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Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
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Recently added byWolfina, I-N-G-R-I-D, marloff, private library, C-l-o-v-e-R, Hannabee, nwaldron, chaiya, ra7_78

Member recommendations

  1. pollywannabook recommends Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause, "Get inside the head of the only female werewolf. Good writing"
  2. francescadefreitas recommends Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
  3. AmethystFaerie recommends Benighted by Kit Whitfield, ""Benighted" takes place in a world where humans are the minority, while werewolves are the majority. If you love Kelley Armstrong's Elena, you will love (see more) Kit Whitfield's Lola."
  4. Jacey25 recommends Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland, "This is one of the better places to start a journey into urban fantasy and paranormal romance- the series has all kinds of denziens who all feel like real (see more) "people"."
  5. Kira711 recommends Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur
  6. reading_fox recommends Maneater by Thomas Emson, "A UK werewolf with better characters a better history and better writing."
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Elena Michaels is a successful journalist living in Toronto. To the outside world (including her nice "normal" live-in boyfriend Phillip,) Elena is an attractive, athletic young woman, but she has a secret - Elena is the only living female werewolf. After leaving her pack a year ago to pursue a "normal" future for herself - decent man, career, family - Elena is called back to help hunt some werewolves that are endangering the safety of the pack.

Bitten is a well-written piece of paranormal-romance goodness! Dark and delicious, the story and history of the pack made for compelling reading that was difficult to put down. Full of action and drama, the relationships between the pack members were complicated and emotionally truthful. The characters in Bitten were fantastic. Kelley Armstrong wrote a wonderfully realistic female character in Elena - complex, witty, and strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with the big-baddies. I also loved the sense of family that I felt when reading about the pack. The members of the pack were incredibly supportive of one another and protective.

Bitten was a pleasant surprise for me. When starting a new series you just never know what you're going to get, but Bitten was a remarkable debut novel for Kelley Armstrong. I read a lot of books in this particular genre and I was awed by Armstrong's originality. I am anxious to get my hands on the next book in the series, Stolen. ( )
  susanbevans | Nov 1, 2009 |
Bitten is the first novel of Kelley Armstrong's that i have read. Considering the genre, I went in a bit cautiously. After all, this is a genre that has seen more than its share of abuse.

However, I'm pleased to say that I was pleasantly surprised by Armstrong's efforts. It wasn't perfect, but it is more than satisfying.

One of the first things that really jumped out at me is how Armstrong utilizes werewolves in her writing. Many authors fall into the salivating monsters stereotype that has run rampant in the werewolf genre. Armstrong takes a different tack and puts some welcome intelligence in her wolves. Her wolves have healthy pack dynamics and the wolf isn't necessarily something the human side has to chain down, but another part of themselves that can be enjoyed. These aren't rabid beasts with helpful plot contrivances, but predators with a human face. Especially intriguing was the idea of a werewolf who did not maintain a leadership position through violent means. Of course, not all of the wolves are civilized; however, Armstrong's take is different enough to be a relief from overdone stereotypes. Armstrong's tackling of the difficulty the wolves have living in an urbanized environment and their joy in nature was also interesting. I found myself really enjoying Elena's diversions and Armstrong's writing gave those scenes a pleasant touch of reality in an utterly unrealistic setting.

Another thing I was pleased to see is the rationalization behind the lack of female werewolves. This is a fact often taken for granted in other authors writings and it is utterly aggravating. Limiting the number of female werewolves without explanation seems to serve as a crutch for some authors. Either it serves to make their central female character special/unique/without competition or it allows the author to write with minimal female interference (which is odd considering so many authors in this genre are female). While Elena does border on the too special for words at some points, Armstrong does address this gender difference by weaving in some information that experiments had been done and that it is an issue of confusion for the werewolves themselves. It is not a complete answer, but it is enough to make the difference intriguing rather that annoying.

Turning from the werewolf side slightly, the human sides are just as complex. Clay in particular stood out. At first I was worried that Clay would just be another testosterone filled werewolf with an attitude problem. But he's not just a thug, he is an interesting character with actual motivations, desires, and feelings. His relationship with Elena isn't just one thing, hate or love, it contains multiple facets. I will say that I wasn't too fond of the first physical scene between the two characters - it was one of the few stumbles in the book for me.

Overall, Armstrong's Bitten definitely deserves a read if only to see how a fun a healthy and supportive pack dynamic can be. Other authors may like to lean on the easy plots of unstable packs, but I found Armstrong's pack dealings with the world around them and their relationships with out of pack werewolves to be more original and, subsequently, far more entertaining. ( )
  kittymax | Oct 12, 2009 |
Finally, a story that delivers more on the strengths of being a female (and a werewolf to boot) in modern society, than focusing on the whining and angst that has become so tiresome and common in "alternate world" novels today. Watch out Anita Blake, because Elena Michaels will kick your butt with nary a glance back!

"Bitten" is a awesome first novel because first and foremost-it is well-written, an achievement that many popular alternateverse authors cannot lay claim too.

The story is punctuated with the real world problems of city dweller Elena Michaels who has voluntarily left the shelter of her Pack and has turned her back on her true nature: being a lycanthrope. She is unerringly drawn back into the Pack, when they are faced with the double threat of exposure and a turf war that has spilled into the "real" human world.

Also, coming back to the Pack puts her once again into the path of her mate Clayton, whose relationship issues lay sticky and unresolved. Elena is more of a "get 'er done" girl, and while she struggles with her true nature, you don't hear her crying about it for long. No "whah-whah's" over spilt blood here, just a quick slash of a claw and she's takin' care of business!

Greeeaaat read, that delivers on all levels. Great action, characters, sex! It was hard to put down! ( )
  nickeemattos | Oct 4, 2009 |
This is one of my favorite books of all time. It's a journey of self discovery where the main character must confront the truth about herself. ( )
  Andrometa | Oct 2, 2009 |
This dragged for me, although I really liked a couple of her other books. ( )
  jimmaclachlan | Sep 25, 2009 |
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Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
To Jeff
For always believing I could
First words
I have to.
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Canonical titleBitten
Original publication date2001-09-27
SeriesWomen of the Otherworld (1)
People/CharactersElena Michaels, Clayton Danvers, Jeremy Danvers
Important placesNew York, New York, USA, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Bear Valley, New York, USA
DedicationTo Jeff For always believing I could
First wordsI have to.
Last words(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
BlurbersHarris, Joanne
DescriptionElena Michaels would love to be an ordinary woman and she tries very hard, but she's sure her boyfriend just wouldn't understand about her being a werewolf. She hides her self and lives as a lone-wolf until a former pack memb... (show all)
Book description
Elena Michaels would love to be an ordinary woman and she tries very hard, but she's sure her boyfriend just wouldn't understand about her being a werewolf. She hides her self and lives as a lone-wolf until a former pack member comes calling for her help.

Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0452283485, Paperback)

An addictive, deeply enjoyable thrill ride on the frontier of the feral and feminine...a debut novel of astonishing imaginative power from the future queen of suspense.

Elena Michaels slips out of bed, careful not to wake her boyfriend. He hates it when she disappears in the middle of the night, and can’t understand why any normal woman would crave the small hours of the morning, the dark unsafe downtown streets. But Elena’s skin is tingling, the pent-up energy feels like it’s about to blow her muscles apart — she can’t put it off any longer. She loves to run at the edge of the city, but she doesn’t have time to get there. She has to slink into an alley, take off her clothes and hide them carefully, and make the Change.

Elena’s trying hard to be normal. She hates her strength, and her wildness, and her hunger for food, for sex, for running in the night, for the chase and the kill. She wants a husband, children...even a mother-in-law. Or at least that’s what she tells herself.

And then the inevitable happens. The Pack needs her. The Pack she loves and hates is under siege from a bunch of disreputable and ruthless mutts who are threatening to expose them all, breaking all the rules that have kept them safe. The loyalty of her nature calls her home, and into the fight, which tests just who Elena is: the wild woman or the wistful would-be human.

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:08 -0400)

(see all 2 descriptions)

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