Review: Bent, Not Broken (The Death Watchers Book 1) by Suki Sather

Bent, Not Broken (The Death Watchers Book 1)
by Suki Sather

Delaney is an ordinary college student with good grades and a bright future in anthropology and a part-time job at the mall with her best friend for as long as she can remember. She loves music and is working to master Krav Magra. Her loving adoptive parents and three foster sisters are the center of her very routine, normal life.
Delaney also struggles with strange dreams and feeling lost and afraid, and though her Death Watcher is always right next to her, she has no clue he is there in the shadows protecting her, or the truths about her past that make it so important for her to be shielded in the stability and normalcy those who love her crusade to maintain around her.
The fight has only just begun in a war that has raged since the birth of humanity.
Can darkness conquer the light or will Delaney awaken and decide that ordinary is truly over rated?

My Take:
Let's start by saying this book is definitely not YA, and has a very strong sexual tension running throughout. While I would not label it erotica, it's not something I'd hand a 15yo to enjoy. There are graphic scenes of torture, murder, decapitations, and a few scenes of physical torture and sexual abuse. There are two long erotic scenes that culminate in sex. The things the characters survive in this book are not survivable, unless you have a magical talent at healing. Which, fortunately for them, they do. As Iago says in Return of Jafar, "you'd be surprised what you can live through."

The tension between Delaney and Malik is palpable throughout, and it's obvious that they have a 'history' that she doesn't remember, and he does. As her memory has been repeatedly wiped to prevent her from being tracked, she doesn't remember their past, and he's tortured by the memory of a love he can't have, a forbidden love with a girl that doesn't know he exists. He protects her constantly, and she can't even see him; she only senses the hint of cinnamon in the air.

The baddies in this book are very very bad. The goodies, well, they're mostly just 'not so bad'. The combination becomes very dark, and Delaney starts to wonder whether she will destroy everyone she cares about before she gains control of the incredible power buried inside.

Content:

Violence:
R - As I stated earlier, there's a lot. Head smashing, chest crushing, impaling, decapitation, blood everywhere. There were many graphic scenes of bloody violence, ones people would not normally survive, and often didn't. There's a good bit of dying, as it appears to be an ages-old war between many paranormally empowered classes of semi-demi-gods.

Language:
R - There's a liberal dose of profanity in this book, with several F-bombs dropped throughout.

Adult Content:
R+ - There are two sex scenes that are borderline erotica, and a lot of sexual tension and language throughout. It's discussed that one female victim is repeatedly abused sexually by the baddies. I won't label the book erotica, as that's not what the book is centered on, but the two main characters have quite a lot of interest in each other when not fighting for their lives.

Christian content:
There's none. The book appears to be based on mystic Indian folklore and shaman beliefs, though it's not readily apparent until late in the book. There is a place where the main bad guy is described, making him out to be similar to the Grim Reaper gone rogue. Hell is discussed and demons, and there's a long discussion about the Creators, or Spirit People, who started the whole thing off and created the hybrids, and the tribes they started it with. The characters in the book are, for the most part, hybrid humans with animal DNA with special paranormal powers mixed in. It's sort of a cross between Brother Bear, Heroes, and the Avengers. They don't age or die easily, and have the ability to teleport or remain invisible, have super-strength or other paranormal powers.

Final analysis:

I love a good book with powered people struggling to survive in a high-stakes game against other powered people bent on their destruction for no particularly good reason, other than, well, nothing better to do. I may have missed the part where we find out why Isabeau and Caleb want everyone dead so badly. My impression was that they just really didn't like them very much...

There are a significant number of POV shifts that caused a bit of confusion while reading, and enough class names and nicknames for the powered hybrids to add to that. There were a noticeable number of typos. There were some places where the plot dragged a bit.  All in all, however, the plot was intriguing, the stakes high, the characters believable, the action fast-paced. It's definitely not YA, set clearly by content into Adult Fiction. It's a good read, but the issues above kept this reader from considering it a real page turner, as I'd hoped. Four Stars.

About the Author:
For more information on the Death Watcher series and the world Suki Sather created please check out sukisather.com

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