| Title | : | Once Bitten (Haven, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0980245397 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780980245394 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 262 |
| Publication | : | First published January 9, 2009 |
Once Bitten (Haven, #1) Reviews
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2.5 stars I really like it when humans turn into animals. I don't know why. But I do. Maybe it's the whole intelligent mind inside dumb animal thing, maybe it's the freedom of moving around in slinky ways.
I downloaded the sample chapters of this book and was pretty excited by the beginning: our heroine is being hunted by someone late at night, and she shifts into a small cat in order to evade her captors. She then cleverly hides inside a shopping bag that is carried out of a woman's restroom. Awesome start, right? Unfortunately, while there were a few other moments that I did like in this book, there were none that really lived up to that particular one.
I had a hard time connecting with Kita, as I just didn't understand her motivation...and the same goes for Bobby, the ex-boyfriend who has been sent by her father to retrieve her (and who is also mated and an expectant father), and Nathaniel, the vampire who turns her into a vampire. Yep, he turns her into a vampire. So we now have a shape-shifting kitty who is also a vampire who is being chased all over town. There was a lot going on, and frankly, I spent most of the book pretty confused. As much as people like to complain about info-dumps that provide explanations and back story, the alternative of too-little information that's illogically inserted is actually a lot worse. The world-building definitely needed more attention here, and it was a little frustrating that Kita didn't really use her powers all that much. She's stripped of her shape-shifting abilities after she's turned into a vampire, see, so that really upsets the whole I-like-manimals thing for me.
There's never any real reason given as to why she keeps pushing Nathaniel away or enough history given for the situation between her and Bobby, and most importantly, not enough information on this supposedly exalted position she holds in the animal kingdom. I also got really tired of everyone addressing her as "Kitten" when she keeps saying she doesn't like it. The girl has a name. Use it. -
It is an ok book. Nothing special but entertaining enough.
I was disappointed there was no romance at all.
Twice Dead (Haven #2) -
2-1/2 stars. I came to read this after getting into Price's Grave Witch series which is quite good and does interesting things with Fae mythology and necromancy. Once Bitten has an equally original fantasy world, but somehow it never came across as very believable.
The heroine, Kita Nekai, is a shifter on the run from some place called "Firth." We're never really told what Firth is. Another world? Dimension? Who the heck knows? A "portal" opens to it once a month. Kita has run away from Firth and is being pursued by Firth hunters. Sounds like a lazy plot device for giving us a heroine on the run.
The ostensible reason she's running is because she doesn't think she's strong enough to inherit her father's place as leader of their clan, even though all the other guys think she is capable, even though she just turns into a calico cat and the other shifters turn into lions and tigers. But also we're told that women are never allowed to leave Firth. So it sounds like a land of patriarchal oppression, but then all the guys -- her father, her ex-, etc -- believe she can rule but she doesn't? We aren't told that much about shifter society, but I'm with Kita here: how the heck is a calico cat going to rule over the lions and tigers? And if they never let women out, then how come women can rule? It just doesn't add up. Running away from patriarchy and the way they all try to control her life (for example, by refusing to let her be with the man she loves and pressuring him to take another mate) would make for a better reason to be on the run, homeless and constantly being hunted, than thinking she can't live up to Daddy's expectations.
Also, the ex- who is pursuing her is an unpleasant mix of creepy and pathetic. He acts all protective and jealous, but meanwhile his mate is back home expecting kittens (or cubs, or whatever). Why Kita lets him hang around instead of ditching him when she has the chance completely escapes me.
Other weird details keep popping up that don't so much add to our understanding of the world she's from as they do perplex -- like the necklace of her own finger bones, five of a kitten and five of a little girl, that she wears which give her some special powers or something (I guess she regenerated those fingers after someone cut them off? Yuck!).
Then there's the apprentice mage who pops out of mid-air to "study" Kita for her thesis project. She's not a very well-realized character, and the logic of what she's doing there (and more to the point, why Kita puts up with this clumsy buffoon of a woman following her around) never made much sense to me. It would have been funny if it were a parody of a cultural anthropologist, but I don't think it is.
And then there's the uber-mage who convicts Kita to die for creating a killer rogue shifter and gives her a 2-night reprieve to find the rogue. The evidence on which he's built his case is ridiculously slim, and no one ever explains why he has the authority to sentence her to death. Kita doesn't even seem to know about the existence of mages until this one shows up and declares himself Super Judge. Why does Kita run to do his bidding instead of plotting to off him when he returns to kill her after 2 days? The mage business is an even worse plot device than the whole Firth thing.
In short, the world-building isn't very convincing.
What the book does do well is the relationship between Kita and the vampire who turns her. Nathaniel is called "The Hermit" by other vampires because he eschews their company. He saves her from an attack outside a nightclub and then takes too much blood and nearly kills her so he turns her into a vampire to save her. Or something like that. It's not terribly clear and he does a lord almighty shitty job of explaining to her that she's a vampire -- after he turns her, he leaves her naked and chained to the floor on a bare mattress in a basement, being cared for by some crazy old vampire lady who tries to make her drink cat blood, which Kita feels is cannibalistic. But that failing aside, Nathaniel is an intriguing and appealing character, and Price writes him hinting at interesting emotional depths.
This was apparently Price's first book and it looks like it was published with a small press and unfortunately that shows in the number of typos -- apparently the press is too small to afford careful copy editing. Pity, as it distracts from the storytelling, especially when the number of guys who had attacked her a few months back (this is an important plot point) keeps changing from 3 to 5 and back to 3 again. -
Kalayna Price's debut novel, Once Bitten, brings a new twist to urban fantasy. Kita Nekai is a shapeshifter, heir to her clan, and on the run. Initially, her only problem is evading the Hunters that her father has sent to bring her back home. However, things just get worse as she is accidentally turned into a vampire and finds out she may be responsible for creating a rogue shifter who is murdering women. She is given two days to bring the rogue to justice or her life is forfeit.
Price combines vampires and shapeshifters in a way that I've never read before and she does it with nonstop action. Kita is full of nervous energy, anger, and fear as her situation ventures into uncharted territory. Nathanial, the vampire, also displays a wide range of emotions, though his are often hidden behind a stoic mask. Together they must attempt to understand how becoming a vampire will affect Kita's natural form as a shapeshifter. Will her ability to shift return as she adapts to her new life?
I would highly recommend Once Bitten to urban fantasy readers. I am looking forward to finding out what happens with Kita and Nathanial in future books in the series. -
Kobo free download 7/20/11
3.5 stars -
Once again, why haven’t I read this series yet? I received this book as a Kobo free download last summer and waited to fit it into the right challenge. Thanks, SOS Bookshelf Bingo – Shifters shelf! Calico cat shifters!
Once Bitten is the story of Kita Nekai. Kita is the daughter of a Torin or clan leader. She’s left her home in Firth for Haven and is hiding in plain sight among the humans as a cute little calico cat. When in human form, Kita’s hair is beautifully streaked resembling her cat. Kita is being hunted by shifters who want to take her back to Firth. While running away from a wolf hunter, she runs into Bobby, a childhood friend and bobcat shifter. He wants to bring her home to take her rightful place as Dyre, heir to her clan’s leadership. Kita wants nothing to do with this and runs away. She ends up at a rave where her drink is spiked.
When she wakes up, her world has changed. She cannot shift. Nathanial has “rescued” her. To further complicate matters, Kita is accused of biting a human and causing that human to become a rogue shifter. This accusation carries a death sentence in this world especially since this rogue is a sick serial killer, leaving a trail of murdered and beaten women. Nathanial, Bobby and Gil convince the judge to give them some time to prove Kita’s innocence and to capture the rogue.
It took me a little while to warm up to this book. I wasn’t invested in the characters at first, although a calico cat shifter was intriguing. There isn’t a love triangle – a good thing, nor is there a romance per se, although there seems to be a possibility of one in upcoming books. Kita is bound to Nathanial as he is her maker, but I could see her getting to know him better. Nathanial was nicely understated. A vampire that likes to stay under the radar, Nathanial was known as The Hermit. He is a powerful vampire and has many interesting abilities.
I liked Kita and found her character interesting. I liked her logical approach to finding the rogue. She lacked a little maturity and experience but I can see her character develop and grow as the series progresses. Poor Bobby! You could tell that he still loved Kita, even though he was mated to another shifter. Gil’s character was intriguing. I never really knew what to make of her. I’d love to learn more about her.
All in all, a solid start to the series. I can’t wait to read the next book. -
For the life of me I couldn't understand what this book wanted to tell me! It kept unrelenting pace with events that I didn't care much about. The characters weren't properly intoduced in order for me to like them or at least understand them and have some sort of familiarity with them therefor I coudln't care less what happened to them! Another thing irked me in this book was the 100 times repeated gestures, it seems the heroine "Kita" is a magnet for the touch! EVERY guy wants to touch her somehow and EVERY time she's "shrugged him off" or "pulled away from his hand" ! and she pukes alot!!!!!! I'm sure other poeple will read this review and say "whaaa? is she insane?" The thing is, to me this book might have been good but it came out undeveloped and lacking. I gave it 2 stars for the fact that it wasn't SO awful, and had I had more patience I might've kept reading more than half of it (which is almost where I had stopped and raised the white flag!). I wanted to like this book so much, I even got the sequel :(
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Review Courtesy of AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com
A Dhampir is a half vampire/half human, but what do you call a half vampire/half were? Well, if your Kaylana Price, you call her Kita, or as the men in her life call her, Kitten. Kita is a Shifter who can turn into a cat. Thinking herself and her alter ego calico too weak to take over for her father as the leader of the other Shifters of Firth, Kita escapes to the human world city of Haven and goes on the run from Hunters who would return her home. After a slow start, the story picks up when Kita eventually runs into her ex-boyfriend/Hunter Bobby, accidentally gets turned into a Vampire by the Hermit Nathaniel, and becomes the research subject for a student Mage named Gil. This motley crew then gets recruited by a Judge who threatens to turn Kita and her friends over to a bunch of demons if they don’t track down a rogue Shifter/rapist (who Kita may have a connection to) within 48 hours. Sound confusing? Well it is. Not in the sense that you won’t understand what is happening, but you won’t know why because the world building of Once Bitten is never fully built.
This lack of world building wasn’t as frustrating early on when we first meet Kita and learn that she can turn into a cat etc. because we expect all the details of her world to be explained later. And while some things are explained, like Kita’s history with Bobby, others like the world Kita comes from, never are. Is Firth a magically hidden world? Is it an alternate dimension? What about Haven? Is that a city on Earth or some other planet? Then there are the vampire, demon, and mages. Do they all come from the same world? What are their rules? We get a glimpse of the Vampire society towards the end of Once Bitten, (and it’s something of a cross between Kim Harrison’s vamps and the Volturi from Twilight) but it is all too brief and ends up raising more questions then it answers.
Kita herself is an interesting character and the conflict she felt over the romantic feelings she still harbored for her mated (married) ex along with the burgeoning feelings she was developing for Nathaniel were realistically portrayed and easily the most compelling aspects of Once Bitten. But the handful of other characters were fairly one dimensional. Gil, for example, was supposed to be the eager, goofy sidekick who I constantly forgot about the moment she left the page. I still don’t remember why she showed up in the first place (and I read the book today) and the reason she stuck around was pretty flimsy.
Normally it can be a good thing when a book leaves you asking questions because then you are motivated to pick up the next book. Not this time. I stopped being curious about this Kitten long before I reached the end of Once Bitten. I still have a lot of questions, but I have very little motivation to seek out the answers in future Haven novels.
Sexual Content: Character’s pass through a vampire sex club, but nothing is graphically described. References to a rapist. -
This is definitely a 3.5 but I couldn't decide whether to round up or down.
It took me forever to finish this book! A Kindle freebie, I couldn't figure out why I had a problem getting into it, but here's what I came up with:
1. The heroine is a selfish, spoiled, childish, hothead whose problems are all her own fault, and she spends much of the time snapping at everyone else.
2. She remains ignorant of the details of her own situation simply because she refuses -- in her anger -- to listen to the one person who can explain things to her.
3. There was too little development of the three main characters, so they remained mostly vague through the majority of the book.
Okay, that's about it. HOWEVER -- after about 55% this book really took off. I really started to enjoy it. Although the heroine was still a pain in the butt, her stupid refusal to listen finally got her in the trouble of which she'd been warned and she learned a valuable lesson. Hopefully it will not be forgotten in the next book.
I really liked Price's writing style and the "voice" of the heroine would have been very enjoyable (very Mac-like for Fever fans) if her personality had been better. I hate when someone is nothing more than a pill and still ends up with a posse of guys obsessed with her. Even as bitchy women get great guys in real life, I know there's something more than what I'm seeing that attracts those guys and I did not see it here. Unless it's only physical and how freaking unsatisfying is that?
I give it four stars instead of three because I think Price has real talent and, if she can get a handle on developing characters her readers want to invest in, she can be an urban fantasy success.
Nathaniel and Kita are an interesting team. It appears Bobby might not be going anywhere for a while and that really bugs me because he's got obligations elsewhere and I personally take those obligations as sacred. So, yeah, he's not winning any popularity contests with me. But I do like the leads (when, finally, Kita settles down) and I'm hoping for interesting things to come. Nathaniel did have a couple of great lines that kicked Kita's snotty a** and that was very nice to see -- promising.
Rambling. Sorry. In short, I think this book is evidence of very good potential and the possibility of an auto-buy series.
We shall see. -
I didn't love this story. There were a number of things that just didn't gel for me the way I would like. A large part of it was I just didn't love Kita. She felt like a whiny little child who is always running away from things rather than fighting for what she really wants. I want to read a story about a strong female, not one who runs from her troubles. I also really don't like love triangles. And the one in this story was just plain obnoxious. Kita's relationship with her childhood sweetheart Bobby seemed unnecessary and I hate the idea of cheating anyway. Bobby was pushed into mating with someone else and has cubs on the way. Get over yourself! You're off the market and shouldn't be pursuing your past.
On the flip side I did like the Hermit, Nathaniel was intriguing. I did find myself wanting to know more about his history and the vampire world. I wanted to spend more time with him so that we could get into his psyche. Gil was interesting as well, but I didn't immediately latch on to her the way I did with Nathaniel. They were all in to help Kita get herself out of the trouble she got herself into.
I might give the next book in this series as go just to see if it gets better, but it won't be one I'm jumping into quickly. -
This book was freaking awesome. I have now grown very fond of all books by Kalayna Price. I wish there were so many more to read. *sigh* As there are currently only three, I'll be waiting on bended knee for the rest to be released.
Til then, here is my review:
This particular novel is about a shifter turned vampire. Kita (coolest name by the way), had grown up as a calico cat shifter. I was cracking up at that one, nothing like being a six pound kitty to really make you feel as uncomfortable as possible in a world of Lions, Tigers and Bears (oh my!). But, that doesn't stop Kita from pushing for survival and running from the life she'd always known. I don't blame her, to be so confined to a way of life is way too oppressing.
Kita ends up in Haven were she ends up turned into a vampire by the sexy professor Nathaniel (don't get any ideas, he is way to chaste for this book *wink wink*). Anyhoo, as you can imagine, Kita is pretty pissed by the whole thing and I can't really blame her. I think it's why I love her so much as a character. She is super stubborn and there is no insta-feelings, she doesn't let go of all the pain in her life all of the sudden and embrace a life of vampirism. I think it makes the whole thing a bit more realistic. The character development invested in Kita by Price is amazing to me. It's tugged me into this world of shifter/vampire making me itch for more. Kita though, she is so stubborn and even though sometimes I want to slap her upside the head, I can't blame her, I can only move through the story with her feeling her pain. She pushes and pushes because she doesn't want to be hurt and I get that, no matter how sad that is that I get it, I just do. But, I also love that she isn't prone to complaining about it. She life sucks, but what can yah do?! Just try to make it out alive if you're Kita.
Then, there is Nathanial *licks lips*. I've always been into the scholarly type. Anyone who can keep up with me, that's my thinking. Now, he kind of falls into The Bad Boy Complex in the way that he kills bad guys by sucking the life out of them and he is seductive when he wants to be. Even if he may hide a lot of that behind him, he is definitely appealing. I really enjoyed his character and his ability to let Kita be who she is instead of the whole vampire mine bit. Albeit, there are sometimes when I enjoy the mine theme, sometimes I think authors take it beyond what they should, Price does not. And Nathanial is definitely sexy and alluring in most senses of the words.
So, I guess what I'm saying is, Price has created another delectable piece of fiction with Once Bitten. She has thrown me into this crazy world of Haven where vampires are sadistic and fun to read as well as shifters who change into bobcats and still have the ability to take out homicidal vamps. I highly recommend you give this book a read because Kalayna Price has created a brilliant novel with Once Bitten, the first in the Haven series! -
Kita Nekai is a shifter from Firth. She can turn into a calico cat which is the reason for her peculiar tri color hair. She has run away from her birth place avoiding becoming her father's successor as the clan leader and because the man she loved, Bobby mated with someone else. She has been on the run for five years successfully. Her luck is about to change.
She arrives at Haven and discovers that the city is surrounded by Hunters, wolves who want to take her back to her father 's realm. Trying to escape the hunters she goes into a rave party where she is drugged and later attacked by another shifter. Nathanial, the Hermit, a vampire interrupts them. He proceeds to feed from her and is unable to stop himself. She becomes a vampire.
While she is trying to deal with this new state of her life, Bobby finds her and she learns that there is a rogue serial killer attacking women and she may have been responsible for turning him into a shifter. A Mage Judge marks her and if she doesn't find the rogue, not only is her life at stake but Nathanial and Bobby's.
Half of the time she is starving herself avoiding drinking blood. When she does feed she acquires memories from whom she feeds and this scares her. Is unknown if she will be able to shift again. Most vampires have some special powers. Nathanial is an illusionist, he can also fly.
When the Vampire Council learned about the Hermit's new Companion they are summoned to it. She is introduced to Tatius, an ancient vampire, King of Haven, who immediately becomes interested in her. We know there will be more interaction between both.
I enjoyed this new mythology, especially Nathanial and Bobby. I know she can't end up with Bobby. I mean he has a mate and cubs on the way. At times I was upset at Kita for pushing everyone away including Nathanial. She also didn't think before talking and most of the time she didn't take his advice. But, I hope she learns better in books to come.
cross posted at my blog
http://mrsleifs.blogspot.com -
I had mixed feelings about this book - before and after reading it.
Before: learning it was about a shape-shifter cat, my first thought was "cool - I like cats". My second thought was "but how can a person turn into a cat, when a cat is so much smaller than a person?". But my third thought was "how can a person turn into any animal? if I can enjoy a book about werewolves, is this really that more far-fetched?" So I gave it a try.
Here's what I liked about it: without giving any spoilers, this book did add a new dimension to the shapeshifter / vampire genre, and any new twist is a good thing, in my opinion. There was plenty of action, and any romance is more of a hint - none of that non-stop, over-the-top, characters-can't-keep-their-hands-off-of-each-other stuff. And the whole "shape-shifting into a smaller animal" turned out to be a non-issue. I guess my capacity to accept the supernatural knows no bounds, LOL.
Here's what I didn't like: the main character, Kita, spends most of the book lamenting her fate and trying to run away from her life. Granted, if I was in her shoes, I'd be a total basket case, but I prefer my book heroines to be a bit more kick-ass. However, I think there's potential here, so I'm going to try the second in the series, and hope for the best. If Kita can learn to embrace what's happened to her, she could turn into a very fascinating character. -
About the time I find that the main male-lead, who I think is a horrid asshole that should get his ass kicked repeatedly, is supposed to be the misunderstood love interest, I realize that I've accidentally read a psuedo-romanace novel. Damn. I kept reading and waiting the entire book for him to get his come-uppance and instead of realizing what a vile son of a bitch he was and over-coming his whole vampire allure mesmerizing thing, they start getting all fuzzy toward him, which is what I call stupid. The only reason I didn't mind in the beginning was because she hated him. And the attraction didn't bother me, because I knew she'd still kick his ass eventually and he had the whole mesmerizing thing. But as it kept going on, instead of getting better, it got worse! I kept expecting her to come out of it and him to be yet another villain of the piece, a long term one that she could vow a long and bloody contest of wills against and instead it's aww doesn't he have a soft heart center. um..... yeah, no. As is, this is positively, stomach churningly horrid.
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I got this book free off my Kindle and since I'm broke I'm trying to balance my reading of free classics with some fantasy, mystery, basically whatever they will let me download for free. I was sceptical about the book in the beginning. I didn't feel properly introduced to the characters or the fantasy land the author created. I enjoy true fantasy, where lands are created and such, but felt like the author assumed I knew more than I did. The plot felt jumpy. It also took me a long time to connect to any of the characters, finding their relationships strained. By the end though, I was reading the book to see what happened next and not just because I don't have tv. However, it is unusual that I don't become addicted to the series and order the next book, therefore buying something from Kindle and falling into their trap, but this time I won. Or did I?
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I enjoyed Grave Witch, so I picked this up to see what Kalayna Price’s Haven series was like. Once Bitten was OK-not as good as Grave Witch, which had a more likeable heroine with some cool powers (and a cute dog!). In Once Bitten, Kita’s behavior can be kind of repetitive and annoying, and the investigation into the rogue dragged (lots of walking around and taking the subway and dodging hunters, while searching for clues) on too long. The vampire side of the plot line was much more interesting to me than the Firth business, and Bobby, childhood friendship and first love notwithstanding, is boring.
I’m glad I stuck with this one, though, because I did like it more from the vampire council scene to the end. Price has a great imagination, and I’m interested enough in the story (and OK, I do love Nathanial) to read the next book. -
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
In most books with shifters, the beasts in question are usually large-breed (wolves, big cats, bears, etc.). Kalayna Price has created the unusual...a small-breed shifter. Kita shifts into a calico cat, which she uses her advantage by posing as a family pet while on the run from hunters from her home dimension of Firth. But the hunters are only the start of Kita's problems.
There's plenty of action in Once Bitten and it's a great start to the Haven Series. All the action takes place in the human city of Haven. Other dimensions, including Firth, are mentioned, but the connections aren't explained in great detail. I'm hoping that this will be answered in later books and was the only thing I was disappointed with.
Overall I enjoyed Once Bitten and have already downloaded Twice Dead (Haven #2) on my Nook. -
I found this way too easy to walk away from in favor of doing other things until 3/4 of the way through the book when it finally stopped meandering and actually became absorbing reading for me.
However that being said Kita spent way more than 9 lives in
Once Bitten so not sure how she will fare in next book
Twice Dead but as have digitally on my kindle and a used trade paperback copy to find out will be doing so soon. -
This is definitely a winning book and hopefully a winning series. I already have book two...I thoroughly enjoyed the world Kalayna has created. I found her characters engaging and likeable. Kita handles becoming a vamp and losing her ability to shift as well as one would expect her to. She spends a lot of time being mad at Nathaniel for turning her but at this point in the series, you find yourself understanding why he did it. I really like Bobby too; he really cares about Kita...I think he loves her but can't have her because she is like royality where they come from.
The book is detailed, has a good pace and kept my interest.
Highly recommend it. -
Fantastic book, loved the world, the characters, the mystery, and of course, the writing! Awesome book and I can't wait to read more about Kita and the rest!
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DNF
The only thing that sucks more than a book I can't finish is a book I can't finish from an author I like.
I adore the Alex Craft series by Kalayna Price, so I was excited to see that she had backlist books I could dive into and roll around in. Then I started reading. Not only did I not connect to this book, I actively disliked it.
The story follows a cat-shifter, Kita, who is on the run from her people. Female shifters aren't supposed to go into the human world, but she's been hiding out for the past several years. Hunters of her own kind are tracking her to bring her back. She's trying to evade them when she gets drugged at a rave and inadvertently turned into a vampire. Shortly after, a mysterious judge appears and finds her guilty of turning humans into shifters and only spares her life on the promise she'll find the real perpetrator within the next few days. She sets off to do that with Nathaniel, the vampire who turned her, Bobby, her married ex-boyfriend shifter, and Gil, an "observer" and student of magic.
I had so many problems here. The world-building is murky. The dialogue is stilted and used for info-dumps. We have to accept a lot of the happenings without rhyme or reason. (Like the judge accusing and sentencing her with no proof.) Gil feels like a random add-on. Worst of all, I didn't like Kita, who is immature and argumentative, and I absolutely loathed that the men called her Kitten.
I tried so hard to connect with this book, picking it up and setting it down several times. But life is just too short. If you want to read from this author, skip this series and try the Alex Craft books.
DNF. -
Once Bitten by kalayna price.
Kita Nekai, on the run and the smallest of her shifter clan--a calico cat among lions and tigers--is being hunted. She was expected to accept her role as her father's successor whether or not her cat was up to the task of leading the clan. She disagreed. Now she's less than a step ahead of the hunters, bone-tired, cold, and living hand-to-mouth in the city of Haven. And that's the high point of her day. She's also drugged, "accidently" turned into a vampire, and sentenced to death for recklessly creating a rogue shifter who tortures its human prey. She's got seventy-two hours to find the rogue, evade a city full of hunters, prove she's not responsible for the rogue, and keep the vampire council from killing her. All while sorting out an apprentice mage, a married ex-boyfriend shifter-hunter, and the vampire who made her.
A very good read with good characters. A little slow in places. So 4* from me. Netgalley and belle bridge books. -
This was a really frustrating book, the world building was sparse to the point where I was thinking I must have missed a prequel or something because the book seemed to expect me to know what lots of random words meant- what's a 'torin'?? I'm still not sure what/where Firth is, I initally assumed Scotland but it seems to be accessed through a gate at the full moon so maybe some alternative world? Who knows? certainly not me!
It's really not explained why Kita has decided to run away from everything, and without understanding why she's dead set on running it's hard to understand her as a character and empathise with her. She doesn't seem to be motivated by anything, other than avoiding whatever her responsibilities in Firth are.
Kita's a very uninspiring character, her strategy for dealing with anything seems to be run away and denial. She's told repeatedly *bad thing* what will happen if she does xyz, she does xyz then is outraged that *bad thing* happened and that no one stepped in and prevented it. It might be an amusing trait in a toddler who's outraged that they can't eat their cake again- but it's a pathetic trait in an adult, take some responsibility for your own actions, and think like at least 3 mins ahead please.
I honestly didn't really like any of the characters, Nathaniel seemed personality-less, Bobby was weird vibes, Gil was annoying. I really should have dnfed this but I'd *jsut* dnfed a different book and didn't want to drop two in a row 😂 -
Urban fantasy with vampires and shape shifters. Well done, even tho vampires are not my favorite anti-heroes. I like that the protagonist is a shape shifting cat instead of some powerful feline.
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This was a pretty good start to an urban fantasy series. I admit to being slightly put off by the covers; they're not the greatest, especially when compared to those of Kalayna's other series, The Alex Craft series. But you know what they say about judging books by their covers..
I just wanted to highlight a couple of things about the series that I found quite unique. Firstly, the history of Kita's shapeshifter race. They are not from this (the human) world. They each have an animal spirit and they are split into clans by type, i.e. canids (including the wolves, jackals, hyenas, coyotes, foxes, and domestic dogs.) and felines (cats, lions, leopards, and cheetahs etc.) but there's no saying what type of animal you will become. Kita, for example, is a domestic calico cat.
Like so:
Her teeny tiny stature compared to that of some of the lion shifters in her clan is the reason she feels she is unsuitable for her role as the next leader of the Nekai clan once her father passes, and why she has been in the human world hiding/running away for the last five years at the beginning of the book.
Now I liked this aspect but it wasn't explained nearly enough. There was very little exposition given on the different worlds, different clans and different branches of supernaturals (of which there are shifters, vamps and mages so far), so although I'm picking it out as a highlight, I feel it was poorly explained. However, I've now read book two and know that book three takes us to the other world as its primary setting so we will get a much better insight then, but that doesn't help us during the reading of this book.
Another highlight is the non-typical male characters. There are two, one a vamp, one a fellow shifter. It's not a love triangle but it is very interesting because the shifter, Bobby, (a bob cat *snort*) has been her friend since childhood. They are/were extremely close and wanted to turn it into more by becoming mated/married, but her father wouldn't allow it. Bobby has since mated/married someone else back home, either during or just before her departure. I'm sure this also played a part in Kita's decision to stay away. It made for some very uncomfortable scenes between them upon their reunion in this book.
The other male character is a vamp as I mentioned and I really liked how he wasn't your typical suave, sophisticated, power-hungry master vampire. In fact he's been leading such a solitary life before Kita came along that the rest of the vamps call him "The Hermit". He has no interest in the games and power plays of the vampire court, even though he is powerful, so no matter how much they try to persuade him to join the council so they can utilise his skills, he refuses. I liked both him and the developing sexual tension between him and Kita very much. :)
My main problems, and the reason it's only getting a 3 star rating, is the lack of world-building mentioned above, and the lack of emotional connection from Kita. I liked Kita a lot as a main character, however, I don't feel she expressed enough feeling throughout. She goes through some major, MAJOR life changes in the first couple of chapters of the book and yet she displays almost no reaction, asks no questions, nothing. In the end someone has to say to her words to the effect of "So, do you want to know what happened to you, or what?" I mean, it's not like I want her to be moaning and whingeing throughout and being all woe is me, but after what happened I would gladly have forgiven her for flipping out, temporarily at least. I know I would have.
Another shame was the lack of characterization of Gil, the scholar mage who ends up tagging along. She sounds so quirky in her pink clothes and Wellington boots, but sadly she fell a little flat.
At the time of writing this I have already read book two and can happily confirm the emotional connection is not a problem in the next instalment, the tension and drama is amped up significantly and the developing relationship with a certain character is very compelling making it well worth the read. I would urge UF fans to take a chance on this series, and with book three coming out in a month's time, now would be as good a time as any!
3 Stars! ★★★ -
I received this book from Deb at Bell Bridge Books for review, it is Kalayna Price's first novel, Once Bitten and it was great!
I will admit to some confusion in the beginning though. Kita is already on the run and it's a little disorienting because other than what we know from the BOC we don't really get why she's running. Along the way we get pieces of her thoughts and know it has something to do with her clan and father. We never actually see these people/shifters for they live in Firth, this alternative dimension where the shifters live and her father is one of the "head honchos" training her to take his place. But Kita doesn't want that, hence her running away.
She escapes to Haven and tries to stay under the radar of the Hunters after her, shifters who are set on bringing her back home kicking and screaming if they have to. One of them includes her ex-boyfriend, as mentioned, and he is in fact married. He still cares for Kita and wants to bring her safely back home, but still Kita resists, because it's not what she wants. But things soon get dicey and dangerous. After a series of events outside a club, Kita blacks out and wakes up a vampire.
Her creator Nathanial, tries to ease her into adjust to being a vampire, but Kita doesn't take it too easily. Then things really get complicated when word of a rogue shifter is on the loose and young women are being harmed and some killed. Making a deal with a demon, Kita has only a short time to deliver the rogue shifter to the demon or else she, Nathanial and Bobby will be killed.
Gil, is the apprentice mage who has made Kita her study subject and she tags along in the investigation, but she isn't merely an observer, she has a special set of skills that comes in handy. With time not on her side Kita is doing everything she can to find the rogue, lives are on the line.
This was a really great read once I got into it. When the clock is ticking against the characters, the pacing is really great because every moment is critical. Kita and her friends have to backtrack in their investigations to find the rogue.
The relationship between Bobby and Kita was strange. They obviously still care for one another since they had a long history and we find all this out and what led to Bobby being married to someone else, but it was still just strange that a married man spends so much time hunting down his ex to bring her home. Bobby isn't a bad character or husband despite this. He cares for Kita in a friendly way and protects her.
Nathanial and Kita's relationship was a bit more interesting. The Creator and Created. There was tension between them. A lot of tension that builds up and we don't know where they might lead as Kita has very confusing feelings over him.
Relationship problems and the problems of the rogue aside, Kita and Nathanial also have to deal with the vampire council as well. So many problems for poor Kita and she only has a few days to solve one of them so she can be alive to handle the others.
Kita is a tough as nails kind of girl. You feel you can relate to her easily because of her conflictions. She's attracted to Nathanial in some ways but fights it. She doesn't like her vampires abilities, but does her best to accept them. She adapts well over time and I like that about her. She doesn't sit in despair over her problems, she does everything she can to solve them.
This was a fantastic read and there is just a bit of mystery left over what will come to pass for next time to leave the reader wanting more, yet still feel satisfied with what has already happened. I for one am deeply curious what more might happen between Kita and Nathanial. I really-REALLY took a liking to Nathanial. He was deeply caring, yet secretive. He was fierce in protecting Kita and still allowing her to make her own mistakes and learn from them. He was a great alpha to Kita's strong heroine type.
Twice Bitten, the second book, will definitely be hitting my To Buy List!
Overall I give the book 4/5 stars! -
I bought this book after devouring Kalayna Price's other series debut,
Grave Witch. This series is UF like Grave Witch but that is where similarities end. This series centers around Kita, the Dyre for clan Nekai. She comes from another universe (?) known as Firth, which I believe is a universe of shapeshifters. I believe that they are all broken up into different clans depending on what type of animal you shift into. Kita illegaly ran from Firth to the human dimension which leads hunters-shapeshifters that are allowed into the human dimension to police shapeshifters and send illegals back, sort of a paranormal border patrol if you will. We are led to believe that she ran because her animal is a small kitten and her father is Torin or leader of their clan and has named her Dyre or heir apparent of their clan and she isn't willing to take up the mantle. There is also some foreshadowing about an attack by a rogue upon her while she was young but not much detail was given.
Kita is on the run from the hunters who are looking to send her back (evidently women are NEVER granted access to leave Firth)and she runs into her childhood friend and sweetheart, Bobby who was sent by her father to send her home. She doesn't want to deal with him-he's mated with cubs, so she ditches him and hides out in a club that was recommended to her. It's in this club that she is drugged and she tries to run but gets accosted by a rogue. As they are fighting they both are further accosted by a strange man and then she passes out only to wake up chained to a floor in a strange place and informed that she is now a vampire. If that isn't enough she is soon tracked down by a supernatural being who is some sort of judge who has found her guilty of "tagging" humans. Some of these "tagged" humans have gone on a killing spree and the judge is ready to hand down a death sentence to Kita. Nathanial, the mysterious vampire who turned Kita talks the judge into giving Kita 2 days to find the tagged humans for justice. The judge agrees with the stipulation that if she fails, not only will she die but so will Bobby and Nathanial.
Their motly crew is further joined by a supernatural researcher/scribe named Gil (who is a female) as they try to beat the clock and find the tagged humman. Overall I truly enjoyed this book I ended it and wished there was more to read. In a way however it does suffer from 1st novel in a series syndrome. There wasn't a clear enough explanation about the world so I was very confused for some of the book, I can only assume the author means to slowly give us more info as the series progresses. I really liked most of the characters especially Bobby and Nathanial and Tatius. Gil felt a little one-dimensional to me and at times Kita seemed like she was being ornery for no good reason which was a little annoying but other than that I really liked her character. She was a refreshing change to a lot of the UF heroines that are currently out there. Strangely I was also intrigued by Mama Neda and hope to see her in future novels. There was some interesting romantic tension between several of the characters which should prove to be highly entertaining in upcoming novels. Overall it was a highly entertaining, quick read which I would definetly recommend. I will be reading the next in the series,
Twice Dead. Look out for Kalayna Price she is an upcoming UF heavy hitter. -
Odd tangential plot but rather interesting and engaging.
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Once Bitten is one of those books that I probably would have liked a lot more if I had read it when it was first published (or at least when I first purchased it). Of course, that just means that I don't think it's held up over the years and wasn't that original to start with. Kita is a shapeshifter who has left her home world to live among the humans, but she's being hunted. Then she's attacked, left for dead, and turned into a vampire to save her life. If that's not enough, now she's being held responsible for the attacks plaguing her city and has two nights to find the real attacker.
There are a couple of things that I really liked about Once Bitten, although they weren't enough to fully hold my interest. First, I thought it was interesting that shifters don't live in the human world. They're from a place called Firth. I wanted to know more about this place! There's plenty of talk about "gates" opening at the full moon, but that's about it. Do other supernaturals live there, too? I don't know. The second thing was that it has a short time frame. These are my favorite! I love races against the clock and just seeing how much stuff can happen to one person in just a day or two! And Kita certainly goes through a lot!
Unfortunately, Once Bitten ultimately didn't do it for me. I felt like I had read this basic premise before (which isn't surprising), but it didn't do anything new. In fact, the whole set up reminded me a lot of the Shifters series by Rachel Vincent. In both, the main characters are shifters who left their kind, can do partial shifts and accidentally infected humans without knowing it, and then get in trouble it for it while being dragged kicking and screaming back to their homes. But Shifters did it a lot better, even though Kita got the added conflict of also being a newly turned vampire.
Once Bitten was just an okay read for me. I wasn't really bored with it, but I also just didn't care that much about Kita or her problems. I think if there had been more about where she came from and her history there, I could have become more invested. But as it is, it opens up with her running from hunters, immediately becoming a vampire, and no time to get to know her as a shifter before all of these other problems piled up.
Read more of my reviews at
Pinkindle Reads & Reviews. -
Rating: 3.5/5
Once Bitten was a quick, enjoyable story and is an interesting beginning to a new Urban Fantasy series that shows a lot of potential. The universe consists of shifters, vamps, mages and much more. The combination of all these preternatural characters and the unique attributes that Kalayna Price gives them was entertaining plus they gave the story elements of surprise.
The story was filled with a lot of action and just a couple slow spots but for the most part I really enjoyed the pace set in this book. After I read the summary, I was very curious to find out what would happen to a shifter turned into vampire. The reason being because most vampires remain in the state that they turned so I wanted to find out how things would shape up for Kita. Would she be a hybrid vampire-shifter? Or would she be frozen at the age and shape she was in when she was turned, forever without the ability to shift again?
Kita herself is very strong willed and at times too stubborn for her own good. This stubbornness leads to much mayhem throughout the story and was a bit of an aggravation point for me at the beginning. The bits and pieces of Kita’s past is slowly leaked into the story and eventually I could understand why she is the way she is. It would’ve been better to know some of this a little sooner in the story.
The other characters in the story added a feeling of companionship between Kita and themselves, even when Kita was trying to avoid the friendship offered. There are subtle hints at a possible romance but the story is mainly centered on Kita finding the rogue shifter before her 72 hour reprieve runs out.
Once Bitten is just the tip of the iceberg in the Haven series; there were many tidbits throughout the story that alluded to a much deeper universe that begs to be explored. I did go on to read the next book in the Haven series, Twice Dead and I can vouch that is does live up to that suggestion of more. That review will be up next. -
Kita is a shifter who changes into a calico house cat, but then she's attacked, and a hot vampire (Nathanial) comes to her aid, changing her into a vampire. She's the only shifter-vampire hybrid to survive the transition. I like the calico cuteness, and the hybrid idea sounds original enough, so I'm intrigued. But wait, there's more. Shifters live on another plan and can only cross over to our world on the full moon. I'm cool with that. Female shifters are not allowed to cross for a reason no one explains, so Kita is on the run from hunters sent to find her and bring her back. Meh - not too into this part of the plot. She's the heir to a throne. Huh? Whatever, moving on. One of the hunters is her childhood sweetheart, Bobby, who her father married off to another woman to prevent her from mating. Can you say love triangle? After she's changed into a vampire, a wizard appears out of thin air with 3 demons and says he's the judge and he finds her guilty of turning humans into pseudo-shifters who have been killing people. What? Why would the author feel the need for THIS plot element? There's enough going on already! She and Nathanial didn't even know that wizards existed, much less had appointed themselves judges of all supes! The wizard makes a deal with her to find the culprits or die in a few days. Then another wizard (Gil) pops out and says she's a scholar there to study the rare Kita. This has now turned into the very-cliched fantasy buddy quest, which makes me want to retch. On top of this, there's a vampire council that makes life for Kita and Nathanial very difficult. And Kita can't shift to a kitty as a vampire, which is heart breaking to her and an absolute waste from the cool-fantasy-powers perspective. There's a chance that power might eventually come back, though.
I really don't know if it is worth reading more of this series. The story development isn't great- formulaic and predictable. Not enough time on character development and too many things going on at once. I think this author needs a good writing buddy to stay on track.
