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The Hybrid of High Moon #4
Bent, Not Broken
WITCH, WEREWOLF, AND WORLD SAVIOR.
IT’S A LOT FOR ONE GIRL TO SHOULDER.
Tamara Bentley thought rescuing her parents from the fairy queen would be enough – that she could go back to college and resume her life. Pity for her that reality has other plans, especially since it’s on the verge of collapsing.
Demonic entities are destroying the portals linking Earth to the multiverse. When the last one falls, all life as we know it will end. Sadly, with each connection severed, the supernatural beings of our world grow weaker. As their power fades, so too does their chances of stopping this cataclysm once and for all.
Tamara will need to muster both her strength and burgeoning magic to make one last stand, but it won’t be easy. The forces marshaled against her grow stronger with each passing day. If even an army of witches and werewolves can’t defeat them, what hope does one girl have against an unstoppable tide of evil?
IT’S A LOT FOR ONE GIRL TO SHOULDER.
Tamara Bentley thought rescuing her parents from the fairy queen would be enough – that she could go back to college and resume her life. Pity for her that reality has other plans, especially since it’s on the verge of collapsing.
Demonic entities are destroying the portals linking Earth to the multiverse. When the last one falls, all life as we know it will end. Sadly, with each connection severed, the supernatural beings of our world grow weaker. As their power fades, so too does their chances of stopping this cataclysm once and for all.
Tamara will need to muster both her strength and burgeoning magic to make one last stand, but it won’t be easy. The forces marshaled against her grow stronger with each passing day. If even an army of witches and werewolves can’t defeat them, what hope does one girl have against an unstoppable tide of evil?
- GenresUrban FantasyFantasy
452 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 24, 2022
49 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Rick Gualtieri
88 books765 followersRick Gualtieri loves to write adventure, mayhem, and snarky dialogue. His bestselling Tome of Bill series combines all of this into a world of supernatural danger with hard-hitting action and plenty of sharp-tongued geeky humor.
Rick lives alone in a dark, evil place called New Jersey with only his wife, three kids, and countless pets to both keep him company and constantly plot against him. When he's not busy monkey-clicking out words, he can typically be found jealously guarding his collection of vintage Transformers from all who would seek to defile them.
Defilers beware!
Email: rickg.author@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/RickGualtieriAuthor
Rick lives alone in a dark, evil place called New Jersey with only his wife, three kids, and countless pets to both keep him company and constantly plot against him. When he's not busy monkey-clicking out words, he can typically be found jealously guarding his collection of vintage Transformers from all who would seek to defile them.
Defilers beware!
Email: rickg.author@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/RickGualtieriAuthor
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 27, 2022
BENT, NOT BROKEN is the fourth novel in THE HYBRID OF HIGH MOON series by Rick Gualtieri. I am a huge fan of this series and I actually consider it to be his best work, even funnier than BILL THE VAMPIRE and more likable characters than FALSE ICONS. I admit part of this is bias as the main character reminds me of my own creation, Jane Doe, in my I WAS A TEENAGE WEREDEER series. She's small, snarky, tough, and full of attitude.
In this story, Bentley has to deal with an invasion of powerful Elder God style monsters from another reality called voiders. She also has to struggle with a blue blooded werewolf underming her authority. Oh and the dreaded love triangle that is handled surprisingly well without any real wishy-washiness. I really enjoyed it from beginning to end and think it may be the best of the entire series so far.
I AM upset it is the penultimate book, though! It should continue forever!
In this story, Bentley has to deal with an invasion of powerful Elder God style monsters from another reality called voiders. She also has to struggle with a blue blooded werewolf underming her authority. Oh and the dreaded love triangle that is handled surprisingly well without any real wishy-washiness. I really enjoyed it from beginning to end and think it may be the best of the entire series so far.
I AM upset it is the penultimate book, though! It should continue forever!
June 14, 2022
I’d found my ass in a whole other dimension. There, I was told by (Queen Brigid, goddess of the fae) that I needed to save all of reality from the very same creatures that had punted me out of my world to begin with, because otherwise they were going to trash all the thin spots between realms – which would somehow end up destroying the multiverse itself... Oh, and by the way, she was also all, “Here’s your mom and dad back, minus your dad’s legs because I’m a bitch. Oh, and as for your friend Riva, well, she’s a ghost now.”
In case you're wondering why I've included this mini-novella-length intro here, I just wanted to mention how I've really enjoyed how Gualtieri kicks off each book in the series with an extremely brief but definitely worthwhile recap of past events! It's even more extremely helpful if, say, you haven't been doing like I have, namely reading "The Hybrid of High Moon" series non-stop since about this time 8 or 9 days ago. Still, we - and by "we" I mean Tamara and co. - have been through the proverbial ringer since then, going the full gamut from her parents doing the horizontal mambo (I assume it was horizontal: we do get more details in this chapter but not detailed details if you catch my drift) to some major beat-downs-and-arounds from various critters from here and beyond. And that's not even including a, well, rather typical family get-together (yes, half the folks get killed... so, yeah, like Thanksgiving!) nor the mind-altering trip described above. And if you somehow missed that (who starts a series this late?), that was really cool because we also got to meet a score of fantasy creatures, gods, Gods and potentially even things that would outrank all of them combined!
I was something unique, a melding of not two but three worlds: witch, werewolf, and a dollop of the weirdness that existed between realities.
So a big part of "Bent, Not Broken" (and not "Shaken, Not Stirred!" as my brain kept insisting) is our dear Tam Tam trying her best to save the multiverse without having to call on Dr. Strange or more accurately, without missin' out on some strange herself (bad sex pun, sorry, not sorry). It also serves as a step, well, not back really but definitely towards what we saw previously, namely, a LOT of politics surrounding the various creatures of the world and in particular in this corner of Pennsylvania as well as family hijinks galore! What's a poor college sophomore to do? You know besides act like Flash Gordon and save every one of us? But seriously, re-visiting the politics of both the werewolves and the Dragflugargennurgle (sp?) got me personally so frustrated at one point, I had to put the book down - gently (Kindles are expensive!) - for a few hours! That's some powerful writing that is… not to mention how it caused me to develop a severe case of rabid empathy with our MC!
Shit! I wasn’t ready to get my head stuck in the asshole of werewolf politics again, at least not yet.
But yes, despite the C-Span peace talk hearings, we're treated to some pretty rad stuff along the way, even if things didn't always turn out for the best for the side players involved! What the Sheriff - the apparent Guardian (Big G) of at very least High Moon - does and goes through is worth the price of admission all on its own! And naturally, Tamara does her best (kinda) but there's some real shit hitting the galactic fan during all this! Gualtieri though does know how to make such poetic events turn out for the, well, again maybe not the best but certainly entertaining as all get out! And how it ALL - we're talking Page 1 Book 1 to the final epilogue in this one - fits together is just so, so fantastic! Even if I sure as hell didn't see how that one was going to work out! But what's new, right?
Weredeer I could buy, but a fucking weremoose? Why couldn’t it have been weresquirrels, or maybe a bunch of wereferrets?... the only thing less frightening would be a pack of werecorgis.
And even though there's no REAL mysteries to solve (ZOINKS!), there's also some pretty cool Scooby-Doo moments (an abandoned amusement park? Who'd a thunk it?). And no, I'm not trying to make a pun about Earl and Auntie Fi's HIGH-jinks (oh ha ha, I crack myself up... referencing of course the hypothesis-slash-conspiracy-theory that that entire show was just Shaggy fried out of his skull and hallucinating that his dog was talking)! Plus it's pretty interesting along the way that the younger generation plays such a big role - which is kind of necessary since a lot of the older folks have been squished away by now. But it's a great device to get even more acquainted with the lore of our main tribes and get ready for what's coming up!
Love had brought my parents together, but I guess one could never count out good drugs when it came to building a lasting friendship.
But damn, if you're a fan of Mike Mignola and Hellboy stories, how could you NOT just squee with extra excitement when the Great Hunt started (um… SPOILER ALERT!!)?! Wowzers, just when you think the kids were gonna slink off and make out all night, it just got extra awesome at that point! Werespiders and wererats? Really? Geez, if I can get my skin to quit crawling (yes, Chris Tullbane, you did the same damn thing to me with your weird-ass mutant spiders and that's not even mentioning Douglas Lumsden's respectful but still icky use of the wererats!), I'll remember that whole fight sequence as fondly as the one at the amusement park from "Zombieland". Sheesh! What a headcount! And arms, legs, claws and worse- count! Oh the humanity! Or should that be "oh the therianthropity!"? Well, you know what I mean!
There had to be some mistake. There was absolutely no sane way this could be happening.
As for the ending? Oh me oh my, that was amazeballs and more! Just desserts, some serious "you've got to be fucking kidding me!", a few tears (not that I'll admit it, no no no) and a big sigh of relief that there's still a book left in this crazy series! Gonna be fun, y'all!
In case you're wondering why I've included this mini-novella-length intro here, I just wanted to mention how I've really enjoyed how Gualtieri kicks off each book in the series with an extremely brief but definitely worthwhile recap of past events! It's even more extremely helpful if, say, you haven't been doing like I have, namely reading "The Hybrid of High Moon" series non-stop since about this time 8 or 9 days ago. Still, we - and by "we" I mean Tamara and co. - have been through the proverbial ringer since then, going the full gamut from her parents doing the horizontal mambo (I assume it was horizontal: we do get more details in this chapter but not detailed details if you catch my drift) to some major beat-downs-and-arounds from various critters from here and beyond. And that's not even including a, well, rather typical family get-together (yes, half the folks get killed... so, yeah, like Thanksgiving!) nor the mind-altering trip described above. And if you somehow missed that (who starts a series this late?), that was really cool because we also got to meet a score of fantasy creatures, gods, Gods and potentially even things that would outrank all of them combined!
I was something unique, a melding of not two but three worlds: witch, werewolf, and a dollop of the weirdness that existed between realities.
So a big part of "Bent, Not Broken" (and not "Shaken, Not Stirred!" as my brain kept insisting) is our dear Tam Tam trying her best to save the multiverse without having to call on Dr. Strange or more accurately, without missin' out on some strange herself (bad sex pun, sorry, not sorry). It also serves as a step, well, not back really but definitely towards what we saw previously, namely, a LOT of politics surrounding the various creatures of the world and in particular in this corner of Pennsylvania as well as family hijinks galore! What's a poor college sophomore to do? You know besides act like Flash Gordon and save every one of us? But seriously, re-visiting the politics of both the werewolves and the Dragflugargennurgle (sp?) got me personally so frustrated at one point, I had to put the book down - gently (Kindles are expensive!) - for a few hours! That's some powerful writing that is… not to mention how it caused me to develop a severe case of rabid empathy with our MC!
Shit! I wasn’t ready to get my head stuck in the asshole of werewolf politics again, at least not yet.
But yes, despite the C-Span peace talk hearings, we're treated to some pretty rad stuff along the way, even if things didn't always turn out for the best for the side players involved! What the Sheriff - the apparent Guardian (Big G) of at very least High Moon - does and goes through is worth the price of admission all on its own! And naturally, Tamara does her best (kinda) but there's some real shit hitting the galactic fan during all this! Gualtieri though does know how to make such poetic events turn out for the, well, again maybe not the best but certainly entertaining as all get out! And how it ALL - we're talking Page 1 Book 1 to the final epilogue in this one - fits together is just so, so fantastic! Even if I sure as hell didn't see how that one was going to work out! But what's new, right?
Weredeer I could buy, but a fucking weremoose? Why couldn’t it have been weresquirrels, or maybe a bunch of wereferrets?... the only thing less frightening would be a pack of werecorgis.
And even though there's no REAL mysteries to solve (ZOINKS!), there's also some pretty cool Scooby-Doo moments (an abandoned amusement park? Who'd a thunk it?). And no, I'm not trying to make a pun about Earl and Auntie Fi's HIGH-jinks (oh ha ha, I crack myself up... referencing of course the hypothesis-slash-conspiracy-theory that that entire show was just Shaggy fried out of his skull and hallucinating that his dog was talking)! Plus it's pretty interesting along the way that the younger generation plays such a big role - which is kind of necessary since a lot of the older folks have been squished away by now. But it's a great device to get even more acquainted with the lore of our main tribes and get ready for what's coming up!
Love had brought my parents together, but I guess one could never count out good drugs when it came to building a lasting friendship.
But damn, if you're a fan of Mike Mignola and Hellboy stories, how could you NOT just squee with extra excitement when the Great Hunt started (um… SPOILER ALERT!!)?! Wowzers, just when you think the kids were gonna slink off and make out all night, it just got extra awesome at that point! Werespiders and wererats? Really? Geez, if I can get my skin to quit crawling (yes, Chris Tullbane, you did the same damn thing to me with your weird-ass mutant spiders and that's not even mentioning Douglas Lumsden's respectful but still icky use of the wererats!), I'll remember that whole fight sequence as fondly as the one at the amusement park from "Zombieland". Sheesh! What a headcount! And arms, legs, claws and worse- count! Oh the humanity! Or should that be "oh the therianthropity!"? Well, you know what I mean!
There had to be some mistake. There was absolutely no sane way this could be happening.
As for the ending? Oh me oh my, that was amazeballs and more! Just desserts, some serious "you've got to be fucking kidding me!", a few tears (not that I'll admit it, no no no) and a big sigh of relief that there's still a book left in this crazy series! Gonna be fun, y'all!
April 11, 2023
This is 3.5 but I have a problem with protagonists who seem to miss what is obviously going on around them. I mean constantly. I know that it might be easier to see from the outside but at some point it just seems that the character is stupid and I don’t believe that was the author’s intent. Also when the lead character heaps all this guilt on themselves, I don’t think we are supposed to agree with them. In this case the lead character’s cluelessness and inability to actually listen to those around her actually are the cause of much of the random death in this book. I admit I spent much of the listening to this audiobook yelling at the lead character to get her head out of her ass. It is a shame since I liked almost everything thing else about this book. I have also enjoyed reading other books by this author.
It did not help there were to incidences where there was repeated (2 or 3) partial paragraphs, like where the narrator didn’t like the the way it sounded or stumbled and started again, and thought the engineer would cut out the first part. Don’t people listen to these before sending out into the world. I listen to around 160 books a year and 5 to 10% have theses errors.
It did not help there were to incidences where there was repeated (2 or 3) partial paragraphs, like where the narrator didn’t like the the way it sounded or stumbled and started again, and thought the engineer would cut out the first part. Don’t people listen to these before sending out into the world. I listen to around 160 books a year and 5 to 10% have theses errors.
April 20, 2024
Gualtieri hits his stride again in the fourth book in the series. Bent is charged with saving the multiverse by the goddess of the witches while her parents (one a werewolf and one a witch) weirdly worry that she should ignore her mother’s goddess’ commands and go to college instead. Because you know, that college degree is really going to matter after the multiverse ends. Sometimes I think that Gualtieri forgets what’s actually going on in his own books.
That being said, this book is packed with good action, wonderfully malicious betrayals, great tension building side plots, and a very credible end of the world scenario. The death count is also high as the entire supporting cast is in danger and not all of them survive until the end. My favorite character in the series buys the farm (so to speak) and as unhappy as I was about it, it was well done and served the plot well.
I was under the impression that the series was done with this one, but it’s obviously only done until Gualtieri writes the next book. That being said, it could have been a series ender. It would have made a great finale.
That being said, this book is packed with good action, wonderfully malicious betrayals, great tension building side plots, and a very credible end of the world scenario. The death count is also high as the entire supporting cast is in danger and not all of them survive until the end. My favorite character in the series buys the farm (so to speak) and as unhappy as I was about it, it was well done and served the plot well.
I was under the impression that the series was done with this one, but it’s obviously only done until Gualtieri writes the next book. That being said, it could have been a series ender. It would have made a great finale.
July 5, 2022
Another bent but not broken tale
It took a bit to remember whet the wires had left of but he more I read, the better the story flowed. Bent' s battles on all fronts continues dragging everyone into battle lines. Werewolves, witches, and monsters on all sides and sometimes they are the same. Overall, the story completes an arc and leaves another open so there is more to look forward to.
It took a bit to remember whet the wires had left of but he more I read, the better the story flowed. Bent' s battles on all fronts continues dragging everyone into battle lines. Werewolves, witches, and monsters on all sides and sometimes they are the same. Overall, the story completes an arc and leaves another open so there is more to look forward to.
February 13, 2023
another good read but…..
With all the strength and power plus magical powerTM Tam has she still stood by and felt helpless when people she cared about were brutally murdered. That was disappointing. She did not discover how to do what was needed until many had died. It should have happened much earlier. Still Al lot of good twists and turns
With all the strength and power plus magical powerTM Tam has she still stood by and felt helpless when people she cared about were brutally murdered. That was disappointing. She did not discover how to do what was needed until many had died. It should have happened much earlier. Still Al lot of good twists and turns
March 15, 2023
I love Rick G!!
I have now completed the series and I must say that Tamara Bentley is my all time favorite hybrid. Taking the world by storm and pure will, that girl's got spunk! Still can't stand her mother, but I still adore her father. Bent, you made me feel like I was right there with you. See you soon!
I have now completed the series and I must say that Tamara Bentley is my all time favorite hybrid. Taking the world by storm and pure will, that girl's got spunk! Still can't stand her mother, but I still adore her father. Bent, you made me feel like I was right there with you. See you soon!
May 7, 2025
Fabulous
I sure hope Rick Gualtieri writes more in this series. The story line is well written and I had to make myself put the books down to fix meals, clean house and go to bed. I'm not sure if there was a target group for the books, but I'm on my 70s and throughly enjoyed them.
I sure hope Rick Gualtieri writes more in this series. The story line is well written and I had to make myself put the books down to fix meals, clean house and go to bed. I'm not sure if there was a target group for the books, but I'm on my 70s and throughly enjoyed them.
May 30, 2022
Great Story
Tamara is tough and in this story she needs to be. Trouble is coming from several directions and trying to figure out who She can trust and who she can't is a full time job. And of course the story has action, romance, and a lot of humor. Fun read.
Tamara is tough and in this story she needs to be. Trouble is coming from several directions and trying to figure out who She can trust and who she can't is a full time job. And of course the story has action, romance, and a lot of humor. Fun read.
May 27, 2022
Hilarious and exciting!
I have one complaint: the book ended. It was a blast getting to enjoy another crazy adventure with Bent. No pressure Rick, but more please!
I have one complaint: the book ended. It was a blast getting to enjoy another crazy adventure with Bent. No pressure Rick, but more please!
June 14, 2022
Great
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Tamara. I'm not sure what is going to happen next, but I'll be there for the ride.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Tamara. I'm not sure what is going to happen next, but I'll be there for the ride.
August 17, 2022
Definitely Bent Definitely Not Broken
Overall this was a good read. I have to say that I loved the little Easter egg nestled near the end. But don't blink or else you'll miss it.
Overall this was a good read. I have to say that I loved the little Easter egg nestled near the end. But don't blink or else you'll miss it.
January 25, 2025
2nd attempt
I'm a big fan of Bill the Vampire and had tried the Get Bent series before but it hadn't grabbed me. So glad I tried again can't wait for the next one.
I'm a big fan of Bill the Vampire and had tried the Get Bent series before but it hadn't grabbed me. So glad I tried again can't wait for the next one.
June 27, 2025
Nice series
I find it hard to finish a series if the first book does not hold my interest. I read all the books!!
I find it hard to finish a series if the first book does not hold my interest. I read all the books!!
November 18, 2025
Good Read
This was a good read, decent enough action and understanding about magic and position in life and what it actually means to be responsible for that aspect.
This was a good read, decent enough action and understanding about magic and position in life and what it actually means to be responsible for that aspect.
April 2, 2023
Too YA
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews