** spoiler alert ** There could potentially be spoilers, so I am marking the whole review, just to be safe. I have heard about The Otherworld Series many times over the years. It has always been filed away in the back of my brain as a to-read-at-some-point-in-the-future. Then I accidentally bought the 5th or 6th book of the series and thought, well now is as good a time as any to start from book one! And I loved it! I have thought long and hard about how to rate this book, because a five star rating is one that I give a lot of thought to before I give it. But I couldn't find a single reason to rate this as less.
Armstrong's prose is polished and not a wasted sentence in the entire book. It is not uncommon for a first book in a series to be littered with whole chapters that just seem unnecessary, but not this one. Every sentence was necessary and useful to the plot. The only thing I could say negatively about the prose is that at time the point of view seemed to falter. First person is a tough point of view to right in, and the author alternated between a narrative and the character directly addressing the reader during the narrative. It was a bit jarring at first since I have not read books that do that often. But in this case it seemed to fit the character's personality to do so and once I got used to it, it made complete sense.
Clayton could have been one of those characters that I really disliked. He's the ultra, uber, alpha male type and that can easily go badly. But not this time. Yes, Clayton can come acros as a bit obsessive and stalker-ish, but this book doesn't make it seem over the top. He harbors deep feelings and loyalty for Elena, and wants desperately to have her back but he knows when to draw the line. It may not seem like drawing a line to readers but Elena, who knows him best, comes to see that he really as trying to make her life easier and not manipulate her anymore. I liked that and so I ended up liking his character immensely.
Elena is a great female lead! I have gotten very sick and tired of female leads who's only flaw is that they occasionally have a bad hair day. Elena is much more human than that, without actually being human. She holds grudges for absolutely no reason other than to hold a grudge. She is angry and stubborn and often lets that be her excuse for doing something tremendously stupid. Yes, she has flaws, but that just makes her character better. It makes her more relatable. I can relate to her because she is flawed, and so I like her for many of the same reasons. But not only does she have flaws that many fictional heroines seem to lack these days, she also kicks some serious ass. Elena might get angry and so something done but she will kick ass once she gets there and correct that mistake without letting anyone else suffer the consequences. I want to read more about Elena, I love her!
The plot of this novel went along at a good clip, but it didn't seem rushed. Everything was given the appropriate amount of time to be satisfying and then was moved on from to the next thing. I appreciate a story with a good pace, it allows me to get drawn in and wrapped up into it. I was so drawn into this story I read whenever I got the chance and all of a sudden would be 50 pages farther! A fantastic book, I am a fan of Kelley Armstrong.
Armstrong's prose is polished and not a wasted sentence in the entire book. It is not uncommon for a first book in a series to be littered with whole chapters that just seem unnecessary, but not this one. Every sentence was necessary and useful to the plot. The only thing I could say negatively about the prose is that at time the point of view seemed to falter. First person is a tough point of view to right in, and the author alternated between a narrative and the character directly addressing the reader during the narrative. It was a bit jarring at first since I have not read books that do that often. But in this case it seemed to fit the character's personality to do so and once I got used to it, it made complete sense.
Clayton could have been one of those characters that I really disliked. He's the ultra, uber, alpha male type and that can easily go badly. But not this time. Yes, Clayton can come acros as a bit obsessive and stalker-ish, but this book doesn't make it seem over the top. He harbors deep feelings and loyalty for Elena, and wants desperately to have her back but he knows when to draw the line. It may not seem like drawing a line to readers but Elena, who knows him best, comes to see that he really as trying to make her life easier and not manipulate her anymore. I liked that and so I ended up liking his character immensely.
Elena is a great female lead! I have gotten very sick and tired of female leads who's only flaw is that they occasionally have a bad hair day. Elena is much more human than that, without actually being human. She holds grudges for absolutely no reason other than to hold a grudge. She is angry and stubborn and often lets that be her excuse for doing something tremendously stupid. Yes, she has flaws, but that just makes her character better. It makes her more relatable. I can relate to her because she is flawed, and so I like her for many of the same reasons. But not only does she have flaws that many fictional heroines seem to lack these days, she also kicks some serious ass. Elena might get angry and so something done but she will kick ass once she gets there and correct that mistake without letting anyone else suffer the consequences. I want to read more about Elena, I love her!
The plot of this novel went along at a good clip, but it didn't seem rushed. Everything was given the appropriate amount of time to be satisfying and then was moved on from to the next thing. I appreciate a story with a good pace, it allows me to get drawn in and wrapped up into it. I was so drawn into this story I read whenever I got the chance and all of a sudden would be 50 pages farther! A fantastic book, I am a fan of Kelley Armstrong.
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