Bitten by Jordan Stephanie Gray
For fans of steamy, sexy, breathless romance, danger and fantasy, Jordan Gray's debut novel Bitten may be the thing. Bitten begins with a teenage night time beach party in the human world and rapidly moves to a fantasy world - to the seven werewolf courts.
Gray aids the reader in understanding the built fantasy world through a number of methods. The complex fantasy court worlds are built with a hierarchy which is helpfully detailed in the front pages where the powers and jurisdictions of each hierarchy: Regents, Dukes and Duchesses, Earls and Countesses, Barons and Baronesses and lesser packs, are explained. In addition, as an aid to unpacking the complexities, is a family tree which shows the amalgamation of the two key ruling families. There is also a prologue in which the rules of the werewolf courts are laid out. Breaking these laws results in death through the pain of isolation; there is nothing worse than being barred from the pack and being forced to become a lone wolf. The terrible banishment of Cora Siveri from the court of Castle Severi on account of her having broken several laws results in generational distrust, intrigue and treachery because Cora gave birth to a child who was part human/part wolf. Power struggles and a battle for succession are a consequence.
The central character, a human girl, Vanessa Hart, witnesses her best friend's brutal murder. She herself is kidnapped and wakes in the werewolf world, in the Castle Severi. She vows revenge and holds onto that vow throughout the story, learning the ways of the court and that she herself is special in a way that she barely understands and (as is the usual trope) learns to recognise and use to her advantage. Werewolf/human interaction and romance is fairly quickly established and a hot-blooded, brutal dance of love, betrayal, intrigue and survival ensues. Being very much true to the concept of the werewolf sensitivity to daylight/night, the book is divided into three parts and action is directed by the heavens. The three parts are: the curse of the moon where Vanessa is taken from a teenagers' party on an island off the ancient town of St Augustine, Florida. "You belong to the Wolf Queen's Court now" she is told as a syringe is jammed into her neck and ..."the world darkens." The second part -" the punishment of stars" details Vanessa's life at court and growing intrigue, bloody violence and romance. The third part - "the retribution of the sun", brings the story to a twisted and somewhat baffling conclusion.
The story is action packed; the action is fast-paced and brutal. The imaginative castle setting is richly detailed. The characters are true to archetype: the evil Wolf Queen, the malevolent and sychophantic members of her court, the impossibly handsome princes, our beautiful violet-eyed heroine and a myriad of other cast members. The clash between good and evil, the holding onto good and the blurring of both is a theme. Bitten is confusing for the reader, as the world of the Wolf Court is confusing to Vanessa. In that environment, bitter palace intrigue reigns. Gut-wrenching and perplexing betrayal happens.
Beginning with a certain overwriting of metaphorical language, Gray's writing settles into its stride as the book progresses. Described variously as "dark" and "viciously sexy", Bitten is the debut novel of an author who loves books with "lots of kissing" and "hot supernatural men" and who, as an author, is developing confidence in building fantasy worlds that are both complex and coherent for the reader. As best-selling author of similar thematic titles (For the wolf/ For the throne) Hannah Whitten writes, "Jordan Gray is one to watch". There is much more than kissing in Bitten, so fair warning, this a steamy book directed at the Adult - older teen audience.
Themes: Romance, Fantasy, Werewolves, Court treachery, Vengeance.
Wendy Jeffrey