Review: Driven by Kelley Armstrong

Posted February 3, 2016 by Lola in Fantasy, Review / 16 Comments

LolaReview

DrivenDriven (Otherworld Stories #13.6)
by Kelley Armstrong

Blurb:
Cains are known for being big, brutish and not-too-bright. The mutt clan embodies all the supernatural world’s worst stereotypes about werewolves. But not even the Cains deserve to be hunted down and skinned like animals.

When young Davis Cain comes to the Pack for help, Alpha Elena Michaels can’t refuse him. It isn’t about morality or justice. It’s about not letting anyone think they can do this to werewolves and get away with it.

But Elena is also dealing with the Pack’s homegrown monster—Malcolm Danvers, onetime enforcer, full-time psycho. Malcolm is now under Elena’s control, as part of the most difficult decision she’s had to make as leader. But if she has to let Malcolm in, she’s going to make full use of him…and the best person to catch monsters is one who knows exactly how they think.

My Review:
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review

It’s always a joy to be back in the Otherworld series. I love this series and getting to see how the characters are doing even though the series sort of has ended is awesome. I was really happy to get my hands on a copy of Driven as it follows two of my favourite characters Elena and Clay. This story deals with a mystery of someone who is killing the Cains and Elena and the pack go to investigate. Then there is the issue concerning Malcom, which get’s solved in a satisfactory way in this story.

The story moves along nicely and kept my attention. The story with the who was killing the Cains and how they dealt with Malcom both were interesting and this book nicely dealt with both storylines and it worked well together. I would even say that the story line of the Cains helped them deal with Malcom as well. We see some changes of the pack and this book made me realize how far they have come since the start of this series. And ofcourse it was awesome to see Elena and Clay in action again and see their twins, which are awesome characters. I wish we got more scenes from the twins as they are a joy to read about.

I did notice I missed a few short stories that took place before this one, as they referred to some events which happened before and I get the feeling there is a short story about that as well, but even though I haven’t read all the short stories before this I never felt lost. There was enough recap, that even if you missed some of the other novella’s you could still enjoy this one. I would recommend to finish the novel length books of the series before you start the novella’s as there is chronological order and reading the novella’s before finishing the series can lead to a few spoilers. I did feel that this novella ties into a few other plot lines of previous novella’s and wraps those plot lines up, it was nicely done.

We mostly read about character we already know, there’s a chance and we see how the pack reacts to that. And we get a glimpse of their lives now, which is always awesome. I can’t get enough of this world and characters so every time I have a chance to return to this world I grab it with both hands. In this book we meet a few new characters, most noteworthy David. I actually liked Davis and I thought he dealt with the situation well. We also meet a few other Cains, which were much less likeable. And there’s a mention of Derek, which is a fun reference to Kelley Armstrong her other series.

To summarize: I really enjoyed this novella and was happy to be back in this world again even if for a little while. I read this story quickly and I really enjoyed it. There are sort of two storyline,s but it all meshes together nicely. We meet a new character, but this is mostly a chance to catch up with characters fans of the series already know and care about. It can be read out of order from the other novella’s, but I would recommend to finish the 13 novels first. All in all is this another great novella in this series and it’s an awesome read for fans of the series.

4-star

Links:
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Have you read any books by Kelley Armstrong?

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16 responses to “Review: Driven by Kelley Armstrong

  1. Hey girl! I think you already know how I feel about novellas…. It’s not that I don’t like them exactly but I’ve had my experience enough with them to know to stay away from them, although this one as you explained it, it doesn’t sound too, too bad and I think I could actually, maybe tolerate it? Teehee! Or at least I could try! <3

    • These novella’s best can be read after you finished the series. And by that point you probably know if you enjoy this author her books or not. I haven’t read all her novella’s, but the ones I read where really good so far. Novella’s don’t always work for me, but some authors really know how to write them well.
      Lola recently posted…Review: Driven by Kelley ArmstrongMy Profile

    • I agree it feels like the series still continues in some way with these novella’s. I can’t afford the hardcopies, but I was really happy to get an e-copy from netgalley so I could still read them. I haven’t read all of the novella’s, but I am buying her anthology each year, I think in the end most novella’s get included in one of them eventually.

    • No I haven’t watched the series, I did consider it, but I don’t want to ruin the image I have in my head of how everything and everyone looks. I am glad to hear you’re enjoying the TV series!

    • I totally would recommend her Otherworld series, it’s awesome! I haven’t watched the tv series, did you enjoy the episodes you’ve seen?

    • I love this author her books and the Otherworld series is a good series to try out if you love a good Urban fantasy series. These novella’s by her are really good too and give the readers something extra and add to the story. There aren’t many authors who write novella’s and short stories as well as this author.
      Lola recently posted…Lola’s Kitchen: Vegetarian Pie RecipeMy Profile

    • I really like the style of the guy who does the artwork for these covers. I once won two signed bookmarks with the main characetrs on them and they all look similiar to how I imagined them. I love shifters, they are probably my favourite paranormal creature, they also have other supernatural creatures in this series like vampires, witches, necromancers, demons etc. It’s a great series and it’s fun she still writes these novella’s even though the series has ended.
      Lola recently posted…Lola’s Kitchen: Vegetarian Pie RecipeMy Profile

    • I think I missed a few novella’s in between this one and the previous one I read, but I could still follow the storyline well. I love this series and it’s nice we still get a few novella’s like this one to visit the world again :).

    • Book 8? That’s not too bad. I discovered this series when I didn’t have a lot of books to read yet and reead the first 10 or so books in a row and only then had to wait for new releases for the last 3 books, it was bliss.
      The novella’s or anthologies which collect the novella’s are really worth to read once you have finished the reries. I love seeing more about Elena and Clay, they are one of my favourite bookish couples!
      Lola recently posted…Review: Tea with Milk and Murder by H.Y. HannaMy Profile

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