Rating: 
Summary: Two thumbs, and paws, up for Kelly Armstrong's first book
Review: "Bitten" is a wonderful re-telling of the old werewolf tale. Kelly Armstrong brings Elena (who is telling the story) to life, as well as the other characters. Elena is one of the only female werewolves out there, bitten by her intended -Clayton- and turned. Elena, however, doesn't like being a werewolf so she leaves The Pack and moves to Canada, where she finds a normal life and a normal boyfriend. However, when The Pack's leader, Jermey, calls on Elena to return home, Elena knows she has no choice. However, Elena tries not to fall back into the life she once knew, of The Pack, and tries to resist Clay's attempts to woo back her love. However, when Clay is taken captive by a rouge band of Mutts (werewolves outside The Pack), Elena must make her choice.
Kelly Armstrong is a GREAT writer and creates characters you actually care about. It's a "howling" (bad werewolf humor) good read.
Rating:
Summary: A WOW(!) Of A Read!
Review: A friend had been urging me for months to read Kelley Armstrong's "Bitten," the first book in the "Women of the Otherworld" series. She told me that the novel was well written and unusual, with a fresh take on the same old werewolf/shapeshifter tale. So I finally got around to reading the book and all I have to say is "WOW!" I can't think of one negative comment to make, not that I'd want to. I only have praise for this terrific read and for the author. The plot is excellent; the dialogue is at times serious, at others very funny, filled with dark humor. And it's all very believable - if you believe in werewolves, of course.
Elena Michaels is a young, attractive, athletic journalist who lives in Toronto, Canada with her older lover, Philip, an architect. He is very serious about her and wants to marry her. Elena thinks she might care for him enough to marry him, except for one problem. Elena is a werewolf. As a matter of fact she is the only female werewolf...in the entire world. The werewolf gene has always been passed down from father to son - never to daughter. Almost all females bitten by werewolves have died before their bodies could adapt to the change. Elena's body adapted, which is more than can be said about her mind. She almost lost it for an entire year after her transformation. Then she finally accepted her fate. But she couldn't accept the betrayal, the bite, that made her other than human.
Ms. Armstrong's werewolves live in packs. They do not kill human beings. Those who choose the life of a loner, eschewing the pack, are called mutts. They are not to be trusted because they can become very violent, unpredictable, and sometimes kill people, just for the love of the kill. Therefore a special pack, the one Elena belonged to, tracks and monitors the mutts, worldwide.
Elena left her pack over a year before and is trying to make it on her own in the big city. However, the wild still calls to her and exerts a powerful pull. When a serious problem arises, Elena is called home to her pack's large forest estate in upstate New York, to assist them in their need. Then the real adventures, struggles and romance begin.
Ms. Armstrong's characters are marvelous. Elena is a feminist and holds her own among the males. She gives as good as she gets. She is sassy, cynical, realistic, good in combat, but inside she's about as tough as a marshmallow. The other characters are every bit as strong and complex. Their lives and histories unfold as you read. And there's a wonderful sense of comaraderie and caring among the pack. After you finish the book, you will care about them too. I have already ordered the next two books in the series: "Stolen" and "Dime Store Magic." This is a real find! Very highly recommended!
JANA
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!!!
Review: Alright,I didn't know what to expect when I bought this book, but I was 100% pleasantly surprised. I loved it! In fact, this is my new favorite book now, overtaking Interview with the Vampire. I love the romance between Elena and Clay and how she keeps on trying to fight it. Its a mix between a dark fantasy and romance book, combining the two perfectly. For anyone who loves anything about the paranormal, but this book. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Characters Left a Bur, but Fast Paced Read
Review: Bitten has already got a good synapsis written, so I don't want to waste anyone's time with retelling it. The book was a very fast paced read which can be easily compared to the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of books by Laurell K. Hamilton. It's written from first person and has a generally strong willed female main character. Bitten was overall very well written, and it (much like Anita's books) as a "can't put it down" read. The characters were fairly 3 dimensional, and the plot easy to follow. I found the purchase worth the time and cost to read, but only once. What left the above mentioned "bur" with me was the main character's utter lack of fidelity. The novel begins with the classic conflict of a werewolf wanting their humanity (not a new concept in films or literature, but a good one, none the less.) By trying to live a human life, denying the beast within, the heroine settles down with a decent man who loves and cares for her. She claims the same love in return, yet the moment she's back with her pack, she has sex with an old flame. Now, where this is believable and part of the character's progress in no longer denying her beast and accepting who/what she is, I found it somewhat disturbing on her choice of a partner. There were a small score of mentally stable werewolves in the pack who would have been happy to usher a relationship meaningful or purely sexual with the heroine. Instead, she chose the most mentally unstable one of the group. The sex scenes and "romance" left a residual feeling of a fantasy to be with the "bad boy" instead of a solid, thinking, and rational character movement through a story. The sex scenes also tended to lend to that feeling of it being a female fantasy, instead of lending to the plot - a sort of "wallpaper" for cheap thrills. Overall, its worth a single read. For others, who either aren't bothered by this aspect, or even want to read a bit of fast, thrilling, and sometime erotic fiction about a werewolf, it would be well worth picking up.
Rating:
Summary: Truly amazing!
Review: Bitten sucks you in from page one, and refuses to let go. She feeds you just enough information to tantalize you to turn the page, and always dangles more titilating stuff just around the corner. Things that you should have seen, you don't...people you think are a certain way, aren't.
If I hadn't seen it on paper, I wouldn't believe it was her first book. In my opinion, the rest of her books don't hold a candle to this one (being that she never intended Bitten to be the first in a series), but her inventiveness and writing style keep me coming back for more.
She is working on her fifth (or is it sixth?) book now, but she still makes time to maintain a website (www.kelleyarmstrong.com), write her fans, and participate in discussions on her website. She listens to her fans, and has since created a handful of novellas dedicated to the prequel of Clay and Elena (introduced here in Bitten), which, in my opinion, are better than any book she's written, outside of this one.
A roleplaying game, based on her works, has also been created (www.kaotherworld.com), and is excellently done, as well.
Rating:
Summary: Avid Reader & Reviewer
Review: Elena Michaels is women going places. She has a great job as a journalist, a nice apartment in Toronto, a very attentive boyfriend, and a serious problem. She is a werewolf. The only female werewolf in existence.So starts Bitten, Kelley Armstrong's first book in the Women of the Otherworld series. Elena is summoned by her old pack's alpha, Jeremy to return to Stonehaven, his estate. With much trepidation, Elena embarks on a journey that will alter her life once again. The pack represents all that Elena resents - male domination and treating women like dirt. In addition, there is Clay - who longs to posses Elena completely once again. Kelley Armstrong's werewolves are feral and strong. They hunt and run at will. These beasts are wild - but still retain a trace of humanity. There are only two ways to become a werewolf - by bite or heredity. Only males can inherit the werewolf tradition. The werewolves spend a good amount of time procreating with only interest in their male progeny. Nipping at the heals of the pack are the mutts - usually lone werewolves who challenge the stability of the pack. Mutts have been known to indulge themselves in killing humans and the pack does its best to guard against this. This indiscriminate killing has the potential of exposing werewolves to the world. Elena finds herself drawn into the pack once again and as she struggles to accept her nature. Bitten is a wonderful, fresh look at werewolves. The pack is like a close knit family unit with all different types. Elena is written as a strong woman and werewolf. Yet Elena has many emotional barriers that do not allow her to evolve. She is unable to truly let others care for her. She fights her feral instincts and tries to conquer them. Throughout the book, Elena is in constant struggle with Clay. This relationship is very complex and wonderful to read about. While reading the book, you find yourself wanting Elena to give into Clay - at other times you want Elena to cause bodily harm to him. This seesaw of emotions is laced with love, bitterness, lust, loneliness, and so much more. Upon finishing this book, all you want to do is read the next installment, Stolen. Kelley Armstrong has published three books; Bitten, Stolen, and Dime Store Magic. A fourth in the Women of the Otherworld series, Industrial Magic is to be published late in 2004. She has an extensive website at http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/ On her website are two novellas from the Women of the Otherworld series.
Rating:
Summary: Different, in a good way :)
Review: Elena seems a normal young woman. She has a job, and lives with her perfectly normal boyfriend. However, things aren't always what they seem to be: Elena is a werewolf, the only female werewolf in the world to be precise...
Elena was turned into a werewolf by her previous fiancée, Clay, who wanted her to be with him forever, and thus did something forbidden by Pack Law: he bit her. Against all odds Elena survived, but she felt betrayed by Clay and ultimately left the Pack.
Now, however, the Pack needs her: a band of mutts (not Pack werewolves) are killing humans, and they must be stopped. So when Jeremy the alpha werewolf calls her, she decides to return and face her past, even though she isn't specially eager to do so.
Truth to be told, this is the first book by Kelley Armstrong that I have read, and I discovered it by chance. A friend told me to visit Armstrong's website (www.kelleyarmstrong.com) to read some of her free novellas, and I did exactly that when I had some free time. I didn't regret it: the three free novellas that Kelley offers in her website are just awesome. "Ascension", "Savage" and "Beginnings" are prequels to "Bitten", and quite different to other things I have read (different in a good way, though).
My immediate reaction after reading Armstrong's free novellas was to buy "Bitten", Armstrong's first published novel and coincidently the first book in the "Women of the Otherworld" series. I'm pretty happy I did that. As a matter of fact, I liked this book so much that I gladly recommend it to you, provided you like fantasy/horror books with non-stopping action, an interesting plot and a little bit of romance :)
Belen Alcat
Rating:
Summary: Hungry Like the Wolf!
Review: I loved this book! Kelley armstrong's debut novel was one sexy and gripping supernatural thriller! Elena Michaels is a successful and beautiful young woman who has one very dark secret.She is a werewolf! She is summoned back to the home by her pack leader to help them battle some nonpack werewolves, mutts who are turning human killers to vicious werewolves and who are framing the pack for their crimes!One of the things I love about this book is the heroine, Elena is a the only female werewolf in existence who was turned into one by her lover, Clay who torn between the desire for him and the love of her human lover Phillip who is her link ot the human side of her. Bitten has all of the things a good modern gothic horror should have:
brutal violence, steamy sex and lots of suspense.Fans of Anita Blake series and Anne Rice should take note of Armstrong's storytelling ability as she takes us into her world of werewolves! Once you enter this book be prepare for some great entertainment!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book, my favorite of the series so far!
Review: This book has all the elements I look for in a horror novel: a strong female character, solid plot with twists, character development (they are not just laid out immediately in a dry monologue, they are slowly introduced to us, mostly) and some funny and moving dialogue and expression of the lead character's thoughts and feelings. This book drew me in and I liked the characters and found them interesting, although I'm not sure I would want to meet up with them. And that is what I want from a werewolf or vampire or other such creature, the scare factor. The scare factor is what makes you crane your neck to look at a car accident, watch a surgery or ride a roller coaster. I do not want to cuddle the antagonist or the protagonist that is a monster.
Elena is a tough talking, fright-inducing werewolf who has issues with becoming a werewolf and already had issues as a human being and we actually get to hear about them. Yeah! So many books skip over character development. She is vulnerable but not as a werewolf so I admire her but I fear her teeth and claws. Many of the other werewolves have the same presence and that combined with the description of werewolf society made this a rounded novel. That and character development made this a four star story for me.
Oh, the action scenes, the romantic angle and the plot didn't hurt.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!
Review: This book is the best in it's ever expanding genre. The heroine is witty and strong and her male counterparts are *sigh* enough to make any girl wish to be bitten.
I highly recomened this book and all Kelley Armstrong's others.
She even has more to read on her website!
Armstrong is fabulous for book lovers who each time can't wait for the next one to come out.
I can't say enough good here. Just know if you read Bitten you'll love it and eagerly reach for more.
|
