And she does it again!

My friends know that I was high on Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers series. It was a great paranormal series about a group of kids who found out they were apart of an experiment giving them paranormal powers. However, their powers were mutated and these four have powers beyond what the experimenters, including Dr. Davidoff, could imagine. Chloe, Simon, Tori, and Derek discover the truth, escape from captive, and go on a search for Simon and Derek's father. I absolutely loved this series. It did not have a teeny bopper feel to it, and the powers they had were different. Chloe's a necromancer, which was such a different idea that I was intrigued. The adventures, the friendships, and the trouble they encounter forced me to continue reading. I picked up this series after I finished Mockingjay. Yea, The Hunger Games is a hard series to follow, especially because of how exhausted I was at the end of the journey, but luckily Armstrong's series was not a let down. I had bought the first book months before because I thought it would be a nice filler, but after reading the first half I became obsessed. I immediately bough the second, and I ordered the third in paperback. I am looking forward to revisiting these book.

Armstrong's spin off series: Darkness Rising begins with The Gathering. Maya is Native American and adopted by her animal loving parents. All is quiet in Salmon Creek, Canada where the closest mall is an hour drive from the town. Quiet it may be, the town still has many mysterious, including the one about why Dr. Davidoff appears every few months to test the teenagers on their health. When Maya's best friend, Serena, drowns in the lake, most rule it out as an accident. But there is something suspicious about a first class swimmer mysteriously drowning. There's also something different about Maya and how she can mysteriously heal and "feel" animals. Maybe it has something to do with her paw print birthmark. As the story goes on Maya encounter Rafe, the new kid in town, who seems to have an interesting background himself. Although Maya doesn't trust him at first, he helps her to discover something about her past she wished she never knew. Along with her best friend, Daniel, Maya begins to unravel missing information about the town that could be linked to Serena's death.
I read this book extremely quickly because I do love Armstrong's writing. I really liked how she tied the doctor into this book. Even though Davidoff never shows up, he is mentioned enough that you find commonalities between the four characters in the previous series. It almost makes you wonder if the characters will find each other. The mystery behind the drowning plays a big role towards the end of the novel. I found myself going on the hunt with Daniel and Maya and wanting so badly to figure out who the hell is behind the lies and cover up. The second one...as per usual, is out in April. :p. I am really hoping Maya and Daniel become an item...they've been friends forever, and come on, what's a bigger turn on than a guy who is constantly looking to protect you and keep you happy? Hello!?