Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Getting to know Kelley Armstrong – Bitten



How many times we are drawn to the water and refuse to drink until we are good and ready? Too many times to count. With books I have kind of given up the resistance and go with the flow. Most often I’m not disappointed. Thus the case of the series by Kelley Armstrong, Woman of the Otherworld. For the longest time I have read the reviews (the series is on it’s 10 installment) and heard the praise but I kept putting it off. That is until I found the first book in Audiobook. Then there is really no excuse not to read it because selection is slim for audiobooks and I have been listening to the books too quickly to be picky.

I want to just tell you that I loved the book and not really explain why because it’s just too difficult to put in worlds why I loved the book. It’s not chuck full of romance, it’s read in first person POV and many cool characters are killed – what’s there to like?

How about a heroine that feels real? A hero that is not really a hero but you still call him a hero? A book that is not about lovers but about people that love each other?

Elena is the only female werewolf in existence. She was betrayed by her lover when he bit her in his werewolf form without explaining to her what he was and what he was doing to her. She has since struggled to live two lives, struggled to stay within the human confines of society and suppress the wolf in her. She stayed with the pack early on in her change but realized that she could not forgive Clay for his betrayal and leaves to live as a human again. She has developed a relationship with a good man who knows nothing of who she really is and holds down a steady job... When the pack calls her back because they need help tracking down some killer ‘mutt’ (werewolves that are not part of a pack) she grudgingly returns. This is when she feels most threatened, when she can finally let the wolf out.

Elena can’t find her place in the world and Armstrong makes this clear to the reader. The story is strong and the darkness that Elena at times finds her self in is told so clearly that I found my skin crawling. If I could compare Armstrong’s voice I would say that the feeling of this book reminded me at times of Dean Koontz, which is quite a praise. The murders start to pile up and the pack is on the verge of destruction. The mutts want Elena, they want revenge on the pack and they want to take over the territory. No one seems to be able to stop them and Elena must decide what she wants before she loses it all.

Don’t wait to pick this one up.

Grade: A
Format: Audiobook

3 comments:

Marg said...

And another reader is bitten by the Kelley Armstrong bug! She is now one of my favourite authors, and I always look forward to reading anything new by her!

samantha.1020 said...

I've got this series on my TBR list but haven't had a chance to get to it yet. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much and I love the new blog!

Anonymous said...

I love this series, Clay has to be the hottest guy of the paranormal world.

 
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