Customer Reviews

Waking the Witch (Women of the Otherworld, Book 11)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Synopsis
Savannah finally gets a chance to her first solo case while Page and Lucas are on vacation. What starts are a simple investigation into the deaths of three women becomes increasingly more complex the more she looks into the little town's secrets. Not to mention that something seems to be getting a little bit weird with her powers...

Review
Not one of my favorite of the Otherworld series, but not my least favorite either. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Savannah, which is a good thing since pretty much none of the other characters show up in this story besides an occasional name drop. Savannah is certainly still learning the ropes of her chosen profession, no matter how cocky she seems, plus she seems to have the inevitable inability to ask for help when situations get tricky. The book reads quickly, and is fairly involving once you get into the mystery. For me, though, my favorite part was the last paragraph which simply left me salivating for the next chapter...

My Recommendation
If you are an established fan of the Otherworld series, you will enjoy this one. If you aren't I recommend simply starting at the beginning. But I am a huge fan of the Elena/Clay stories as opposed to the witches...
4/5 - Wait for a Sale/Coupon

I am a Kelly Armstrong fan. Having said that, I found this story to be sadly lacking. It is basically a mystery, but not a good one. It throws out a lot of red herrings but never gives the reader enough information to figure out what is really happening. Too much stuff appears without any reasoning behind it. So, it is a mystery that is not inherently consistent.

The other problem with it is that too much happens that is entirely unplausible. I don't mean the magic. Just everyday things that happen which is just too convenient. So, I guess I rate it pretty average.

2.5 stars, rounded up to a very, very, very generous 3-star rating.

Waking The Witch is an installment of the Women of the Otherworld series that I don't see myself ever re-reading. This is sad because I had been looking forward to finally reading a Savannah book for a long time.

I remember Savannah a 12-year old spoiled, petulant girl and later a determined, brash, strong, selfish woman and a powerful witch who hates authority, goes after what she wants, can kick ass, despises humans and whose only weakness is her girl crush on Adam. That's who she was as we saw her through the eyes of Paige, Jaime, Elena and other narrators of earlier Otherworld books and that's the way I loved her. The Savannah we get in this novel is pretty much a boring and timid Hope Adams clone who is apparently slightly depressed, has no spunk and no guts to actively pursue a man of her dreams preferring instead to settle for random hookups. Who is this woman? Let me tell you, not someone I care to read about. I expected this book to be about a young woman who would raise mayhem and unleash her super powers. I expected Savannah to go after Adam with all her determination and forces. I expected sparks to fly between the two. No luck here.

Now onto the plot itself. You know, I wonder why Armstrong started writing urban fantasy because it seems she prefers writing mysteries. I have nothing against mysteries per se, but if not grounded in paranormal, hers are weak. This book can be considered urban fantasy only because the main character is a witch. Otherwise, substitute cover spells with hiding in dark corners and knockback spells with a good kick, and there is nothing paranormal left in this story. The mystery itself is mediocre at best, because there is absolutely no way for readers to guess who the villain is. Speaking of the villain, the villain's motivation makes hardly any sense, the final result can be achieved much easier without this convoluted plan and murders.

Some readers also mention the cliff-hanger ending. Yes, there is one, but it is lame and unnecessary IMO. It surely won't make me lose my sleep.

To sum it up, Waking The Witch is a throwaway addition to the series - the mystery is lame, the narrator is boring, and romance is non-existent. But somehow it is written better than the majority of new UF and this is the only excuse for my very generous rating.

As other reviewers have said, this is NOT one of the best books in the series. All of Kelley Armstrong's books are readable, but most are books you want to re-read. I don't expect to ever re-read this one. The ending was the worst - an improbable cliffhanger with insufficient explanation. It needs another book to explain it, but I'm going to have to move this author to my "don't buy the hardback" list for a while to see if this is an aberration or if she's being pushed off the Laurell K. Hamilton cliff by her publishers.

Ever since I first heard about Savannah, I have been waiting for the brilliant kid witch to strut her stuff. She's twenty-one now and still living at home with her adoptive parents, Paige and Lucas. When a case comes into the agency while the pair are off on their honeymoon in Hawaii, Savannah scoops it up. It's time she earned her stripes as a private investigator.

The case--young women have been murdered in a small mill town. The police are stymied and there are magical elements involved. Savannah's going to use her witchy powers to find justice for the women.

She finds a bit of romance, too, when a half-brother of one of the victims shows up to investigate, too. Detective Kennedy might just be the man for her except he's not magically gifted. Unfortunately, someone in town doesn't want the cases solved and the detective is the first to die.

I'm going to say upfront this novel might not be for everyone. If you are dedicated fan of Kelley Armstrong and like the witchy elements of "Women of the Otherworld" you're probably going to like this book.

Rebecca Kyle, October 2010

OK, I'm not an author, and probably couldn't write a creative story. But after reading every book written by Kelley Armstrong I can say that this does not compare favorably. I will do my best not to spoil the story for you in this review, but I might a bit, so don't read on if this concerns you.

The story is disjointed and not cohesive (possibly due to poor editing). In some places I had to reread the page two or three times to try and understand what was going on. The "surprise bad guy" was a cheap shot in my opinion due to the lack of foreshadowing (there was a tiny bit but not even enough to let you solve the mystery) about their identity. And even when it was revealed it was just unlikely and random (I know, unlikely in a fantasy LOL!). I also don't like that the Benandanti angle was unexplored but I'm sure the next book will reveal all-- which brings me to my last peeve, a CLIFFHANGER. The book is something like $20+ dollars and you don't get a full story or even a very satisfactory love story (a paranormal romance without the romance?). I feel cheated.

Lastly, Savannah. I'm sorry, but I thought Paige was more likeable. What is so horrible about having an extra special genetic boost, being rich, standing six feet tall, riding a vintage motorcycle, and looking like a model? Her mom did die when she was young, but she was cared for my a smart guardian who marries a lawyer and sends her off on adventures (and she skips college). The other heroines in this series are much better.

What I did like about the story was the setting, it was different from the other books. I liked the big city detective because he seemed more real. And I liked the story about Kayla and Paula (minus cliffhanger).

You probably will want to read this book if you like the Otherworld series, but as a stand alone example of Mrs. Armstrong's work it does nothing for me. I really love all the other books in her series though (except for the one with Eve as the sole narrator, Haunted) so don't think I won't preorder the next book.

Savannah is as cool as I hoped she would be. Unfortunately, I thought her story was almost as boring as Paige's... The plot centers around a small town murder mystery that Savannah is determined to solve (with the help of a cute cop and 2 demon friends) to prove herself to everyone. I liked her character; she's bitchy, sarcastic, and jaded--but at the same time, she's just so focused on solving this case that she doesn't really show any real signs of emotion until the very end. Also, if you're looking for romance you may be a bit disappointed; Savannah's had a longtime crush on this demon guy Adam, and he's in this story, but as mentioned before, the plot is very focused on the small town murder mystery. I wouldn't have minded this, had I not found it so uninteresting... Who would've thought Savannah's story could be so lacking in drama? And just when it starts to get good, the book ends in a semi-cliffhanger. It certainly didn't feel like Savannah woke up until the very end. There is obviously going to be a sequel, and I'm sure I'll read it, but for now I just wish I'd waited for my library to get this one. By the way, the story here is a lot less connected to the more recent books, so you don't need to have read them all to know what's going on (though why not, since they were more entertaining?).

I feel that this book was half finished and under developed. I was very angry when one of the characters was killed as I felt it was totally unnecessary and a very over used plot device and it make reading the rest of the novel very difficult. I felt cheated and an author should never have their audience feel that way.

I've really liked the Otherworld books so far (though the further I get into the series, the less enthusiastic I get). I do love Armstrong's characters, though, and have fun with each book. This one, however, was a *huge* disappointment. The book doesn't even end - I respect a good cliffhanger, but this didn't even feel like an end-of-the-book cliffhanger; it felt like the end of a chapter. So I was left at the end feeling cheated and a little angry about it.
Otherwise I didn't mind the book, but it's definitely not at the same level that the series started out at.

My recommendation: wait for the next sequel to come out, so they can be read back-to-back. The next book isn't out yet, as I write this review, so I don't know if it'll be any good, but it has to be better than not having any sort of resolution or denouement. What a cop-out.

I would like to start out by saying I am a BIG fan of Kelley Armstrong's work and I pre-ordered it months ago. This just doesn't happen to be a good sampling of her work. It's a mystery that never really goes anywhere. Clues are thrown out wildly, get discarded then brought back in randomly in a way that doesn't make any sense. It's full of plot holes and ended stupidly. If your new to her work I would suggest starting at Bitten or any other book as they are almost all wonderful and maybe reading this one when you get to it.