marissax22's review against another edition
5.0
I'm a Patricia Briggs junkie so when an off-series of the Mercy Thompson books showed up I was instantly hooked! I love watching Anna come into her own. She was the lowest of the pack, quiet, keeping her head down kind of gal but then Charles comes into her life. A very powerful werewolf who will change her life and the way others see her.
harveyjoy53's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
carebear11's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
disneydamsel1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Even though it is the first in a series, you are better off reading some of the other works before this one
kphmitten's review against another edition
2.0
This book was really disappointing. The back of the book is basically a quick history lesson of the book - it immediately jumps to a random "present" moment and barely touches upon anything that happened in the past. Maybe Briggs left that for the next book. I felt the relationship was hallow. The actual plot was a good idea, I'm just not sure I liked the execution. Whether or not I'm curious enough to pick up subsequent books will be seen.
lucy_qhuay's review against another edition
2.0
I either don't appreciate Patricia Briggs or I just should have read her Mercy Thompson series first and I'm going to tell you why.
So many people say this author is amazing and that her books are just awesome, but when I wasn't completely bewildered, thinking that I was missing a lot of background information, I was bored.
Nothing interesting ever happened, I didn't know what was going on most of the time or what the big deal was concerning certain aspects and let's not even talk about the female protagonist, Anna.
I know she had it tough, with being ripped from her former life, when she was attacked by a werewolf and became one herself, and then the abuse she suffered at the hands of her pack and so on.
But I need my tortured characters to be strong and I didn't think she was, which is why I don't care all that much about her. I know she grew up as a character and became much more confident, but it wasn't enough.
I did love the fact her mate and all-time hottie, Charles, was a sexy Native American and all the Native American aspects surrounding him. It was refreshing and that's always good.
My verdict - I'll probably reread this book somewhere in the future, after reading the Mercy Thompson series, just to see if my opinion still stands.
ashlit's review against another edition
2.0
Not as great as I was hoping for, left me wanting more. The characters were forgettable, disappointed for sure.
ahyggelibrary's review against another edition
5.0
I suspect that this series will become my go to for werewolf entertainment.
fictionalkate's review against another edition
4.0
I feel I should start this review by saying that I love Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series and because of this, I was thrilled to learn that this series was a spin off and concentrated on the wolves from Bran’s Montana pack. I’d often wondered what he got up to when he wasn’t busy trying to fix up Mercy’s mistakes.
The start of this book picks up directly after the novella Alpha and Omega (from the anthology On the Prowl) but it’s not necessary to read the prequel. I enjoy Briggs’ writing and her characters. She’s not shy about putting them through the wringer. She tortures them and makes them relive their nightmares and this only makes me like her stories more. I’m not sadistic but I like how real it makes her characters to me. The bad parts of life aren’t glossed over but rather highlighted in a way that can make me feel very uncomfortable at the brutality. At the same time I appreciate that for all the supernatural elements of her novels, it’s a vivid representation of human nature. Bad things do happen and Briggs addresses that life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
Anna’s introduction to the supernatural world has not been an easy one. She was raped repeatedly by those in her pack who were supposed to be family and the ones to protect her from such a violent life. After three years of such treatment she meets Charles Cornick – the Marrok’s youngest son- and things change even further. She’s told that she’s his mate and that she needs to accompany him back to his pack. And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s a rogue wolf in pack territory that needs to be taken care of. Oh Anna… what have you gotten yourself into?
Throughout everything, Anna has a spirit that I greatly admired. She wasn’t without weakness but she persevered and when push came to shove, she did what she had to do to protect what was hers. Charles was just as likeable. I like that the characters in the novel weren’t two-dimensional. They all have flaws and problems but they’re dynamic in the sense that they’re willing to change for the ones they love. It was an interesting ride to see Charles have to cope with Anna’s past and trying to help her despite it being a completely unfamiliar situation for him that went slightly against his Alpha nature.
I like how consistent Briggs is with her world. The mating bond, the pack bonds and the way wolves behave is all consistent with that of the Mercy Thompson series which is set in the same universe as Alpha & Omega. I loved the way that all events that occur in this novel happen in a way that feel planned for. The new characters and supernatural happenings feel perfectly natural happening in this story. That’s not to say that there are no surprises – there are many surprising actions and plot points that occur. But they are not just thrown at the reader – they feel appropriate and logical and exciting.
The start of this book picks up directly after the novella Alpha and Omega (from the anthology On the Prowl) but it’s not necessary to read the prequel. I enjoy Briggs’ writing and her characters. She’s not shy about putting them through the wringer. She tortures them and makes them relive their nightmares and this only makes me like her stories more. I’m not sadistic but I like how real it makes her characters to me. The bad parts of life aren’t glossed over but rather highlighted in a way that can make me feel very uncomfortable at the brutality. At the same time I appreciate that for all the supernatural elements of her novels, it’s a vivid representation of human nature. Bad things do happen and Briggs addresses that life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
Anna’s introduction to the supernatural world has not been an easy one. She was raped repeatedly by those in her pack who were supposed to be family and the ones to protect her from such a violent life. After three years of such treatment she meets Charles Cornick – the Marrok’s youngest son- and things change even further. She’s told that she’s his mate and that she needs to accompany him back to his pack. And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s a rogue wolf in pack territory that needs to be taken care of. Oh Anna… what have you gotten yourself into?
Throughout everything, Anna has a spirit that I greatly admired. She wasn’t without weakness but she persevered and when push came to shove, she did what she had to do to protect what was hers. Charles was just as likeable. I like that the characters in the novel weren’t two-dimensional. They all have flaws and problems but they’re dynamic in the sense that they’re willing to change for the ones they love. It was an interesting ride to see Charles have to cope with Anna’s past and trying to help her despite it being a completely unfamiliar situation for him that went slightly against his Alpha nature.
I like how consistent Briggs is with her world. The mating bond, the pack bonds and the way wolves behave is all consistent with that of the Mercy Thompson series which is set in the same universe as Alpha & Omega. I loved the way that all events that occur in this novel happen in a way that feel planned for. The new characters and supernatural happenings feel perfectly natural happening in this story. That’s not to say that there are no surprises – there are many surprising actions and plot points that occur. But they are not just thrown at the reader – they feel appropriate and logical and exciting.