Review: Bitten by Jordan Stephanie Gray

Name: Bitten
Series: Bitten #1
Author: Jordan Stephanie Gray
Publisher: Hodderscape / Fairyloot
Format: Fairyloot Special Edition
Genres: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Romance
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️.5

Rating:

Synopsis: Goodreads
After a vicious werewolf attack on the night of her seventeenth birthday party, Vanessa Hart loses everything she loves in a split second. Her best friend, her father, and even her home.

Bitten and imprisoned without explanation, Vanessa endures an agonizing transformation into the very beast that maimed her, and her captors make it clear she cannot she will either swear her life to the Wolf Queen’s Court, or she will die.

With no other choice, Vanessa joins their enchanted Castle Severi—where flowering vines grow through the walls, gifts are bestowed by the stars, and a claw can break through skin as easily as silk—but she hasn’t forgotten what they stole from her.

Vanessa still seeks vengeance, scheming in the shadows even as she finds herself mesmerized by the golden prince Sinclair Severi, who threatens to steal her heart though he is promised to her nemesis. And by his brooding, disgraced cousin, Calix, whose smoldering gaze hides even darker secrets. Immersed in the magic of their whimsical yet cruel society, Vanessa soon learns not all is as it seems.

The Court is at war, and she may simply be a pawn in its lethal game.

Review:

I have been thinking about reading a werewolf story for a little while now! And after reading a vampire story I had the urge to finally pick up a werewolf one! Bitten was the chosen one as I had purchased it for myself as a treat due to picking the prompt ‘Treat Yourself’ for March. And honestly, it scratched the itch!

I had a really fun time with Bitten! When I wasn’t reading it because I was at work or doing something that didn’t lend itself to reading a physical book, all I wanted to do was pick it up and read it! I liked Vanessa and her struggle with her want for her life back and revenge, but also balancing that with the whole blood bargain / oath that she had made withe the Wolf Queen. I was really intrigued by the court politics and where that was going to lead us!! The Vanessa we begin with definitely isn’t the Vanessa we end with – but not necessarily through character growth but necessity for the situation she’s found herself in and the strong want for revenge. Is that growth, actually? Hm.

However, for as much as I enjoyed that and liked the writing for how easy it was to get swept up in and just enjoy what I was reading… the ending felt confused and rushed. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the reveal! And so I will definitely be reading the sequel, I just didn’t love the way it all came together. The pacing during the action was great, but as soon as the action was over it felt like Vanessa was stuck in fight or flight mode and as a result the writing only enhanced my confusion and the feeling that things were being rushed…

I also didn’t really buy the romance. It felt like it came from no where – and even the ‘explanation’ that I think we got, didn’t really make everything add up and only made sense for Sin. So, there is still a lot of confusion there for me. Now I love Calix – and I think there could be something there, but even then without some work I wouldn’t buy into that romance.

Now the murder mystery element of Bitten, I really enjoyed! And the reveals that came specifically in connection to this element were jaw dropping – I had suspicions of course, but what I thought was likely going to be the big reveal we got in this book, turned out to be figured out really early on and we went on to solve the whole mystery in this book. I was surprised by this! But like I said, the ultimate reveals we got, did shock me!!

So it wasn’t a perfect read, but the vibes fit what I was looking for. I like the politics of the Wolf Courts (the bitten vs born thing, the eye colours dictating what position in the heirarchy they have! Very cool!) and I am looking forward to exploring their magic some more – but I’m left a little confused by the ending. I am hoping that the sequel will answer those questions! Please note that whilst this is YA, there are some spice scenes that definitely move this to the UPPER YA bracket, in my opinion.

“You’re a threat, Vanessa, and my job is to dispose of threats.”

Reading With Tyler