Review: Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong
Reviewed by Jennifer J.
In bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld series, half witch/sorcerer Savannah Levine finally gets center stage in the 11th book, entitled Waking the Witch. Savannah was first introduced in Stolen, the second book in the series. She has long been a fan favorite, and one of my own favorites in the series because of her sharp tongue, unpredictable actions, and straddling the line between white and black magic. I was absolutely thrilled to see that Ms. Armstrong was finally writing a book entirely from Savannah’s point of view.
With Paige and Lucas away on vacation, the Cortez-Winterbourne Investigations is left entirely in Savannah’s eager hands. Desiring to make her own mark as an investigator, Savannah travels to Columbus (a small rural town in Washington) to solve the murder of young mother Claire Kennedy, who may have been the victim of a Satanic ritual. Prior to Claire’s slaying, two other women were also murdered in exactly the same way. With the aid of telekenetic half-demon Jesse Aanes, the PI who brought the case to her attention, Savannah investigates handome Cody Radu and the local charismatic cult leader Alistair Koppel as the prime suspects.
When I first started reading Kelley Armstrong many years ago, there were only four books published in the series. I didn’t read them in their published order; each book can be read as a stand-alone, but I’ve found it more enjoyable to read them in their chronological published order because of the character development from one book to the next. But even though I’ve read the previous novels featuring Savannah as a secondary character, I still felt I was missing something when Savannah’s investigation started to wrap up. For any newcomers, enough back story is included to make this an enjoyable and solid read, but I am still a big [amazonify]0525951784[/amazonify]believer in starting any series at its very first novel. You won’t regret taking the opportunity to watch Savannah grow up into a powerful woman with extraordinary capabilities.
I absolutely love that Savannah is not without some serious flaws. She is overly confident and something of a risk taker, which at times compromise her investigation. Although she is not comfortable around humans (she has had anything but a normal childhood), Savannah is also able to feel great compassion toward them. As she comes closer to discovering the identity of the murderer, her romantic feelings for Michael Kennedy, the half-brother of one of the victims, make the case all the more personal to her.
Waking the Witch is just the beginning of future books in the series with Savannah–I hope–at the helm. With such a cliffhanger for an ending, long-time readers will remember exactly why Ms. Armstrong is a “must read” author.
Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.
This book was provided free of any obligation by Dutton Adult. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
Category: Literature & Fiction, Paranormal, Science Fiction & Fantasy
[...] out Jennifer’s review of Kelley Armstrong’s Waking the [...]
Wow … The 11th book in a series, ‘starring’ a characters fans fell in love with in the 2nd … Sounds like a great way to keep a series going. Prolly won’t read it, not exactly my reading preference
, but I like that the author took a different character in a series to develop. A lot of times, series just go and go and go, and you fall in love with some character or another who happens to be a “supporting member” — so to have one of those be the main focus later in the series is kinda cool. 
And I feel like that sentence needs some work/got really convoluted, lol …
Things sounds like it has potential, but I am not sure if I am ready for another series to follow! I recently started following a few and am feeling slightly overwhelmed by my TBR piles (yes, there are quite a few) toppling over in my room
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Colleen, this is one series that I have not grown tired of! I have just about given up on Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series (I really hate the direction she took with it) and also the Charlaine Harris Southern Vampire series. I found the last few Sookie books to be just boring. From friends who have continued reading them, they have said the books are starting to become more like the TV show. I hate the TV show, and if that’s how they end up, I will be getting rid of ALL my Sookie books.
I know what you mean about the Sookie Stackhouse books and the True Blood TV show. I liked both on them, at first. Now I am really tired of the whole vampire theme (including the Twilight et al series. I liked season 1 of True Blood. Now it needs to come with a paycheck to get me to watch another of the current season’s episodes.
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I know what you mean Sharon. I used to love True Blood, but it’s getting a little too violent and ridiculous for my taste.
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I absolutely cannot wait to read this one! I got back from vacation to find it waiting for me. Unfortunately, I do have one review book to read before I can get to it.
Savannah is one of my favorite characters and I was so excited to find out she is starring (finally!) in this book and in book 12 (Spell Bound? I can’t remember.)
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Angela, you should be aware that there will be another book in between “Waking the Witch” and the one you are talking about, which I actually hadn’t heard of yet!
“Counterfeit Magic” is the book I’m talking about, and it’s published by Subterranean Press. They are a small printing company, and so only a limited number of books are being printed. If you don’t want to miss ANY in the series (I am still mourning the fact that I missed “Angelic”, an Eve-centric novel) I would suggest you pre-order a copy of it.
I am glad you said it can be read as a stand alone. This book has intrigued me greatly within the last week from great reviews.
I do prefer the other covers though.
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Sharon, she doesn’t give more than a sentence or two in back story, so it all flows rather seamlessly. It’s not like, say for example, how Ann M. Martin gives two or three or four PAGES of the history of the Babysitters Club in every book. I always skipped over that. She also isn’t formulaic because every book in the series is told from the POV of a different character, so it never feels stale. In this one, I was actually wanting more back story because I couldn’t remember one of the characters that was brought back. I think you’d find it enjoyable the way she writes it.
Hey thanks Jen for the additional information. It sounds like the author has effectively dealt with the problems that I associate with books in a series. Of course, I still will read a series, like the Talented Mr. Ripley books, when I am really interested.
Ah yes, the Babysitters Club, an excellent example of what I was talking about in regards to (boring) background information. I had forgotten about those books. I think I still have a few books in the series lying around on the bookshelves.
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Wow, eleventh in the series! I didn’t even read eleven Nancy Drew books and I know I have at least that many.
It seems like it would be hard to write so many books on the same topic without the books becoming formulaic. Plus you always have to give the background on the the book up until the current book. I have always hated reading the background information again in a series. I think it would be better if the authors just put it in as a separate chapter that one could skip reading.
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