Review + Giveaway: Waking the Witch (Women of the Otherworld #11) – Small town, big problems!

WAKING the Witch kelley armstrong

Review

Oh the shock. I must confess that I’d never before read a novel by Kelley Armstrong. Though I’d heard about her often and saw her books on the shelves, I just never got around to her stuff. But now I understand what I was missing.

Waking the Witch is my first foray into the Women of the Otherworld series. The central character is Savannah Levine, an orphaned but proud and skilled dark witch. She must put her abilities to the test as a Private Investigator, looking into a string of peculiar murders in the small town of Columbus, Washington. Only to the supernaturally trained eye can we see that there’s a little more than foul play involved. And it will take a member of the otherworld to catch this serial killer. But Savannah must watch her back as she makes herself a target as well as those whom she holds dear.

One of the qualities I enjoyed about this was how easy to is to become immersed in the book. I thought the balance of mystery and magic was handled well. If you removed the magic elements, it would make for a pretty fascinating mystery and suspense novel. But because I love all things paranormal, the magic makes it even more interesting. Though I hadn’t read a prior novel, it wasn’t necessary to enjoy this particular story; yet I do want to go back and read the prior novels at some point. I get OCD like that sometimes, but I really like Armstrong’s writing.

For a long time Savannah’s been carrying a torch for her friend Adam, but her feelings have gone unreciprocated. I really liked their moments as friends, and found this to be an interesting approach to build a love story. The only potential problem is that really do feel like friends to me aside from her internal monologue desiring more. I think they need a little more romantic chemistry for me to buy them as a couple, but I want to see how this is resolved.

Serving as an introduction to bigger problems, this book isn’t necessarily a cliff hanger, but the story ends making it very obvious that there is more in store for the next one. And I will certainly read it right after this.

*Review copy provided by publisher

Giveaway

I am collecting entries through June 25, 2012.  I will announce the winners on Tuesday, June 26, 2012.

How to Enter (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY): My giveaways are only open to followers of Your Urban Fantasy who are 18 years of age or older. In order to enter YOU MUST COMMENT ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT POST! If you’re a new member, sign up on the right panel to follow my blog via email and/or Twitter. (Make sure you check your email to confirm your subscription. You should receive a notification immediately, so check your spam folder if you don’t see it right away). Current followers can just say so in their post and your entry will be added. Overall, there are up to 3 chances to win:

  1. Follow this blog via email (THIS IS REQUIRED)
  2. Follow me on Twitter (bonus entry)
  3. “Like” Your Urban Fantasy on Facebook (bonus entry)

While I do appreciate RSS subscribers, I cannot confirm your status as a follower so your entry will not count (sorry!); however, you are welcome to sign up by email and Twitter or Facebook. Good luck!

This article has 39 Comments

  1. It’s almost ironic that you mention your 1st Armstrong read, I just started the Blood Lite anthology edited by Kevin J. Anderson and thought the same thing since her story was first, i couldn’t belie that it was my first time (especially being a humongous Kim Harrison fan) haha, small world 🙂

  2. Yo! I’m a current follower of well, everything. Kelly Armstrong has been on my “to read” list for awhile now but, like you, I just hadn’t gotten around to her yet. I’m interested so sign me up! 🙂

  3. I get your emails. I’ve read a few of Kelley Armstrong’s books and love them. Glad you found another amazing series!

  4. I´ve been meaning to start her series, for a very long time, but i´m always getting sidetracked (go away you shiny cover with a hot male LOL)
    I´d love a chance to win to get me jumpstarted, =)
    Love your giveaway!
    //Linda

  5. I’m a current follower via email. tasnim-sheikh at hotmail dot com

    I’d love to win this! Thanks for the giveaway 🙂

  6. I’ve been meaning to start reading the series, but somehow never come across the books in my library. I only have a paperback of Pale Demon, which is the 9th book in the series.
    Thanks for this giveaway! I’m an old follower, follow you on Twitter (@ilesleybooks) and liked you on FB. 😉

  7. Took a note from your blog and just downloaded book 1 – Bitten. OMG – this book is awesome. I just started reading it and I’m already on chapter 7! Thanks for the lead.

  8. Yes to all three of the requirements. I’ve been following Kelley Armstrong starting with Dime Store Magic (sitting on my bookshelf) and I’m a fan of kick ass women in Urban Fantasies. Welcome to Kelley’s World, buckle up your seatbelt because it’s gonna be a wild ride.

  9. I’m glad you finally got your first taste of Kelly Armstrong. I have to say, though, everything makes more sense if you start at the beginning with Bitten. While the subsequent books can stand alone, there are always “overlaps,” where characters return from previous books, and it really makes a difference knowing the backstory. Savannah is a case in point. She is introduced much earlier on, in great detail, so that by the time Waking The Witch comes around, you already understand what she’s been through. Which is a LOT, btw. So to anyone wanting to read it, I would say first go back to the beginning. (If you took a Hollows book from the middle of the series and read it first, you would lose SO much, and it’s the same with these books.) Besides, Clay and Elena are a fantastic couple, and their complicated story is well worth the time. And they do seem to pop up in each following book, somewhere, so knowing who they are and what they went through to become the power players they are is pretty important.

    I like these books, and own them all. Armstrong is a always a good read. Hope this is just the beginning for you.

  10. I have enjoyed Kelley Armstrong in the past, so I am excited about this giveaway.
    Following you via email, and on Twitter. Also liked you on FB!

    Lily
    Bookluvrs Haven

  11. I recently read one of her shorts in an anthology and was intrigued. Your review just confirmed Kelly Armstrong’s place on my must by list. I like to start these longer series at the beginning though. I love that additional bit of joy you get when a favorite character pops up unexpectedly in another great story! Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do!

    PS- I follow you on Twitter & Facebook too.

    1. Yeah, I know what you mean Kat. Start this late I lose that little nuance, but I can always start from the top when I get the time. Hopefully next year. My schedule is packed for this year. Thanks for the support!

  12. New follower- thanks for the invite from GoodReads! I actually had already ‘liked’ you on facebook, but apparently hadn’t followed the blog yet… weird! But, now I’m a stalker, er, follower. Thanks for the great giveaway! I LOVE the Women of the Otherworld series, and only own one book so far. So sad… but maybe I can win and grow my collection!

  13. I’m a long-time Kelley Armstrong fan, and am glad you discovered her Women of the Otherworld series! Suggest you read Dimestore Magic and Industrial Magic next, for Savannah’s backstory. I’m looking forward to reading Waking the Witch.

  14. I read the first two books in the Women of the Otherworld series a few months ago. The first one didn’t grab me right away, but I loved the second one. I’m thinking that I just read the first one at the wrong time and plan to go back at some point and re-read it. The series actually switches the POV of the main character about every two books from what I saw, but I plan to get back to it eventually.

  15. I am happy you enjoyed one of Kelley Armstrong’s latest in this series. I haven’t picked this one up yet, but all the others were great reads.

  16. Kelley Armstrong is one of my favourite paranormal authors. I am glad that you have discovered her. Savannah is wicked cool.

    I am a follower of the blog and I liked the page on facebook.

  17. Oh I cannot wait for this one. This series has been fabulous over the years.
    FB Teri Hack
    Twit @TeriCrusley
    Reader follower Terli

  18. I have a couple of Kelley Armstrong books but I have yet to read them. Your review is giving me a much needed push.

    email follower- wulfgirl76(at)gmail(dot)com
    Facebook- Brittany Weaver

  19. Just came across this cruising through your blog after the latest blog entry. Obviously not entering the giveaway as it’s over a year since that happened! LOL
    Just wanted to add I read all of Kelley Armstrong’s books before I got into Kim Harrison. Suggest you read Bitten then Stolen, then the short stories in Tales of the Otherworld and Men of the Otherworld as they give back stories on all the major characters in the series.
    She has recently put together books with the werewolf stories all together, the Witch stories together etc. which is another idea for your reading pleasure.
    But I found when I later read Men of the Otherworld and Tales from the Otherworld it filled in a lot of gaps, as well as free online fiction stories that she gave away on her site, but now is putting into another set of short stories, but some are still there.
    I just watched this winter the new series “Bitten” on the Space channel here in Canada, and it’s based on the books, close storyline to Bitten but a separate story in it’s own right. While some fans didn’t like some of the casting, I thought Jeremy would be a bit older, besides that a good series and the writing gets better as it goes on.
    Anyway, I’ve massively enjoyed her books and stories and the new series and do recommend them to all Kim Harrison fans as you will enjoy the action in the series and the paranormal/urban fantasy characters ~ see you on FB and Goodreads!

    1. Thanks, Nancy! I did read book 11 but I think it will be to my benefit to go back and start from scratch. I will someday. I believe Bitten was on the SyFy channel here in the US. It came on before Being Human.

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