Get Bent!

The Hybrid of High Moon Series, Book 1

By: Rick Gualtieri

Narrated by: Rachel Dulude

Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

My name is Tamara Bentley, "Bent" to my friends, and I'm not supposed to exist. I was born of the forbidden union between a witch and a werewolf, and they've been trying their damnedest to hide my existence ever since. 

But now my secret is out, and my uncle, the leader of the wolf pack, is pissed beyond belief. In his eyes, I'm something that should've never been born. He wants me dead and doesn't care who he has to sacrifice to get the job done. 

I'm far from helpless, though. Not only am I a champion athlete, but I'm strong enough to punch out a bus. Good thing, too, because a rare lunar event is about to increase my uncle's already terrifying power. I'll have to call on every last ounce of strength I have if I want to survive the night and save the lives of everyone counting on me.

©2018 Rick Gualtieri (P)2018 Tantor

Gualtieri Strikes Again!

First off, I have to confess that I love urban fantasy novels that feature kick-ass female leads.

So, when I discovered that Gualtieri had a new novel out, I knew I would be getting it. Since I had some credits on my Audible account, I chose to purchase the audio book version. It was a choice I do not regret in the least.

The story:
Having already been a fan of Gualtieri’s Tome of Bill series, I already knew what to expect when it came to writing style. There would be plenty of action, more than a bit of snark, and several moments that would make me honestly laugh aloud. All of which came to pass.

As a character, Tamara Bentley, Bent to her friends, is both familiar and unique. Familiar, because she’s written like a normal American college girl home for summer vacation. Unique, in the fact that she’s not only a female who participates in the male-dominated sport of wrestling, but she’s also a hybrid born of two warring supernatural species.

Without risking spoilers, let’s just say that Bent’s existence isn’t something the two sides of her heritage are willing to tolerate.

The premise is a slightly different take on the theme, but Gualtieri handles it perfectly. The buildup to the revelation is paced properly and when things start to go sideways (as they usually do in these tales), the narrative keeps up with the flow.

The characters:

Bent is an interesting character. She could have been a cookie-cutter heroine, but she’s presented like an average person suddenly thrust into a non-average situation. Her parents, despite being denizens of the supernatural, behave like you would expect adult to. Reeva, Bent’s best friend and confidante, had some of the best lines in the book. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of her in future installments.

Some of the minor characters did seem a little stocky. However, if Gualtieri had spent time to turn everyone who made an appearance into a complete person, with motivations and backgrounds, the audio book would have been a hundred hours long. Spear-carriers are there for a reason and in Get Bent, they are as fleshed out as they needed to be to tell the tale.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. As with the Tome of Bill, I’ve instantly found a new series to keep me entertained and make me frustrated as I devour the latest and have to wait on the next installment. If you’re a fan of humor-filled, action-packed urban fantasy, you really should give this series a try.

Get Bent!

4.5 stars
I won a book by this author and I truly didn’t have any idea what I was going to pick, then I saw werewolf and thought ok I might like that. NO way I LOVED IT.

There isn’t a romance which is my thing but this book didn’t need it. I loved how Bent learns about herself and her family it was funny and witty.

The world building was straight and to the point it was perfect to suck you in. I want to know what’s going to happen! So I will be jumping on book 2 asap.

The narration is fantastic for this story and for Bent she is so entertaining.

Get Bent! is fantastic! Another series I’ll have to devour as each volume comes available.

I wasn’t sure how I’d like the author of Bill the Vampire writing about a teenage female, but he developed the characters and the world brilliantly.

I really enjoyed the snarky dialogue, the dichotomy of the different paranormal groups, and the relatable character interactions. This was fun. It was not predictable. There were difficult decisions, perilous situations, and witty banter.

I’m ready for book two!

I got bent and I liked it!

Josh here

What a fun story! Listening along on Bent’s journey to self-discovery in her new role in a world not of her own creation was quite enjoyable. The dynamic between two different warring paranormal species brought me back to memories of Rick’s other works.

One thing that always resonates with me in a story is human connections. In this story, watching the relationship between Reva and Tammy (see what I did there?) shift as Bent learned of her true nature solidified my being “drawn in” to the book. This story also had a lot of little extras that made me laugh such as the garden gnomes, Bent’s clueless guy friend (this was me in high school, and likely now), and the fights between Bent and her brother. Additionally, I laughed quite a bit at the “domesticated me” comment and told my wife about it. She then proclaimed that is what she had done to me in our relationship.

Rachel did a fantastic job with the narration and I will be looking into other works she has performed. As a fan of Rick’s already, I will be on the lookout for the next book in the series. I cannot wait to see what Rick has in store for Tammy.
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Melissa's Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 3 stars

My husband is friends with this author and suggested I give this book a listen to (audiobook version).

My biggest issue with this story was the lack of a backstory surrounding why the witches and werewolves hated each other. I mean, this story was solely focused on witches vs. werewolves, yet there was not much information as to why they could not get along.

Overall, this was an okay story. I loved the funnies/sarcasm that the author incorporated throughout the story. I liked Bent’s character and what all she had to go through, as well as how the characters interacted with each other.

The narrator did an awesome job! She has a very natural reading/narrating voice. I would definitely listen to more audiobooks by her.

Questions/Comments:

When there is shouting and howling involved, what parent would be clueless that their children cannot hear them having sex? I mean come on! I’m sure most readers/listeners just chuckled at that part, along with Bent and her friend, but I did not find that funny. Who wants to hear their parents having sex, especially when they have friends over?

Why was the wolf pack so surprised that her parents had had sex? Yes, they were sworn enemies, but I mean, they had been together for twenty years!

I believe there was only one other time when Bent was younger where she was late to take her medication. So, why does she act like she had been sick multiple times from with-drawl? I just did not understand her referring to herself as a junkie and being mad at her parents for putting her on an addictive medication. She was sick one time.

At the wrestling competition, Bent learns that her mother had double-dosed her that day. Had Bent won, her picture would have been in the newspaper and attention drawn to her. What was the big deal though? She had been taking the medication, which inhibited her powers/strength since she was a child. She was able to beat guys in wrestling on the medication up until that point in time. Why would anyone have been surprised if she had won the competition? That part didn’t make sense to me.

Craig tells Bent she will have to join the pack. But, prior to him even thinking of her having to marry one of the wolves, how did he think that was going to work out? I mean it is not like she was going to go back on her medication; therefore, the wolves would have known something strange was going on with her.

If she were forced to join the pack, how did she not think to at least be allowed to pick out her own wolf, as opposed to being stuck with Warty Jerry? Speaking of Jerry, what was with the warts? I've read/listened to plenty of werewolf-related stories. This was the first time in which a werewolf had a deformity, so to speak.

Was it just coincidence that Jerry and Gary rhymed? The wolf she doesn’t want/the human she does. Both being stupid males though.

Did her parents ever consider just moving? Her father could have left the pack. I do not know about her mother since she was still somehow the head witch. That part confused me as well. Why did her father have to step down as Alpha-in-training when her mother did not?

Her mother ends up hitting her with, basically a death spell. Had Bent not been Bent, she would have died. How did her mother know that the spell would not kill her though?

I found it strange that Craig felt like he was forced into a bad situation with Bent having powers and whatnot. He was the Alpha though. The Alpha is the ones in charge. He could have just told his wolves to leave her and her family alone. Look at her father did when he became Alpha. He told the other wolves to not mess with her. Simple.

Why did not Bent try to alert the police or someone, prior to the werewolves attacking? Whether she sounded crazy or not, she could have done something. So, any human who was killed during this battle is on her.

The witches and werewolves, like most supernatural creatures, do not want attention from the humans. They do whatever they have to do to stay in the shadows. So, how did Craig think killing a town full of people would help the werewolves? It was not like he knew the witches were going to come around and clean up their mess.

Why did her parents take so long before popping up at the very end of the battle? What were they doing? Bent could have easily died, yet her own parents were off doing who knows what. Even if the witches could not come right out and attack the werewolves, per their truce, they could have helped the humans.

looking forward to the next book

Not Bill, But a great story with wonderful characters. Thank you Richard and Rachel who did a great job bringing the Characters to life.

loved this book but one thing

the parents made their kid have to kill to get out of a problem that they made from all the lies that they feed her then expect her to know what to do. and no one called them on it.

They did a lot more but i don’t want to list it.


I did buy the next book it’s a good story

Loved it!!

I was lucky enough to find the two box sets of The Tome of Bill. That was my first Rick Gualtieri audiobook and I loved that so much I had to find another by him after it was done. So that brought me here and I’m happy it did because this series is great too even more fast paced action and one seriously not-to-be messed with girl. Bent! She is tough she is gritty and luckily fights for the people. If you like supernatural types you’ll love this one!!

Great new series to jump into!

Get Bent is a strong new thread in the Urban Fantasy tapestry. This new series stands on firm footing with Werewolves and Witches in a classic UF fashion, with all the sarcastic wit we enjoyed from the author's Tome of Bill series. Characters are strong and fun and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

You'll like this book if you're a big UF fan and are eager for a fun new take on werewolves and witches AND/OR you can appreciate occasionally grumpy humor in front of an action-packed backdrop. If you enjoyed Tome of Bill, you'll enjoy this just as much.

I can't wait for the next book!!!!

I have been impatiently waiting for this book to be available on audio and it didn't disappoint. I was hooked from the very beginning and it was such a fun story to listen to that it will definitely be on my list of books I relisten to when I am out of credits. I thought the narrator was the perfect voice for Bent and did a great job.

Supernatural

Cross between Buffy the vampire Slayer and legacy Sequel to the vampire diary Fun read easy to listen to story line