With the exception of "Kitsunegari", which was almost Phantom Menace-esque in its solving of an old mystery in a ridiculous and underwhelming way, these stories satisfied in terms of plot. Unfortunately, they weren't as enjoyable as they could have been (Clay and the guinea pig aside) because of the quality of the writing. While no one would mistake the Otherworld novels for literary fiction, this collection is a big step down and largely reads like fan fiction. In my personal opinion, novellas are Kelley Armstrong's forte. Not saying I dislike her novels or anything, I just find she has more of a knack for developing characters and having more complex, interesting stories in her novellas. So whenever I see she has one in the works, I get really excited.I'm going to state right off the bat that I absolutely hated Clayton in Bitten. I thought he was an irredeemable sociopath. I hated his views of humans and his utter disregard for their lives. Even through Elena's perspective, we're subtly told we're supposed to feel sympathy for him due to his upbringing, I simply couldn't do it. He was just a malicious bully, and even worse was that we're supposed to root for him and Elena to be together over someone who was sweet and compassionate like Phillip, because Clayton allowed her to be herself. Even though he was a jealous asshole almost the entire novel.After reading Savage, my opinion of him changed drastically.While I still don't approve of a lot of his methods, reading Savage really let you see into Clayton's head and understand why he's as messed up as he is. As someone who was bullied my entire childhood for being different, I can relate to why Clayton began to hate the idea of mingling with people since he was considered different. Everything Clayton does is so that he's protecting the pack and more importantly, Jeremy, even if I don't agree with the way he does it.I loved how Kelley described his "domestication", how we went from an utterly wild animal to a (somewhat) civilized person. Seeing him bond with Jeremy was heartwarming and were my favorite parts.I'm also going to say I really love Kelley Armstrong's secondary characters. She does a good job individualizing everyone. I want to read more about the Sorrentino's! And the Santo's, even if they're all a bunch of jerks. Ascension is my second favorite novella in this collection. It's interesting seeing how Jeremy was able to become Pack leader despite being a very different Alpha compared to previous generations. Tensions are high within the pack as everyone is split between choosing Jeremy as Alpha or Malcolm. Betrayal, murder, intrigue. . this one has everything!Infusion is the first time we get to see Malcolm's side of things and that's interesting, since he's more or less the main antagonist in Women of the Otherworld. We get the back story of Jeremy and how he came into being, and why he was raised by his grandfather instead of Malcolm. You find out why he's different compared to the other werewolves. Kelley got a bit of flack for her portrayal of racism in this one, but it didn't bother me. I thought it was an accurate portrayal of some people's views during that time period.Kitsunegari was my least favorite in the collection. Which was disappointing, because it was written by Jeremy's POV and he's a very interesting character. I just kind of skimmed through it, and felt nothing of interest really happened. I'll admit part of the problem was I haven't read the other Women of the Otherworld books besides Bitten and Stolen, so I had no idea who half the characters were. Still, I found it the weakest story in the collection.In conclusion, if Jeremy, Malcolm, and Clayton were your favorite characters in Women of the Otherworld, you HAVE to read this collection. It really makes you appreciate and love the characters more. :)
What do You think about Men Of The Otherworld (2009)?
love the men of the Otherworld, especially Clayton :D
—Chalyce
As always Kelly Armstrong out did herself.
—chase_andrea
Love reading about the guys for a change.
—Singal_love
