Bitten

I've had Kelley Armstrong's Bitten in my TBR pile for a while. After reading Armstrong's story in the Dates from Hell anthology, I picked up Bitten.

Elena Michaels seems like the typically strong and sexy modern woman. She lives with her architect boyfriend, writes for a popular newspaper, and works out at the gym. She's also a werewolf.

Elena has done all she can to assimilate to the human world, but the man whose bite changed her existence forever, and his legacy, continue to haunt her. Thrown into a desperate war for survival that tests her allegiance to a secret clan of werewolves, Elena must reckon with who, and what, she is in this passionate, page-turning novel.

The blurb is right. Bitten is both passionate and page-turning. It's also one of the best books I've read this year: 5 out of 5.

This review will be filled with spoilers, so if you haven't read it, think you might want to, and don't want to have anything spoiled for you, stop reading this.

Now.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

OK, then. There's so much to like about this book I don't know where to start. Actually, I do--with Elena. Bitten is told in first person from her point of view. She's a fascinating character, a strong woman who became a werewolf without being offered a choice. She is living with a man in Toronto, although she has mixed feelings about a man she left behind to live on her own, away from her pack. The problem is that she straddles two worlds and doesn't feel completely comfortable in either one. Elena's journey of self-discovery is a significant part of the book.

This is really a book with wide appeal. In addition to the story of Elena's self-actualization (if that's what you want to call it), there's mystery and romance.

Elena's got a wonderfully wry sense of humor. I like moments like this:

Naturally, Jeremy was impressed by how well I'd handled things on my own and vowed never to shurt me out of anything ever again. Yeah, right. His first words were nonrepeatable. Then he said that if I ever, ever did anything so stupid again, he'd--well, that part was unrepeatable, too, though Clay, Antonio, and Nick were quick to repeat it, each adding their own threats. So, the brave soul who saved the day was forced to slink from her victory site and ride home in the backseat of her own car. It could have been worse. They could have put me in the trunk. Actually, Nick suggested that, but he was kidding . . . I think.

Can I just say I loved, loved, loved Clay? He's a man (OK, a werewolf) some would describe as a cold-blooded killer, yet he's sentimental enough to wear a wedding ring for nearly a dozen years because he considers himself married to Elena. When I read about how Clay made Christmas festive for her in the past and that he had presents for her, hoping she would return the previous Christmas, it nearly broke my heart.

When I finished Bitten, I started reading it all over again, and I know it's one I'll reread many times in the future. I've already ordered the second book in the series, and it's going to be tough to keep from jumping right into it. Perhaps it will be a reward for writing the three reviews that are waiting for me . . .