Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

I’m kind of obsessed with female werewolf stories, and I really really really wanted to like this book, but it was a DNF for me. 

There were a couple of things about the story that got an out-loud “oh PLEASE” (something about the pack’s book of secrets that was scientifically impossible? I’d have to go back and check). But the main issue for me was Elena.

She was too frustrating for me for me to like—yeah, she was angry, but she spent the first part of the book saying she wasn’t going to be pushed around by the male werewolves, that she wasn’t going to do what they wanted her to, and then doing it anyway. She seemed like an old-skool heroine to me—“rebellious” in name only. I’ve read books where a character’s loyalty to the pack v. his/her own wishes seems to be a part of the identity/dilemma of being a were or shifter, but I couldn’t see that here. She would say, “You’re not going to tell me what’s going on? Fine! I’m leaving!” And then NOT LEAVE. ARGH.

The male werewolf characters seemed like alpha males in the worst sense of the word: not telling her things just because they didn’t want to, arrogant and condescending by turns. I hate it when male characters assume they know what’s best for the heroine and treat her protestations as temporary fits of temper—disrespectful and infuriating. Nothing about these guys endeared them to me—I was being told they were great guys, but I wasn’t being shown anything to make me believe it.

The final straw for me was the first sex scene with one member of the pack—she told him she wasn’t going to sleep with him and what does he do? TIE HER UP IN THE WOODS. Because she really does want it, deep down. I flipped to the back to see if she ends up with him, saw that she does, and put the book in my Goodwill pile. No, thanks.

I love this book the most too. I re-read it at least once a year.  There are only 4 books in the series that are from Elena’s POV.  The 2nd and 3rd were good, but I loved Frostbitten (Kelley’s latest release).  Elena is a complex character and the author doesn’t shut the reader away from the reality of shifter life.

I love the breakfast scene where they’re all together playing.  The scene about Logan too got me.  I love this world Kelley’s has built for us. 

The prequels are good too from the men’s POV, but Bitten seems to be the one I always come back to.  I think it’s watching her accept herself for the person she was before as well as finally accepting who she is that intrigues me.

..you’re missing an html code closer there.

‘ve seen so many good reviews of this book that I started reading it (well listening to it on audio and the reader has such a cool Canadian accent).  At any rate, i was really enjoying it quite a bit, but then my world-building Nazi takes over—the one that jumps out every once in awhile when I read paranormals or scifi/fant that just can’t reconcile some of the mythology of the book I am reading—started to take over.  I had so many questions that weren’t being answered.  Like, if they knew women couldn’t shift into wolves why did Clay bite Elena in the first place?  It seemed so illogical.

And then if Elena could become a wolf, why her?  Why not other women?  Why wouldn’t the wolves figure that maybe Elena isn’t that unique and try to figure out a way to make other female wolves?

I think of Lynn Viehl’s Darkyn series where she set up a very similar premise and then began to answer those very questions is a way that was a both revelatory and quite logical in the scheme of her world.  She is great world builder. 

So now I am wondering does Armstrong ever address this.  And my enjoyment gets a bit dimmed because I can’t start something and commit to , what, 10 books, only to find that in the end the mythos just doesn’t seem logical.

I’m afraid I couldn’t make it more than a hundred pages or so in on this book. Elena as a heroine drove me spare for a few reasons. :(

One, I couldn’t get past the fact that she had a relationship going with this other guy (I forget his name and can’t look it up since I took the book to the local used bookstore), and yet she was dishonest with him about why she up and took off. And continued to be dishonest with him calling him back at least once. That Clay was the apparent destined True Love of the plot was no excuse for this, IMO.

Two, I had huge issues with how despite the fact that she was harboring a grudge against the pack in general and Clay in particular for turning her, she came running back when they called for her, and yet couldn’t muster enough gumption to actually have it out with Clay about why she’s so pissed off at them all. The scene I remember reading had her lowering her eyes and whispering “You bit me” by way of confrontation. That was the best she could do after ten years of being severely pissed off about this? I was thinking as I read “for cripes’ sake, woman, you’re a werewolf. Show some teeth!”

Related to this, I had equally huge issues with how she let this man tie her up in the first place. If she’s that pissed off with him even after ten years, why on earth is she letting him get away with that? (This was about as far as I got in the book before I bailed.)

Three, the whole backstory of how Elena got turned in the first place vexed me, since it essentially amounted to Elena being stupid and approaching (what seemed to be) a big unfamiliar dog, despite a token warning. And the token nature of the warning was annoying as well. Clay very clearly meant to turn her, and at least in the portion of the book I read, showed no sign of even realizing how very much he’d pissed off and hurt this woman by pulling that on her, and how she was still pissed off about it ten years later.

It speaks well of her work though that she can engender such strong and opposing reactions, nonetheless! I grant that since I bailed early on the book it’s possible that things could have improved as the plot continued, and I’m willing to be convinced. ;) I will note that aside from these points I had no issues with Armstrong’s writing; it was good solid prose. It’s just that these particular characters were very much just not working for me.

I’ve heard rumblings from local friends that they also really disliked Elena as a heroine but liked other works of Armstrong’s, so I’m also willing to be pointed at other books of hers that might have heroines that would work for me better!

I’m a huge fan of this book also, but I did think books 2 and 3 were anywhere near as good.  When I recommend this book, I always tell folks not to read the sequels.

It’s so hard to say why I like it, but maybe it’s because Elena’s so justifiably mad and yet if she doesn’t let it go she’ll ultimately be hurting herself.  I guess it’s about accepting the cards you are dealt and that’s a powerful message.

I absolutely loved this book.  I can see and understand your points of view.  I felt the book was so much more than girl meets boy, boy bites girl and HEA.  I found the issues you have with the book part of the story.  Elana doesn’t want her duel life.  She is fighting against it with everything she posses like she has her entire life. Elana doesn’t want to be a part of the pack.  She doesn’t want to feel the way she does.  The boyfriend she leaves in Canada is just part of the life she thinks she is suppose to have.  It is more her playing a part.  The boyfriend doesn’t even know she is a werewolf.  I think the story is more about Elana finding herself, liking herself, excepting what she is than her journey to find her mate.  Just my opinion.

I loved this book too. Having read most of the rest of the series, this one is still my favorite. I agree with Lizzie that the male werewolves “seemed like alpha males in the worst sense of the word: not telling her things just because they didn’t want to, arrogant and condescending by turns.”

However, I saw this as the beginning of a paradigm shift in the werewolf world that Armstrong created. Elena is the *only* female werewolf; no others have ever survived. So, until Elena’s existence, not only was this world male-dominated, it was male only. The men of the pack see her as a sister and yet also don’t know how to interact with her.

As far as Elena capitulating to the pack’s wishes, she complies of her own volition, not just blindly following Jeremy. Compared to the male members of the pack, Elena doesn’t just fall in line—she decides what she wants to do when she wants to do it. It just so happens that her actions are what the pack wants, mostly because Elena loves Jeremy like a father and can’t give up Clay, so what she wants for them is beneficial to them.

I also found Clay’s arc to be quite compelling. He is by no means a nice guy, but going from an orphaned feral cub to part of a pack to part of a relationship is a huge journey. Even though he’s overbearing, I could also see him trying to be the man Elena wanted him to be. He knows she will leave him if he doesn’t act appropriately and she follows through on that threat.

Strangely or not, aside from Armstrong’s werewolves, I can’t seem to enjoy werewolf Paranormal Romance. I’m always looking for recommendations, though along the lines of “if you like Bitten, you’ll like [this].”

Not too long ago I reviewed Armstrong’s “Personal Demon” for SFSignal.com. I should be reviewing her “Men of the Otherworld” books in the near future as well.

I didn’t really like Elena that much as a main character, and I kind of hated Clay, his character always felt borderline abusive to me. I liked Armstrong’s writing and world setup, though, so I kept going in the series and found that I really loved some of the later books/characters (in particular, I enjoyed the books about Paige and Jaime, a witch and necromancer respectively). I actually think the character switching is one of the strongest elements in the series; it makes the world-building more complex by allowing you to experience it from different perspectives and keeps main character couples from getting too boring. 

My favorites of her books are actually her young adult books, the Darkest Powers series. They’re set in the same world, but you don’t really need to have read her other books to understand anything. There’s not too much romance as of yet (there have been 2 books), but you can tell she’s got her main couple on the slow burn.

Why do so many paranormal romances take place in upstate NY?  This one, BDB…what is it about thermal underwear and pickup trucks that inspires thoughts of unnatural beasties and dirty sex?

The men of the pack see her as a sister and yet also don’t know how to interact with her.

dangrgirl—I know men who don’t condescend to their sisters or dismiss their feelings because they (the men) really know what’s best for them. I mean, yeah, she’s the first/only woman in an all-male world—but that excuse doesn’t hold with me. She was being treated as a little sister, not as an equal.

No matter how many times I move and how many books I donate to make said moving less cumbersome, I always make sure I have a copy if Bitten.  Now I have it on kindle so it’s even easier, but still, I always try to make sure I have one on hand when I decide to read this book.

I think that what made me love this book are the actual human emotions that are involved.  It takes Elena 10 freaking years to come to terms with being bitten and changed.  Whereas most romance heroines come to terms with this life altering truth in a matter of pages consisting of lots of ridiculous sex and petulance.  Elena had real psychological issues, she had a way of coping and dealing with them, along comes Clay to screw it all up and she has to adjust again, and yeah, it takes her awhile.  It makes sense as a person and not just as a vessel for the hero’s sperm.

I don’t like Armstrong’s subsequent books as much.  I think Bitten is MUCH stronger as a stand alone and is weakened by the rest of the series, but Armstrong is such a skilled writer that I read them and love them anyway, but I always start with Dime Store Magic and leave Bitten separate and special in my head.

Add me to the LOVE THIS BOOK section because I do.  I loved it from go.  Elena captivated me from the very beginning.  Through her eyes, we see her intense desire to have something she’s longed for all her life and now because of being bitten, never will.  I thought her level of anger, disillusionment and delusion were all very real and mesmerizing. 

Seeing it all from her point of view also made the nuances of each character more pronounced for me.  Especially once she changed her mind or perspective concerning their motiviations. 

The scene that stood out for me was when she finally told how Clay bit her.  It was such a total breach of her trust—there she thought that she was in to sell Jeremy on the relationship between she and Clay.  My heart broke for her being there in the middle of Jeremy who wanted to put an end to a relationship between the two and Clay who made a desperate bid to keep her with that falsely innocent nip on the hand.  Elena feels so cheated and rightly so.  Not easy to just forgive and get over that breach, and I don’t think the book pretends like she does.

I love complex story and this one is multi-layered and whenever I re-read it, I find some little subtle detail that becomes apparent in the subsequent reading.

Thanks for the review, Sarah!

She was being treated as a little sister, not as an equal.

But why would they treat her as an equal?  The pack has never had to deal with a woman werewolf before.  They don’t even deal with the mothers of their children.

*Thread Hijack*

By the By, who won the Caption that Cover: Collarbone Edition?

Okay—carry on then.

But why would they treat her as an equal?

Maybe there’s no reason they would (although it seems like very human behavior, since actual wolves operate under a two-parent partnership of alpha male and alpha female), but it sure turned me off of the book. Like I said, a DNF for me. I couldn’t get past the dynamics between Elena and the male werewolves, and I hated the way Elena seemed to draw boundaries (“I’m leaving!” “Don’t touch me!”) and then gave in anyway.

I loved BITTEN too and you’re making me want to re-read it. I bought the original hard cover version only published in Canada before it was picked up the the US publisher and turned into a hit.

I was blown away recently to see that Walrus (a highbrow literary magazine in Canada) just did a story on Kelley and her wolves. “Dances with Werewolves”. Google it, Sarah. I think you’ll find it interesting. Me, I was just thrilled to see Kelley getting taken seriously by the Canliterati. She so richly deserves it and all her success.

@Lizzie and @Lil’ Deviant—

She was being treated as a little sister, not as an equal.

But why would they treat her as an equal?  The pack has never had to deal with a woman werewolf before.  They don’t even deal with the mothers of their children.

This is how I see it too. This is the first time this all-male world has had to confront having any interactions with women that they don’t control. They can’t have daughters, they never knew their own mothers, and they’ve never had sisters. They’ve never had to deal with even the idea of treating a woman as an equal let alone anything else. Elena demands she be treated equally and leaves the pack when she’s not—an action that is simply not an option for the rest of the pack members. They would never even consider doing that. In fact, leaving a pack usually means death, something that’s demonstrated by how they treat Karl, one of the few solo werewolves.  They don’t treat Elena the same way they treat Karl, which smacks of paternalism, but it’s who these guys are and it’s part of why Elena struggles with this new world. When she returns to the pack it’s on her terms. She redefines a packmate’s relationship and dependence on the pack.

I don’t really consider Bitten to be Paranormal Romance, mostly due to these issues. Armstrong examines gender roles in a way I don’t usually see in Romance and so I approached this book differently than I would a Romance.

:spoiler:

Karl is later admitted into the pack and is the hero in “Personal Demon.” While Karl is somewhat interesting, I don’t think Armstrong made as strong a case for redemption as she did for Clay. I like that throughout the remaining books, Clay continues to struggle in his relationships, something that seems to fit a character who endured so much early in his life.

@Lizzie:

Maybe there’s no reason they would (although it seems like very human behavior, since actual wolves operate under a two-parent partnership of alpha male and alpha female)...

I think it’s interesting that we’re seeing the emergence of an alpha female in a werewolf pack. The pack will have to redefine itself with the addition of Elena, and even more so in later books when she and Clay start a family.

It was Armstrong’s editorial choice to not model her werewolves so strictly on the two-parent wolf-pack hierarchy. I suspect this change enabled her to examine some gender issues, or maybe she just thought it was cool. ;)

Regarding the idea of equality, as I understand it, wolf packs have rigid and elaborate hierarchies. There is no sense of equality; every member has her/his place in a kind of micro caste system.

I am a total Kelley Armstrong junkie. Although none can touch the complexity of Bitten, the Darkest Powers YA series, Dime Store Magic, and No Humans Involved (Jeremy and Jaime). I like that she doesn’t slap a white picket fence ending on her stories. Each of the endings seems to compliment the personalities and the needs of the couple.

Thanks for reviewing Bitten. I have loved this book because it is complicated. I just finished Frostbitten, which resolves many of the power dynamics, but really just isn’t as interesting.

Regarding the idea of equality, as I understand it, wolf packs have rigid and elaborate hierarchies. There is no sense of equality; every member has her/his place in a kind of micro caste system.

My understanding was that wolves in the wild are structured like nuclear families: a mated couple above the other members. So everyone below the mated couple would be equal, in the sense that they’re all “siblings” to one another. It’s the wolves kept in captivity that see a more “micro-caste” system (wolves challenging each other, beta wolves, the existence of an omega/lowest-rung wolf, etc), because they don’t have enough territory to accomodate them.

That’s kind of a tangent, though. Obviously, Armstrong didn’t model her pack dynamics after wild wolves, because there are no females, so the packs aren’t headed by a mated couple.

My comment about her not being equal was in response to the idea that she was being treated as a sister—to me, that means that she should be treated just as equally as any other sibling under the pack leader. But she was not. Because she was female.

And yeah, the male werewolves never had to treat a woman as an equal before (because all the women they knew before her were humans, hence automatically inferior). But her being woman (inferior) still trumped her being a werewolf (superior). And I just didn’t want to read it. It felt too much like the sexist douchebaggery of human males.

It’s obvious the way Elena was treated didn’t bother a lot of folks—to each her own. I’ve really enjoyed other werewolf books that included some aspect of alpha-male arrogance, (Blood and Chocolate, the Mercy Thompson series), but this one just really bugged. I couldn’t get past the pack and Elena as a character to enjoy it. *shrug*

Oops—I meant to put that first paragraph in a quote box instead of italics.

@Lizzie:

My comment about her not being equal was in response to the idea that she was being treated as a sister—to me, that means that she should be treated just as equally as any other sibling under the pack leader. But she was not. Because she was female.

...But her being woman (inferior) still trumped her being a werewolf (superior). And I just didn’t want to read it. It felt too much like the sexist douchebaggery of human males.

Absolutely, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker to me because Elena was changing the paradigm. I can see how it might not work for another reader. I had the same problem with the first Kitty Norville book so much so that it was a DNF and I have yet to even try two others in the series on my TBR shelf. Ditto for just about every other werewolf Romance I’ve tried to read.

I didn’t like Elena until about halfway through the book. Like other commenters, her not-gonna-do-it then doing it bugged me. But I get why in the context of the story she did that, and her character really clicked with me once she started accepting her situation. My favorite Elena book in the series is actually Broken—mostly because of Clay. And I love that Elena is a pack enforcer. It bugs me in a shifter-verse when the women shifters don’t handle any of the dirty work, or when they just fight because they’re jealous or something equally ridiculous.

Paige is my favorite narrator in the series, although I cannot wait for Savannah to get her book.

Add me to the Armstrong Fangirl list. I’ve never read a werewolf/shifter book that struck me as deeply as this one. Elena is complex, goes completely against romance-novel-stereotype females and I felt her struggle during her entire journey. In fact, I loved all the characters because they weren’t black or white - instead, a wonderful rainbow of grays :)

Also love her Nadia Stafford books, because what’s not to love about a quiet, unassuming female assassin?

I just did a re-read of this book last month.

I like the Paige books better, but Bitten is definitely one of my favorites.

@dangrgirl - Definitely keep reading the Kitty books! They get much better. ;)

@Gina - I saw that Savannah was getting her own book and literally squee’ed in anticipation. She’s my absolute favorite female character of the entire series.

I picked up this book via this website (you gals are 90% up my alley when it comes to great recommendations!! I’ve actually started reading again!) and I adored it.

I was swept into the world—so different than what I expected. I assumed paranormals would be brooding, atmospheric, and mystical. Instead it was very matter-of-fact and completely believable that this could be a real phenomenon. I love that I got to go on Elena’s journey back to the Pack and back to her troubled relationship with Clay. I felt the way she was torn between two natures and her rage at her crappy childhood. I LOVED it when she kicked butt as a werewolf. And the scene toward the end with the Toronto boyfriend. Oh my.

Since then I’ve also enjoyed Stolen (I admit to hoping Jeremy would get a little romance with a ‘newby’) and Broken and Frostbitten is next on the list. But Bitten will probably be my favorite because it was my entrance into an amazing world created by Ms Armstrong.

Rereading the comments, I realized it seems like my biggest problem was the pack’s attitude toward Elena, but really it was Elena and Clay. Elena’s habit of saying she wanted (or didn’t want) something, and then backing down from her stance was maddening. And the first sex scene with Clay—that was the nail in the coffin for me.  I mean, he ties her to a tree, she tells him, “This isn’t funny. Untie me. Now” and his response is to rip her T-shirt in half and undo her bra. Aaaaaand I was done. 

It sounds like she shifts some of the power dynamics of the pack later in the book, but I couldn’t make it that far.

And now I’ll try to leave this post to the fans. :)

@Lizzie:

And the first sex scene with Clay—that was the nail in the coffin for me.

Stuff like that usually bothers me too, so I’ll have to go back and read it figure out why it didn’t bother me.

Lizzie, it sounds like you and I bailed at the same point of the book. That was pretty much the last thing I remember reading in it.

And the first sex scene with Clay—that was the nail in the coffin for me.  I mean, he ties her to a tree, she tells him, “This isn’t funny. Untie me. Now” and his response is to rip her T-shirt in half and undo her bra. Aaaaaand I was done.

LOL on the “Aaaaaand I was done.”

This really just doesn’t sound like a book I’d like.  This sounds like rape and a literal bodice ripper scene.  No matter how angst ridden she is about accepting her dual worlds or whatever, this kind of stuff is usually enough for me to throw books against a wall.  The hero of my dreams does not rape me while I work out my anger management problems. :(

Lizzie, it sounds like you and I bailed at the same point of the book. That was pretty much the last thing I remember reading in it.

Yup. I called it a “sex scene” above, but I don’t even know if they ended up having sex, because I stopped reading.

@Lizzie:

Yup. I called it a “sex scene” above, but I don’t even know if they ended up having sex, because I stopped reading.

Now I have to wait four hours before I can get home and look this up. This kind of thing is usually a deal-breaker for me, but it’s been so long since I read it I can’t remember what happened.

Yeah, add my name to the “Didn’t Like” column, except that I pretty much HATED this book, for the exact reasons the other folks in the comments didn’t like it:

Clay tying up Elena for the first sex scene when she said no? GROSS GROSS GROSS.

Elena basically being a weak pushover doormat? GROSS GROSS GROSS.

Clay basically being a creepster with his room full of photos of Elena like some obsessive stalker serial killer? GROSS GROSS GROSS.

Blech. The whole book was bad, to me. Left a really bad taste in my mouth. Yuck.

@Lizzie:

Yup. I called it a “sex scene” above, but I don’t even know if they ended up having sex, because I stopped reading.

Google Book Search has it (pages 134-136): http://books.google.com/books?id=-Zwpid_Mr1YC&lpg=PP1&dq=bitten&pg=PA136#v=onepage&q=untie&f=false

Clay doesn’t go through with it:

“I won’t force you, Elena. You like to pretend I would, but you know I won’t. All you have to do is tell me no. Tell me to stop. Tell me to untie you. I will.”

Put me in the I love this book camp. I can’t remember how I stumbled upon Bitten, but once I did, I was hooked. I’ve read the entire seriesm but for me, Elena is the one that sticks with me the most (Eve and Jaime are second and third).

Elena did everything she could think of to pretend she was normal, but in the end, she knew it was useless. The Pack was going to call to her and she was going to answer. Though she and Clay begin their relationship, she by no means forgives him right away. While she’ll have sex with him, there is a part of her that holds back, one she admits to readily in subsequent books. Their road to a HEA isn’t a easy one, but one well worth reading.

I LOVE this book! It was my first paranormal romance. I love that Elena had to fight so hard to figure out who she was and how she fit in with the Pack and how she could also like herself at the same time. I think her internal debate about how “normal” people wouldn’t do anything violent and, since she had violent tendencies and wasn’t normal, and how she came to terms with that part of herself was so interesting. And that first sex scene didn’t bother me because it was obvious that Clay and Elena had played violent sex games in the past and she really did want to have sex with him. She was able to pretend like she didn’t want to so she wouldn’t hate herself. But Clay gave her a chance to really back out and she didn’t.

Clay doesn’t go through with it

She’s tied up. She’s told him no. She describes herself as trying to pull away from his touch because she doesn’t want to climax with him. And when she doesn’t say anything in response to his “Tell me to stop,” (not a yes or no) he pushes into her. It definitely wasn’t an enthusiastic consent to sex.

I mean, I’ve read and enjoyed books that dealt with the hero or heroine fighting their own attraction/desire to have sex and having to be seduced/enticed past a certain point before they get enthusiastic. With this book, I dunno—I think at that point it was just too late for me. I was already struggling to become invested in these two characters, specifically because of her continual acquiescence to the men around her (against her own wishes), and the arrogant expection of those men that she would do what they wanted. And I know women who, in that situation (tied up, at someone’s mercy, half-naked), would’ve already shut down and just let him do whatever he wanted.

I just couldn’t keep reading.

@Lizzie:

I just couldn’t keep reading

And that’s your prerogative as a reader. You bring up some great points. Every reader is different.

Thank you for reviewing this book. All the Women of the Otherworld books are fav’s of mine as well. Although I came to the paranormal romance/urban fantasy genre from a different direction, Kelley Armstrong is a strong contender for the top of the list. Patricia Briggs and Kim Harrison taking the main slots there.

I think something that I enjoy is how Armstrong’s female protagonists are all ‘strong’ in different ways. From Paige’s willingness to step away from the safe zone to protect her charge, to buck the system, to Elaina’s physical strength combined with intellegence, to Jamie’s use of fame and stardom for something better, none of these women just sit back and let life roll over them. They can’t.

Armstrong also does not make her female progagonist unbeatable. These women run up against people that could beat them, but they overcome though ‘the help of their friends.” This feature marks all the authors on my ‘top list’ and makes the characters more fleshed out.

SPOILER:
Regarding the science of male children only inheriting the “werewolf” gene. I think the science would work if you see it as something generated by the Y gene normally and recessive in the females. Since the mothers are not were, the females don’t inherit. The version that Clay and Elaina have is transmitted by body fluid, so the biological cause of the were (er) mutation can bypass the genetic marker. (Other than that, suspend disbelief and enjoy the story)

This is my least favourite Armstrong book (and I’ve read all the adult ones); it took me three tries to get through it. I was thoroughly disgusted by Elena’s reactions to Clay in this book when she sees him again and his (more than borderline, in my opinion) abusive treatment of her, past and present.

Yes, he’s had a terrible life, has no idea of how to handle women or relationships, and loves her more than anything but that doesn’t make the way he treats her (in this book and before) right. I didn’t feel he ever truly learned what he done, how he had treated her, was wrong and in the end he was simply modifying his behaviour to get what he wanted (Elena), not because he truly regretted what he did.

Clay still remains my least favourite character in any of the books simply because I can’t forget what happened in Bitten.

Wow—this is the first time I’ve seriously diverged in reading tastes from SBSarah!  I simply could not finish this book.  I couldn’t finish Dime Store Magic, either.  It’s kind of like melon, for me—it smells so good that I have often thought, “Well, I’ll try it again and maybe this time I’ll like it” and then I do and I have to spit it out because I hate the taste so much.  As with the melon, Armstrong is so popular with people whose tastes I generally agree with that I occasionally try her again and I always feel annoyed that I wasting the money that could have gone to a book I would have enjoyed.  I can’t remember exactly what I didn’t like about Armstrong’s books without going back to one of the books because it’s been a while and I don’t currently own any, but I just don’t.  (Probably the characters—can’t usually finish a book if I hate the characters.)

@lizzie, @willa

God, I could not agree more. I had the exact same reaction to this book. I really, really wanted to love it but instead it was more like the red mists of rage descended every time the supposedly strong, unique and determined Elena acted like every other female doormat I encounter in fiction. Her empowerment rang false to me because she spends most of the book making empty threats.

Even worse though, was Clay. Sad childhood? Wild? I don’t give a shit. WHAT. AN. ALPHOLE. Seriously. I could not handle his petty, childish demands and his “I know better than you, little woman” posturing. He seemed arrested in some kind of adolescent nightmare. The sex scene only confirmed my suspicions of his total creepiness. The book might have been SLIGHTLY redeemed for me had Clay at least grovelled for all of his appalling behaviour, but no, apparently it was justified because he just couldn’t help himself / IT’S TRUE LURVE.

The idea that his feral nature meant that he couldn’t help but take what he wanted and bite her was unbelievable to me, seeing as he goes out of his way to seduce her/take her to meet his family AND is a successful academic (where an understanding of some social convention and an appearance of normal human behaviour is surely necessary?) He clearly functions perfectly adequately in society, so it makes no sense for him to endanger pack secrecy just because Elena should be “his”.

Oops, my apologies, that went on rather long. I think I needed an outlet to express my frustrations with this book!

This book is one of my top favourites too!!
I did read the next two, though, and they were pretty disappointing. I might have thought they were ok if they hadn’t been connected to this awesome novel, but alas…
Now you’ve made me want to go re-read it :)

because she spends most of the book making empty threats.

I’m right there with you on the red mists of rage re: empty threats.

“I’m leaving unless you tell me what’s going on, I really mean it! I’m not gonna stay here at your beck and call, I’m not under your command! I’m leaving! Oh, okay, I guess I’ll just go to bed and see you in the morning.”

Jeez louise, stick to your guns, honey. I would have had so much more respect for her if she’d at least started walking and then changed her mind a mile out.

...can I just pop in here with a recommendation for a different werewolf book? Benighted by Kit Whitfield is one of the most amazing urban fantasy books I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot. It’s an inside-out werewolf story: in this world, almost everyone is a shifter. Our protagonist is not, and being born unable to change dictates the terms of her entire life. Even her job is predetermined—she has to join the branch of the government responsible for law enforcement on full-moon nights, making her part cop, part lawyer, underpaid and miserably discriminated against. Whitfield does some incredible things with social power: who’s got it, who doesn’t, and what that means.

There is a love story, but—fair warning—the boo is not a romance. Nonetheless I think it will appeal to some of the readers here…

“I didn’t really like Elena that much as a main character, and I kind of hated Clay, his character always felt borderline abusive to me. “

Yep. Except crossing the borderline.

I’ll take the Carrie Vaughn werewolf series. Kitty starts out being abused and raped by her pack alpha, but it’s not dressed up as romantic behavior.

Just tried to buy at at Fictionwise (to read on my iphone), but was told it has geographical restrictions. What the hell? Why - in the global village of ours - does a publisher refuse to let someone outside the US buy a book? An ebook, for pete’s sake?? Not fair *pout*

mean52. Fair dinkum, it’s mean52 :(

@Anaquana: SQUEE! I hadn’t seen that news, just assumed she’d get her book eventually since she’s been a major secondary character in several of the books so far.

I’ve read most of Armstrongs other books. I’m a big fan of everybody in her Women of the Otherworld series but Elena. But I don’t think its a bad thing. I think that Armstrong is a good writer in that she makes her characters frustrating. I like having a character that I could dislike for the first few chapters, and redeems herself later in the book. Armstrong lets her women be flawed, the happily ever after is believable to me. While Elena specifically drove me batty in the many reasons the readers above stated, I’d say give her other Women of the Otherworld series a chance. I found them just as torn, =just as real and in my case even more likeable.

(I <3ed the Paige Winterbourne series like woah! And I loved her plunge into YA fiction in The Summoning)

I really enjoyed the following books.  I appreciate how Armstrong manages to tie all the characters and events together without it being like name dropping.  Also, if you read onto No Humans Involved you will find a little bit more on Jeremy.

Gina - Waking The Witch

Hmmm… don’t know why that didn’t turn into a link, but the actual link is http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/aWaking.htm>Waking The Witch

Third times the charm?

http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/aWaking.htm

I scanned over the comments above and I can see why some people didn’t like this book.

I read it only a couple of months ago after reading about how much Jane from DA and Sarah loved it.

My experience of the book was a bit curious.  I certainly got through it quickly and was eager to continue reading but I wasn’t conscious of “enjoying” it at the time, although I definitely didn’t hate it.  However, I noticed that the book “stayed with me: after I read it, so it definitely impacted me.  I ended up rating it as an A-.  (Perhaps I needed to assess the book as a whole?)

I didn’t have any beef with Elena and Clay really.  I saw Elena as totally conflicted and that, for me, explained her “I’m leaving” and then staying, etc.  It also explained her relationship with Phillip and Clay.  I did enjoy her relationship with Jeremy too.

As for Clay, well, yeah, from time to time he was an “alphole” (but this is often true of men in general! LOL!) but overall, I saw him as a somewhat clueless male.  I thought he followed a simple logic process - I adore this woman, I want her with me, I’ll do anything, I’ll never hurt her (this obviously is HIS definition) and when he follows through he’s just clueless about what’s gone wrong.  I didn’t see the photos or the stuff in the closet as “stalker-y”.  I saw them as evidence of (and and outlet for) his true feelings.  After all, he stayed away from her when she was in Toronto.  He DIDN’T stalk her.  He was exceedingly patient, but then showed frustration when she came home - at first (from memory) he thought that meant she had accepted what had happened and was ready to be with him.  Really, I just think that his reality was different to hers and he genuinely struggled with it. 

Oh, I’m not saying this well at all I’m afraid.  My thoughts about this book aren’t really articulate - they’re more impressions and feelings which I find hard to express.  That is a pretty curious reaction for me and it’s why I ended up giving it such a high (albeit personal) rating.

The first sex scene was, for me, just an extension of Elena’s conflict. We didn’t know then, how much was between Clay & Elena, I think.  But later, I felt that Clay truly did know what Elena wanted/the strength of what was between them and also knew that Elena didn’t WANT to want it and he was trying to push her past that and get her to admit how she really felt.  Sometimes this sort of thing bugs me in a book but it didn’t here.  There IS violence in their relationship - they are werewolves and not tame.  I thought the author did a wonderful job of portraying the violence between them as well as the softer emotions.  That was one of the wonderful differences in this story to the usual [paranormal] romance (at least, I thought so). 

I haven’t read the other books in the series, but I’m very interested in the prequels (I think some of them have been taken down because they’re going to be in the Men of the Otherworld book to be released soon (?)).  I am interested in more of Clay and Elena though so I’ll probably pick up the others in due course.

Thanks for the review Sarah.

Put me solidly in the “hated it” camp.  I actually picked up this book on the recommendation of the SBs, and only kept reading it ‘cause I couldn’t believe they’d be so wrong.  I agree with all the criticism abouve, and thought the world-building was shoddy at best, the love interest was a total creep, but the thing that really turned me off was Elena’s job as an “investigative journalist” or something like that.  Not that she ever did any journalism, or did anything more than just show up to some office somewhere, but when she decided to dig up some information on some other character, she literally had no idea where to start.  Cause her investigative journalism profession wouldn’t help her out there, oh no.

In fact, after that point I just kept hearing the Zoolander voice, “investigugaytive Journalist.”  Apparently the author wanted to give the heroine a career that sounded intelligent, modern and ballsy, but didn’t actually make her any of the three.

put me in line for another one who loved, loved, LOVED this book, but couldn’t stand the sequels.  I’m still trying to read Dime Store Magic, but then I just cant’ get into demon books.  Anyhow..I loved that this book wasn’t primarily a romance, and it focused more on the world building and character development.  This was one of those books that when I finished I was like “wow” and “I need to read everything else in this series” and even, “hrm, maybe i should have my husband read this as an example of a good paranormal romance”

Read the review yesterday, bought the book and read it last night. I am still trying to put my finger on exactly what it was about this book I didn’t love.

Characters are awesome. Well drawn and they don’t do things that don’t make sense given personal history and personality. I am already invested in them enough to want to know what happens next.

Lots of good action.

Interesting mystery and bad guys.

I think the missing piece for me is the grovel. With a truly spectacular grovel from Clay I could have loved this book. It was hinted at in the flashback from her first year after being bitten but insufficient. Maybe that is not in his character but what he did was truly terrible. It stuck in my craw that after he deceived her and took away her other viable choices it was sort of okay because what she wants is really in the life she doesn’t think she wants. Plus, shouldn’t he have been in the least concerned that since females don’t survive werewolf bites that his would kill her? She becomes homocidal and lives caged for a year but he really loves her can’t she forgive him?

I get that Clay is damaged, and Elena, too. In fact, their relationship much more closely resembles reality than any I’ve read in recent years. This is what damaged people do to each other: they hurt each other for selfish reasons and stay together anyway. But if I wanted real life toxic relationship patterns I would read self-help books.

I’m holding out hope for some groveling in a sequel. Gut-wrenching, self-excoriating, weapons grade groveling.

@Laurel:

I think the missing piece for me is the grovel. With a truly spectacular grovel from Clay I could have loved this book.

That’s an important point and another reason why I think Bitten is Urban Fantasy and not Paranormal Romance. The grovel moment seems to be a fundamental cathartic element in certain types of Romance. I also think expectations play a big role in the enjoyment of a book and if a reader picks up Bitten expecting a Romance novel I think she’ll be disappointed. I read Bitten when it first came out and picked it up in the new releases section of the bookstore—not the Romance shelf—and so didn’t have any Romance expectations.

That’s an important point and another reason why I think Bitten is Urban Fantasy and not Paranormal Romance.

Good point! I also am not sure if the grovel I crave is really in Clay’s character. He’s instinctive and sees things in very black and white so he is truly confused why Elena can’t forgive him if she can have what she wants. And apparently Elena never explains to him what he took away. No matter how much she loves him, she was never given the chance to choose him, really. He set her up so that she wouldn’t be free to fully explore other options.

Knowing her background and that she was just coming into a time of self-actualization he did the most self-serving thing possible and is frustrated that she is still mad about it.

Nope, even for the sake of character continuity, I can’t get past it. I need some grovel. I’m weak like that.

it seems like this book has created some serious controversy.
i’ve yet to read it though i have it requested from the library and think i may really like it.  because
but if you, sarah, like shifters and shifter romance, totally check out Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series, the first one is Kitty and The Midnight Hour.
hmm, i don’t know how to put in a address but whatev
http://www.amazon.com/Kitty-Midnight-Hour-Norville-Book/dp/0446616419
radio79: radio talk show host werewolf

I only read the first Kitty Norville book, but I loved the way Kitty’s completely abusive relationship with the pack’s leader was handled - and the author makes you wait till the end of the book to do it. Throughout the book i was going - waaaait a minute, that ain’t right. Who says you have to live like that just b/c you’re a werewolf? That’s some fucked up dymanics right there…and then one day Kitty thinks to herself “waaaait a minute, this ain’t right…” 

I like alpha heroes, even alphole heroes, and even especially emotionally damaged alphole heroes who Just Need To Be Loved. Clay probably wouldn’t put me off the book. 

I keep saying I’m going to read this, so I finally bought it for my Sony tonight.

I think those that don’t like it may approach it as romance. And as pointed out above, it isn’t one, really.

  In regular fiction, I expect and can relate to less than ideal behavior and character flaws, but the same might be a deal breaker in a romance for me. Those very flaws mentioned, Clays bad behavior, Elena’s indecision, the male-oriented society, were what made all the dynamics so interesting for me. It was more real, in that sense to me, than in a romance where I want some idealism vs. the gritty realism in the characters here.

I think those that don’t like it may approach it as romance.

This may be true for some of the folks who didn’t like it, but to me, this feels a little like being told I just didn’t appreciate what Armstrong was doing—as if no one could ever NOT like this book if they really understood what it was about.

So it felt like “gritty realism” to you and was interesting. Great. It felt like asshattery-and-douchbaggery to me, and I tend to not finish books in which the main characters drive me crazy, romance or not.

Samantha:

I think those that don’t like it may approach it as romance. And as pointed out above, it isn’t one, really.

lizzie (greeneyed fem):

This may be true for some of the folks who didn’t like it, but to me, this feels a little like being told I just didn’t appreciate what Armstrong was doing—as if no one could ever NOT like this book if they really understood what it was about.

I came here this morning specifically to respond to Samantha’s comment, but lizzie beat me to it.  I’m glad you liked the book, Samantha, but I’d appreciate it if you’d refrain from telling me and others who didn’t that we’re doing it wrong.

Very very condescending, Samantha.  And very very rude.

Aw, let’s go easy on Samantha. She might be right. I took her to mean that the reader might feel bait-and-switched and not like what they got because it wasn’t what they anticipated. Remember the first time you tried a beet and thought it was a spiced apple?

At any rate, gritty realism books of any genre are not my thing. This one toes the line for me because I can see the possibility for a happy ending. So close, so frustrating! Aaugh!

It is extremely well written, though, and definitely drew me in. I fully plan to read more of her books.

Laurel said:

Aw, let’s go easy on Samantha. She might be right. I took her to mean that the reader might feel bait-and-switched and not like what they got because it wasn’t what they anticipated.

Ditto. I don’t think her comment was meant in that way. Like Sarah said, I appreciate the reviews from those who loathed the book—but life is too short to read or dwell on books you hate especially when there are so many more out there to enjoy.

Some didn’t like Bitten; others did. Not everyone has to agree on liking the same books or even on why a story worked or didn’t work for them.

I think those that don’t like it may approach it as romance.

This may be true for some of the folks who didn’t like it, but to me, this feels a little like being told I just didn’t appreciate what Armstrong was doing—as if no one could ever NOT like this book if they really understood what it was about.

So it felt like “gritty realism” to you and was interesting. Great. It felt like asshattery-and-douchbaggery to me, and I tend to not finish books in which the main characters drive me crazy, romance or not.

Quoted for truth.

I read Bitten as a speculative fiction fan, NOT a romance fan. I wasn’t really reading romance fiction at the time, but I was a long-time speculative fiction fan.

This book was nasty to me, anyway, AS an urban fantasy reader.

but life is too short to read or dwell on books you hate especially when there are so many more out there to enjoy.

For some reason, this comment offends me. Are you advising us on whether or not to “dwell” on why we didn’t like Bitten when other people did? If I want to “dwell” on the subject, I think I’m allowed to, on a comment thread about the book. Whether you dwell on books you don’t like or not is entirely up to you, please don’t tell me you think me doing it is silly or whatever, which is exactly how it sounds from your comment.

@willa:

Whether you dwell on books you don’t like or not is
entirely up to you, please don’t tell me you think me doing it is silly or whatever, which is exactly how it sounds from your comment.

No, I don’t think you’re silly. I’m not telling anyone what to do. I am, however, entitled to my own opinion just as you are.

No, I don’t think you’re silly. I’m not telling anyone what to do. I am, however, entitled to my own opinion just as you are.

Yes, you are entitled to your opinion, that’s not being argued—are you saying that you think maybe people who don’t like the book are telling you that your opinion is invalid? That would be bothersome and upsetting if that were so.

If not, then what do you mean by your comments?

Because with your previous comment, I have a hard time understanding its meaning as anything other than dismissing other people’s opinions or telling them to stop dwelling.

Just realized I helped derail this thread a little, sorry about that!

On-topic: Also preferred the Kitty Norville series to Bitten. Pretty good standard urban fantasy series.

I think I’ve mentioned here before that I’m predominantly a reader of SF/F, not of romance. So I had no particular issue with Bitten failing to behave like a romance novel. Nor, for that matter, did I have any particular issue with what I saw of Armstrong’s worldbuilding in the hundred or so pages I read, so I didn’t really have any issue with it as an urban fantasy, either.

No, what made me bail was the realization “I don’t like ANY of these people and I do not want to read another word about them,” plain and simple. Like I said before, Armstrong’s prose seemed solid to me, but it’s just that the characters she was writing about actively pissed me off. Looking back, I suspect that it’s actually evidence that Armstrong’s writing is in fact pretty good, given that she clearly portrayed characters who did piss me off that much. ;) Had her writing been less solid, I might not have had as strong a reaction to Elena and Clay.

@willa:

Yes, you are entitled to your opinion, that’s not being argued—are you saying that you think maybe people who don’t like the book are telling you that your opinion is invalid? That would be bothersome and upsetting if that were so.

No, I don’t think that. I was wondering the same thing about you, actually. There’s no subtext here for me. I liked the book, you didn’t. What’s the big deal? I’m not trying to tell you or anyone what to think, nor am I trying to invalidate anyone’s opinion. I respect your opinion. In my earlier comments I said I was grateful to hear the opinions that differed from mine on the book.

I have no quarrel with you or anyone here.

Aw, let’s go easy on Samantha.

I agree that some readers probably did feel bait-and-switched. I’m not saying that romance genre expectations played no part in some folks not warming to the book.

But it’s also incredibly frustrating to be told that I just didn’t understand what makes a book/movie/character so great, and Samantha’s comment touched that nerve. Frankly, I most often hear a comment like that when I bring up objections I have to books or movies because of what I experience as sexism or racism. It’s dismissive of my own experiences as a woman to have my discomfort or anger with a certain character or scene or joke or plotline dismissed as “just not getting it.”

Now, I absolutely do not think that Bitten is a sexist text—obviously, it speaks to many women here about the complex, often painful business of being a woman in a world of men. But although I recognized Armstrong’s skill as a writer, it did not speak to me. It actively turned me off. And both responses are absolutely legitimate.

@lizzie:

But it’s also incredibly frustrating to be told that I just didn’t understand what makes a book/movie/character so great, and Samantha’s comment touched that nerve.

I can’t read Samantha’s mind, but I certainly wasn’t dismissing your or anyone’s dislike of the book in that way. I wasn’t dismissing anyone’s opinion. I was saying that expectations matter and the weight of those expectations might matter differently for different readers.

Case in point, I first encountered the Kitty Norville series at an RWA Conference agent panel where the author’s agent was saying what a great empowering story and heroine the book had. So, I had that expectation and was then entirely turned off by the heroine’s awful treatment in the beginning that I read—so turned off that I stopped reading. Since so many here liked that series, I might try again, but everyone is different and clearly we each got different things out of these books. Reading is such a subjective experience, so it makes sense readers experience stories differently.

Also, just to add—I think folks on this thread have been largely respectful of the different reading experiences people had with “Bitten,” as well as interested to hear the perspectives of those who are on the opposite side of the love/hate fence. Like Elise above, I was surprised that my experience of this book was so divergent from SB Sarah’s, because usually my tastes line up nicely with hers.

It was actually really frustrating for me that “Bitten” was a DNF, because I’m very drawn to stories of female werewolves (precisely because I love texts that explore all of the things that SB Sarah brings up in her review: female rage and capacity for violence, the struggle between the pull of the animalistic and some version of morality/humanity, the acceptance/integration of multiple aspects of one’s self). I hated being disappointed in one of the few girl-werewolf stories out there.

I haven’t read the Kitty Norville books, so I’ll have to put those on the TBR list. Do other people have recs for female werewolves that haven’t been mentioned yet? As I said upthread, I love Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series (although Mercy’s a coyote shapeshifter—and the series is not as dark in terms of Mercy’s internal struggle) and Blood and Chocolate (it’s YA, but deals with sex and violence and struggling with what you are—I LOVE the way the heroine’s violence finally comes out). Also Martin Millar’s Lonely Werewolf Girl was AMAZING, and I cannot wait until he hurries up and finishes the sequel already!

Here’s part of the Booklist description of Lonely Werewolf Girl from the Amazon page:
“The MacRinnalch clan of Scottish werewolves is at war with itself. Attacked by his 17-year-old daughter, Kalix, the thane has succumbed, leaving the succession in question. Neither eldest son Sarapen nor younger, cross-dressing scion Markus have enough votes in the werewolves’ Great Council to become thane, and the late thane’s mother offers her vote to whomever brings her Kalix’s heart. Kalix, despondent over losing her lover to exile, is on the verge of suicide before either bounty hunters or the secret society that hunts werewolves finds her. After she’s rescued by college students Moonglow and Daniel, things take a curious turn to, among other things, her sister Thrix, a werewolf enchantress and couturier for fashion-obsessed fire-elemental warrior queen Malveria.”

It is a wild ride. Highly recommended.

Dang! First I post without refreshing and then my browser refuses to work for this website. I guess that’s what I get for avoiding work. :)

@dangrgirl:
“I certainly wasn’t dismissing your or anyone’s dislike of the book in that way. I wasn’t dismissing anyone’s opinion.”

I absolutely know you were not. You’ve been fabulous! Very respectful of the different experiences different readers have had with the book, and a wonderful listener (if one can “listen” over the internets).

And I’m sure that Samantha did not mean to come across as dismissive about my experience as a reader, either. But intent aside, her comment (posted after all the above discussion about how various people had various reactions to the book for various reasons) did not allow that a reader could dislike the book for any reason other than “I expected a rose-colored romance and got something darker.”

I wouldn’t have had a problem with the comment at all if she’d simply said, “I think SOME readers that didn’t like it . . .”

*stands up with target on chest*

I am going to throw out a couple of titles that haven’t been mentioned.

Full Moon Rising, Keri Arthur’s’ Riley Jenson Novel

and

Howling at the Moon by Karen MacInerney

I am now so confused as to what is Romance what is Fantasy I am not even going to take a leap at what they are classified as.

They are books I as a reader enjoyed.  My sister enjoyed also.  *waves to naughty nymph*

dangrgirl:

I can’t read Samantha’s mind, but I certainly wasn’t dismissing your or anyone’s dislike of the book in that way. I wasn’t dismissing anyone’s opinion. I was saying that expectations matter and the weight of those expectations might matter differently for different readers.

I have to say that with site, you find something that is almost impossible to find on the internet anymore—a place where people can disagree and it almost always, without fail, is civil and polite and fair-minded.  For the most part, I usually never get a vibe of “you don’t think like I do so you are WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!!!!!111!!” that you see on some other sites over everything from politics to whether or not The Watchmen was a fairly decent translation of really dense material or an abomination that should never have seen the light of day.

I have to say, though, that Samantha’s post really pressed a hot button that I didn’t even know I had.  Now, granted, she probably didn’t intend to be completely dismissive of opinions about this particular book that didn’t jibe with her view of it.  But I read it and thought, “How DARE she assume to know what I read regularly and what my expectations were/are and say that I somehow lack comprehension skills based on these assumptions and yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah…” and I was off and running.  Fortunately, I realized I was ranting and erased it all and just kept it simple. 

So, mea culpa.  I’m certainly not trying to start anything with anyone and I’ll try to keep my assumptions about what she meant in check.  Especially in light of the realization that this is, apparently, a hot button for me—ie, being told that I feel the way I do because I’m just not grasping it the way it should be understood.  Again, I love this place because we can disagree about individual books, but we all agree that we just LOVE books and we’re passionate about them.  So….

Happy Friday, everyone, and happy early Thanksgiving for those that celebrate it.

Another second for Blood and Chocolate. I think that books explores wonderfully the triangulation between what we want, what we are, and what we need to/ought to do. The gender and community relationships seemed right to me, and I totally dug our main guy and girl wolf.

I think I might be one of the few wasn’t really for or against Bitten. I finished it, but was kind of meh. Like many others, I didn’t like Elena or Clay. I while I don’t HAVE to like the main characters, I prefer to. And I haven’t reread it, so I might be remembering wrong, but I really didn’t like the eventual reason that was given for why Elena could become a wolf.

Actually, TInaC, I’m kind of with you. It wasn’t quite the hotbutton issue for me, but my response when reading Samantha’s post was the same: this may be a romance site, but the readers here are really diverse and read all kinds of genres. And I feel pretty good about my ability to take off my genre glasses between books.

That said, I’ve been fascinated to see what everyone loved or hated.

Lil’ Deviant , thank you so much for emailing me at work today so I could read this blog, I actually laughed out loud!  All the drama was rather entertaining ladies.  :-) 

I loved Bitten, I really enjoyed it. And of course Im right because its my opinion and why would I agree with an opinion different from mine, because once again its just an opinion, we aren’t dealing in facts here, just opinions. 

Please feel free to dismiss my opinion, because as I said already, I think your wrong anyway!  :-) lol

*Waves back to Lil’ Deviant*

Wow…must read again. What I do remember is not loving the story, at first. Elena was driving me crazy. I kept thinking, get over yourself. At first I thought Clay was an ass, although I believed he was fucking crazy about her (fucking is definitely needed here). I also kept wondering when Elena was gonna figure her shit out.
Then it happened, all the things that were making me crazy we’re slowly being dissected, considered and resolved. Albeit, not quite the way I would have preferred, but done all the same.
I need a kickass HEA - it’s just how I’m wired, it’s why I read romance. So, Bitten is not technically romance, I still felt it was romantic (coulda had hotter sex, but Kelley doesn’t like writing sex all that much, so I’ve read).
What was my point? Fuck, I hate the beginning of a cold.
My point is, by the end of the book I wanted to read everything else that follows. Jeremy - I LURVE YOU! But I haven’t picked any up because they were never available at my bookstore(s). They’re in - I saw them last week, but I was buying Christmas gifts for others and had to pickup Kresley Cole’s Deep Kiss of Winter. But Stolen is on my list, the idea that Clay and Elena continue their relationship really appeals to me….can’t wait.
The only reason I read Armstrong was because I heard she is Canadian….We’re from the same city - the big nickel. She didn’t let me down.

When I picked up Bitten it was in the Horror section at the bookshop. Color me surprised.  I expected to see it in the Paranormal Romance shelves.  If someone had told me it was an SFUrban Fantasy I probably wouldn’t have read it because that’s not the sort of book I usually gravitate towards.  BUT, because I had heard about this book via SB Sarah and DA Jane, I thought it was a Romance and that’s why I picked it up, even though it was in the Horror section (a section I had not previously visited).

I guess that the genre is in the “eye of the beholder”.  I thought it was a Romance.  Others think it’s SF/F or UF and, at least one person thought it was Horror. 

Whatever the genre, I enjoyed the book and I’m glad I read it.

I must say it is interesting to read the comments on why people did/did not like it.  Often enough, I’m on the side where almost everyone likes it and I don’t and I feel ... guilty(?), something anyway…  This seems about 50/50 so everyone has company! :)

I loved Bitten, I really enjoyed it. And of course Im right because its my opinion and why would I agree with an opinion different from mine, because once again its just an opinion, we aren’t dealing in facts here, just opinions.

Please feel free to dismiss my opinion, because as I said already, I think your wrong anyway!  :-) lol

You’re going to be really sorry when it turns out you’re WROOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG!!!! But by then it will be TOO LATE! And there will be lots of weeping and wailing, I can tell you! *waits for universe to prove me right*

i read it once and haven’t felt the pull to read it again…after reading the previous comments, i’m going to give it another try

I bought it, downloaded it…I’m sitting around here writing tonight and I wanted to take a break, so I read the first few pages…then my SIL came over - I told her I was being a good girl, getting writing done, but that I’d read a few pages of Bitten, and she said….“STOP! STOP! DON’T DO IT! STOP BEFORE YOU CAN’T!  It’s the best book I’ve ever read and oh my God if you start reading it you won’t be able to stop and you won’t get any writing done for two days and your child will go hungry and you’ll forget to go to work! STOP!”

And I trust her opinion on most things so I’m going to set it aside till next weekend.

Wow, I am glad I came back to this thread, even if days later no one else sees my comment, I do want to try and explain my earlier post.

In re-reading it, I think that my comment would have benefited from adding “some”, because apparently “may” didn’t convey that I wasn’t thinking or wishing to imply “all”.

I certainly do not wish to offend anyone, or be dismissive of their reading experience and most especially the wonderful world of intelligent readers we have in this little niche of the net. I wouldn’t like it either if I thought someone was telling me “how” to read. That was never my intention, and it didn’t occur to me that I was being unclear, but that’s what I get for popping off a post at 2 A.M.

What I meant is that SOME people MAY have approached it in the way they do romance, where I at least (maybe not others), tend to want to like the characters and for them to have admirable qualities. To root for them despite their flaws. And because the actions of Clay certainly, and sometimes Elena, were not cheer worthy, not likable, and sooo not cool, that SOME readers might have been turned off by the entire story as a whole because of that. Hence the asshattery and douchbaggery…to ME, that’s not a deal breaker for a novel outside of romance. YMMV, and all that.

I certainly would never wish to imply that someone didn’t “get it” or even that they shouldn’t hate it. It just occurred to me that, at least for myself, I can stomach main characters and themes outside of romance that would make me run for the hills within the genre. I thought that others MIGHT have had a negative reaction because of this being such an often mentioned book in romance circles. Maybe not, just something that occurred to me when reading many of the comments that brought up negative character actions.

Hopefully, that is clearer. Hopefully, I didn’t re-offend.

Hey, Samantha! Thanks for coming back and posting—I thought maybe you’d been shut down by all the responses to your comment, and I didn’t want that to have happened.

You were very clear. Not offensive at all. I thought that’s probably what you meant, but it’s nice to get further clarification. :)

And yes, I too can come across pretty fuzzy-tongued in my 2am blog comments (why do I stay up that late checking blogs, anyway?).

Thanks, Lizzie.
I’m glad you feel that way, and I am really glad that you were still reading this.

And true enough, the vast majority of my blog posts are probably just encouraging my insomnia :)

I wasn’t mad about this book, but had a different reason to everyone else: obvious emotional arc was obvious.  Elena blamed being a werewolf for her feelings of alienation and general attitude.  It was obvious from the start that this was her real self and not a result of the bite.

The only other character there that was as feral as her was Clay, the rest were (relatively) perfectly adjusted.

Wow, I loved the world Armstrong built. I don’t love Elena, am so-so on Clay, and that’s with the other books that follow. But what I did and do appreciate is the fact Elena’s conflict spills over everything she does. Maintaining the false sense of identity is creating a chasm and she’s been denying it so long that going back to Pack means everything she’s done is useless. That for a decade she has been living a lie and her assumption on what happened to drag her into this other world was a lie. It’s a hard reconcile in the best of times. There’s a emotional detachment from everyone around her. I like that.

She’s not some empty-headed “teehee, I’ll follow whatever you want, because you’re my one true love” and she didn’t give up her humanity in sort with consent. She was in love with a man that took the choice from her. Finally figuring out how works best for both sides, not one or the other, is important for her. And the Pack. It’s hard to protect a member that refuses to acknowledge they are a part of it.

Elena’s not perfect. She makes stupid mistakes. And she’s trying very hard to maintain who she was, is, and will be within a pack full of dominant males that frequently fight to the death. It’s hard to determine where you fit when everyone around you keeps telling you, without asking. She’s setting up the case for the other women to come, of other off-chances that seem to stick after all. It’s a lot to take in and for someone like Elena, who is an enforcer and responsible for keeping peace, it’s a hard pill to swallow. Can’t say I blame her.

Again, I don’t like Elena much. I’m an Eve girl, through and through, but I can see her conflict. She didn’t fall instantly into Clay’s arms, like Luke and Laura. And Clay knows that he has to destroy those issues slowly, through methods that work for Elena…even if they upset his compass. He’s a lot different with her, his mate, than with a mutt or enemy. It’s not easy to adjust being feral, then son, then husband and yet still having to be your father’s hammer on when things go wrong. In a lot of ways, I think he fulfills the same role Charles does in Patricia Briggs Mercy world: he’s the tool you know will destroy you, even after you bait fate, and it won’t necessarily be a pretty end if you’re threatening his family.

Just my thoughts on Bitten. It was enough to hook me into Armstrong’s world and introduce me to the rather underbelly of the supernatural society where most things don’t land happily ever after. Though, I don’t really count the series as romance so much as urban fantasy. I say that because there’s more than the romance…it’s like one thread in many on the world she’s built. Which is why something like her YA series works within the universe if separately.

Love this book to bits!  :) it’s one of my first in this genre, and after reading some many of them, it’s still one of the best.
Rage in women is such a powerful emotion, i never tire of reading about it.

I just ordered this, along with Lord of Scoundrels.  Finals week will be battled with romance!