

This book was great. It had everything a YA paranormal should have, and it had more. A definite recommend to everyone.