Scan barcode
kathydavie's review against another edition
3.0
Sixth in the Women of the Otherworld urban fantasy series revolving around strong supernatural women; it's been five years since Bitten, 1. The focus is on a pregnant Elena and the favor she owes Xavier.
My Take
It's all about moral responsibility. When you owe someone a favor, you pay it back. When you unleash hell, you shut it down, even if you are pregnant. And it's not easy in Broken, as nothing stays broken, and our fearsome threesome keep sniffing about, attempting to sort truth from fiction.
It's a pip of a story with LOTS of action, and other than my one giant quibble, it was a good read with plenty of fun bits, ranging from Elena's thoughts about becoming a mother, little Natalie's mom who thinks Elena could have some fun too, with knitting *snicker*, and all the times Elena longs for a good chase or a hunt.
That one major quibble? How could they not make that connection? Elena, Jeremy, and Clay are normally so much smarter. This lack might have made more sense if Armstrong had caused the boys to be a little more clumsy / concerned / obsessed in worrying about the pregnant Elena, to help explain why they miss this. I also want to know why Elena treats Nick as though he's not competent?
No, it doesn't have anything to do with Elena being pregnant, and that pregnancy is a fascinating departure from Elena's usual life. I mean, you thought you had it bad when you got pregnant and suddenly your significant other is overly solicitous. Imagine being the only female werewolf in the world...and pregnant!? It's that first person protagonist point-of-view from Elena's perspective that makes all of Clay and Jeremy's efforts to distract Elena and the lengths to which they'll go to "sacrifice" to the altar of a woman being pregnant that will crack you up — it's so much more real when the reactions are from the "victim", *she says, laughing*
Clay continues to evolve! Who knew!?? It seems that Nick might be evolving too, sobering up...considering the possibilities.
It should be an easy pay-off, but a mosquito intervenes and it becomes hell on earth, as dimensional zombies roam the city and pollute the waters.
The Characters
The Danvers Pack lives...
at Stonehaven. Elena Michaels is the only female werewolf. Her partner is Professor Clayton Danvers, the self-styled bodyguard for their alpha, Jeremy Danvers, an artist. Malcolm had been Jeremy's vicious father. Antonio, Jeremy's best friend since forever, and Nick Sorrentino, father and son, are the rest of the Pack. Logan had been a Pack brother in Bitten.
Karl Marsten, a cosmopolitan jewel thief and former rogue wolf, has had his own territory in Wyoming for the past five years, in return for events in Bitten. Robert Vasic is a half-demon professor of demonology, a former Interracial Council member and now the go-to guy on research issues, and Adam Vasic's stepfather. Adam is also a half-demon and Paige's best friend. Cassandra is the vampire rep on the council while Aaron Darnell is the second vampire delegate.
Jaime Vegas is a necromancer who makes a living entertaining people all over the US, and she's quite eager to be of use. She has a casual partnership going with Eve who scares off the pushy spooks and Jaime does some work for Eve in return (Haunted, 5). Tee is a friend of Zoe's and an example of what happens when a necromancer goes over the edge; she knows Molly O'Casey, Jaime's grandmother. A more positive example is Faye, a "retired" necromancer friend of Lucas'. Benicio Cortez is Lucas' father and the CEO of the Cortez cabal of sorcerers.
Xavier Reese, an Evanidus half-demon (Stolen, 2) is looking for help. David Hargrave is a rogue werewolf.
Toronto
Patrick Shanahan, an investment banker, is the grandson of the sorcerer, Theodore Shanahan, who had been interested in Jack the Ripper's From Hell letter. Geoffrey Shanahan, Patrick's father, had been an affable drunk. Randall Tolliver, a medical doctor and sorcerer, is a boyhood friend of Patrick's. The Shanahans have been clients of for decades of Zoe Takano, a vampire thief. Her "HQ" appears to be Miller's bar. It seems that she knows people who could help Jaime make that leap.
Rose is a syphilitic whore from Victorian London. Matthew Hull, a bookkeeper, is quite confused. He had worked exclusively for Edwin Shanahan, whom he believes was friends with Jack. Anita Barrington, a.k.a., Nana to her granddaughter, Erin, is a witch who runs a bookstore, Hecate's Haven, and is an expert on Jack the Ripper folklore.
Irene Ashworth is a housewife, Kyle Belfour is a systems analyst (and conspiracy nut), and Lyle Sanderson had been walking his dog. Rita Acosta (she's with the Sun) is a reporter Elena knows. Kara is a young prostitute,
An Evanidus is a short-range teleporter. Vampires have to drain lifeblood once a year to retain immortality. Immortality questers try to find the secret to true immortality.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a montage with Jack the Ripper standing in the background under a three-armed, old-fashioned wrought iron lamp post in the park, as a naked blonde-haired Elena looks back over her shoulder, her hands crossed and resting on her very pregnant belly, a pentacle pendant dangling from one hand. The yellow of the info blurb at Elena's elbow is repeated in the author's name at the top, just below another white info blurb. The title itself is also white and spans the bottom of the cover.
The title is a tough one unless you consider those zombies. They break so easily, and yet they keep coming back, as Broken as they are.
My Take
It's all about moral responsibility. When you owe someone a favor, you pay it back. When you unleash hell, you shut it down, even if you are pregnant. And it's not easy in Broken, as nothing stays broken, and our fearsome threesome keep sniffing about, attempting to sort truth from fiction.
It's a pip of a story with LOTS of action, and other than my one giant quibble, it was a good read with plenty of fun bits, ranging from Elena's thoughts about becoming a mother, little Natalie's mom who thinks Elena could have some fun too, with knitting *snicker*, and all the times Elena longs for a good chase or a hunt.
That one major quibble? How could they not make that connection? Elena, Jeremy, and Clay are normally so much smarter. This lack might have made more sense if Armstrong had caused the boys to be a little more clumsy / concerned / obsessed in worrying about the pregnant Elena, to help explain why they miss this. I also want to know why Elena treats Nick as though he's not competent?
No, it doesn't have anything to do with Elena being pregnant, and that pregnancy is a fascinating departure from Elena's usual life. I mean, you thought you had it bad when you got pregnant and suddenly your significant other is overly solicitous. Imagine being the only female werewolf in the world...and pregnant!? It's that first person protagonist point-of-view from Elena's perspective that makes all of Clay and Jeremy's efforts to distract Elena and the lengths to which they'll go to "sacrifice" to the altar of a woman being pregnant that will crack you up — it's so much more real when the reactions are from the "victim", *she says, laughing*
Clay continues to evolve! Who knew!?? It seems that Nick might be evolving too, sobering up...considering the possibilities.
Then again, there is Elena's comment about the anthropologically inclined Dr Danvers fascinated by human society but having no desire to join it.The Story
It should be an easy pay-off, but a mosquito intervenes and it becomes hell on earth, as dimensional zombies roam the city and pollute the waters.
The Characters
The Danvers Pack lives...
at Stonehaven. Elena Michaels is the only female werewolf. Her partner is Professor Clayton Danvers, the self-styled bodyguard for their alpha, Jeremy Danvers, an artist. Malcolm had been Jeremy's vicious father. Antonio, Jeremy's best friend since forever, and Nick Sorrentino, father and son, are the rest of the Pack. Logan had been a Pack brother in Bitten.
Karl Marsten, a cosmopolitan jewel thief and former rogue wolf, has had his own territory in Wyoming for the past five years, in return for events in Bitten. Robert Vasic is a half-demon professor of demonology, a former Interracial Council member and now the go-to guy on research issues, and Adam Vasic's stepfather. Adam is also a half-demon and Paige's best friend. Cassandra is the vampire rep on the council while Aaron Darnell is the second vampire delegate.
Jaime Vegas is a necromancer who makes a living entertaining people all over the US, and she's quite eager to be of use. She has a casual partnership going with Eve who scares off the pushy spooks and Jaime does some work for Eve in return (Haunted, 5). Tee is a friend of Zoe's and an example of what happens when a necromancer goes over the edge; she knows Molly O'Casey, Jaime's grandmother. A more positive example is Faye, a "retired" necromancer friend of Lucas'. Benicio Cortez is Lucas' father and the CEO of the Cortez cabal of sorcerers.
Xavier Reese, an Evanidus half-demon (Stolen, 2) is looking for help. David Hargrave is a rogue werewolf.
Toronto
Patrick Shanahan, an investment banker, is the grandson of the sorcerer, Theodore Shanahan, who had been interested in Jack the Ripper's From Hell letter. Geoffrey Shanahan, Patrick's father, had been an affable drunk. Randall Tolliver, a medical doctor and sorcerer, is a boyhood friend of Patrick's. The Shanahans have been clients of for decades of Zoe Takano, a vampire thief. Her "HQ" appears to be Miller's bar. It seems that she knows people who could help Jaime make that leap.
Rose is a syphilitic whore from Victorian London. Matthew Hull, a bookkeeper, is quite confused. He had worked exclusively for Edwin Shanahan, whom he believes was friends with Jack. Anita Barrington, a.k.a., Nana to her granddaughter, Erin, is a witch who runs a bookstore, Hecate's Haven, and is an expert on Jack the Ripper folklore.
Irene Ashworth is a housewife, Kyle Belfour is a systems analyst (and conspiracy nut), and Lyle Sanderson had been walking his dog. Rita Acosta (she's with the Sun) is a reporter Elena knows. Kara is a young prostitute,
An Evanidus is a short-range teleporter. Vampires have to drain lifeblood once a year to retain immortality. Immortality questers try to find the secret to true immortality.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a montage with Jack the Ripper standing in the background under a three-armed, old-fashioned wrought iron lamp post in the park, as a naked blonde-haired Elena looks back over her shoulder, her hands crossed and resting on her very pregnant belly, a pentacle pendant dangling from one hand. The yellow of the info blurb at Elena's elbow is repeated in the author's name at the top, just below another white info blurb. The title itself is also white and spans the bottom of the cover.
The title is a tough one unless you consider those zombies. They break so easily, and yet they keep coming back, as Broken as they are.
yodamom's review against another edition
4.0
(Audio) Ahhhhh, Clay and Elana are pregnant ! Extra Alpha Clay is the hovering dad to be of the century. Really he gets a gold metal for it. Too bad Elena is not on the same thought wave. She wants adventure and excitement. Her pregnancy is new to all, female were's are extremely rare and there is no records of pregnancy. So, along comes what seems a simple easy case to take the edge off, but with all things supernatural nothing is easy Elena had me screaming at her to "just let it go, take care of the babes !" She didn't, it got bad, people died, other people got hurt, people I liked and some I wanted to hurt myself.
This story outside of the preganacy is all about magic the dead, the rotten and the smell, ick, ick, ick, there is so much talk of the nasty smell I was holding my breath along with them. You'll see, it fills the second half, were's hunt by smell. The whole magical side of the story was not as interesting as the relationship between Elena and Clay they have come so far. I found myself focussing on them more than the mystery. I thought the end of the mystery was a bit rushed to a conclusion. It was a far fetched but twisted well tale.
Love the ending!!!
This story outside of the preganacy is all about magic the dead, the rotten and the smell, ick, ick, ick, there is so much talk of the nasty smell I was holding my breath along with them. You'll see, it fills the second half, were's hunt by smell. The whole magical side of the story was not as interesting as the relationship between Elena and Clay they have come so far. I found myself focussing on them more than the mystery. I thought the end of the mystery was a bit rushed to a conclusion. It was a far fetched but twisted well tale.
Love the ending!!!
nicolerene's review against another edition
4.0
****SPOILERS****
Another great Kelley Armstrong Women of the Otherworld book. Elena and Clay are back and guess who's expecting?
In this book, Elena's decision to steal the "From Hell" letter written by Jack the Ripper sets into motion a chain of events which will take the entire pack to resolve.
I have fallen in love with Armstrong's characters and am always glad to see her incorporate characters from past books into them. Jamie, Paige, and Xavier all have cameos in this one, with Jamie playing a larger role during the second half of the book. We continue to see some tension between Jamie and Jeremy, and I am waiting for him to open his eyes and take the leap.
The last scene in this book even brought a tear to my eye.
This is a great addition to the series and I can't wait to read the next one.
Another great Kelley Armstrong Women of the Otherworld book. Elena and Clay are back and guess who's expecting?
In this book, Elena's decision to steal the "From Hell" letter written by Jack the Ripper sets into motion a chain of events which will take the entire pack to resolve.
I have fallen in love with Armstrong's characters and am always glad to see her incorporate characters from past books into them. Jamie, Paige, and Xavier all have cameos in this one, with Jamie playing a larger role during the second half of the book. We continue to see some tension between Jamie and Jeremy, and I am waiting for him to open his eyes and take the leap.
The last scene in this book even brought a tear to my eye.
This is a great addition to the series and I can't wait to read the next one.
danielled75's review against another edition
3.0
Ok, not really sure what to say about this one, I wasn't as great as the other 5 before, but it was still a good read.
My main issue with the story I guess was the fact that Elena who is supposed to be a reporter, threw that all out the window in this book, it even seem that common sense was somehow lost along the way. I get that she's pregnant and all, but really, she seemed to be looking more like a tween going out into the real world for the first time.
My main issue with the story I guess was the fact that Elena who is supposed to be a reporter, threw that all out the window in this book, it even seem that common sense was somehow lost along the way. I get that she's pregnant and all, but really, she seemed to be looking more like a tween going out into the real world for the first time.
bonreads40's review against another edition
4.0
I really like the Elena arc of the story. This one was fast paced and interesting. The only bad thing I noticed was I could pick out the 'bad guy' right away. I liked the overall progression of the storyline. Overall, it's a really good installment to the series.
renbarletta's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
alikatson's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this next installment of the Otherworld series! Elena is now pregnant and it cracked me up to see Clay and Jeremy mother-hening her around. Of course given that she is the only female werewolf and her pregnancy is unprecedented (as far as the wolves know). There is just something about the dynamics of the pack that I love - they are truly a family and their playfulness is fun to read about. It isn't all about oooh I'm a scary werewolf. Plus I loved seeing Elena still be a badass while she is super pregnant.
I loved seeing characters returning and meeting new characters. Yay to meeting another decent vampire - I like Zoey so much more than Cassandra. As usual I love watching Jaime get all flustered around Jeremy.
The mystery in this book was decent - not the best but definitely brought some new things to the table. I did figure it out relatively early but I kept second guessing myself.
Anyway I think most people who've enjoyed this series will like this installment too! It isn't heavy on the romance but more about a family taking care of one another. Clay and Elena still have their amazing connection but are cautious with steamy things due to her pregnancy.
I loved seeing characters returning and meeting new characters. Yay to meeting another decent vampire - I like Zoey so much more than Cassandra. As usual I love watching Jaime get all flustered around Jeremy.
The mystery in this book was decent - not the best but definitely brought some new things to the table. I did figure it out relatively early but I kept second guessing myself.
Anyway I think most people who've enjoyed this series will like this installment too! It isn't heavy on the romance but more about a family taking care of one another. Clay and Elena still have their amazing connection but are cautious with steamy things due to her pregnancy.
nikshelby's review against another edition
3.0
"Ah, our folklore," she said, eyes lighting up. "My specialty. I adore stories - they tell us so much about ourselves and our world, and our particular (supernatural) world has some of the most fascinating ones."
erazonasarah's review against another edition
2.0
I read this book in an hour, skimming through most of it. Elena is my favourite character of the series, yet this book was so boring I just didn't enjoy it at all.