Women Of The Otherworld Challenge - Month 13

We've reached the end of the challenge, the final book, 13 by Kelley Armstrong. I refuse to believe it will remain the final book in the series and cling stubbornly to Kelley's original post that the series was going on hiatus rather then truly ending! There will still be novella's and short stories with the chance that further down the line, Kelley may be inspired to write another full length novel!

Synopsis

Thirteen

A war is brewing—the first battle has been waged and Savannah Levine is left standing, albeit battered and bruised. She has rescued her half brother from supernatural medical testing, but he’s fighting to stay alive. The Supernatural Liberation Movement took him hostage, and they have a plan to expose the supernatural world to the unknowing.
Savannah has called upon her inner energy to summon spells with frightening strength, a strength she never knew she had, as she fights to keep her world from shattering. But it’s more than a matter of supernaturals against one another—both heaven and hell have entered the war; hellhounds, genetically modified werewolves, and all forces of good and evil have joined the fray.
Uniting Savannah with Adam, Paige, Lucas, Jaime, Hope, and other lost-but-notforgotten characters in one epic battle, for a grand series finale.
Note: all hardcover editions are “collector editions,” which will include features such as author notes on the series and the post-13 Elena story “From Russia, with Love.”

My Review

I adored this final WOTO book! Though it was bittersweet as I don't want the series to end but I love how Kelley has ended it, leaving it open to return to! Everything that needed resolving has been resolved but there's no everlasting peace, that would be unrealistic, trouble is still going to arise, adventures will still be had and hopefully Kelley will return to the series one day, in the mean time I believe their will still be novella's and short stories.

So much happened in this book and I'm glad all the narrator's got to make a return and have a chapter though of course Savannah was the main narrator! I really like how she and Adam have got together and that she still worried even after the kiss that she'd misread things. I'll admit I found it strange that the love scene between them was implied rather written out. Prehaps Kelley thought it would be too strange given that us readers have watched Savannah grow up from when she was just 12 yrs old to this point. The relationship (unlike the others in the series) is not gauranteed as Savannah and Adam know but I'm glad they're giving it a go!

I loved discovering that Adam's feelings for Savannah changed long before Waking the Witch but he thought she'd outgrown her feelings for him and wasn't in love with him any more! I also loved Lucas's reaction to them getting together even if it was negative because his reaction showed how close he and Savannah are and how much he cares about his former ward! He's worried Adam (who does not have a great relationship track record) will hurt her. So sweet just like a big brother/father figure! We never really get to see into Savannah and Lucas' relationship as much as Savannah and Paige's so it was nice to get a glimpse into how close they are! God help Adam if he does hurt her cause I would not want Paige and Lucas gunning for me!

It was great seeing all Kristoff's kids becoming closer and finally looking like they're on track to be a real family unit, and very close given all that's happened! I'm glad that Thomas Nast was killed cause he's blatant favourtism for Sean and dismissal towards Bryce was set to cause a rift between the brothers despite Sean's best efforts, now that won't happen and they will hopefully have no-one coming between the sibling's anymore. I really am glad that Bryce is finally giving Savannah a chance and accepting her as his sister as well as trying to get to know her.

I was really glad that Eve got to spend time with Savannah and say a proper goodbye, even more pleased that she recognised that Savannah was fine without her and that she belonged with Kris in the afterlife. It was good that Kris got to see Savannah and Sean as well. Though we don't hear what Kris whispers to Sean, I think he was telling Sean he knew about Sean's sexuality and was fine with it and that he was proud of Sean. There's another possible story there as well, with Sean's battle for control of the Nast Cabal just beginning and his decision to come out at the same time. It won't be easy for him but he'll have his siblings by his side and no doubt Paige and Lucas will support him however they can as well.

I loved the portrayal of Lucifer and that he made contact with Hope at the end to explain about how things are differnt for his kids and that Nita was getting some of Hope's powers and it would reduce Hope's powers cause they'd literally be passing from her to her daughter. It was good that Adam had a visit from his demon dad too cause he finally got to give Asmondai a piece of his mind which had me cheering! It's good to see Hope and Karl so happy with a child of their own, though they came close to missing out on it all. Thank god Karl is a tough individual and hard to kill!

I love that just about everyone from the series shows up and play's a part in stopping SLAM from exposing supernaturals. I mean half the pack were missing but thinking back to Bitten that will have been intentional, Jeremy splitting the pack and sending half to safety so that the pack would ultimately survive, same as he did in Bitten when they were under attack. We also didn't hear from Zoe which was a shame cause I liked her a lot. All the big players were there though, the Nast's, Cortez's, interracial council delegates and the top three pack members as well as Karl and Hope. I really loved Cass and Aaron's ending as well, it would be interesting to get a short on how they adjust to their new lives. It also leaves a space on the council for a new vampire delegate and I'd love that delegate to be Zoe! Another possible short! Really really good end to the series for now!

Loved the short story at the end of the novel as well, From Russia With Love! The twins are adorable and it was good to see the rest of the pack members, with a little visit with Xavier Reece, the teleporting half-demon from Stolen! His interaction with the twins had me laughing! Again that was a bittersweet story to read as it ended an era and started a new era for the pack with Jeremy finally handing over leadership of the pack to Elena!

Women Of The Otherworld Challenge - Month 12

This is the penultimate month in the challenge and that means Spellbound! The second in Savannah's trilogy and twelfth in the series as a whole!

Synopsis

Spell Bound

Savannah Levine is in terrible danger, and for once she’s powerless to help herself. At the conclusion of Waking the Witch, Savannah swore that she would give up her powers if it would help a young girl. Little did she know that someone would take her up on that promise.
And now, witch hunting assassins, necromancers, half-demons, and rogue witches all seem to be after her. The threat is not just for Savannah; every member of the Otherworld might be at risk. While most of her fellow supernaturals are circling the wagons at a gathering of the council in Miami, Savannah is caught on the road, isolated from those who can protect her and unable to use her vast spell casting talent, the thing she counts on most. In a story that will change the shape of the Otherworld forever, Spell Bound gathers Elena, Clay, Paige, Lucas, Jaime, Hope, and others, who soon learn that the greatest threat to supernaturals just may come from within.

 

 

 

My Review

 

 

I loved this installment! There was a lot more happening then the last book as plot progresses and events are set in motion for the big finale in the next book! Savannah does a lot more growing up in this book as well and is now making a conscious effort not to run when things get tough emotionally but to face up to the consequences of her actions and face her fears more.
The result is that towards the end I think Adam is looking at her in a different light then normal cause for once she's apologizing to him for how she treats him and actually meaning it, she's refusing to take the easy way out and is insisting on talking properly and hashing through things with him.
The other thing I love about this book is we see more of her interactions with Bryce and her thoughts on him. The only time we've really seen her and Bryce together is back in Industrial Magic where he basically blanked her choosing to go with the family stance of 'she's not a Nast' unlike Sean who wanted to reach out and form a relationship with his baby sister. In this book I can see the foundations being set for Bryce and Savannah mending their sibling relationship and actually potentially developing a strong sibling relationship like she has with Sean. Mostly cause Bryce is forced to reach out to Savannah when he's in some really serious trouble and to his surprise she heads straight out to help him.
There's also her interactions with Clay and Cassandra which we don't see enough of in previous books! She really respects Clay and I was surprised at just how much his good opinion and respect meant to her, mostly cause she had to work really hard to earn it and she knows how rarely it's given. I love that she gets relationship advice from Clay, espeacially as his response is 'You're asking for relationship advice from the guy who panicked and bit his lover?'! Lol!
Her and Cassandra made me laugh as well as Cassandra's method for bringing Savannah out of her funk was to treat her no different then normal but instead to drag her kicking and screaming out of her haze til she's once again making her own cutting remarks back to Cass! To the point Cass is responding 'Ok you can stop feeling better now'. It isn't until this book that you realise how connected to all other Otherworld characters Savannah is but she has a line to all of them, including clairvoyant mercenary Rhys.
A great book that begins to bring all the characters together for the finale.