The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

TL;DR imperial Russia but with magic

TBR #95, added Jan 12, 2013

finished 1/21/17

I had this checked out for three weeks, and I didn't get around to reading it until the library had sent me an email saying it was due in three days. In all honesty I only decided to read it to see if I could do it before the copy expired. (And I did.)

Historical fiction isn't really my thing, but let me tell you, it definitely becomes my thing when you start adding in magic and the supernatural. I've read a few books about pre-revolution Russia, but those mainly centered on the last tsar and his family. This predated my knowledge a little bit but it was a nice read for me nonetheless.

(Note: I read And I Darken by Kiersten White before I read The Gathering Storm, and that did help me in a few places. Surprisingly they do have an overlap in related history.)

Katerina was a compelling main character, although I feel like she didn't have as much agency in the second half of the book. I felt like her actions were kind of railroaded for an intended ending rather than giving her more opportunity and power to change the course of the plot.

Also, the ending was kind of ... lackluster compared to what I was hoping for. I do have to admit that I marathoned most of the book and then had to stop at 80% and wait a day before I could keep reading. I think that killed some of my own momentum. But for how much Katerina let herself be pushed around, the climax and the resulting consequences didn't seem worth it - I feel like she could've done more and not suffered like she was anticipating.

And I do feel like the romance aspects at the end weren't really earned, despite how much I was rooting for that result. Maybe it's because we didn't get to see them interacting much beforehand, mainly because of the larger plot going on, but to me it didn't feel like we got much evidence of the feelings being reciprocated before the last few chapters of the book.

Other than that, I did end up putting off my own writing and to-do list in order to read The Gathering Storm, so it was mainly a compelling read. I'm definitely interested in continuing this series but I don't know if the library will have the rest of it ...

TL;DR I enjoyed the book overall but I didn't like how the climax for this one was resolved. I'm going to continue with the series granted I can get my hands on the subsequent books.

CWs: injury / death, emotional manipulation and coercion