Haunted (2005)

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Transferred from my spreadsheet to Goodreads

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

I can't remember what were my original thoughts on this book; no doubt I enjoyed it because it is Kelley Armstrong after all but, Haunted made quite the impression on me this time around. I've always been a fan of Eve Levine's character. She's not a clear cut good guy or bad guy which makes her POV interesting to read because you never know what to expect. Armstrong's creativity really shines through in this installment by opening up an all new supernatural universe, that of the afterlife.

The world-building in this book is outstanding and limited only by Kelley's imagination which is pretty much boundless. Both of the main characters are dead so obviously the regular rules of engagement don't apply. Eve's assignment takes her to hell and back, literally, but only after she visits the pirate dimension first of course. Armstrong makes good use of this series' supernatural cast by having each character play a small but important role. The spotlight obviously belongs to Eve and Kristof but I liked how she found a way to include almost everyone.

The Nix steals the cake as this series' ultimate big bad to date. Every couple of chapters readers get to go back in time and relive one of this demoness' past atrocities, each more gruesome than the last. This girl thrives on chaos and has honed her evil ways over centuries. It takes a monster to hunt a monster so the fates send Eve Levine.

Eve's one of the more entertaining narrators of the Women of the Otherworld. I always expect that Paige and Elena will do the "right thing" but when it comes to Levine you never know. She's a bad guy turned good, kinda. Eve's a little more practical than most heroines and doesn't share their moral qualms. She fiercely protects those in her inner circle but the rest of the population is expendable. Levine will throw an old lady holding a baby in front of a bus to protect her daughter without a moment's hesitation. That's just the kind of person she is. Ooh, I forgot to mention that she's a half-demon / black magic witch on top of being a ghost and a potential angel contender. It's always all or nothing with Eve, she doesn't do anything half-assed, just another one of the reasons why I adore her so.

Haunted is one of the darker, more gory installments of this series but that's what makes it so exceptional. I'm happy that the story's going to veer back to the werewolves in the next book, Broken, but I enjoyed my stay in Eve Levine's world. ( )

THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF THE SMART, SEXY — SUPERNATURAL — WOMEN OF THE OTHERWORLD

Eve Levine — half-demon, black witch and devoted mother — has been dead for three years. She has a great house, an interesting love life and can’t be killed again — which comes in handy when you’ve made as many enemies as Eve. Yes, the afterlife isn’t too bad — all she needs to do is find a way to communicate with her daughter, Savannah, and she’ll be happy.

But fate — or more exactly, the Fates — have other plans. Eve owes them a favor, and they’ve just called it in. An evil spirit called the Nix has escaped from hell. She feeds on chaos and death, and is very good at persuading people to kill for her. The Fates want Eve to hunt her down before she does any more damage, but the Nix is a dangerous enemy — previous hunters have been driven insane in the process. As if that’s not problem enough, the only way to stop her is with an angel’s sword. And Eve is no angel. . . . (Summary from Book, and Amazon)

I have loved all of the 5 books in this series so far. This is probably one of my favorites, next to any with Elena and Clay.

Contrary to what some reviewers have said, I like the familiarity with the characters and I also like the growth and development of the characters. It feels like more loose ends get tied up to a point with

Eve and Kristof. I enjoyed it.
Thanks to consistent and believable "rules" in the world of her work, Kelly wrote a very believable, and enjoyable book. I do not believe what some people say, that you can skip this one. No way,there is way to much info, and fun, and plot twist to miss out.
Its a must read in my honest opinion.

In HAUNTED, Kelly Armstrong has given us all a gift, a truly touching story about a woman who recognizes life's precious moments for the miracle they are and learns to cherish them as she reaches emotional maturity just-- a little too late - in an afterlife that is anything but restful and boring.

So don't miss out

Check out my blog for more reviews and other book relates stuff. http://concisebookreviewsbymichelle.blogspot.com/ ( )

Release date: May 2005 (Re-released with new cover on January 2010)
Publisher: Random House Canada
Age Group: Adults (I think)
Pages: 448
Source for Synopsis: from the back of the book
Challenge: (personal) 2011 Reading Challenge and the Support Your Library Challenge

“Eve Levine-half demon, black witch, and devoted mother-has been dead for three years. She has a great house, an interesting love life, and can’t be killed again, which comes in handy when you’ve made as many enemies as Eve has. Yes, the afterlife isn’t too bad; all she needs to do is find a way to communicate with her daughter, Savannah, and she’ll be happy.
But fate-or more specifically, the Fates- have other plans. Eve owes them a favor, and they’ve just called it in. An evil spirit known as the Nix has escaped from hell. She feeds on chaos and death, and is very good at persuading people to kill for her. The Fates want Eve to hunt her down before she does any more damage, but the Nix is a dangerous enemy-previous hunters have been driven insane in the process. As if that’s not problem enough, the only way to stop her is with an angel’s sword. And Eve is no angel…”

Review

This book is the fifth book of Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series. This is so far my most favourite series by Kelley Armstrong (as I said in my other WotO books reviews), since it has more action and the characters are more interesting in these than in her young adult novels. Like with all series, it’s hard to say a lot without spoilers.

First, before I talk about the book, a little bit about what I think of Eve: from what I’ve read in the last book and what I’ve read in the book Tales of the Otherworld, Eve didn’t sound much like an evil witch, at least not the kind I’m used to (from Charmed), only rebellious, I like her (from what I’ve read so far). That was what I thought before I read this book, and I’m right, Eve is a dark witch, but she’s not evil, she seems more like gray to me than black. Ok, enough about that.

To be honest, this book was my least favourite out of the series so far, after reading this book, there seemed like there was no point to reading this one, I already knew that by the end of this book, Eve would become an angel, but everything else that happens doesn’t seem like it affects the series. Two reasons why it took me so long to read and finish this book is because: 1. I was reading 5 books at the same time, and 2. About half of the book was boring, I took breaks in between because of that. Because of how I feel about this book, I don’t have much to say about it. When I love a book, I have a lot to say about it, but when I don’t enjoy a book, it’s the opposite.

Warning Spoilers!

Even though I found half or most of the book boring, I liked Eve and the last few chapters made me want to keep reading, there were many unexpected things happening, like: when the Nix possessed Savannah near the end, I was thinking didn’t see that one coming, and many more things like that. In the beginning and middle of the book, Eve confused about how she feels about Kristof, she obviously loved him, but she never wanted to get close to him until the end, I was like, make up your mind, this is so annoying! This was also the first time we met a full blooded demon (ok second, but the first time in book 3 wasn’t really an introduction, it was just a disaster that Savannah accidentally created). Also, Savannah seemed like she changed a little bit from the last two books, she cares about normal people, like when she tried to save that women in the community centre and thought that it was her fault that she died.

In total there are 12 novels currently out, and I heard there is going to be one more releasing July 2012. There are also 2 anthologies: Men of the Otherworld, and Tales of the Otherworld. As well as 3 novellas, and 2 graphic novels in this series.
Out of those 7 extras, I’ve read: Tales of the Otherworld, and the graphic novel Becoming. There are also many free short stories on Kelley Armstrong’s websites.

If you want to read more reviews about this book, go to Goodreads and read the reviews in the comment section or go to other websites.

I rated this book: 3 out of 5 stars, it would have been 2, but because I loved Eve’s personality and the last few chapters were amazing, I ended up rating this book higher.

To read/view the full review, go to my book blog here http://nazish0151.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/women-of-the-otherworld-haunted-by-ke... ( )