Book Review: The Gathering Darkness by Lisa Collicutt

Title: The Gathering Darkness
Author: Lisa Collicutt
Release Date: September 22nd 2012
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Source: Received from the publisher via NetGalley

They say "third time's the charm", and for sixteen-year-old Brooke Day, they had better be right. She’s been here before, twice in fact, and an evil demon-witch wants her dead a third time.

When Brooke is forced to leave Boston for the small town of Deadwich, she thinks her life is over. Before long, her new friends start acting strange—downright evil. But worse than that, nightmares she’s had her whole life become reality.

Enter Marcus Knight; popular, hot, and the only person Brooke can trust. Not to mention, they’ve shared the same nightmares.

With the discovery of an ancient Celtic amulet, Brooke and Marcus unravel the secrets of her past, which reveals the key to her future.

As the equinox approaches:

Darkness and light merge for the first time in a century.

Soul-mates reunite.

Magic awakens.

My Thoughts

While the story is an interesting one, pulling from numerous paranormal realms, it is also a frustrating one - teenage angst and drama seem to go hand-in-hand with any YA para book these days but sometimes, too much drama is just that - too much!

The Gathering Darkness has just the right amount of mystery and magic to keep the reader entertained but the drama fueled ups and downs between Brooke, Marcus and their circle of friends was just a little too over-the-top, it really should have been toned down a bit.

I was sorely tempted to give up after yet another broody, misinterpreted moment between Brooke and Marcus, but continued on only because I wanted to see how it would all come together. 

I wasn't disappointed by the story; it was made interesting by all the reincarnated souls of witches and faeries telling a tale of betrayal and deceit, but the relationships between all the characters could have used some work - it's hard to root for character that you find mildly annoying.

Overall, the author has cleverly woven together witches, faeries, reincarnation and magic, into an interesting and well thought out story but is let down slightly by the repetitive phrasing and angst ridden characters.
An almost 4 star read :]