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Arianna Rose #3
The Gathering
Reeling from loss and the sudden appearance of her supernatural powers, Arianna Rose is drawn to a new town and sets about starting over.
She quickly learns, however, that peace has no place in her life, and that the town she’s moved to is the center of an evil uprising so great, it it threatens the very fabric of her existence.
She quickly learns, however, that peace has no place in her life, and that the town she’s moved to is the center of an evil uprising so great, it it threatens the very fabric of her existence.
ebook
First published April 1, 2013
21 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Martucci
61 books117 followersJennifer and Christopher Martucci hoped that their life plan had changed radically in early 2010. To date, the jury is still out. But late one night, in January of 2010, the stay at home mom of three girls (all under the age of six) had just picked up the last doll from the playroom floor and placed it in a bin when her husband startled her by declaring, “We should write a book, together!” Wearied from a day of shuttling the children to and from school, preschool and Daisy Scouts, laundry, cooking and cleaning, Jennifer simply stared blankly at her husband of fifteen years. After all, the idea of writing a book had been an individual dream each of them possessed for much of their young adult lives. Both had written separately in their teens and early twenties, but without much success. They would write a dozen chapters here and there only to find that either the plot would fall apart, or characters would lose their zest, or the story would just fall flat. Christopher had always preferred penning science fiction stories filled with monsters and diabolical villains, while Jennifer had favored venting personal experiences or writing about romance, as romance was far easier to invent fictitiously than it was to attain in real life. Inevitably though, frustration and day to day life had placed writing on the back burner and for several years, each had pursued alternate (paying) careers. But the dream never died. And Christopher suggested that their dream ought to be removed from the back burner for further examination. When he proposed that he and his wife author a book together on that cold January night, Jennifer was hesitant to reject the idea outright. His proposal sparked a discussion, and the discussion lasted deep into the night. By morning, the idea for the Dark Creations series was born.
The Dark Creations series was written while Jennifer and Christopher continued with their day to day activities and raised their young children. They changed diapers, potty trained and went to story time at the local library between chapter outlines and served as room parents while fleshing out individal sections of the book. Life simply continued. And in some ways, their everyday lives were reflected in the characters of the series. In fact, the main female characters are named after three very important people in their lives: their three daughters. Their likenesses end there, however.
As the story line continues to evolve, so too does the Martucci collaboration. Lunches are still packed, noses are still wiped and time remains a rare and precious commodity in their household in upstate New York, but it is the sound of happy chaos that is the true background music of their writing. They hope that their work, though penned for a young adult audience, will be appreciated by the young of every age, and that all enjoy reading it as much as they enjoyed writing it.
The Dark Creations series was written while Jennifer and Christopher continued with their day to day activities and raised their young children. They changed diapers, potty trained and went to story time at the local library between chapter outlines and served as room parents while fleshing out individal sections of the book. Life simply continued. And in some ways, their everyday lives were reflected in the characters of the series. In fact, the main female characters are named after three very important people in their lives: their three daughters. Their likenesses end there, however.
As the story line continues to evolve, so too does the Martucci collaboration. Lunches are still packed, noses are still wiped and time remains a rare and precious commodity in their household in upstate New York, but it is the sound of happy chaos that is the true background music of their writing. They hope that their work, though penned for a young adult audience, will be appreciated by the young of every age, and that all enjoy reading it as much as they enjoyed writing it.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 10, 2018
Wow what an amazing story... i really feel like i seen Arianna become a whole new person in this book the writers really knew how to draw up a strong heroine. I really felt and cared for her when she lost everything and was trying to start alone.
Arianna and Desmond need a fire hose i love when couples are written that are truly felt and need each other these two are drawn together like magnets the cheese to her toast.
I love the way Arianna is written down to her sarcasm, mannerisms even her vulnerability its perfect.
i feel the book takes you through so many emotions i honestly felt trapped heartbroken scared and burst out laughing in places too.
like i said before i don't think this is a tween book its for the older YA reader as it is very raw but brilliant, Arianna getting attacked from all sides but still stays true to herself and her humanity.
the only reason its not a 5 star is sometimes it got a bit too dark for my liking but that's just my taste. (less)
Arianna and Desmond need a fire hose i love when couples are written that are truly felt and need each other these two are drawn together like magnets the cheese to her toast.
I love the way Arianna is written down to her sarcasm, mannerisms even her vulnerability its perfect.
i feel the book takes you through so many emotions i honestly felt trapped heartbroken scared and burst out laughing in places too.
like i said before i don't think this is a tween book its for the older YA reader as it is very raw but brilliant, Arianna getting attacked from all sides but still stays true to herself and her humanity.
the only reason its not a 5 star is sometimes it got a bit too dark for my liking but that's just my taste. (less)
July 10, 2018
**I need to state for the record that I am a critical thinker/reader. Obviously, my reviews from three years ago are going to be different from now. I don't know when my critical-ness became what it is now, but yeah...I can't help but notice mistakes in areas such as: punctuation, grammar, plot/storyline, inconsistencies, etc. I can still enjoy a story though, so that's all that matters to me.**
Just finished book 3. What to say...it was kind of an interesting idea overall, I guess, an all-powerful witch who was going to unite all the other witches/warlocks of the world. Did I say I guess already?
The most annoying line throughout this series? "I am the Sola." Why? Because Arianna doesn't even know what all that entails. She doesn't ask questions and no one is even there to answer them had she wanted to ask. Yet, she always reverts back to that line when she's stressing or in trouble.
This goes along with the next part of my review.
The most annoying concept about this series? The fact that Arianna is supposed to turn into a powerful witch. Got it. Does anyone explain things to her? No, not really. Does anyone help teach her her powers? Of course, not! Yet, somehow in about two weeks, she was able to kill the most powerful warlock, Desmond's father, and stop the first major witch/warlock against human battle.
Again, so many mistakes throughout this story. For example (poor writing): "Each hand gripped the hilt of two blades hidden beneath his cloak." Yet with the way this is written, it sounds like he has two blades in each hair. Right? Wrong. It should have been "...gripped the hilt of a blade...".
Another great example of a repeated mistake (long past time for a new editor, if one was even used), is the authors lack of commas. For example: "I love you, Arianna." A comma is required. Right? Right. But that doesn't seem to be the case in this series. Or even better, I think I mentioned this in my book 2 review, the use of the semicolon. There are two authors (how sad) and neither know how to properly use a semicolon.
Heads up, a semicolon separates two clauses. The author could have separated those two clauses and made them into separate sentences, but because they dealt with the same topic, a semicolon can be used. A bad example I found (there were many): "She'd always possessed traces of her true essence, but had existed as a hybrid creation; until now." "Until now" is not a complete sentence/clause; it's a phrase. Notice what I did there? I used a semicolon, properly. Actually, the comma used in that sentence isn't correct either. Again, similar to the semicolon, the comma (in this situation) would only be used if "...had existed as a hybrid..." was a complete clause on its own, which it isn't. Again it's a phrase, so no comma needed. It's the little things I notice. :D
FYI, I'm done with this series because: 1. I'm not going to pay for a book that isn't written very well 2. I'm just not interested and don't care what happens to the characters.
Questions/Comments:
Can someone explain how Arianna ends up falling in love with Desmond? Seriously! She's had how many encounters with him...what...less than a handful? He doesn't explain much of anything to her about the Prophecy, he doesn't tell her anything about himself except (somewhere, not sure where that he's like a hundred-years-old). So how does she love him? As in when she first realizes that she loves him? All she does is think about his attractiveness. We, the reader, get it! He's hot! That's LUST! Not love.
The funniest line in this book? "But he'd had no other choice. He's been bound by duty. He had been groomed to guard her." Why is this so funny? Because it's not true! Whenever Arianna was in trouble or needed Desmond, where was he? Who knows?! But speaking about him supposedly being there to protect her, when was that role supposed to end? When he introduced himself to her and attempted to tell her about her future? When her powers started coming in? When she "became" the Sola, the all-powerful witch? Again, I don't know. It seemed like his job was done once she was informed about the prophecy, which, of course, makes little sense to me.
In book 1, there was only the mention of Arianna's uncle, the one who originally owned the trailer she and her mother lived in. Not sure if he was dead or not. I'd assume dead.
Book 2, there's mention of her mom being her only family member which would go along with book 1.
Book 3, there's talk of her suddenly having other family members. This was mention when she decided to leave her mother's corpse in the church to be found by the police. So did she or did she not have a family? I would go ahead and assume yes, otherwise what was the point of leaving her mother's body? "...the records needed to reflect her mother's death..." Why? If there's no family, there'd be no one to mourn her loss besides Arianna. And, Arianna could have easily cremated/buried her somewhere like she did with Luke. Plus, it's not like her mother had a life insurance policy or anything, so no money was left for her. Here's a questionable scenario that doesn't make sense.
How did the peeping tom next door to Arianna's trailer not know or have heard that Cathy had died? Again, it's a small town. Several people were murdered, someone he knew, yet there was no talk in the town? Not to mention the fact the police were never really involved, at least based on what the author's provided for us, the readers. Just saying.
Is it just coincidence or more poor writing that when Arianna first sees the peeping-tom neighbor she describes his teeth as looking gross and basically "...they were all fighting for a single spot in his mouth...," and then when Desmond sees him, he thinks the exact same thing? Is it a coincidence that Arianna was worried about being late on her second day at her new school (when living with her mother,) as she was also worried about being late for her second day at her new new school (living alone)?
Or what about Desmond's scent? We get it! He smells of leather (from what?) and something spicy. Why Arianna had to comment about his smell everytime they were together, as though we didn't already know, was beyond me.
One area that annoyed me was all the emotional stuff. It's like everyone was having to apologize to each other because they were scared of hurting the other person's feelings, even when the first person was obviously joking with them.
At one point, Agnon references the "Creator." Um...witches/warlocks don't believe in a single creator (sounds kind of like God/Jesus there), so I question Agnon's reference to a single one.
After the fun party in the woods with her new friends aka the killing puppet show, why in the world does Arianna go to school the next day? Seriously! She'd just witnessed four people being tortured and killed by 'her friends'. Why wouldn't she have just moved (again) and finished school online? Sorry, but that didn't make sense to me.
The fact that Arianna, at one point, felt that Desmond was only interested in her because of her title/power, yeah...what a joke! Why does she suddenly turn self-conscious/less confident?
So...Arianna sifts herself into Jess's trunk one evening. She's taken to the school where she realizes the coven is planning something bad for those that attend the school. The next day goes by. She tells Desmond what little she knows about the coven's plans. Yet, it's not until the following day that the plan is supposed to come into action. So, why were Jess and Chris breaking into the school days prior?
Sneaking up on the bad guys. Arianna is invisible and, somehow, she's surprised that the bad guys know she/something is there. She was only invisible. Any notices (breathing, walking) they would have been able to hear. The fact that they all seemed to have the superhuman hearing didn't help. Moving on, the greasy-haired bad guy ends up burning the stoner kid. The kid goes up in flames. Okay. But, strangely, he doesn't yell out or scream. All he does is a whimper. Huh?
Desmond has been alive for a long time. The purpose of his life (?) was to protect the Sola. Did they have any idea when she would appear/be born? So what was he doing for that first eighty years of his life? Additionally, how had he never bothered to read over the Book of Ares himself. He told Arianna that his father had read it to him but that was it. Yet, Beth heard his version of the prophecy as well as another. Thinking back to Howard, how had he ended up with the original book?
"You were not born to supernatural parents." What about her father?
In the end, I'm clueless as to all the great reviews up to this point. I just don't get it?!
Just finished book 3. What to say...it was kind of an interesting idea overall, I guess, an all-powerful witch who was going to unite all the other witches/warlocks of the world. Did I say I guess already?
The most annoying line throughout this series? "I am the Sola." Why? Because Arianna doesn't even know what all that entails. She doesn't ask questions and no one is even there to answer them had she wanted to ask. Yet, she always reverts back to that line when she's stressing or in trouble.
This goes along with the next part of my review.
The most annoying concept about this series? The fact that Arianna is supposed to turn into a powerful witch. Got it. Does anyone explain things to her? No, not really. Does anyone help teach her her powers? Of course, not! Yet, somehow in about two weeks, she was able to kill the most powerful warlock, Desmond's father, and stop the first major witch/warlock against human battle.
Again, so many mistakes throughout this story. For example (poor writing): "Each hand gripped the hilt of two blades hidden beneath his cloak." Yet with the way this is written, it sounds like he has two blades in each hair. Right? Wrong. It should have been "...gripped the hilt of a blade...".
Another great example of a repeated mistake (long past time for a new editor, if one was even used), is the authors lack of commas. For example: "I love you, Arianna." A comma is required. Right? Right. But that doesn't seem to be the case in this series. Or even better, I think I mentioned this in my book 2 review, the use of the semicolon. There are two authors (how sad) and neither know how to properly use a semicolon.
Heads up, a semicolon separates two clauses. The author could have separated those two clauses and made them into separate sentences, but because they dealt with the same topic, a semicolon can be used. A bad example I found (there were many): "She'd always possessed traces of her true essence, but had existed as a hybrid creation; until now." "Until now" is not a complete sentence/clause; it's a phrase. Notice what I did there? I used a semicolon, properly. Actually, the comma used in that sentence isn't correct either. Again, similar to the semicolon, the comma (in this situation) would only be used if "...had existed as a hybrid..." was a complete clause on its own, which it isn't. Again it's a phrase, so no comma needed. It's the little things I notice. :D
FYI, I'm done with this series because: 1. I'm not going to pay for a book that isn't written very well 2. I'm just not interested and don't care what happens to the characters.
Questions/Comments:
Can someone explain how Arianna ends up falling in love with Desmond? Seriously! She's had how many encounters with him...what...less than a handful? He doesn't explain much of anything to her about the Prophecy, he doesn't tell her anything about himself except (somewhere, not sure where that he's like a hundred-years-old). So how does she love him? As in when she first realizes that she loves him? All she does is think about his attractiveness. We, the reader, get it! He's hot! That's LUST! Not love.
The funniest line in this book? "But he'd had no other choice. He's been bound by duty. He had been groomed to guard her." Why is this so funny? Because it's not true! Whenever Arianna was in trouble or needed Desmond, where was he? Who knows?! But speaking about him supposedly being there to protect her, when was that role supposed to end? When he introduced himself to her and attempted to tell her about her future? When her powers started coming in? When she "became" the Sola, the all-powerful witch? Again, I don't know. It seemed like his job was done once she was informed about the prophecy, which, of course, makes little sense to me.
In book 1, there was only the mention of Arianna's uncle, the one who originally owned the trailer she and her mother lived in. Not sure if he was dead or not. I'd assume dead.
Book 2, there's mention of her mom being her only family member which would go along with book 1.
Book 3, there's talk of her suddenly having other family members. This was mention when she decided to leave her mother's corpse in the church to be found by the police. So did she or did she not have a family? I would go ahead and assume yes, otherwise what was the point of leaving her mother's body? "...the records needed to reflect her mother's death..." Why? If there's no family, there'd be no one to mourn her loss besides Arianna. And, Arianna could have easily cremated/buried her somewhere like she did with Luke. Plus, it's not like her mother had a life insurance policy or anything, so no money was left for her. Here's a questionable scenario that doesn't make sense.
How did the peeping tom next door to Arianna's trailer not know or have heard that Cathy had died? Again, it's a small town. Several people were murdered, someone he knew, yet there was no talk in the town? Not to mention the fact the police were never really involved, at least based on what the author's provided for us, the readers. Just saying.
Is it just coincidence or more poor writing that when Arianna first sees the peeping-tom neighbor she describes his teeth as looking gross and basically "...they were all fighting for a single spot in his mouth...," and then when Desmond sees him, he thinks the exact same thing? Is it a coincidence that Arianna was worried about being late on her second day at her new school (when living with her mother,) as she was also worried about being late for her second day at her new new school (living alone)?
Or what about Desmond's scent? We get it! He smells of leather (from what?) and something spicy. Why Arianna had to comment about his smell everytime they were together, as though we didn't already know, was beyond me.
One area that annoyed me was all the emotional stuff. It's like everyone was having to apologize to each other because they were scared of hurting the other person's feelings, even when the first person was obviously joking with them.
At one point, Agnon references the "Creator." Um...witches/warlocks don't believe in a single creator (sounds kind of like God/Jesus there), so I question Agnon's reference to a single one.
After the fun party in the woods with her new friends aka the killing puppet show, why in the world does Arianna go to school the next day? Seriously! She'd just witnessed four people being tortured and killed by 'her friends'. Why wouldn't she have just moved (again) and finished school online? Sorry, but that didn't make sense to me.
The fact that Arianna, at one point, felt that Desmond was only interested in her because of her title/power, yeah...what a joke! Why does she suddenly turn self-conscious/less confident?
So...Arianna sifts herself into Jess's trunk one evening. She's taken to the school where she realizes the coven is planning something bad for those that attend the school. The next day goes by. She tells Desmond what little she knows about the coven's plans. Yet, it's not until the following day that the plan is supposed to come into action. So, why were Jess and Chris breaking into the school days prior?
Sneaking up on the bad guys. Arianna is invisible and, somehow, she's surprised that the bad guys know she/something is there. She was only invisible. Any notices (breathing, walking) they would have been able to hear. The fact that they all seemed to have the superhuman hearing didn't help. Moving on, the greasy-haired bad guy ends up burning the stoner kid. The kid goes up in flames. Okay. But, strangely, he doesn't yell out or scream. All he does is a whimper. Huh?
Desmond has been alive for a long time. The purpose of his life (?) was to protect the Sola. Did they have any idea when she would appear/be born? So what was he doing for that first eighty years of his life? Additionally, how had he never bothered to read over the Book of Ares himself. He told Arianna that his father had read it to him but that was it. Yet, Beth heard his version of the prophecy as well as another. Thinking back to Howard, how had he ended up with the original book?
"You were not born to supernatural parents." What about her father?
In the end, I'm clueless as to all the great reviews up to this point. I just don't get it?!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2015
Arianna rents a cabin away from where she lived with her mom. She wants to finish school without all the memories of her mom who just just died two weeks ago. She makes friends really easily which is something she has never done before. It turns out they are evil witches that torture human for fun. Desmond learns more about the prophecy and they realize there are 2 possible outcomes for the prophesy. Desmond's father attempts to kill him to stop him from helping Arianna choose the path of good. Arianna, Desmond and Beth (her new witch friend) defeat his father and the evil witches who try to force her to help end humanity. The three of them go into hiding to prepare for the next battle to defeat evil. This series just keep getting better. I can't wait to read the next one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
November 18, 2016So far the story is great. My only complaint is that out seems the authors did not take the time to proof read or have someone do so for them. There are a lot of wording mistakes between the first 3 books and I find it frustrating to have to reread a sentence to know what was being portrayed. Otherwise, it's an amazing read.
April 18, 2019
Okay, I want to enjoy the rest if this series, I really do. But the damn writers can't seem to remember what they've already said pages earlier or what they've already had the characters learn or say. Dude. Proofread and take a little pride in your work.
September 18, 2021
I enjoyed this book 📚 very, very much. I hope you can give these two authors a go. I am glad I did.
May 22, 2015
This covers book 2 and book 3 of the series:
I like this series very much.
I just have one complaint, one big glaring hole in the story this far.
So we know there's a prophecy... What is it? The information divulged is pretty scattered and vague.
Ok, maybe we, the audience don't need all details yet, maybe they'll be told to us later, but Desmond didn't give Arianna herself much information at all! Even though he found out things he didn't know part way through, he didn't give her much info on what he did know!!
"Hi, so you're the Sola, the most powerful witch on earth, there's a prophecy about you, and oh yeah I love you but we can't be together because it's in the prophecy. See you around sometime, bye!" was the extent of the fact-giving scenes.
Really underprepared her for, well, anything, let alone fulfilling some major prophecy foretold centuries ago!
Good thing he wasn't killed after all or she'd be screwed, and apparently so would the world!!
I like this series very much.
I just have one complaint, one big glaring hole in the story this far.
So we know there's a prophecy... What is it? The information divulged is pretty scattered and vague.
Ok, maybe we, the audience don't need all details yet, maybe they'll be told to us later, but Desmond didn't give Arianna herself much information at all! Even though he found out things he didn't know part way through, he didn't give her much info on what he did know!!
"Hi, so you're the Sola, the most powerful witch on earth, there's a prophecy about you, and oh yeah I love you but we can't be together because it's in the prophecy. See you around sometime, bye!" was the extent of the fact-giving scenes.
Really underprepared her for, well, anything, let alone fulfilling some major prophecy foretold centuries ago!
Good thing he wasn't killed after all or she'd be screwed, and apparently so would the world!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2013
This book was really great! As soon as I saw it was available, I immediately stopped reading the book I was already committed to. I love the balance between romance, paranormal, and thrills! Just the right amount. I like that this book picked up where the last one left off, and it is so action packed. My favorite part of the book/series is Arianna. I love to see a strong, tough, young woman as a main character. Women, especially the younger girls have terrible role models to look up to. It's refreshing to read about someone who isn't afraid to say no, or be herself!. If the author's intent was to have me begging for more, they have succeeded! A really great read!
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August 25, 2015This story just keeps getting better. Seems like Arianna finds out more about her supposed destiny in this book and gains some help along the way. There was a moment that had me in my feelings and i was ready to put this book down but i will not give any spoilers and ruin it for anyone. This book answered some questions but also brought about more. I will be reading the next book as well
August 23, 2013
Still a decent series, even if I feel a little silly reading it. The writers have a good story line going, they just need to learn to flesh out more detail around the story, and improve their prose. Each book improves in these areas on the one before. I think there's good promise in these writers.
February 22, 2014
Pretty good
I like the book and it was well written but I found allot of editorial mistakes. so I'd end up reading sentences over and over cause the word didn't make sense and the books are short.
I like the book and it was well written but I found allot of editorial mistakes. so I'd end up reading sentences over and over cause the word didn't make sense and the books are short.
September 3, 2015
New twists on the traditional supernatural story and a fresh style of writing make for a great story. The book's non-stop pacing...grabs the reader's interest and refuses to let go. Jennifer Martucci has a sure-fire winner...don't miss this book!
June 11, 2013
I liked the series, but again as in the Dark Creations series the typos are numerous.
September 9, 2013
I am saving a full review for when I am finished the series. Having said that I cannot wait to read the next book to find out how it finishes.
September 17, 2013
Arianna is a believable girl.Her story is like so many others except....she finds out she a witch. Not only A witch, THE witch.Loved this series.
March 22, 2014
The Gathering is this far my favorite out of the first three books.. Great storytelling.. there were quite a bit of typos but all in all I enjoyed reading this book..
March 23, 2015
Just keeps getting better!!
February 1, 2017
Good read
July 25, 2017
Two prophecies. Interesting.
These witches are sick..lol..phycopaths.
was really enjoying it until she got all sappy. Desmond this and Desmond that, blah blah blah.
At times the reactions I expected fell flat. For example, when Desmond 'came back' from his father's house.
The last part of Agnon's prophecy...very Interesting. lol
Beth..knew it.
These witches are sick..lol..phycopaths.
was really enjoying it until she got all sappy. Desmond this and Desmond that, blah blah blah.
At times the reactions I expected fell flat. For example, when Desmond 'came back' from his father's house.
The last part of Agnon's prophecy...very Interesting. lol
Beth..knew it.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews