Review: Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong

Title: Waking the Witch
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: 07/27/10
Summary:

The orphaned daughter of a sorcerer and a half-demon, Savannah is a terrifyingly powerful young witch who has never been able to resist the chance to throw her magical weight around. But at 21 she knows she needs to grow up and prove to her guardians, Paige and Lucas, that she can be a responsible member of their supernatural detective agency. So she jumps at the chance to fly solo, investigating the mysterious deaths of three young women in a nearby factory town as a favour to one of the agency’s associates. At first glance, the murders look garden-variety human, but on closer inspection signs point to otherworldly stakes.

Soon Savannah is in over her head. She’s run off the road and nearly killed, haunted by a mystery stalker, and freaked out when the brother of one of the dead women is murdered when he tries to investigate the crime. To complicate things, something weird is happening to her powers. Pitted against shamans, demons, a voodoo-inflected cult and garden-variety goons, Savannah has to fight to ensure her first case isn’t her last. And she also has to ask for help, perhaps the hardest lesson she’s ever had to learn.

Plot: 4 Stars
Having only read Bitten, the first novel in this series, I was a bit hesitant that I would be completely lost when reading book eleven. But Kelley's website FAQs assured me that minus a few details here and there, this novel could be read as a stand alone. And I have to say, she did a great job. Having never met Savannah before, I really got a good glimpse into her character and the world she lives in. For her first investigation, Savannah does a pretty good job digging for clues and staying alive. The culprit of the crimes definitely took me by surprise, which I love. All in all, this was a great blend of urban fantasy and mystery.

Pace: 4.5 Stars
Savannah follows several leads throughout this novel, leading to many twists and turns of the plot. Every time it seemed like she was taking a step forward in the case, something threw her two steps back. There was a brief moment in which I wondered if she'd ever figured it out, but my doubt was quickly squashed. The ending isn't a clifferhanger exactly, but on the very last page you find out something major possibly happened and you're left with months to wait before finding out if its true.

Characters: 4.5 Stars
Although I would never ride one myself, I love a girl who's not afraid to ride a motorcycle. Savannah makes a very kick-ass, no-nonsense private investigator. I wish we could've seen a bit more of Paige and Lucas, but that's probably moslty because I haven't read any of Paige's books in the series. Jaime was very interesting for the short span she showed up, which makes me want to go back and read her books. Although he wasn't there for a lot of the investigation, I really enjoyed Adam and his half-demon idiosycracies.

Cover: 4.5 Stars
This was a great cover. I loved the motorcycle in the background, since it's such a huge part of Savannah's personality. And the cover model chosen to portray Savannah was a great choice. She really embodied the character. The color choices of greans and blues really fit the tone of the novel and brought out many of the cover's details. When I saw the first cover, I was disappointed at how generic it looked, so I'm glad they redesigned the cover.

Overall: 4.5 Stars

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher.