Review: Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

Published: 2004 (Plume Books)

Pages: 468

Series: Women of the Otherworld (2)

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Further info: Goodreads / Amazon

It was in Bitten, Kelley Armstrong's debut novel, that thirty-year-old Elena Michaels came to terms with her feral appetites and claimed the proud identity of a beautiful, successful woman, and the only living female werewolf. 


In Stolen, on a mission for her own elite pack, she is lured into the net of ruthless Internet billionaire Tyrone Winsloe, who has funded a bogus scientific investigation of the other races and their supernatural powers. Kidnapped and studied in his underground lab deep in the Maine woods, these paranormals: witches, vampires, shamans, werewolves are then released and hunted to the death in a real-world video game. But when Winsloe captures Elena, he finally meets his match.

My Review

Picking up approximately a year after Bitten left off, Stolen plunges us back into the world of Elena Michaels and her fellow Pack members.  Checking out one of the frequent "werewolf sightings" that the Pack investigates, Elena, while being chased through the streets of Pittsburgh, is asked to accept something she feels is implausible: other supernatural creatures exist.  I found it very human of Elena to doubt the existence of witches, shamans, and half-demons, a touching reminder of her dual nature, yet at the same time, I was surprised at her unwillingness to believe the impossible.  I was, however, very glad to see Kelley Armstrong widening her mythos to include other unearthly beings.  

While attending a council meeting, sort of an AA for the supernatural, Elena still maintains her distance from the idea that other otherworldly creatures are alive and well (or in the case of vampire Cassandra, dead and well.)  It isn't until she is kidnapped and put behind glass in billionaire Ty Winsloe's lab that Elena realizes she may be in over her head.  Even though this book started out slowly for me, by the time Elena woke up in captivity, I was hooked, once again.  

 

Elena does not do well in a cage of any kind.  She's a strong enough character that I was not pleased seeing her a prisoner.  Separated from her Pack, Elena is totally cut off from the outside world, unless she can accept the help of a witch to communicate with Jeremy, her Alpha.  I found myself several times anxious for her, and for her fellow captives, any of whom Tyrone Winsloe is likely to, at any point, decide he is through with, and would like to hunt.  

 

Child-witch Savannah and half-demon Xavier Reese add to the tension.  Savannah appears to have mysterious powers beyond her age and ability, and Xavier, despite having joined up with the bad guys, is such a breath of fresh air in this book, that I wanted to thank Kelley Armstrong for writing in his character.  (Aside: I have no clue if he shows up again but I sure do hope he does!)

There were a few things I didn't like about this book: the pacing in the beginning was way off, and I found two of the plot twists to be a little too predictable.  As well-developed as some of the new characters were, others rubbed me the wrong way; Paige, one of the Coven witches, comes off as insolent and unlikable.  She narrates the next book so I am hoping in that one, we will see her become more of a sympathetic character. 

What I did like: every bit of Clay and Elena's interaction, limited though it was, and new characters Adam, Savannah, and Xavier.  And as I mentioned above, I am thrilled to see other supernaturals brought into play, and their addition handled very well.  I am excited to continue this series, and to see where Kelley Armstrong takes these characters.  I am a big fan of paranormal romance and I feel like this series is mixing that genre really cleverly with urban fantasy.

Review: Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Published: 2001 (Plume Books)

Pages: 436

Series: The Otherworld Series (Book 1)

Rating: 4 1/2 of 5 stars

Further info: Amazon / Goodreads

Elena Michaels seems like the typically strong and sexy modern woman, She lives with her architect boyfriend, writes for a popular newspaper, and works out at the gym. She's also a werewolf. 

Elena has done all she can to assimilate to the human world, but the man whose bite changed her existence forever, and his legacy, continue to haunt her. Thrown into a desperate war for survival that tests her allegiance to a secret clan of werewolves, Elena must reconnect with who, and what, she is in this passionate, page-turning novel.

My review:

Elena Michaels is the only female werewolf in existence, but right from the start, it was all too easy - and painful - to see her trying to deny that part of herself.  Bitten over a decade ago by the man she planned to marry, Elena's entire world changed.  Despite all her attempts to acclimate into "normal" everyday life - she has a boyfriend she cares about, and a steady job - Kelley Armstrong weaves Elena's inner torment into the pages seamlessly enough that I at once sympathized with Elena: struggling to belong, fearing she doesn't fit in anywhere.  When she goes home to Stonehaven (the home of the current Alpha, and her foster-father figure, Jeremy) Elena's past comes back in the form of her Pack brothers, and her former lover, Clay.

And oh, did I fall head over heels for Clay and Elena.  From the first "Hey darlin'," and that Lousiana drawl all the way to the very last page, I was completely invested in them.  Their romance was more than a little tortured, with their past always right there between them.  They had their issues, huge ones that at times made me want to grit my teeth for worrying if they would get past them.  The tension between them made the book hard to read sometimes, but in that awful, good, emotional way that happens when you (or in this case, I,) really connect with two characters. 

I found myself invested in all of the main characters.  Kelley Armstrong does a fantastic job of creating this cast of characters that I immediately wanted to know more about.  Even the characters that are only mentioned and/or seen a few times do not feel flat or overlooked.  Clay teems with mischief and emotional baggage, in a way that feels real.  Jeremy is a stalwart and inspirational Alpha.  Nick is fun-loving and loyal to his friends.  And the list goes on.  :)

Mutts, or werewolves that (usually by choice) are not a part of the tight-knit Pack are closing in on the Pack and its members.  Elena is worried for her Pack family, and at the same time, dealing with the resurgence of her formerly somewhat buried feelings for Clayton, who bit and turned her.  

The plot, as it unfolds, just kept me almost breathless.  I stayed up too late two nights to finish this book.  I loved the mythos of the series - how many werewolf books have there been, have I read, and how pleasantly surprised was I to see that this particular paranormal romance was indeed original, with new ideas that sets Bitten away from the rest of the pack (so to speak!)  Kelley Armstrong has really put some serious thought into the rules of her spin on werewolves: the way they live, the enemies they make, and how they love. I couldn't turn the pages of this book fast enough, and when I finished it, I made sure I went out and bought the sequel, Stolen, right away!

I would have given this book a full five stars, but for one plot arc that really bugged me.  I don't want to be spoiler-ish so I will just say that even though it was handled very well, maybe the only way it could have been and could have played out, it still left me a little disappointed.  Other than that, Kelley Armstrong's urban fantasy Bitten is a truly solid and engaging read.