Bitten by Kelley Armstrong (Otherworld #1)
448 pages
Urban Fantasy / Supernatural
Little Brown Book Group
Originally published 2002
Bitten is a book I first read originally years ago, around about when it was first published and it was my first foray into the urban fantasy genre. The books have recently been made into the TV show which premiered on the Syfy Channel yesterday. Which made me decide to start re-reading the books through again. I have yet to watch the show, but I have no doubt the books will be better – they are always are! I have to confess I may have gone through IMDB and got cross at the casting as half of them are not like I pictured in my mind at all.
The book follows Elena Michaels, the only surviving female werewolf, bitten by a man she thought loved her, the bite is very hard to survive and even harder for women. After years living away from the pack and trying to live as normal a life as possible, Elena is summoned home to help them deal with a problem. Going home means facing up to her past, but more importantly seeing the man she loved and who caused her to become a werewolf – Clay.
This book is up there with one of my favourites, written before the werewolf and vampire genre got really popular. It is an easy read, combining a complicated love story with a mystery in an immersive supernatural world. I really like Armstrong’s depiction of werewolves from the description of their change, their crazy metabolism and need to eat stacks of food (total envy here!) and how the the animal instincts change their view of the world. Her depiction of the world that Elena lives in is well thought out, imaginative and fascinating.
Elena is a tough and independent woman trying to survive – successfully – in a male dominated world. Her perception of the world around her and the life she is forced to live makes the book what it is. She’s a normal woman, with her own issues, but she’s also a werewolf too. She’s the type of woman as a reader I found I could easily identify, and also wanted her to succeed. The love story had me hooked from the beginning, it probably helped that Clay sounded completely delicious – shallow.. me? There were certain sections of this book where I just could not put it down.
The action is great, I remember when I first read the book I was taken aback – they’re goodies, but they’re burying bodies – how does that work? Welcome to the world of werewolves where the boundaries are blurred. Mixed up in all of it is just a touch of humour too that finishes the writing style off nicely.
This book is book one is Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld series and I have to confess I have read them all, and will probably be making why way through them all again too. After I finished reading Bitten, I went straight onto the second book Stolen and I read both books in quick succession. I’m both nervous and excited about the TV show.. watch this space!
Verdict:
A fantastic supernatural novel written from a woman’s point of view. It’s engaging, pacy and sucks you into the story right from the very beginning. There’s a hot male lead if that appeals and you love a good bookish hunk like me, and I also love a good love story and this book does not disappoint there.
Rating: 4/5
Buy the book on Amazon.
*Disclosure: I purchased this book myself.