Spell Bound

I love Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series. This is the twelfth entry into the series, almost all of which are the linked first person stories of various women of different supernatural "races," including a werewolf, witch, angel, necromancer, and half-demon. Almost all of these books stand alone, and though you might learn some plot spoilers for earlier ones in the bunch, they're all pretty self-contained, with you not needing to read earlier ones to get what's happening and with a satisfying resolution.

That wasn't the case with the last book in the series, Waking the Witch featuring witch Savannah Levine and it isn't the case with this sequel. That aspect made Waking the Witch my least favorite outing in the series to date, all the show more more because it left me with a cliffhanger in the very last sentence with the loss of Savannah's magic that left me wanting to hurl the book against the wall. This one, the second in the trilogy, didn't similarly leave on a cliffhanger, and I liked watching Savannah grow (and grow up) when forced not to use magic as a crutch, but it notably left major plot-lines unresolved for the next book. This book reads more like the build-up to a supernatural war, than a novel complete in itself.

I wouldn't call this a standout among the series. I fell in love with Paige Winterbourne and Lucas Cortes of the third and fourth books, and some of the other novels even evoked tears from me (and five star ratings). This latest novel is engrossing however. Armstrong writes in a clean style, features strong world-building, and writes characters that after a dozen books feel like old friends to me. I really loved seeing not just Paige and Lucas but Hope, Clay, Jaimie, Jeremy, Elena, Cassandra... This is fast-paced with lots of action, and I read this in a few hours in almost one sitting. And I certainly will be picking up the next book. Given I feel LK Hamilton has long become unreadable, and Charlene Harris lost the spark of her early Sookie books, and other current urban fantasy series have left me underwhelmed, I'd name Armstrong's Otherworld series as my favorite still-currently-publishing fantasy series. (Though from what I just read in other reviews--the next book in the series will be the end of the series. *sob* I hope it goes out with a bang! From where this left off, it sure has the potential to.) show less

*SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T READ THE PREVIOUS BOOKS*

Things are really ramping up with this series! Savannah has lost her powers due to a wish she made, which is really bad timing, considering a new group who wants to oust the existence of everyone of the Otherworld has set their sights on her. Everyone featured in the previous books has to work together to save Savannah and their way of life.

I love everything about this book and I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on the last book of the series. All of the strange paranormal events are finally coming together as we learn just what exactly is going on in the Otherworld. There’s a group of fanatics who are trying to give normal humans otherworldly powers, and they’ve show more focused on Savannah as their chance to do that. They’re also trying to convince otherworlders that they shouldn’t have to hide their powers or identities from the outside world, creating a huge problem for those who want to keep it a secret. I love that Savannah has to struggle in this book — she’s super powerful and used to having everything go right for her, but not having her powers not only prevents her from using magic, but it freaks her out and makes her lose confidence in herself. I like that we get to see her vulnerable side and that she becomes more powerful for needing to figure out workarounds.

The first books in the series read as one-offs, but everything is starting to come together and mesh beautifully in the end. There are tons of connections that I certainly missed in the previous books, and it looks like there was a rhyme and reason to all the happenings. I love seeing everyone together and getting to see them work with each other rather than read their individual perspectives, like in previous books. I’m guessing the last book is going to be epic once everything is set up.

I don’t have any complaints at all about this book. While it’s mostly setting up the finale, there’s still a lot of tension with the protagonists trying to figure out what’s going on with the mysterious new group, with Savannah, and trying to keep everything together. There’s also WONDERFUL tension between Savannah and Adam, with (finally!) a bit of payoff for their relationship, which made me deliriously happy.

Also posted on Purple People Readers. show less

I'm conflicted in my review: I love the WOTO characters and Kelley Armstrong's writing but this story doesn't live up to it's full potential because it's written to fit into the shallow category of YA. The action is fast paced and the story is enjoyable, but it's fluffy and lacks substance and depth. There's a lot of sub plots, creating a complicated settup for the next book.

I was hoping the second book in Savannah's trilogy would be deeper and more mature as a representation of her increased maturity, but it didn't. It's disappointing as a reader to have followed this young woman's growth through 11 books, waiting for her to reach some level of maturity, self assurance, and acceptance of her power and potential, only to have her come show more off like an insecure, immature teenager in a syrupy sweet teen novel who just wants to be liked and accepted for herself. In spite of her character development over the series, she is just an adult version of the twelve year old in Bitten. It is only in the middle of book twelve that she realizes she has failed to learn and grow from her experiences. It's so frustrating as a reader to come so far with such strong complicated female leads like Elena, Jaime, Eve, Hope and Paige, who were given strong mature stories that demonstrated how they came to terms with their supernatural powers and weaknesses and developed powerful emotional relationships with their partners; only to leave Savannah's story so shallow and superficial. The romance has always been a secondary arc, and Adam is obviously the one for Savannah; but it's impossible for Savannah and Adam's relationship to progress because even Adam has been left in stasis, basically his power and maturity are where Stolen ended. Instead of being a mature supernatural in his thirties, he comes across as the college drinking buddy to Savannah's free spirit. show less

The most recent entry in Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series (the twelfth, if you don’t count the two volumes of short stories) differs from the previous ones in that it is markedly less standalone. This is not just because it is a direct continuation from Waking the Witch, picking up immediately after that novel’s cliffhanger ending, but also because it is is very open-ended, presumably leaving things to be finished in the next installment which is apparently going to be the final in the series.

Spell Bound hence being the penultimate volume, it comes as no surprise that it has a feeling of Grand Finale about it. I did not care much for the Big Apocalyptic Plot Involving A Momentous Destiny For Our Main Character show more that was rearing its head during the events unfolding here – while I don’t mind a bit of doomsday atmosphere, one if the things I’ve always liked about Armstrong’s novels is the way she kept her conflicts local and personal, and in consequence that more relatable. What I on the other hand greatly enjoyed about Spell Bound was the way it gathered pretty much all the characters from previous novels together with a lot of lose threads left hanging from those volumes and wove them all into the current narrative – I admit that I did not re-read the previous volumes to check but from what I remember about them it seemed quite deftly done to me.

And as always, Armstrong’s greatest strength is her characterisation – like the novel preceding it, Spell Bound is told from Savannah’s perspective and she grows up even more here, developing in an entirely believable way from a spoiled, over-confident teenager into a mature adult who is aware both of her strengths and her limitations. It is great fun to watch her grow up like this, and frequently quite funny, too – seeing her go for relationship advice to, of all people, Clay and Cassandra caused a lot of chuckling and chorting on my part. It will be a pity to see this series come to an end, but I’m also greatly looking forward to the final installment. show less

Spell Bound
3 Stars

Series note: This is book 12 in the series, but the 2nd focusing on Savannah Levine. The plot continues directly from where the previous book ended, so it is recommended that it be read in order for the backstory.

Unfortunately, Savannah's story arc does not live up to its potential. The character development is non-existent; the plot is a convoluted mess of intertwined threads that rely excessively on remembering details from the first 12 books in the series, and the hints at a romance between Savannah and Adam fall short.

Savannah is an adult, yet she still behaves like a self-absorbed and rebellious teenager. The entire premise of the book emerges from the fact that rather than dealing with the consequences of her show more actions, she throws a temper tantrum and ostensibly repudiates her powers. Moreover, the point from my review of book 11 remains - it is annoying when an author undermines a powerful heroine by nullifying her powers. Surely, there are better ways to create suspense.

The plot itself is nothing more than an attempt to include as many characters from previous books within the storyline. There is something nefarious going on in the supernatural world, but it is all very vague and tenuous. The villains are stereotypical and cartoonish rather than truly menacing.

The romance is the most disappointing element in the book. Adam and Savannah have absolutely no chemistry and treat each other more like siblings than potential love interests. There is nothing engaging about their conversations, which are completely devoid of the wit and snark that characterizes romances with sizzle and spark.

Finally, the book ends on an irritating cliffhanger. At least the last book is already out. Hopefully, it will compensate for the shortcomings of this one. show less

I liked how the previous Savannah story was almost self-contained yet hinted at a larger world. So while there were references to other characters there, in this one they all start hanging out. Which got confusing really fast. Yeah, I should read the other books in the series but that's like 10 books. Especially when I'm mostly reading for Adam and Savannah get together which I suppose they do but...so much stuff happens. And in so many places. It was really too much plot and not enough character development or even development of the powers stealing storyline which would have been much more interesting. It also bugged me how other characters treated Savannah. "Go investigate this like a big girl while majorly handicapped." "OMG I can't show more believe you got kidnapped while doing what we asked you too, grow up." It got old. show less

Oh. My. Gosh. Totally worth the year wait--even though I'm not sure how I'm going to make it until 13. I love this series! Savannah is moving up the list of my favorite narrators--Elena is first of course, then Eve, Savannah, Paige, Jamie, and then Hope. (And I honestly like Karl more than Hope, is that wrong?) I was a little concerned toward the end that there was going to be a bigger cliffhanger than at the end of Waking the Witch, but the last five minutes relieved my worries considerably (good thing, because I was briefly considering a Misery-style authornapping--Kelley can rest easy, though, she didn't do what I was so afraid she would, thank goodness).

As promised, all the major Otherworld characters are converging for the last show more two books in the series, so no matter who your favorites are, you'll see them here. It's definitely not the book to start with, though--even though Savannah does a great job recapping what happened in book eleven and refreshing our memory about characters and events from other books that have relevance here, it really helps to have read the entire series. (Obsessive re-reading not necessary ;-)) I had to slow myself down while reading, just to make it last longer since I knew book thirteen won't be out until next year. I can't wait to see what Armstrong has in store for these characters--the only downside is that it will be the last book....

(Until the twins? Can't they have their own series eventually?) show less