Scan barcode
vampoma's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
beccadavies's review
4.0
Maya now knows the truth about herself- she is a skin-walker, an ancient and extinct supernatural who can transform into a cougar. Extinct until now. Through the St. Cloud's DNA manipulation in a project they aptly call Project Phoenix, extinct races are being re-introduced into the world.
Not happy that they were the Cabal's science experiment, Maya and co. are out to find the subjects of a similar experiment in order to ban forces and go against the St. Cloud Cabal by joining up with a rival Cabal- the Nasts.
Through a lot of running, a lot of stalking and of course, being Kelley Armstrong, a whole lot of adventure, they meet up with Derek, Chloe and Simon and try to convince them to surrender to the Nasts.
I found the book went full circle- the group basically ended up where they started out. As much as I'm not happy with the ending, I understand why Armstrong wrote it that way.
Now personally, I kept flipping to near the end when Maya meets up with Chole and Derek just to remind myself that Chloe and Derek are actually coming back. If I didn't have that reassurance, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I had. I tried- I really did but Maya just doesn't do it for me and the "love triangle" was something so silly and I felt no real chemistry between her and anybody.
I'm too big a Chloe and Derek fan. I'll admit it and so I'm pretty bias in this review. Maya and her buddies never really had a chance. Sorry fictional character Maya Delaney, but you paled in comparison to the blond necromancer.
Not happy that they were the Cabal's science experiment, Maya and co. are out to find the subjects of a similar experiment in order to ban forces and go against the St. Cloud Cabal by joining up with a rival Cabal- the Nasts.
Through a lot of running, a lot of stalking and of course, being Kelley Armstrong, a whole lot of adventure, they meet up with Derek, Chloe and Simon and try to convince them to surrender to the Nasts.
I found the book went full circle- the group basically ended up where they started out. As much as I'm not happy with the ending, I understand why Armstrong wrote it that way.
Now personally, I kept flipping to near the end when Maya meets up with Chole and Derek just to remind myself that Chloe and Derek are actually coming back. If I didn't have that reassurance, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I had. I tried- I really did but Maya just doesn't do it for me and the "love triangle" was something so silly and I felt no real chemistry between her and anybody.
I'm too big a Chloe and Derek fan. I'll admit it and so I'm pretty bias in this review. Maya and her buddies never really had a chance. Sorry fictional character Maya Delaney, but you paled in comparison to the blond necromancer.
owlswithfins's review
5.0
The Rising is a thrilling conclusion to the Darkness Rising series and also concludes the Darkest Powers series by intertwining the stories. I love the suspense and the intriguing characters. It was interesting to see Chloe Saunders from a different perspective, after reading three novels with her as the protagonist. This series is one of my favorites by far, and the final book did not disappoint in any way. Loved it!
thebasicbookworm's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
saralaanne's review against another edition
4.0
Disappointing. So much build up for almost nothing. Could have been so much better, but not absolutely horribly
spookyjen's review
2.0
So mind-numbing dull. I had to slog through the first hundred pages.
The only enjoyment I got was when Chloe and Derek showed up, even then after the two groups were combined there was just too many characters to juggle to make the rest of the chapters a pleasant read.
Toward the end, I was just skimming the chapters, just wanting to get to the end.
UGH. The only thing I was truly happy reading was the epilogue, where there was sort of a happy ending.
The only enjoyment I got was when Chloe and Derek showed up, even then after the two groups were combined there was just too many characters to juggle to make the rest of the chapters a pleasant read.
Toward the end, I was just skimming the chapters, just wanting to get to the end.
UGH. The only thing I was truly happy reading was the epilogue, where there was sort of a happy ending.
papidoc's review
3.0
This is the final book in the Darkness Rising trilogy. Finally, we see a blending, to a degree, of May and Daniel and friends with the characters in the Dark Powers trilogy. It's a bit bland, but OK.
thero159's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Oh boy. I’m just going to say that The Rising was a frustrating read and easily the weakest entry in the trilogy.
The plot was more infuriating than the plot of The Calling, the second book in the trilogy. Without going into detail, to avoid spoilers, the plot of The Rising is a typical YA plot of teenagers running around, being betrayed by some adults whilst dealing with the incompetence of the other adults in the series. I understand that with some YA novels you have to suspend some realism as in the real world teenagers would not be able to do the things that the teens do in these novels but when you have to dumb down every adult to make the teens look good, it becomes very dull. However what really let the novel down was the ending. It was very unsatisfying and rushed, which is surprising, as Kelley Armstrong tends to wrap up her books very well.
I did enjoy the exploration of the supernatural races that were introduced in this trilogy. I did wish that we could have spent more time exploring the various supernatural powers and giving each character a chance to shine.
Overall, The Rising and the Darkness Rising trilogy are quite underwhelming. I would recommend checking out Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series for a solid urban fantasy series or her first YA urban fantasy trilogy, Darkest Powers before trying out this trilogy.