In the spring of 2005, I got hooked on the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong after picking up one of the books, Dime Store Magic. Since then, I’ve gotten all the other books in the series and I’ve really been enjoying them. I just picked up Broken, the sixth, and currently newest book, in the series.
For the Women of the Otherworld series, Kelley Armstrong created a world were all kinds of magical creatures lived. Bitten: Women of the Otherworld Book 1 introduced Elena, the only female werewolf, her pack, and did deal with some issues she had with being a werewolf. The second book, Stolen, put Elena in another dangerous situation and also introduced all kinds of other magical beings like witches, sorcerers, demons, half demons, and vampires. The next two books, Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic, focused on Paige, a witch and a few situations related to her. The fifth book, Haunted, was about the ghost of a former very powerful witch, Eve, and something the fates asked her to do. For Broken, Armstrong returned to Elena, making her the narrator once again.
Each of the books in this series have had their own plots while being connected to the other books. Broken was most closely connected to Bitten and Stolen since Elena was the main character in each of them. Some characters have appeared briefly in books that they weren’t main characters in. For each book, whoever was the main female character in it acted as a narrator. I do think that the books should be read in order. If the books are read out of order, there would be spoilers for previous books. At the very least, Broken should be read after Bitten and Stolen.
Elena and Clay had gotten to a point in their relationship where they had worked out the problems they’d had in the past. They had decided that they wanted to try having a baby even though they didn’t know how that would work since Elena was a werewolf and she was pregnant. She was happy about the baby but also very worried about if everything with the pregnancy would go all right. Clay and Jeremy were doing a lot of fussing. They received an offer for a job of retrieving a stolen letter that was supposedly written by Jack the Ripper that Elena was interested in and then nothing came of the offer. Several months later, the offer resurfaced. Since the job seemed simple with minimal danger, Elena was able to convince Clay and Jeremy to do it. Things were going all right and then they accidentally triggered a portal to Victorian England and unleashed zombies, a killer, and disease. Jamie, a necromancer that they all knew, arrived to do what she could to help. Elena, Clay, Jeremy, and Jamie had to figure out how to close the portal while making sure Elena and the baby stayed safe.
Elena’s pregnancy was an important part of Broken without it being the main focus. Clay and Jeremy were concerned about her safety though they tended to keep some of their concerns to themselves so she didn’t have more to worry about. Clay and Jeremy, and even the other pack members, were very protective of Elena. Her entire pregnancy wasn’t covered in the book. She wasn’t very far along when the book started, having only known she was pregnant for a few weeks. At that point, she was very scared about how changing would affect the baby. The book jumped forward several months when she was further along and definitely showing. Most of the book took place then. Elena was use to being very active as a werewolf, something she had to cut back on, which was new for her. I did think her pregnancy added some interesting elements to the book.
Everything connected to the letter that Elena, Clay, and Jeremy were retrieving was the main focus of Broken. Many people believed that the letter had been written by Jack the Ripper, which made it valuable to certain collectors. Elena and Jeremy did some research on the letter, finding out that it also had some possible supernatural connections as well. I thought that was interesting and would have liked it if more details about what they learned about the letter were shared. Elena had been getting stir crazy staying at home and wanted a last adventure before the baby was born. She saw this job as her chance. Clay and Jeremy went along with it since it seemed like it would be fairly easy for them with no danger to Elena. Things didn’t go like they had planned and they ended up having to deal with several complications. It wasn’t clear exactly what was going on at first which did add mystery to the book. Something very strange was going on with the letter. That did help keep the book interesting. I was never bored with the book and thought there were several suspenseful scenes. Violence played a part in some of the book, and it did get graphic in the descriptions at times. I didn’t think the book that was violent overall. It wasn’t any more violent that any of the previous books in the series.
The supernatural has played a part in all of the books in the Women of the Otherworld series and Broken is no different. The main characters in this book were werewolves. A few other types of supernatural beings were also around, though the werewolves received the most attention. Really the only new thing about werewolves that was brought up in this book was Elena being pregnant and how that worked since she was a werewolf. The first two books, especially Bitten, really delved into the werewolf world and the different aspects of their existence. Certain things related to Armstrong’s werewolves may not make much sense if the books in the series aren’t read in order. A minor character that Elena, Clay, and Jeremy talked to when trying to figure out what exactly was going on with the letter was a witch. Another character or two that showed up briefly were sorcerers. Not much about the magical abilities of those characters was shared. Elena did end up working with a vampire named Zoe as well. A necromancer, someone who could raise spirits, was also involved, though not too much about how she did her work was shared. Jamie has played a bigger part in some previous books, and a bit more about how she worked was shared then. I really enjoy the supernatural aspects of these books.
Clay and Elena have had a sometimes troubled relationship that began years before Bitten took place and have evolved a lot since then. Clay gave up on Elena and they were able to work though the problems they’d had in the past. They still at disagreements, though they seemed to understand each other much better than they had in the past. They were both happy and content with their relationship. There was a sex scene early in the book that was descriptive without being really graphic. Elena and Clay did not engage in sexual activities in wolf form, though they would have sex after they had changed back, many times still in the woods. That is where the sex scene early in the book took place. Later in the book there were some other sexual situations. The book wasn’t loaded down with sex or sexual things.
Elena was the main character in Broken like she was in Bitten and Stolen. The book was written in the first person point of view from her perspective, making her the most developed character in the book. She was a much different person than she had been in the first book. She seemed to be more settled in her life and had accepted her life as a werewolf. She did have a lot of concerns about her pregnancy which was a big reason why she was so eager to take the job going after the letter. She wanted out of the house for a while before the baby was born. Clay remained protective of Elena, though he did try to give her the space she needed at times. He did seem to have mellowed about that and was more understanding.
Jeremy, the leader of their pack, was also an important character. He tended to make most of the decisions for all the pack members. He was a kind man. He had strong feelings for both Clay and Elena. Jamie showed up hoping that she would be able to help once Jeremy and Elena called her to discuss what was going on. Jamie didn’t always have the best luck with her work though she always meant well. She had some feelings for Jeremy that made her act like a nervous teenager around him most of the time. Paige was only shown during one phone call. I would have liked it if she and Lucas had been around some. Some other minor characters were also around throughout the book. None of those characters were that developed. That didn’t bother me since they were minor characters.
There is a short exert from a new book by Armstrong at the end of Broken. Exit Strategy will be the first book in a new series and is due out later in 2006. Armstrong made a point to say on her website that the Women of the Otherworld series will be continuing because some fans have assumed that Broken was the last book since the exert was for a book in the new series. The next one, featuring Jamie as the narrator, will be out in 2007. Armstrong just isn’t ready to put out an exert yet since she is still in the editing stage with the book. Armstrong has also published some short stories featuring different characters from this series on her website. The stories help to fill in things that happened with the characters between books and even flesh out some minor characters more.
I really enjoyed Broken. It is an entertaining addition to Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series. Anyone that has read and enjoyed the previous books should also like this one. People that enjoy books that deal with the supernatural should give the books in this series a chance.
Thank you to Book CL pearannoyed for adding this book to the database.
www.kelleyarmstrong.com
Women of the Otherworld series
Bitten: Women of the Otherworld Book 1 ~ Stolen ~ Dime Store Magic ~ Industrial Magic ~ Haunted ~ Broken ~ No Humans Involved ~ Personal Demon ~ Living With the Dead ~ Frostbitten ~
Recommended:
