I really enjoy when authors take actual historical events and twist them to work for their piece of fiction. It normally makes for a pretty interesting read because there are elements of truth in there - and i love seeing how an author can make those events relevant to the story they are writing.
Well in the third novel based on Elena the werewolf in Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld, the reader gets to see her twist the Jack the Ripper events and stories to work for her. Unfortunately for me, as cool as the premise is, i found it was not as fast paced as previous efforts, and like as if it was missing a little somethin somethin.
In this book, Elena is pregnant, which is cool, but then again, werewolf and all, she can't kick as much butt as Elena from previous books. I mean granted she's still more agile and stronger than an average human any day - but i found i missed the non-pregant Elena during this book. Along with the pregnany, Clay and Elena's sexlife stinks in this novel. Call me what you will, but i like the Clay/Elena sex parts of Bitten and Stolen, and it is seriously lacking in Broken. Just because the woman is pregnant does not mean that she cannot have sex!!!! There i said it. Anyways, moving along, I just felt that at times the story got stuck, and that it didn't flow as nicely or as quickly as i would have liked.
To help understand, what has happened is Pregnant Elena and the pack are roped into a deal that they believe is a no-brainer. They get the location of a mutt that needs putting down in exchange for the From Hell letter by Jack The Ripper that they need to steal from a house in Toronto. Of course nothing is ever as easy as it seams - and naturally for Elena, her blood from smacking a mosquito that bit her on the From Hell letter opens up a dimensional portal that comes with zombies, cholera, crazy rabid rats, and an unknown force that they need to find and kill to close the portal. Yes, no word of a lie - a mosquito did this!!!!
Don't get me wrong, the book is still a good read, and has some great moments in it, but it just didn't love it the way i did with Bitten and Stolen.
I still love Elena and Clary, they seem to consistently provide some of the best moments when they are together. And i love the pack too. Jeremy is still the coolest Alpha EVER, and it was nice to see Antonio and Nick seeing as they were noticeably absent in Stolen. We meet some other GREAT characters in this book as well as some others that i am glad get disposed of in the end!!! :)
Please do not hesitate to read this installement if you have committed to the others, i just maybe wouldn't expect the same excitement that was brought forth in Bitten and Stolen! But hey remember that this is only my personal opinion ;)
Enjoy
