Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publication Date: August 2010
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating: C
Sensuality: Subtle
Book Disclosure: I borrowed a copy from my local library.
Waking the Witch is book eleven in Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series. Savannah Levine whom readers of this series first met as an unruly teenager and a very powerful witch in the second book Stolen. Savannah is all grown up now and has the opportunity to be a lead investigator on an important case while her guardians and employers, Lucas and Paige are off on a much needed vacation. Not wanting to bother Lucas and Paige, Savannah heads to the small town of Columbus to investigate the murders of three young women.
It's no secret that I am a huge fan of Kelley Armstrong and really enjoy her Women of the Otherworld series. Unfortunately, Waking the Witch is probably my least favorite book in this series. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that this book seems very transitional. Kelley Armstrong seems to be taking her series in a new direction with Savannah as a lead character. She needed this book to set up new storylines and new characters for future books in the series. Plus, it was a way to show how Savannah is changing and growing into womanhood.
I have trouble with Savannah as a lead heroine. Since Savannah was introduced as a character early on in the series, I never really liked her. Savannah has always come across as selfish and her moral compass is slightly skewed. She is not afraid to use her powers and does not shy away from dark magic. By the end of Waking the Witch I felt much more sympathetic to the choices she makes. In this story she gets a rude awakening and I think it is the beginning of a new Savannah. She has a lot of growth to make and I think the upcoming books will reflect that.
Another reason why Waking the Witch wasn't my favorite is because there is almost no romance. Savannah has had a crush on Adam, a half demon who works for Paige and Lucas, since she was a teenager. Their relationship or the one sided feelings Savannah has for Adam was the extent of the romance. Again, I believe that Adam might have feelings for Savannah but won't act on them because he feels she is too young, as he is eleven years her senior. Plus, the story is told from Savannah's point of view and the reader only gets the romance from Savannah's perspective. But I am definitely intrigued as to how things are going to play out in future books.
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3 comments:
See, Jill, that's exactly the reason why I haven't picked up Waking the Witch yet. I'm not such a fan of Savannah, so that doesn't help. I think I'm going to wait for when Spellbound is released... Sigh. Also, you say transitional book... but was her contract expanded?
As I understand it, this is the first in a trilogy featuring Savannah, so we will get the whole story over the three books instead of in one book.
I liked this one, but not as much as I have loved other books in the series. Whilst I don't think this book is being marketed as YA, in some ways it felt YA - maybe a bit more gruesome than a YA book would be, but the writing etc. Maybe it's just because Savannah is such a young lead character. Or maybe it was the change of publisher that caused the different feel to the book. I'm not sure.
Oh well, I'll still be reading the next book.
Nath - It is still classic Kelly Armstrong even though Savannah is the main character and I feel that the story allows Savannah a lot of growth. But yeah, not my favorite. I understand why you want to wait.
Marg - Oh thanks for filling me in on the trilogy. I didn't know that about Savannah. It makes sense though, because I think her character has a journey ahead of her. And I do see your point about YA. Hmmmm.....
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