Bitten (Women of the Otherworld, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Feb 28, 2010 Nairabell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, 5-star, read-in-2011, read-in-2012

Elena Michaels has a devoted boyfriend, interesting job and cute apartment but she still sneaks out at night to preserve her darkest secret. Elena is a werewolf, the only female one in the world. Betrayed by someone she trusted and turned against her will, Elena has now broken away from her Pack and is trying to live as normal a life as possible. But when the Pack contact her in need of her help, Elena is faced with a choice - stay away or return to help the only family she's ever known?

This wa Elena Michaels has a devoted boyfriend, interesting job and cute apartment but she still sneaks out at night to preserve her darkest secret. Elena is a werewolf, the only female one in the world. Betrayed by someone she trusted and turned against her will, Elena has now broken away from her Pack and is trying to live as normal a life as possible. But when the Pack contact her in need of her help, Elena is faced with a choice - stay away or return to help the only family she's ever known?

This was the first urban fantasy series I ever read, and remains to this day one of my favourites. The plot is brilliantly written and full of intricate twists and turns. The books starts out setting up the idea of the civilised pack werewolves and the uncontrolled mutts who give in to their more animalistic desires. Then the plot thickens and things become more complicated. I liked how the author made it feel as if no character was truly safe, and several scenes caught me completely by surprise.

All of the characters are given an incredible depth of backstory, both as individuals and as a group, and the author manages to avoid info-dumping the reader. I really liked how the author distinguished the werewolves as different to humans, whilst still showing that certain groups within any society will still act in twisted depraved ways.

Elena is a great narrator and her struggle for a normal life is really well written and believable. Clayton is really well written as the quasi-romantic interest. His relationship with Elena is tempestuous at best and it is really fun to read. The other pack members are equally well written, from the calm controlled Alpha Jeremy to the fun-loving flirt Nick. I loved how the bonds between the pack members where shown, translating the concept of a wolf pack into slightly more human tones while still remaining distinct.

The book builds the tension throughout and leads up to an action packed showdown. Had the book ended after the showdown I probably would have been happy, but the author continues the story on showing the consequences and letting Elena choose her own path.

All in all this was an awesome read, and I can't wait to get stuck into Stolen.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 10/10

Overall: 49/50 ...more

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May 10, 2009 DarkHeart "Vehngeance" rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, 2010

I really enjoyed the narrator. She did a good job on the different voices, even if it did reinforce the fact that Clay has a southern accent (he never does in my head). ;)

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Jul 31, 2010 Irene Hollimon rated it it was amazing

Not only is it the first novel in a series, it's a debut novel. The first novel for the author as well. It shows, there's some world building that goes on with any first novel in a series. Both the author and the reader have to get in the groove. The first three quarters of the book are not bad. Then the book really picks up. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. I understand she switches characters so that could be interesting or jarring if you're looking for more Clay and Elena. ...more

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Jun 15, 2011 Ouroboros rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I'm giving this 4 stars because the world building is truly wonderful. Elena is a refreshing change of pace from other urban fantasy heroines. The author doesn't spend pages and pages discussing how gorgeous everyone is but doesn't know it. The Alpha isn't omnipotent, so far there are no vampires and the sex is part of the story, not the entire story. Where I had a problem was the endlessly useless scenes with Philip, Clay and Elena in Toronto. None of those scenes made sense and it ground the s ...more

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Jun 06, 2009 Samantha wickedshizuku Tolleson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-stars, title-b, under-revision, female-lead, paranormal, not-manga, 2009, werewolves, read-it-again

This was an epic start to a awesome series. I'm really glad that Armstrong held out for Sci-Fi to come to her with an offer. I think they were the only network short of HBO to do the books justice.
The books are really detailed, foreshadowed, and to me really slow. That is until there is a huge action scene, but those seem to be few and far between. ...more

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Jun 19, 2010 Lisarenee rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal

Werewolf story that I really loved and will be reading the sequels to. Found it's sequel at a thrift store and decided (for once) to follow the sequence. About the only female werewolf trying to survive in the real world on her own when the pack calls her back into it's fold. ...more

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