The Rising by Kelley Armstrong

Published: April 2013

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 406

Copy Provided by: Purchased

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

Things are getting desperate for Maya and her friends. Hunted by the powerful St. Clouds and now a rival Cabal as well, they're quickly running out of places to hide. And with the whole world thinking they died in a helicopter crash, it's not like they can just go to the authorities for help.

All they have is the name and number of someone who might be able to give them a few answers. Answers to why they're so valuable, and why their supernatural powers are getting more and more out of control.

But Maya is unprepared for the truths that await her. And now, like it or not, she'll have to face down some demons from her past if she ever hopes to move on with her life. Because Maya can't keep running forever.

Old secrets are revealed and unexpected characters make a surprising return in this stunning conclusion to Kelley Armstrong's New York Timesbestselling Darkness Rising trilogy.

Review:

The Rising is the last book of the Darkness Rising Trilogy.  Ms. Armstrong does an excellent job of integrating her highly successful Darkest Powers trilogy with the characters from this series.  I was thrilled to see all of the components tie in together so nicely and view the bigger picture as you see how the St Clouds and Cabal groups control this entire group of people.  It was like watching the Umbrella corporation...but perhaps less graphic and gory.

Fans of the Darkest Powers trilogy will enjoy these three books and see some of their favorite characters make a guest appearance.  I love it when authors intersect characters from previous series or titles.  It is like a special cameo role for fans!

So let me tell you, honestly book #3 started out slow for me.  I was expecting to fly through it but I felt it could have been about 50 pages shorter.  However, if you stick it out, the intensity increases and things heat up as Maya is on the run with her friends and are finding it increasingly difficult to discern who is really "on their side" and who to run from.  They will discover more answers to their powers and of course the sometimes there love triangle between Rafe, Maya and Daniel will finally be resolved.  (Secretly, I'm rooting for Daniel but I'm sure Curlypow is team Rafe.)  I won't give you any more details and you won't really find out until the last 10 pages of the book.  Nice one Kelley...

All in all, the entire Darkness Rising series is a hit for me.  I enjoyed it so much more than the Darkest Powers and found the characters to be more likeable.  It was the perfect ending to a great trilogy and the only thing left to say is - What shall I do until the  next series starts?

P.S. 

Kelley does have another new title coming out in August called Omens.  It will be part of a series entitled Cainsville.  Sounds interesting for those who are looking for something a bit older than YA.  

P.P.S. 

Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr have teamed up to release a middle-grade series entitled The Blackwell Pages.  Their first book called Loki's Wolves came out this month.  For all of you librarians, this might be a good one for your younger audience.  Looks like a great guy's read!