BROKEN by Kelley Armstrong-a reviewBROKEN is the 6th novel in Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series. BROKEN continues the story of Elena, Clay and the other werewolves, but this time Elena is pregnant. As the only known female werewolf, Elena isn’t sure what to expect—literally. But when someone from her past calls in a favor, Elena knows this could be her final chance for adventure, before giving birth.Ever since Elena Michaels discovered she was pregnant, she has been unable to concentrate. As the months pass and the pregnancy advances, shape-shifting, her ability to fight and running with the other Pack members has become increasingly difficult and worrisome. Without the benefit of prior knowledge or experience, Elena, Clay and Jeremy are cautious and reticent—if news were to spread about her pregnancy, she would become a bigger target than just Clay’s mate. When Xavier Reese, a former ‘inmate ‘ from Ty Winsloe’s compound of supernatural beings, calls in a favor, Elena jumps at the chance for the distraction. Xavier has been commissioned to find and retrieve the “From Hell” letter, supposedly one of the last known pieces of evidence and DNA from Jack the Ripper, but he requires Elena’s expertise—basically, the werewolves are the only beings who could pass through the sorcerer’s ‘spell’ protecting the document. One problem-the “From Hell” letter is currently owned by Patrick Shanahan, a sorcerer living in Toronto, and there are many ‘beings’ looking for the “letter”.Once the letter is in their possession, a series of catastrophic events take place in the Canadian city. Witnesses report missing people, zombie-like beings, an outbreak of cholera and typhoid as well as a string of unexplained murders. It is not until the trio learns that part of the curse of the ‘From Hell’ letter, that whom ever is in possession, must make a ‘blood sacrifice’ to trigger the release of “Jack”, do they realize they may be responsible for the strange events happening in the city. And the only blood sacrifice that was made—Elena killed a mosquito containing her own blood. Meanwhile, a confused and lost soul exits the portal into the 21st century With the blood sacrifice, a portal is opened into the otherworld, where zombies exit and people fall victim to its’ curse. But while tracking and fighting the zombies, Clay’s arm is puncture by one of the ‘undead’ and without thought of the consequences, he ignores his wounds. Without giving away too much of the plot, zombie scratches can be fatal, and a very sick and ailing Clay has only a couple of options—amputate the arm or die from infection. When a very pregnant Elena is abducted, they come to realize, that Elena is now the target and no longer the ‘letter’. Clay and Elena’s children will be the ultimate sacrifice in a game of evil, between the mystery man from the portal and zombies wreaking havoc throughout Toronto.Once again, Kelley introduces a few new supernatural beings such as Zoe Takana , a female vampire with eyes for Elena, and brings back the characters we love. Nick and Antonio Sorrentino are called to Canada to assist with the hunt for “Jack the Ripper”, and Jaime Vegas, a beautiful clairvoyant and necromancer (and a burr up Clay’s backside), aids the werewolves with the eradication and the return of the ‘undead’ back to their own time. Broken is one of my favorite Women of the Otherworld storylines. Clay’s spiral into a fevered delirium is not without its’ scary moments and we watch Elena and Clay become a family with the birth of their child(ren) as we are drawn deeper into the lives of everyone involved. The birthing scene is heart warming and humorous, and you can almost hear the panic in their voices. Paige as their ‘long-distance’ birthing coach is something that can only be imagined by a writer like Kelley.
From http://readingandwritingurbanfantasy....At a GlanceI did enjoy reading Broken, but I feel like it was a filler book. It really wasn't needed to move the series along. But I was excited to get another story about Elena and Clay. The GoodWe finally get another book with Elena and Clay. They are my favorite characters in this series. I loved them in Bitten and Stolen, which are the best books in the series so far. And I loved them in this book as well. Elena is 5 months pregnant. Being the only female werewolf, pregnancy is a whole new concept with unknown risks and Elena is very fearful. Can she shift without harming the babies? Clay and Jeremy both are nervous wrecks over the pregnancy, which I loved. I have seen men crumble when their wives or daughters are pregnant, so their odd behavior rang very true to me. Once we get into the action, Broken is a quick read with some good mystery and action. Things really go downhill fast when Elena lets loose a well known serial killer that brings along with him zombies and killer rats. So the group has no other choice than to call in reinforcements. We get to see Nick (I just love Nick), Anthony, and Jaime again. And you know when Jaime is on the scene the fun begins. So does the hilarity. Armstrong outdoes herself when it comes to the dialogue. I love to be scared and be able to laugh at the same time when I read a book. These characters definitely know their way around witty banter. We also get to meet new characters. Zoe the vampire was very enjoyable. She really had me cracking up the whole time. It only gets better when she makes her obvious attraction to Elena known. I hope to see her again. I think Elena and Clay are in a great place. They are starting a family and they still have smokin' chemistry. Clay is still insanely protective, but he has every right to be. I just love them together. I was heartbroken by what Clay went through in this book. But it definitely gave him more depth and added some gut-clenching scenes that kept me glued to the pages. The BadA lot of the book was focused on Elena's pregnancy which is fine, but for a paranormal book it was odd. And then the paranormal part with Jack the Ripper being released into the here and now and zombies attacking the characters we love, it all seemed forced. It had nothing to do with the series as a whole. And some of the scary parts were a little glanced over, so we didn't even get to be emerged into the exciting parts. I found it very annoying that Elena takes this "case" while putting her babies in danger. She is a pregnant woman, and she does these very dangerous things because she is bored. Come on Elena, don't be so stupid and selfish. You are not just risking your life anymore. Really, I think the plot was just too thin and not up to par for an Armstrong book. The SnugglyWe get two sex scenes that are sexy and playful but conservative. Nothing overdone at all. OverallThe characters make this book. Seeing our old favorites is worth the read. But don't expect an original plot with depth. Read this book for the characters we have come to love. Recommended for those who follow the series. Quotes“We scarified a mosquito. I bet that's what did it. It was probably a virgin too.” ~~~~~~“Go out and ask her into the alley.”Clay looked at Jeremy as if he’d just been told to dance the rumba on a public thoroughfare.I bit back a laugh. “Just walk over to her and point at the alley. Maybe say…I don’t know…something like ‘fifty bucks.’ ” I looked at Jeremy. “Does that sound right? Fifty?”His brows shot up. “Why are you asking me?”“I wasn’t—I just meant, as a general…” I threw up my hands. “How am I supposed to know how much a hooker costs?”
What do You think about Broken (2006)?
So...I wanted to give this one 4 stars. But Elena and Clay are one of my favorite couples. I missed them so much through the previous 3 books that I had to give it the extra star! It was like a family reunion foe me! But seriously, I think Kelley Armstrong should have stuck with the werewolf aspect of this series. I can't seem to get into the others in this series as much as Elena's books. I still prefer Bitten and Stolen to this one. But this is still a vast improvement on the last few. I still love Ms. Armstrong's writing style. So I will most definately be continuing on with this series. And I will do my best not to skip straight to Frostbitten. I'm interested in Jaime's story anyway, so hopefully I'll can sucked into that one.
—Aimee
I didn't enjoy this book as much as others in the series about werewolf Elena and her pack (Jeremy, Clay, Nick, Antonio). I am not sure if it's because the book is weaker than others, or if I have been away from the series long enough to see weaknesses. What I didn't like was how long it took the werewolves (who have superior strength and senses of smell and hearing) to track down and catch the bad guys. It felt like the author was making it harder than it should have been just to drag out the story.
—Tasula
So I can't say I wasn't warned... realistically speaking I was warned once I was already three quarters of the way through it, but I was warned none-the-less!Broken revolves around Elena and Clay as they go through their pregnancy while fighting evil and solving mystery and generally proving, yet again, that they're in love.I love this couple. Absolutely love them to pieces. Bitten remains one of my favourite urban fantasy books to this day.My problem was that the mystery in this book was painfully obvious and incredibly uninteresting. I just had no real interest in it and mostly finished reading to see what happened to Elena and Clay. The story was very heavy on Elena's pregnancy. Clay and Jeremy momentarily losing their balls didn't mind me so much because when I was pregnant my very loving and masculine husband turned into a little bitch as well. That part seemed realistic to me.Nor was Elena's many physical stunts too much for my realisim to believe because, frankly, it's Elena, folks. Even pregnant with twins, she's going to kickarse. But my issue with the story is that a pregnancy story is ultimately doomed to failure for me. Elena's pregnancy wasn't special to me because, naturally, my pregnancy was so much more awesome. Elena's lovely little twins born were of no interest to me because my own son leaves them long behind.Usually, I read not to escape but to experience different things than my every day life. In this case, not only was it too similar to what I've already experienced, but it didn't even manage to compete!Three stars for this one but honestly it's more like 2 1/2.
—Kat Kennedy
