Review: Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Series: Women of the Otherworld Book #1

Format: Paperback

Pages: 518

Rating: 4 Stars

How I Got It: Purchased

Genre: Paranormal, Werewolves, Romance

Publisher: Plume

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

Elena Michaels is the world’s only female werewolf. And she’s tired of it. Tired of a life spent hiding and protecting, a life where her most important job is hunting down rogue werewolves. Tired of a world that not only accepts the worst in her–her temper, her violence–but requires it. Worst of all, she realizes she’s growing content with that life, with being that person.

So she left the Pack and returned to Toronto where she’s trying to live as a human. When the Pack leader calls asking for her help fighting a sudden uprising, she only agrees because she owes him. Once this is over, she’ll be squared with the Pack and free to live life as a human. Which is what she wants. Really.

 

Review

After like a year I finally finished this. Now, I actually stopped reading because I was watching the first season of the show. I was really enjoying it, but didn’t want to get the book and TV show confused. But I’m glad I finally finished it, because it’s a very good story.

I can’t really describe the writing style, but I really liked it. Elena is the main character and the book is written in first person. Generally, I’m not a huge fan of first person, but this felt different. A lot of times it was Elena telling a story in a more removed way like third person. And it was a very gripping read.

Obviously, Elena has to be likeable and/or someone you care about to enjoy the story. I do really care about her and like her, but sometimes she made some decisions that bothered me. A huge part of her struggle is dealing with who she is and coming to teams with being a wolf. That’s a very interesting challenge and I liked reading about her journey. But cheating. Sometimes even I would forget she had a boyfriend and get wrapped up in Clay. But I still don’t like cheating.

One of the things that makes me want to read werewolf books is the pack dynamics. They often have great “family” interactions and this one was great. I love all of the guys and became emotionally attached to them so quickly. I think Nick is my favorite and I really liked his interactions with Elena. Their sort of like brother and sister.

I do have some conflicting feelings about the romance between Clay and Elena. I am super interested in them as a couple, but it’s not the healthiest of relationships. Their chemistry is great, but it’s also volatile which always raises some red flags for me.

Part of me wants to read the other books in this series. And if I’m being honest I probably will. But it might be awhile because I really like the show and I think I’m going to focus on that for now.

Thanks for reading!

Holly