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pjmurphy3's review against another edition
4.0
A bit confusing in some parts. but it tied well together.
jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition
4.0
Short and not so short stories previously published by the author on her website, published in book form at the request of fans. The stories give the reader peaks into the backstories of characters from her Otherworld novels. Best of all, profits go to charity!
rayy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
bethanytomerlinprince's review against another edition
5.0
Elena and Clay's Love Story
Reading the beginning of Elena and Clay's Love Story really helped me to understand how thier live could survive Clay bitting Elena.
Reading the beginning of Elena and Clay's Love Story really helped me to understand how thier live could survive Clay bitting Elena.
nancyotoole's review against another edition
3.0
Tales of the Otherworld is the second collection of short fiction which takes place in the Otherworld universe. The first collection, Men of the Otherworld, was unique as it almost read like a novel, telling us the history of the werewolf pack, while focusing on the characters of Clay and Jeremy. Tales of the Otherworld is a little closer to what you’d expect from such a collection, delivering us the stories that couldn’t fit in the Otherworld novels. Like Men of the Otherworld, the short stories and novellas are arranged chronologically. Five are prequels to the Otherworld series, while remaining three take place during the actual series. The stories cover a wide amount of territory, giving us stories featuring major characters (such as Elena, Lucas and Clay) and characters that have so far played only supporting roles (such as Aaron, Logan, and Sean).
"Rebirth" is Aaron’s history story, telling us how he became a vampire and the first year of his vampire existence. This story is unique, as Armstrong doesn’t tend to focus on her vampire characters too much. Although there were places where I wish this story had been expanded upon a little it’s a well written short story that I enjoyed reading.
Bewitched tells us the story about how black witch Eve Levine met and fell in love with the sorcerer Kristof Nast. This novella was particularly interesting as we got to see Eve when she was just starting off, and didn’t have the fearsome reputation that she ended up with in Haunted. Bewitched is a very character based story, and I really enjoyed watching the ways that Armstrong developed the relationship with Eve and Kris. This is the second novella featuring Eve to be published in the past year (the first being the stand alone, Angelic) and I find I like this one the best.
"Birthright" features the character Logan, and shows how he discovered his werewolf heritage. "Birthright" is a relatively straightforward short story that it features a character that we don’t know too much about, although it lacks a bit in originality. Overall, it’s an enjoyable short piece.
Beginnings is probably my favorite piece of the enter collection. The novella tells how us how Elena and Clay met while Elena was still in college. It follows their relationship as it grows from friendship to love, and the ends on the event that leads to where Elena ultimately ends up in Bitten. It was particularly interesting to read this after the most recent Otherworld novel, Frostbitten, which features the same characters roughly twenty years later, but in very different emotional states. Beginnings, like Men of the Otherworld, also shows how Clay has a hard time being human, and how the results can be interpreted as awkward or rude. It also results in the relationship between Elena and Clay being somewhat unhealthy. I loved how instead of writing this off as “true love,” the novella explores this unhealthy aspect of the relationships. This is especially interesting when compared to the character of Jason, Elena’s foster brother who is more outwardly starkerish and abusive.
"Expectations" is a short story about a very young Lucas encountering Eve Levine. This story was interesting to read after Bewitched, as you get to see how Eve’s character had grown. Unfortunately, Lucas’s voice doesn’t really seem to be suited for the short story format, which occasionally marred my enjoyment of the story.
"Ghosts" is a short story taken from Jeremy’s perspective, as he reflects on his decisions at the end of Beginnings. On one hand, it’s really interesting to see Jeremy’s views, but the story doesn’t have the ability to stand well on its own. I suspect someone picking the story up without having read Beginnings would be very confused. Those who have not read Bitten, may find themselves scratching their heads as well.
"Wedding Bell Hell" is my favorite short story of the collection, and the only one that can be classified as humor. It tells the story of Paige and Lucas’s somewhat tumultuous roads to marriage. As someone who is planning on getting married in a year or two, I found this story to be equally amusing and terrifying, but was very happy that things ended well for my favorite couple of the series.
The Case of El Chupacabra is the final novella in the collection, and tells the story of Paige and Lucas trying to track down a killer known as “El Chupacabra.” What I liked about this novella is the more character based moments, such as Lucas struggling with the fact that he feels that he’s not committing enough financially to family. I also enjoyed the exploration of the prejudice against vampires in the supernatural community. What I thought was somewhat lacking was the actual mystery itself, which wasn’t necessary bad, but not nearly as engrossing as the previous novellas in the collection.
Although Tales of the Otherworld is not as consistent as Men of the Otherworld, it still delivers us a nice batch of short fiction. What I enjoy the most about the fiction displayed here is that Armstrong never seems to view the short story or novella format as a way to merely deliver cheap filler. Each story is filled with character development, or gives us a deeper view into the Otherworld universe. I hope that Armstrong will one day release a third volume in this series. I would love to see more short fiction and novellas in print.
"Rebirth" is Aaron’s history story, telling us how he became a vampire and the first year of his vampire existence. This story is unique, as Armstrong doesn’t tend to focus on her vampire characters too much. Although there were places where I wish this story had been expanded upon a little it’s a well written short story that I enjoyed reading.
Bewitched tells us the story about how black witch Eve Levine met and fell in love with the sorcerer Kristof Nast. This novella was particularly interesting as we got to see Eve when she was just starting off, and didn’t have the fearsome reputation that she ended up with in Haunted. Bewitched is a very character based story, and I really enjoyed watching the ways that Armstrong developed the relationship with Eve and Kris. This is the second novella featuring Eve to be published in the past year (the first being the stand alone, Angelic) and I find I like this one the best.
"Birthright" features the character Logan, and shows how he discovered his werewolf heritage. "Birthright" is a relatively straightforward short story that it features a character that we don’t know too much about, although it lacks a bit in originality. Overall, it’s an enjoyable short piece.
Beginnings is probably my favorite piece of the enter collection. The novella tells how us how Elena and Clay met while Elena was still in college. It follows their relationship as it grows from friendship to love, and the ends on the event that leads to where Elena ultimately ends up in Bitten. It was particularly interesting to read this after the most recent Otherworld novel, Frostbitten, which features the same characters roughly twenty years later, but in very different emotional states. Beginnings, like Men of the Otherworld, also shows how Clay has a hard time being human, and how the results can be interpreted as awkward or rude. It also results in the relationship between Elena and Clay being somewhat unhealthy. I loved how instead of writing this off as “true love,” the novella explores this unhealthy aspect of the relationships. This is especially interesting when compared to the character of Jason, Elena’s foster brother who is more outwardly starkerish and abusive.
"Expectations" is a short story about a very young Lucas encountering Eve Levine. This story was interesting to read after Bewitched, as you get to see how Eve’s character had grown. Unfortunately, Lucas’s voice doesn’t really seem to be suited for the short story format, which occasionally marred my enjoyment of the story.
"Ghosts" is a short story taken from Jeremy’s perspective, as he reflects on his decisions at the end of Beginnings. On one hand, it’s really interesting to see Jeremy’s views, but the story doesn’t have the ability to stand well on its own. I suspect someone picking the story up without having read Beginnings would be very confused. Those who have not read Bitten, may find themselves scratching their heads as well.
"Wedding Bell Hell" is my favorite short story of the collection, and the only one that can be classified as humor. It tells the story of Paige and Lucas’s somewhat tumultuous roads to marriage. As someone who is planning on getting married in a year or two, I found this story to be equally amusing and terrifying, but was very happy that things ended well for my favorite couple of the series.
The Case of El Chupacabra is the final novella in the collection, and tells the story of Paige and Lucas trying to track down a killer known as “El Chupacabra.” What I liked about this novella is the more character based moments, such as Lucas struggling with the fact that he feels that he’s not committing enough financially to family. I also enjoyed the exploration of the prejudice against vampires in the supernatural community. What I thought was somewhat lacking was the actual mystery itself, which wasn’t necessary bad, but not nearly as engrossing as the previous novellas in the collection.
Although Tales of the Otherworld is not as consistent as Men of the Otherworld, it still delivers us a nice batch of short fiction. What I enjoy the most about the fiction displayed here is that Armstrong never seems to view the short story or novella format as a way to merely deliver cheap filler. Each story is filled with character development, or gives us a deeper view into the Otherworld universe. I hope that Armstrong will one day release a third volume in this series. I would love to see more short fiction and novellas in print.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review
3.0
The stories in this collection are mostly okay. There are two and half stand-outs, but the rest of the stories aren't bad, but just okay. However, one cannot but be joyful at the reason for this book's publication and its use in raising money.
The two stand out stories are the story of Eve and Kristof's relationship and the story of Elena and Clay up until the bit that forms the basis for the interaction in the first novel of the Otherworld series.
In many ways, Eve's story is better, the characters are old, more mature. Then is something spooky about the Clay/Elena relationship, in part because of Clay's werewolf nature (and his position as teacher). It raises some intersting questions, but also gives greater strength to the issues of trust raised in Bitten. The story is also further fleshed out by a later short story, told from Jermey's point of view, that deals with Elena after the bite (it is one story removed from the Clay/Elena) story.
So, worth reading simply for the two stories as well as the cause the book supports.
The two stand out stories are the story of Eve and Kristof's relationship and the story of Elena and Clay up until the bit that forms the basis for the interaction in the first novel of the Otherworld series.
In many ways, Eve's story is better, the characters are old, more mature. Then is something spooky about the Clay/Elena relationship, in part because of Clay's werewolf nature (and his position as teacher). It raises some intersting questions, but also gives greater strength to the issues of trust raised in Bitten. The story is also further fleshed out by a later short story, told from Jermey's point of view, that deals with Elena after the bite (it is one story removed from the Clay/Elena) story.
So, worth reading simply for the two stories as well as the cause the book supports.
stronggirlreads's review against another edition
5.0
Elena and Clay's story alone is worth reading thing
oliviagwynne's review against another edition
4.0
I loved see how Clay and Elena first got together! I love all these short stories filling out the inbetweens.
wealhtheow's review against another edition
3.0
A surprisingly strong collection of stories about characters from Armstrong's Otherworld novels. Some provide insight into side characters. Others fill in gaps in the lives of protagonists like Eve Levine.
I enjoyed the longest story of the lot, in which Paige and Lucas investigate a possible vampire attack. Besides giving us a view into their domestic life (which I quite enjoyed--to me, their relationship feels the most real and lived-in of all the romances in the Otherworld), it also gives depth to the benefits and strictures of Cabal life. Lucas distanced himself from the Cabals long ago, but is beginning to think that a closer connection might be useful. Sean, on the other hand, is the heir to the other largest Cabal, and he has chosen to try to change the organization from within. He finds that doing so is more painful and difficult than he'd imagined. The contrast isn't belabored within the story, but it is interesting.
The least successful story, for me, covered Clayton falling in love with Elena pre-[b:Bitten|11918|Bitten (Women of the Otherworld, #1)|Kelley Armstrong|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1306101770s/11918.jpg|2606334], when he was a hotshot young professor and she was his beautiful student. He's immediately enamored with her and so offers her a job as his TA (even though she's an undergrad) to keep her around. Eventually they start dating and get engaged. Clayton, however, is a werewolf sworn to secrecy about the supernatural, and to ensure this the Alpha won't allow anyone to be in a serious relationship with a human.Clayton can't bear to give Elena up but also doesn't want to disobey his Alpha and be cast out of his family, so he bites Elena. Nonconsensually turning someone into a werewolf is pretty shitty, but to make his act even worse, he knows that no adult has been successfully turned before. His bite pretty much condemns her to death. Since writing this backstory into [b:Bitten|11918|Bitten (Women of the Otherworld, #1)|Kelley Armstrong|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1306101770s/11918.jpg|2606334], Armstrong seems to have realized how incredibly fucked up it is, and has given Clayton a sob story and some softening in an attempt to make Elena's eventual marriage to Clayton (the man who lied to her and basically tried to kill her) seem less twisted. But seeing the world through Clayton's eyes doesn't make his decision to turn Elena any less horrific; instead, it makes it clear that he was absolutely clear-headed and knew exactly what he was doing. Suuuuper icky. I never liked him or the werewolf-centric books in general (the constant rape threats to Elena from all the other werewolves get old fast), but this short story just cemented my dislike.
I enjoyed the longest story of the lot, in which Paige and Lucas investigate a possible vampire attack. Besides giving us a view into their domestic life (which I quite enjoyed--to me, their relationship feels the most real and lived-in of all the romances in the Otherworld), it also gives depth to the benefits and strictures of Cabal life. Lucas distanced himself from the Cabals long ago, but is beginning to think that a closer connection might be useful. Sean, on the other hand, is the heir to the other largest Cabal, and he has chosen to try to change the organization from within. He finds that doing so is more painful and difficult than he'd imagined. The contrast isn't belabored within the story, but it is interesting.
The least successful story, for me, covered Clayton falling in love with Elena pre-[b:Bitten|11918|Bitten (Women of the Otherworld, #1)|Kelley Armstrong|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1306101770s/11918.jpg|2606334], when he was a hotshot young professor and she was his beautiful student. He's immediately enamored with her and so offers her a job as his TA (even though she's an undergrad) to keep her around. Eventually they start dating and get engaged. Clayton, however, is a werewolf sworn to secrecy about the supernatural, and to ensure this the Alpha won't allow anyone to be in a serious relationship with a human.
si0bhan's review against another edition
4.0
I was rather excited to read The Case of El Chupacabra as I was eager to get a decent length tale told from the point of view of my favourite male from the Women of the Otherworld series – Lucas. I will be honest and say this story wasn’t quite what I had expected, but I enjoyed being given the chance to read a story that followed Lucas and the drama of his life.
In truth, this wasn’t quite a full four-star rating. I believe the reason for this is that I set my standards a bit too high when I realised there was a Lucas tale to be read. However, I did have a lot of fun with it, and it was close enough to a four-star rating for me to decide to round it up.
With this one, we follow a tale that intertwines Lucas and Sean, giving us insight into the drama of both. We get to find out more about Sean and his choices, along with finding out more about how certainly elements of the Paige and Lucas story come to be. There were points in this story where things seemed to drag on a bit, but for the most part I had fun watching how everything came together.
If you’re a fan of the series and you enjoy watching how all the little bits come together, I would certainly recommend giving The Case of El Chupacabra a read.
Merged review:
I’m a big fan of Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series (Kelley Armstrong in general, if we’re being completely honest), meaning I was more than happy to dive into the Otherworld short stories despite the fact I’m not that big a fan of short stories. With my love of the world and the characters, though, I was more than willing to believe Kelley Armstrong would be offering some great stories in the collections offered.
Although I have given Tales of the Otherworld a three-star rating, know the book is made up of three-star reads and four-star reads. The reason I gave an overall three-star rating is that I rounded down my rating, as there were more three-star ratings than four-star ratings.
Despite the three-star rating, I did have a lot of fun with this one. There was so much enjoyment to be had throughout, with plenty of stories being offered, guaranteeing something for fans of each of the characters. More than worth the read if you’re a fan of the Women of the Otherworld series.
Individual ratings:
Rebirth: Three stars.
Bewitched: Four stars.
Birthright: Three stars.
Beginnings : Four stars.
Expectations: Three stars.
Ghosts: Three stars.
Wedding Bell Hell: Three stars.
The Case of El Chupacabra: Four stars.
In truth, this wasn’t quite a full four-star rating. I believe the reason for this is that I set my standards a bit too high when I realised there was a Lucas tale to be read. However, I did have a lot of fun with it, and it was close enough to a four-star rating for me to decide to round it up.
With this one, we follow a tale that intertwines Lucas and Sean, giving us insight into the drama of both. We get to find out more about Sean and his choices, along with finding out more about how certainly elements of the Paige and Lucas story come to be. There were points in this story where things seemed to drag on a bit, but for the most part I had fun watching how everything came together.
If you’re a fan of the series and you enjoy watching how all the little bits come together, I would certainly recommend giving The Case of El Chupacabra a read.
Merged review:
I’m a big fan of Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series (Kelley Armstrong in general, if we’re being completely honest), meaning I was more than happy to dive into the Otherworld short stories despite the fact I’m not that big a fan of short stories. With my love of the world and the characters, though, I was more than willing to believe Kelley Armstrong would be offering some great stories in the collections offered.
Although I have given Tales of the Otherworld a three-star rating, know the book is made up of three-star reads and four-star reads. The reason I gave an overall three-star rating is that I rounded down my rating, as there were more three-star ratings than four-star ratings.
Despite the three-star rating, I did have a lot of fun with this one. There was so much enjoyment to be had throughout, with plenty of stories being offered, guaranteeing something for fans of each of the characters. More than worth the read if you’re a fan of the Women of the Otherworld series.
Individual ratings:
Rebirth: Three stars.
Bewitched: Four stars.
Birthright: Three stars.
Beginnings : Four stars.
Expectations: Three stars.
Ghosts: Three stars.
Wedding Bell Hell: Three stars.
The Case of El Chupacabra: Four stars.