suxiaoming

It took some time for me to start the book. For one because I liked the way Bitten ended - even if it left me guessing and wanting. Another reason is that I was afraid that I'd start to dislike Clay. He is a great character and he truly loves Elena but when I read Stolen I hadn't yet read 'The Beginning' (prequel, about how Elena and Clay met and fell in love. And about what really happened when he bit her) and even now I feel ambivalent about that event and him. I also didn't want to read about bad things happening to the Pack, the deaths in the first installment where enough for my tastes. ;) When I finally started the book it took more time than expected to really get into it. It has a slower start than Bitten - which is throughout written in Elenas POV - and is, in my opinion, not as good. It still is a very good novel, though and has all the things I love about Urban Fantasy in it. Elena is a very strong character and the thing about her relationship with Clay is that he can make her feel so safe while still making her feel.. vulnerable at the same time. I wasn't bitten by my fiancée and still do push people away who make me feel like that out of panic and self-defence. With Elena's past - fosterhomes and lovers biting her, I can only imagine her not feeling so much differently sometimes. In the second installment of the Women of the Otherworld the Pack has to face a paranormal community. Witches, halfdemons, poltergeists, vampires - All true and something they all certainly haven't expected. Well, Jeremy might have, but let's face it, he's Jeremy. She only learns about them because an institution of crazy asses kidnap and experiment on (with?) supernatural beings. I liked the plot, the dialogues and all that stuff, but it felt like the publicist should have allowed Armstrong to write ~100 pages more or so. I know that the reader will meet Elena again in the 6th (?) book and that the story and the Stolen-plotline continues with Dime Store Magic, but it's then being written in Paige's POV. Stolen should have had an more proper ending (as in: Everything explained, a long romantic, cheesy conversation etc) Lately books need more and more awesomeness to 'please' me (which makes sense, considering how much I read these days) and Kelley Armstrong's books are very good, completely satisfying the Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance-junkie inside of me. Still I have to say that while there were several parts in this book I adored, other books of her have been better. She has the ability to give women power without making it unrealistic. She gives them responsibilities, abilities, flaws, allows them to grow up and become more stronger or sometimes even 'weaker'. Many books tend to be too static when it comes to the characters, but the Women of the Otherworld books don't have that problem. - The worldbuilding and characterdevelopment are fantastic and I highly recommend the series!

2023-01-18 17:21