BOOK REVIEW - BITTEN by KELLEY ARMSTRONG - WOMEN OF THE OTHERWORLD # 1 - ADULT PARANORMAL ROMANCE - LITTLE BROWN BOOKS

By: Kelley Armstrong
Published By: LITTLE BROWN BOOKS
Released : Available Now
Details: Paperback from library, 448 Pages

RATING: 4.5 CLAY STARS

Blurb : Goodreads

"I've been fighting it all night.
I'm going to lose ...Nature wins out.
It always does."

Elena Michaels didn't know that her lover Clay was a werewolf until he bit her, changing her life for ever. Betrayed and furious, she cannot accept her transformation, and wants nothing to do with her Pack - a charismatic group of fellow werewolves who say they want to help.

When a series of brutal murders threatens the Pack, Elena is forced to make an impossible choice. Abandon the only people who truly understand her new nature, or help them to save the lover who ruined her life, and who still wants her back at any cost.

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

I’m coming in very late to this series, so my opinion doesn’t mean an awful lot as this is a very popular series, but I shall give you my thoughts on Bitten # 1 in the Women Of The Otherworld series.

I enjoyed Bitten. I think if you like Rachel Vincent’s Shifter series you will like Bitten # 1.

I am left with some questions after reading book # 1. I shall have to read Stolen to see if more are answered. The one thing that really came to mind when reading this book was Clay and Elena’s relationship before he bit her and the why of him biting her. I just had a look on Goodreads and I am glad to see there is a prequel novella that came out after this book that may answer my questions. I just reserved Tales of the Otherworld from my local library.

I thought this was a very well written book. There is a very small female influence in Elena’s life. It is very brief. Not even a best friend, which I am hoping to see further into this series. Even her work environment, which we didn’t really get to feel her involvement in, had no girlie influence. She is always surrounded by men. I thought considering she didn't have the best role models with the men in her young life that had betrayed her.  Did I get that right, she was abused by male foster parents? Or did I read that wrong? I had a bit of trouble connecting that bit to her character. I felt it was a bit blasé in this book. Mentally I would have thought there would have been more repercussions on her older self.

I don’t know anything about this series so I don’t know if Elena has an on going role. I am deliberately not looking any further than picking up the next book. For some reason I thought this book was about vampires, hehe. Maybe because of the title.

I really like Jeremy, I know he is the Alpha of the pack but he seemed more a father figure than the type of Alpha werewolf characters I am used to. There were not a lot of repercussions for Elena or Clay if they stepped out of line. I think what I am trying to say is I didn’t feel that strong Alpha influence that I feel in other books of this nature. I really like Jeremy but I tended to forget he was the Alpha of the pack.

‘I’m being honest with you, Elena. More honest than I’d dare be with anyone else. Everything is falling apart. I wasn’t prepared to handle this. If I’ve been a good Alpha all these years it’s because I’ve never been tested. Not like this.”

Nick is a nice guy, I like him. He is a submissive pack member. He and Clay are really the only pack members I felt like I began to know by the end of this book.

Marsten is an intriguing character. I’m sitting on the fence with him with his behaviour. He needs to be congratulated for getting his own way.

I liked Clayton aka Clay. I think I missed a bit of their connection because of his mistake and how it cost their relationship. I will get that when I read Tales of The Otherworld. hopefully, but it felt like I should have had it in this book. I was always waiting for something, but it never came. They bonked, I know Clay wears a ring, but I didn’t feel that part. It was more the animalistic side of their nature. I know he professes his love, but , I am still trying to put my finger on it.

I did enjoy this book and the villains and minions were hard to catch and really planned their attacks.

Elena’s mistakes drove the storyline. She is flawed, doesn’t like to do as she is told, tries to be the hero by herself and fails on more than one occasion giving the lads something to fix. If she listened to her Alpha, then things would have run smoother. A lot is at stake for their pack.

I felt really awful for Philip and I thought it was very blasé again what Elena was doing behind his back. It kind of got forgotten along the way. He is a stand up guy, patient, understanding and Elena really had no second thoughts about doing what she was doing. Not even an apology. I don’t think she even told him she was having a physical relationship with her ‘cousin’. It was a case of her mentally placing her two halves of her life into two different categories = ok to bonk behind the man she lives with because she has her animal side and her human side.

Cheating is cheating. I think it made me think of Elena as quite shallow.

I think I questioned Elena’s integrity a bit. Especially when Philip was hurt, the poor love was forgotten again. Maybe that is a part of her makeup due to her younger self’s upbringing. Love is a strange word for her. What does it actually mean to somebody that was raised the way she was? Maybe that is my answer.

I am looking forward to picking up Stolen shortly to get more of an idea of this very popular series. One book is not enough.

Michelle