Broken

The concept of this book was interesting, however the presentation was lacking. We have a portal opening and a Jack the Ripper on the loose, and Elena immediately thinks, it's Jack the Ripper! Wouldn't it take a bit longer to figure this out? My other main concern with this book, is given how pregnant Elena is, how in the world is she so mobile? Ok granted she's a werewolf, but she's super pregnant! She's not getting sick nor showing any signs of pregnancy that should be hampering her aside from a big stomach! There should be more conflict arising from her condition to add a real depth to the story. She's supposedly so exhausted at one point that her body is forcing her to sleep, yet suddenly after a small nap she's ok and back to kick ass...um how? Also, I'm getting a little tired of the cloak and dagger display with Jamie. She's beginning to emerge as a regular character, but we never know what exactly she does to use her necromancy. It's all hush hush I'm too embarrassed to let you see me handle bones and body parts! This series had a big appeal to me years ago, but not so much now.

Broken was a book I could take or leave. It's pretty slow the entire way through and since I'm kind of anti-baby I didn't get all googly over the face that Elena was preggo. Actually, I found that kind of annoying. I don't see Elena or Clay as being parents and I don't really care for the change in their characters but eh, that's just me.

Basically the Pack heads to Toronto to steal a letter linked to Jack The Ripper. They accidentally open a portal and out pops a mystery killer and some zombies. There was a lot less action in this book than the other ones featuring Elena and the Pack. Clay and Jeremy are not themselves due to Elena's pregnancy and Elena is stuck on the sidelines for a lot because she's a giant beach ball of a person. In fact, it really felt like the story was more about Elena being pregnant than it was about Jack The Ripper or zombies or anything else. That's what really disappointed me. I don't pick up a werewolf book to read about a glowing pregnant woman. It just...doesn't work.

I really don't have anything to complain about besides being kind of bored. As usual with Armstrong, the writing was solid. At this point the characters are familiar and well rounded and I must say there were two parts at the end that I really, really enjoyed. One involved some good old fashioned throat ripping (MORE! MORE!) and one was a bit of a twist I honestly didn't see coming.

In hindsight I kind of wish I had just read the synopsis and moved on to No Humans Involved because I don't really feel like I would have missed too much.

Not my favorite, but damn, it's Clay and Elena, my favorites among Armstrong's characters. The book started off a little slower than I expected, and it was weird to see Elena and the pack focusing on something outside of the pack, considering how insular they've been in the past – but it was a great story once it got going, and I won't lie – any excuse to read more about Clay and Elena and I am there. I pretty much dance with joy whenever I hear Armstrong's chosen to give us more of these two.