the gathering storm – prediction post

I’m back! I took a break for a little bit there to read The Martian for my book club, which I absolutely loved. It’s not often a book makes me laugh and cry, but this one did it. Still, I missed you all, so I’m glad to be back. In YA news, it’s been a while since I’ve read a whole trilogy, so I figured I’d give it a shot again, starting with The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges. Here’s the cover:

And the blurb, courtesy of GoodReads:

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal 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?

And the predictions:

1. Although Katerina is beautiful, she will be the only one of her group of friends who isn’t obsessed with it.
2. Similarly, she will be the one who’d rather be reading than out dancing.
3. And despite the fact that all of her friends are as pretty and accomplished as she is, she’ll be the one who has all the boys chasing her.
4. The clothes in this book will be lovingly described.
5. Katerina will be in the middle of some task or dance or something when the need to protect the royal family member arises, and it will never be wrapped up.
6. Protecting royal family member = zombie army.
7. Despite everything going on, Katerina will spend way too much time angsting about her love triangle.
8. The prince of Montenegro is involved with the evil plot.
9. George is standoffish to her because he’s intimidated by her beauty.
10. We’re not going to get a definite call on who wins the love triangle by the end of this book.