Bitten

Elena Michaels is the only female werewolf, and she's far from happy about it. She feels that her dreams of a normal life with a home and family ended when she was bitten. Determined to carve out some semblance of normality, Elena breaks with her Pack and moves back to her home city of Toronto. Things are going well for her; she's got a good job, a nice apartment and a thoughtful boyfriend. But when the Pack Alpha calls her back to help deal with an emergency, Elena finds herself questioning everything she's ever wanted.

If you like paranormal stuff, you really ought to give Kelley Armstrong a try. Her books are a ton of fun. BITTEN was her first published novel, and it sets the tone for the rest of the series. We've got a smart, capable show more heroine who can look after herself, thank you very much. She's surrounded with great secondary characters who recognize her abilities and never treat her as less than she is. The lot of them move within a fully realized world that fits perfectly with our own.

There's a decent plot here, too, but Armstrong is at her best when she's examining the circumstances that led Elena to leave the Pack in the first place... and the feelings that keep drawing her back in. There are some good, strong scenes between Elena and the rest of the Pack, and her exchanges with her former lover, Clay, are handled perfectly. Armstrong shows us far more than she tells us, and it works really, really well. Her approach drew me straight in and left me eager to learn more about all these people.

This was a reread for me, and I enjoyed it just as much now as I did the first time. I highly recommend it to those who like their paranormal romances a bit more grounded.

(This review originally appeared in a slightly different form on my blog, Stella Matutina. Review copy provided by the publisher via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program). show less

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 show more 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! show less

Elena had a rough childhood. Her parents were killed when she was very young, and she was ushered from foster home to foster home where she continually had to endure abuse. Somehow she survived and met a young man by the name of Clay and the two fell for each other hard. They became engaged, but there was something Elena didn't know about the man she loved...he was a werewolf! She found out too late, when he bit her and turned her. After she was bitten, Jeremy (the Alpha of the Pack) took her in as part of the Pack. This was unusual because to be a part of it you had to be a born werewolf, but since Clay was in the care of Jeremy and the situation was forced on her, they made an exception. She lived with them for awhile, but she decided show more she wanted to try a different life. Years later, she is dating a new man, Philip, and keeping her distance from the Pack. She wants nothing more than to have a normal life and for the most part she is succeeding; except for the fact that she changes into a wolf every so often! She hides all of this from Philip, she even has a normal human job as a journalist. But then Jeremy calls her back for an emergency: a mutt (werewolf who was bitten as opposed to born) is killing humans on the Pack's estate and they have to eliminate the threat immediately before any more people are killed and before suspicion is raised. So Elena grudgingly goes back where she has to face all of her demons, Clay being the biggest one of all. She still isn't able to forgive him for what he did to her, even though inside she still has feelings for him. She has every intention of going back to her human life, but will her love of her werewolf family and the passion for being a werewolf be enough to bring her back to the Pack? Or will the mutt destroy everything they have worked for first?

My opinion: What can I say, I LOVED this book! I loved Elena, she was so smart, funny, and sassy. She's the only female werewolf, but the guys acknowledge that she's just as tough as they are. At first I was confused on who she had dated previously; she seemed really close to Jeremy and obviously had feelings for him, but then it became clear that he was more like a father figure for her. He cared for her when no one else would. The details of her relationship with Clay come more slowly, but he definitely still has big feelings for Elena. Throughout the book their relationship has major ups, and major downs. Sometimes I wish I could just shake her and say "You idiot, he's really sorry for what he did but it's not like he can take it back. All he can do is apologize. Get over it already!". But I'm sure it was traumatic and she had to get over it on her own time. There were a lot of parts that made me laugh, a lot that made me gasp because they were so unexpected. One thing I can say for sure, I am definitely going to be reading the other books in this series VERY SOON! Everyone who loves supernatural books should read this one, you won't be disappointed!

My rating: 5/5 stars show less

***MAYBE SPOILERS BECAUSE OF A LOT OF RAMBLING ABOUT THE MAIN CHARACTER***

I could never write an objective review for this story. I love the whole series but this first one has so many memories attached to it.

It was published 18 years ago. But I think I was a bit older at the time. Maybe I was 18? 19?

First I read them by myself. Over and over again. Then I found out it had an audio version. I then shared it with my little brother who has dyslexia and who was too old to be read to. The discussions we then had were wonderful. Even though he hated reading because it took so much of his focus, he could listen to this while doing his chores. And the narrator was wonderful.

The thing is we grew up in foster care and we heavily identified show more with Elena and Clay. And if you haven't grew up in the system the reasoning behind Elena's actions can seem... dumb to be frank. But to be full of rage, feeling like the family you're growing up in isn't your 'real' family and never will be, always having to try to fit in with 'normal' people, it messes with your ...

Urgh can't find the words.

But I think I can use the word core. That thing that makes you you.Your personality with all the good but also all the bad things. All your facets. Being loving one moment to children and lashing out to adults. Liking to help people out but being cold when somebody falls before you on the ground, because... not your problem.
Your core can change over time. If you want it. But nothing barring something impactful and/or traumatic can change it so much that you are no longer you. It can dent, it can have hairfractures, it can have scars. But you are still you.

Children in foster care have extreme reactions to situations that would seem ordinary to 'normal' people. Only love freely given and tools for how to react in those situations can help, sometimes. But sometimes even then it's not always enough. Their core has changed. Something else except them changed it forcefully. And the proces to relearn who they are can be even more traumatizing.

Elena isn't perfect. Hell even at the end she still couldn't see herself as 'normal' (although as a reader I though she already had her white picket fence dream). But that's what made this story so realistic to me. Her core was still hers at the end. Even if she tried to deny it. It was dented and heavily scarred but hers. And I adore the author for writing a story like this.

Also werewolves.

Seriously my love for them knows no bounds.
I was team Jacob based on only that fact and never even read the Twilight books. My little sister who did read the books would argue with me time and time again but I could not be swayed.

The only thing is about the physical book is that it already looks beat up! How? When? show less

If you, like my husband, are appalled that I am reading a werewolf series and would never consider doing so yourself, I want to stress that you are thus depriving yourself of an excellent metaphorical plot device to explore the varied ways in which people reconcile themselves to their own animalistic tendencies, and to gain insights from a comparative behavioral study that illuminates human interactions.

Elena Michaels is a 32-year-old living with her boyfriend Philip in Toronto, and is the only female werewolf in existence.

She left her werewolf pack fourteen months earlier because she wanted a “normal” existence, but it’s more difficult than she imagined; at least once a week, she needs to sneak out in order to “change” and show more go run. When Elena was twenty she was bitten by her former boyfriend, Clay, and resents him for it. It was Clay who first her brought her to the Pack which is led by Jeremy, Clay’s stepfather. Although Elena stayed with the pack for nine years, she longed to be part of the human world:

"I didn’t choose this life and I damn well wasn’t about to give into it, surrendering every dream of my future, ordinary, mediocre dreams of a home, a family, a career, and above all, stability. None of that was possible living as a werewolf.”

But when Jeremy calls her back for an emergency threat from non-Pack werewolves (known as “mutts”), Elena has to obey. She travels to the Pack's estate at Stonehaven in remote upstate New York, where Clay - still in love with her - tries to renew their relationship. In the course of helping Jeremy fight the growing threat from without and fending off her attraction to Clay, Elena is forced to come to terms with her own nature, and make the choice between the two radically different societies that appeal to each part of her.

Discussion: First, why did I start this series? I loved the (human) mystery series by this author about Nadia Stafford, the resort owner who works as a hit woman on the side to earn extra money. This is an author who is innovative, who incorporates strong women into her plots without sacrificing softness and sex, and who is an entertaining writer. I wanted to see more of her work.

Further, this is not just another paranormal werewolf series. Armstrong is interested in interactions among wolves, but she also employs this theme to examine the question of what it means to be human. She uses the idea of the Pack to interrogate the nature of families, and compares the love and loyalty of the Pack to the abusive families that some of the wolves experienced as humans. Because the humans spend time as animals, they are also able to learn and appreciate the full use of the senses when in both forms, and of social hierarchies and how to respect them. The fact that Elena is a strong female is analyzed in all of its aspects, from the way it turns some men on and enrages others, to the way she gets consistently underestimated, to the sense of empowerment that it gives Elena, who spent so much of her early years being victimized. This really is an intelligent book, and as for hot sex? Armstrong could have written the book on it. Wait! She did! show less

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 show more 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. show less

Bitten
4 Stars

Similar to numerous UF and PNR series, the world building in Bitten revolves around werewolves. However, Armstrong's take on werewolf mythology is quite original in the form of the hereditary Vs. Mutt dichotomy and the gene passing through the male line. Nevertheless, it is difficult to come to terms with the wolves' callous attitude toward killing humans, and the fact that the fathers take the babies from their mothers is completely unrealistic. Moreover, the pack does not come across as particularly effective in protecting themselves and others. This may be due to an unfair comparison with other werewolf series like Mercy Thompson and Chicagoland Vampires in which the packs are larger and more of a force to be reckoned show more with.

The basic plot of a group of renegade werewolves attempting to undermine the pack's position by murdering local girls is strong but not as developed as it could have been. In fact, it ultimately fizzles out and the story moves in a completely different direction toward the end.

The characters are the most compelling aspect of the book. Elena is a problematic heroine. One the one hand, she is strong, feisty and resilient, and her attempts to assert her independence by living a "normal" life in the human world are admirable. Nevertheless, it is all too obvious that she is in denial about who she really is and has subsumed her true self beneath a congenial facade.

On the other hand, her behavior with regard to the men in her life is morally questionable. The love triangle setup is tedious and her dishonesty with Philip regarding who she is and her relationship with Clay makes her less sympathetic and likable. Moreover, her resentment toward Clay, while understandable given that his bite turned her into a werewolf quickly becomes irritating, especially considering that she is constantly running hot/cold when it comes to him.

Elena's love interest, Clay, is an amalgamation of opposites as his impulsiveness and instincts are at war with his humanity, and he ostensibly hides a genius IQ behind a seemingly slow and simple southern facade. His complexity makes him a difficult character to like but once the extent of his love for Elena becomes apparent it becomes virtually impossible not to swoon all over him.

Jeremy, the pack alpha, is a prime example of still waters running deep and the family dynamic established by the other pack members is very endearing. The villains are a mixed bag from Daniel, the mastermind, bent on revenge and a megalomaniac desire to establish his own pack with its own rules to Karl, a sort of gentleman like thief, who is almost honorable despite his questionable allegiances.

Despite its problems, Bitten is a well-written and action packed read and it will be interesting to see what happens next. show less