Bitten (An Otherworld Novel Book 1)

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

The one thing that comes to mind for describing this book is that it's professionally written. It's been a long time since I read anything like this. This is not an author just writing down descriptions, events and emotions she think is fitting for the readers to understand (like I unfortunately commonly find in most books these days). No, This is an expert at making an entire world for these characters to live and adding her own style and flare to the story. While the storyline and the werewolf theme in itself is not unique, Kelly Armstrong knows exactly how to make it one of a kind. While I at some points found that I got a bit bored, when the thoughts of the main character kept wandering for a few pages, I soon realized that that was a big important part of the book. It was a way to get to know and understand Elena's past and her actions. To learn why she was the way she was. The more I got into the story the more I invested in the characters and their relationships. I loved that there were unique personalities and flaws, not just in the book itself but also comparing it to many other stories I've recently read. I often find myself reading a story where the love interest is described as the perfect man, being compassionate to a fault, kind, hearing and in all other aspects perfect. While that is mostly what one hears women describing their dream man as, it is very unrealistic. In turn that also makes the books I've read unrealistic. Bitten, however, has the love interest in some ways as the opposite of perfect. Clay is like a real wolf with no problem to kill and not so much in contact with human emotions and human thinking. The fact that he has these flaws makes him much more intriguing, unique and in turn makes this book unforgettable. It is not only Clay, but also the rest of the characters that build this story so strongly. The common alpha for example, is usually a brute dominant with high fighting skills, but in this book the alpha is calm, collected, caring and relies on logical thinking instead of violence. We see him more behind the scenes making the shots rather than charging an attack. This book, to me, is unforgettable for so many reasons, and it is in a good way. I have never seen a view of werewolves like in this book and I've never read a book with such distinguished characters. Allthough I wished there was a bit more romance and drama than shown in the book, I find this book not far from perfect. I can only say one thing. Kelly Armstrong is an amazing author!

Bitten is a wonderful, fast-paced novel with a unique spin on the werewolf tale. Not a horror novel at all, it can best be described as a romance-action-adventure-mystery-fantasy. The story is a first-person narrative of Elena Michaels, an attractive, perceptive and intelligent young woman who desires only a normal, loving conventional life after a difficult and abusive childhood. While visiting her fiance's home in upstate New York, she is bitten by what she believes is the large family dog. The dog turns out to be her fiance in his wolf form, and the bite causes Elena to become sick as she becomes a werewolf herself. Her recovery is difficult as she resists becoming something she did not choose along with the fact that no female has ever successfully recovered from being bitten. Eventually she comes to accept her new life as a member of the Pack. After living apart from them for a year, she is recalled by the Pack Alpha to help resolve an attack by other werewolves seeking to destroy them. The Pack dictates a code of behavior for themselves and non-Pack werewolves, or mutts as they are called, so as to preserve their ability to exist in the human world with anonymity. Mutts who violate this code are dealt with brutally by the Pack. The author makes the story fascinating not just by utilizing her considerable skills as a novelist but also by making the characters believable and highly interesting. When Elena or the others "Change" into wolves, they do not become repulsive monsters as depicted in horror movies but completely natural and beautiful animals. The depiction of wolf behavior and society is so accurate that it is obvious that the author studied the works of wolf biologists such as Dr. L. David Mech. Life within the Pack is strictly hierarchical but is also filled with love, respect, safety and fun for it's members. Elena and Clayton are polar opposites. She is female, he is male. She is Canadian, he is from the Deep South. She is subtle and tactful, he is coarse. But we see throughout the novel that they are really mirror images and are truly each other's mate. Just as in Huckleberry Finn, Elena as Becky Thatcher has a "civilahzin" effect on Clayton. The Pack estate of Stonehaven is a place of complete safety and peace similar to Twain's Mississippi River. Readers will finish this novel quickly as it is pleasant and engrossing with a very satisfying conclusion. I could see this being made into an interesting and enjoyable movie but for now I will be content if the author would give us a sequel to this delightful tale soon.

This is the first book in Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series. I’ve read several of the later books and loved them, so I decided to go back and start at the beginning. I wish I hadn’t. I did like the plot of this book. A Pack of werewolves is threatened by rogue wolves, called Mutts, that are trying to destroy the Pack by indiscriminately killing humans and placing the bodies to be found on Pack land. Jeremy, the Pack Alpha and leader, calls together its members to help locate and neutralize the Mutts. Elena is a Pack member; the only female werewolf existing. In Armstrong’s cosmology, werewolves are all male, using female humans to breed with and then taking the male offspring (the females are left with the mother as they aren’t wolves) to be raised by the Pack. Elena was not born a wolf, she was bitten. No female has ever survived the change from human to werewolf, but Jeremy manages to nurse her through and she becomes one of a kind. She’s not happy with this change, however, as her dream has always to have a husband, home and family; a normal life. She leaves the pack to return to the human world, falls in love and is living with her fiancé when she gets Jeremy’s call for help. The pull of the Alpha is something all werewolves must acknowledge and Elena returns temporarily to help with the problem. Unfortunately, Jeremy’s ward has other ideas. Clay is the one who introduced Elena to the pack, although not revealing their secret. He was her boyfriend before the transformation, but she left him to resume her human life. Clay will not accept this and acts as if Elena is his property, jealously threatening any pack members who approach her, telling all the people in town that she’s his wife, and wearing a wedding ring. But that’s not the full extent of his possession. He constantly touches her, kisses her, and plots to corner her alone. Although she resists and tells him she is not his wife and never will be, he manages to lure her out to the woods at night where, ignoring her protests, Clay ties her hands and proceeds to rape her. This is where my disgust and anger flares. Elena, rather than continue fighting and trying to escape, allows the act to reach it’s conclusion as an active participant. Although she later claims it was a “weak moment”, the same situation happens again, and then again. Every time, Elena yields and then claims she didn’t want Clay to touch her. Come on, are you in or are you out, Elena? It also becomes apparent that any time the pack must split into teams to follow and investigate the Mutts, Jeremy puts Clay and Elena together. He assures Elena that he understands her aversion to Clay’s advances while placing them alone together as much as possible. Jeremy is well aware of why Elena wants to get away from Clay, however, he facilitates Clay’s stalking. This reeks of the classic “Romance” novels where the damsel is overwhelmed by the man’s masculinity and determination. How has an author who has created so many strong, intelligent, independent female characters sunk to this level? Elena is no shrinking violet and should be able to choose a course of action and stick to it. Final thoughts; great plot, lousy love story.

If there was the ability to give a book more than five stars, I would do so for this series by Kelley Armstrong. I have now read the first six Otherworld Series books, all in the last few months. I love them. This novel features Elena, who is still coming to terms with having been made a werewolf 10 years ago. The story grips you and the writing moves the plot along at the perfect pace. I like a book that helps me really visualize the scenes like I'm watching a film in my mind. And this one does it. Heck, I even found myself wishing I could live at Stonehaven as I read it! It's witty, and laugh out loud humorous sometimes - thanks to Armstrong's keen writing style. This book and the rest of the series is a must for anyone who is remotely interested in the fantasy genre or werewolves, vampires, witches, etc. At first, I was just going to read the werewolf books in the series. But then I decided to read the three that centered around the witches (Paige, Savannah and Eve) as well. Then because I couldn't get enough, I even went back and re-read this book and the second in the series. It's been a long time since I've re-read a book, especially so soon after reading it the first time. But you can really see the characters grow and mature with each book, which keeps you wanting to read more. Bitten is truly a terrific (and quick) read. I was sorry to see it end. I'm so glad I found Kelley Armstrong's books!

It’s not a copy of others out there. There are many scenes that surprised me - things that hadn’t been done that way before. I like the author’s thinking. For example, scenes of werewolves wrestling, playing “IT,” catching and eating an animal, things after eating the animal. There was one scene (not the major climax mentioned below) where I thought “Uh oh, is this going to be one of those stupid things to put the heroine in danger?” But it wasn’t. It was smart. I wasn’t expecting that. I was pleased. This is good storytelling. Good character and plot development. And I liked the major source of conflict between the couple, and how that worked and developed. I almost did not read this because it’s first person, but now I’m glad I read it. One negative: Heroine did something stupid in the major climax. THINGS OTHER REVIEWERS DID NOT LIKE BUT I WAS OK WITH: Some readers felt Elena was cheating on her boyfriend. I didn’t see it as cheating. I saw it as she’s single, no commitments, she is dating two guys because she can’t decide whom she wants. I know, this was not exactly dating. But it was similar because she wasn’t married or engaged. She was trying to find herself - figure out what she wanted and whom she wanted. Some readers did not like the first sex scene being similar to rape. I didn’t see it that way. Twice the guy asked her to say stop if she wanted. She didn’t say stop. The result was aggressive alpha dominating in sex. It was good. This was better than some of those BDSM scenes with males dominating. I liked it. They were hot for each other. Some readers did not like Elena’s personality. I don’t always want a well balanced perfect heroine. I liked that she was angry about things and refused to forgive. I can identify with that. It was good conflict. She also had a tendency toward violence. That made her more interesting. DATA: Narrative mode: 1st person Elena. Story length: 518 pages. Swearing language: moderate to strong including religious swear words, but rarely used. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 5. Setting: current day Toronto, Canada, and New York State. Copyright: 2001. Genre: paranormal romance, urban fantasy romance.

Finished Kelley Armstrong's Bitten this morning. It was a wonderful book; I can't believe it was her first. I was very skeptical of the whole 'modern day werewolves' theme, to be honest, but damned if she didn't pull it off nicely, telling us a riveting story while giving us glimpses into the whole werewolf mystique and leaving room for many more stories to come (I hope). Overall she kept a tight leash on things (yes, pun intended) until the very last parts of the story where she got a little careless about leaving bodies behind, so to speak. This is forgivable in that the reader is so caught up in things by then that they're probably just as happy to not have to pause for the explanation of how a fight scene is cleaned up. Ideally, though, we wouldn't be left with questions of "What will the police think when they find...." and so forth. That's a minor nit, though. The story moved along really nicely; a real page turner. Elena is a believable modern day heroine. She's got flaws and she has some very dense moments (perhaps a few too many -- several times I was shouting the Bitten equivalent of "DON'T GO IN THE BASEMENT!") but she's still likable and a very sympathetic character. I'm looking forward to reading more from Ms. Armstrong.

The book centers around Elena Michaels, the only female warewolf. She was betrayed and bitten by her former fiance, Clay, and against all odds, she survived the change. To escape him and to try and ignore her change she moves to Toronto. She has a human boyfriend but it becomes increasingly hard to hide who she is from him. Things go sour when Elena ignore summons from the Alpha. Clay is forced to come and collect her to help with a Mutt problem. Though she fights it tooth and nail she cannot help but be sucked back into a world she has tried so hard to forget. This book kept me up late until the wee hours because I was so sucked in I couldn't wait to read what happened next. There were several sad points in the book and one death that hit pretty hard, but in the end these events only sucked me further in. The sexual tension between Elena and Clay is really thick. As much as she may try to deny her feelings for Clay, there is a major connection there. However, she can never forget his betrayal of forcing her into this life. In the end she must make a choice to continue to ignore her heart or swallow some of her pride.

Excellent

From dangerous back alleys to the dark, luscious forests of New York State, BITTEN is as exciting and seductive as its heroine: a gripping, silver-bullet-paced thriller with a brilliant supernatural twist. 'It's terrific. The heroine is the most appealing I have come across in ages. It’s clever, quirky, hip and funny. More please!’ - Joanne Harris, author of CHOCOLAT 'A hair-raising story for the she-wolf in us all' Shannon Olson, author of WELCOME TO MY PLANET I LOVED this book. I inhaled this book. I thought it was engaging, fun and completely addictive. The Clay/Elena/Phillip triangle was achingly frustrating and completely worth every twist and turn. I loved the way Armstrong depicted Elena's greatest strengths as well as her weaknesses. I thought the pack was well-written and the world that they live in completely worth every page turn. If you never read another werewolf story, read this one. It is worth every second you spend on it.

Women of the Otherworld is probably Armstrong's best known series and one of the Urban Fantasy genre's original heavy hitters. If people ever ask me where to start with urban fantasy, Bitten is the book I recommend. It was one of the first UF's I read and the Women of the Otherworld continues to be one of my favourite series. Elena Michaels is the worlds only female werewolf. Living in Toronto, she has broken away from the pack and is attempting to forge a normal life on her own. Until Jeremy, the pack Alpha, calls her for help. Elena soon finds herself caught up in werewolf politics and pack justice that threaten everything Elena thought she wanted. Bitten has all the things I look for in an urban fantasy; a plot filled with mystery and action, supernatural mythology that is fascinating and writing that reads like a blockbuster movie. I found myself getting completely absorbed into the world Armstrong has created. It feels gritty and exciting but also believable. Unlike some urban fantasy books, werewolves are still living in secret, with the pack policing this with brute force. The pack dynamics and their struggle with the Mutts (non pack, usually bitten wolves) leads to some heart-in-the-throat moments. As Elena is the only female werewolf, it's a very male dominated book. She holds her own though and watching her square off against some of the Mutts had me cheering for her even more. The pack holds some great characters, including Jeremy the enigmatic Alpha, who constantly challenges Elena's convictions. Armstrong is fantastic at writing not just the human side of characters but also the wolf side, with lots of sections being given over to Elena's wolf. I loved watching Elena struggle with her determination to hold on to her `normal' life outside of the pack against the sense of homecoming at Stonehaven and joy of running with the them again. And then there Clayton... The undeniable attraction between him and Elena, mixed with their complicated history makes for an explosive relationship between the two. Whilst the romantic plot is key to the story I never felt it overshadowed the main focus. Elena goes on to have 3 more books (and several novellas form hers and others POVs) spread out in the series to date, so you'll be happy to know their story doesn't end when Bitten does. If you're a fan of urban fantasy and haven't picked up the Women of the Otherworld series you are in for a treat. Would recommend if you like: Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series, Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson Series, Rachel Vincent's Shifter Series

Interesting fantasy, goor reading, however one must like the different. The issues might be with those who are werewolves but this condition can be easily naunced into the world of diverse difference and what those with extreme difference must do in order to survive, I enjoyed situating their difference into our present day world of those who struggle with identity issues and challenges....strongly recommended if you are into SI FI Adventures coupled with social matters of survival. There is also now a beautifully acted series on SPACE also entitled "BITTEN" into its 2nd Season now being filmed in Toronto. It's going to be a must see series for those of us into this book ...

For those who've seen the TV series first and only went to read the book afterwards, this is sufficiently different to be fresh and interesting throughout. Elena's struggle is even more credible with the werewolf world very much darker than portrayed in the series. It certainly keeps me wanting to read on. Hooray that the series has been out there for a while and there is a lot to read.