Book Review- The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

Title: The Gathering Storm

 Author: Robin Bridges

Series:  The Katerina Trilogy #1

To be published:  January 10 2012 by Delacorte Press

Length: 400 pages

Warnings: a little violence, romance

Source: Netgalley

Other info: This is Robin Bridge’s debut novel.

Summary : 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?

Review: This is set in 1880s Russia, and centres around Katerina, a young necromancer. As well as the dead being brought back to life, this Russia also contains many different types of vampires, faeries, witches and many paranormal creatures connected somehow to Russian folkore. And with all the mystery going on at court, various things happen and Katerina is the only one who can really do anything about it.

I don’t normally read things involving Russia, mainly because there’s not that many YA books set in Russia. Or maybe they are, and I’ve not heard of them. But anyway, this was a new culture for me. The way the faerie and vampire and other paranormal races were woven into the Nobility was very interesting, and done in a way that I love.d. Really, the actual nobility were the creatures. Fun. 

Katerina is a great lead character, she’s strong, not afraid to voice her opinions and dreams of being a doctor, something almost unheard of for women in those days. I don’t think the other characters were quite as well done, possibly excepting her mother, who was strong and interesting in her own way. The romance, while not being particularly amazing, didn’t detract from enjoying the book either, and was just there.  The biggest drawback in this is the names. All very similar, as per Russian tradition, but hard to remember and distinguish.

The mystery and the part of the plot that was interesting didn’t really pick up until later on in the novel. Until then, it was fairly repetitive. And then when it did all pick up, I was hooked until the end.

I loved the rich mythology and the whole variety of things used. It was very interesting to read about the set up of the nobility, and also the set up of the Faerie and Vampire courts and so and so.

We're kept guessing throughout the second half, partly due to the stuff that's happening and the ways it could go, and partly because of the way things are easily mixed up (at least for me).

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a very original book with a strong heroine that I want to see more of.

Links: Goodreads |

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Japanese YA Week review- Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi

Title: Vampire Hunter D

 Author: Hideyuki Kikuchi . Illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano

Series:  Vampire Hunter D

Published:  2005 by Dark Horse Publishing

Length: 268 pages

Warnings: Profanity, moderate sex content, vampires, violence, 16+

Source: Library

Other info: This has spawned an anime, manga, animated films, live action film, and video games.

Summary : It is the year 12,090 AD. The world has ended, ravaged in a firestorm of man's wars and madness. But from the wreckage a few humans manage to survive. A few humans...and something else. Doris Lang knew what her fate was when the vampire lord Count Magnus Lee bit her. An agonizing transformation into one of the undead, to be stalked by her fellow villagers or cursed to become the bride of the unholy creature and face an eternity of torment, driven by the thirst for human blood. There was only one chance, and as she watched him ride in from the distance she knew there was hope. Salvation...from a vampire named D.

Review: Some of you may have heard of Vampire Hunter D, some of you might not. It's post-apocalyptic, set 10,000 years in the future and a few humans are still alive. And there's some other things out there that aren't exactly human and aren't exactly alive either.

Vampire lord Count Magnus Lee has bitten Doris Lang, cursing her to transform into a vampire, be fought by her neighbours or marry this vampire. Not a bright outlook. But Vampire Hunter D is able to save her. Add in Rin-Ginsei, rogue who I can't really figure out the point of,  and you generally get the plot...

Some time ago, everyone seemed to have read or seen VHD, apart from me. So I got the library to buy it. I then got put off it at the content in the first chapter. Which looking back on it wasn't too bad, but to a young and somewhat innocent twelve year old was quite bad. So now I'm older, I went back to it to have another go.

 The set up is good, with a clear idea of where it can go if Doris doesn't get the help.

Doris was a fairly strong female main, able to stand up for herself and handy with a whip,  but does rely on D for help. As I said, I didn't see the point of Rin-Ginsei other than as a character to oppose D, but oh well.

The vampires in this are traditional ones, with   laws and ceremony surrounding wives, and biting and other things like that.

The writing was third person and seemed distanced from me through most of it. However, the action scenes were incredibly well written.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a book that I can understand why it spawned a huge franchise, but it just doesn't do it for me.

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Japanese YA Week review- Chibi Vampire Novel 1 by Tohru Kai

Title: Chibi Vampire Novel 1
Author: Created by Yuna Kagesaki, written by Tohru Kai
Series: Chibi Vampire The Novel #1
Published: 2007 by Tokyopop
Length: 214 pages
Warnings: violence, attempted rape
Source: Library
Other info: Chibi Vampire is a fairly popular series that started as a manga and branched out into anime and novels.
Summary : Karin Maaka can bite a throat like a proper vampire, but where others of her kind need hot red blood, she has too much of it! Every month, she's compelled to inject blood into her victims the way a snake injects venom. And her handsome classmate Kenta Usui makes her feel like she's is going to spurt blood like a geyser. Talk about embarrassing! When Karin's latest victim turns out to be as rich as he is good looking, it causes hilarious chaos at her school. Will she ever live in peace?The much talked-about manga is now a supernatural-love-comedy-mystery novel starring our favorite clumsy blood injector, Karin!
Review: One day, Karin is out in the park when she feels e need to inject her blood into a passer by(because otherwise it'll all come out of her as one giant nosebleed). And so she does. In the next few weeks, the girls from her school start being kidnapped. And at the same time, rich senior Youichiro comes along, and everyone starts fawning over him. And it's up to Karin and Kenta to find out what's going on.
This is a light novel to accompany the Chibi Vampire manga series by Yuna Kagasaki. It helps if you have you've read the manga or seen the anime, as there are no character intros so you may be a bit lost at the start. The whole book is short and sweet, introducing and writing out Youichiro. On top of this, there are kidnappings, mystery and a bit of romance, so something for everyone.
Youichiro throughout seemed a little boring. I didn't get very attached to him and in the brief love triangle, I was rooting for Kenta throughout.
The writing meant that this novel was really easy to skim without missing anything. With that and the length of the book, this is easily a one-sit read.
The characters from the manga were kept in character, with Kenta and Karin continuing their awkward almost-romance, and Anju and the rest of the Maaka/Marker family staying the same as ever.
The new characters, we got a good idea of their backgrounds and motives. The twists and turns and the sub-plot with Youichiro and his staff was very interesting and while I didn't mind that he was written out by the end, I think their characters developed a fair bit.
Overall: Strength 3 tea to a must for fans of the Chibi Vampire/Karin franchise. Anyone else should read this if they want a quick, lighthearted vampire novel.

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