sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
TW - rape, gang rape
I wanted to like this so badly but there were just too many glaring issues. The author using the "Magical Indian/Indigenous Person Trope", everyone woman in this book BESIDES the main character Ana are awful evil bitchy women (this also happens in the prequel novella "Alpha and Omega".), and there's implied sexual assault an gang rape that the main character had to endure for three years and it was not dealt with properly (it shouldn't have been in the book at all).
I liked Charles and I wanted to like this book but I just couldn't. Here are some other issues; the pacing was very slow so 50% of the way through the book, nothing had taken place. It was all just character conversations and backstory. I read in someone else's review that this book is supposed to take place over the course of a day, I didn't see that in the book myself but I do admit that I have no idea how many days are supposed to have passed during the duration of this book so it definitely could have taken place over the course of one day.
The spicy scene okay, I'd give it 1 chili/ out of 5🌶️
Overall I give this book two stars out of five stars.
⭐️⭐️
Libbyapp.com
I wanted to like this so badly but there were just too many glaring issues. The author using the "Magical Indian/Indigenous Person Trope", everyone woman in this book BESIDES the main character Ana are awful evil bitchy women (this also happens in the prequel novella "Alpha and Omega".), and there's implied sexual assault an gang rape that the main character had to endure for three years and it was not dealt with properly (it shouldn't have been in the book at all).
I liked Charles and I wanted to like this book but I just couldn't. Here are some other issues; the pacing was very slow so 50% of the way through the book, nothing had taken place. It was all just character conversations and backstory. I read in someone else's review that this book is supposed to take place over the course of a day, I didn't see that in the book myself but I do admit that I have no idea how many days are supposed to have passed during the duration of this book so it definitely could have taken place over the course of one day.
The spicy scene okay, I'd give it 1 chili/ out of 5🌶️
Overall I give this book two stars out of five stars.
⭐️⭐️
Libbyapp.com
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Body horror
jordanrhovey's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
the_one_krissy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Animal death, War, and Rape
jessereadsthings's review against another edition
2.0
Just not that good.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Anna was attacked and changed into a werewolf three years ago, and spent the intervening time being abused by her pack. Charles is the younger son of Bran, the Marrok, sent to deal with problems in Anna’s pack. Their wolves almost immediately bonded and the novel opens with Bran helping Anna move out of her apartment so she can move in with Charles. This is a cold open which can be jarring, but it gets going quickly. I like Charles and Anna’s relationship, and this book as a whole has a strong focus on connection and healthy boundaries in relationships, along with a villain whose arc is the antithesis of those concepts. It makes for a strong story and an emotionally coherent narrative arc.
The worldbuilding style is odd, as this book is kind of a sequel twice over, while still potentially being the first book a particular reader might find in this set of stories. It’s the direct sequel to the novella “Alpha and Omega” which is itself kind of a “meanwhile, elsewhere” story which is set during the events of MOON CALLED, the first book in the Mercedes Thompson series. It’s assumed that the reader at minimum knows what happened in the novella, though someone who had read MOON CALLED but not “Alpha and Omega” might be able to keep up enough to enjoy it. It shows a different side of Bran and Charles than the Mercy Thompson books do, while introducing Anna, a recently abused Omega werewolf who is now Charles’s mate, despite having known him for barely a day when their wolves bonded. CRY WOLF is about what happens immediately after Anna’s abusers were dealt with, starting with her accompanying Charles to his home in Montana. There they try to figure out their brand new relationship, navigating love (and maybe sex) in the wake of horrific abuse which Anna can scarcely believe is over. The main plot intertwines their relationship with a hunt for a werewolf in the mountains after a hiker and a parker ranger are attacked in separate incidents. There’s a strong focus on Anna learning to feel safe with Charles, and how coping mechanisms she used to get through the abuse might make things more complicated now.
When thought of as a sequel, it wraps up a bunch of things left hanging from A&O while giving a status update in the aftermath of MC. It has a new storyline (the mountain journey) which is distinct from both of them. It introduces and resolves Asil’s present issues as well as Walter’s storyline, neither of which were previewed elsewhere. It establishes a new status quo for the characters but doesn’t specifically leave something dangling for later (other than Anna and Charles’s continued relationship). Anna and Charles are returning narrators from A&O, and their voices are consistent with their previous appearances. Asil is a new narrator, along with brief sections from Walter. Despite being the first book of a series, this is best read after MOON CALLED and “Alpha and Omega” (in the interest of both chronology and clarity).
The worldbuilding style is odd, as this book is kind of a sequel twice over, while still potentially being the first book a particular reader might find in this set of stories. It’s the direct sequel to the novella “Alpha and Omega” which is itself kind of a “meanwhile, elsewhere” story which is set during the events of MOON CALLED, the first book in the Mercedes Thompson series. It’s assumed that the reader at minimum knows what happened in the novella, though someone who had read MOON CALLED but not “Alpha and Omega” might be able to keep up enough to enjoy it. It shows a different side of Bran and Charles than the Mercy Thompson books do, while introducing Anna, a recently abused Omega werewolf who is now Charles’s mate, despite having known him for barely a day when their wolves bonded. CRY WOLF is about what happens immediately after Anna’s abusers were dealt with, starting with her accompanying Charles to his home in Montana. There they try to figure out their brand new relationship, navigating love (and maybe sex) in the wake of horrific abuse which Anna can scarcely believe is over. The main plot intertwines their relationship with a hunt for a werewolf in the mountains after a hiker and a parker ranger are attacked in separate incidents. There’s a strong focus on Anna learning to feel safe with Charles, and how coping mechanisms she used to get through the abuse might make things more complicated now.
When thought of as a sequel, it wraps up a bunch of things left hanging from A&O while giving a status update in the aftermath of MC. It has a new storyline (the mountain journey) which is distinct from both of them. It introduces and resolves Asil’s present issues as well as Walter’s storyline, neither of which were previewed elsewhere. It establishes a new status quo for the characters but doesn’t specifically leave something dangling for later (other than Anna and Charles’s continued relationship). Anna and Charles are returning narrators from A&O, and their voices are consistent with their previous appearances. Asil is a new narrator, along with brief sections from Walter. Despite being the first book of a series, this is best read after MOON CALLED and “Alpha and Omega” (in the interest of both chronology and clarity).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Violence, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Blood, Animal death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Slavery, Animal cruelty, and Death
Minor: Suicide attempt, War, Death of parent, Ableism, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Torture, and Rape
thenealordeal's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence
starte's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Physical abuse and Rape
sidhewitch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
Audiobook Review.
Don't read this if you haven't first read Alpha & Omega, the novella that introduces Charles and Anna. Every list says Cry Wolf is the first of the series, but it's really not - that novella is. It also may be helpful to know this ties into the Mercy Thompson series, but for this book at least it is unnecessary to read Moon Called before you read this.
I really enjoyed this book, though it moved a little slowly and the audiobook at times made perspective changes a little difficult to pick up on right away. You might see the "Alpha and Omega" title and think this is going to be Omegaverse, but while it shares some conventions with that trope, this isn't erotica even in the slightest. This is Urban Fantasy. Anna is an Omega, a rare type of werewolf who exists between and outside the werewolf hierarchy of Dominant Alpha's and Submissive Beta's. As a long-time victim of abuse, she doesn't have any faith in her strength or her power, and a lot of this book is about her learning how to trust both others and herself.
It's also about a weird left-field villain who shows up at the midpoint of the book with little to no preamble. You just find out about a Thing which has happened, and that leads down the path to said Villain, and then the rest of the book is about defeating them. I'm hopeful this isn't going to be a pattern, that it was simply a consequence of this being the first novel in the series and thus had to introduce and explain a lot, especially for folks who haven't read Moon Called and thus are meeting many of the Montana wolves for the first time. There also needed to be time to develop Anna and Charles' relationship. Still, that plus the constant POV switching and backtracking narrative to fill you in on the bits you missed while in the wrong POV made parts of the book drag. Overall though, if you're okay with the content warnings (see below) I give this one a hearty recommend.
The audiobook is narrated by Holter Graham, who also did the novella audiobook, and continues to do a fantastic job. I'm not usually a fan of male narrators for female POVs, but Holter avoids a lot of the really off-putting vocal styles many of his peers employ, and creates really distinct voices for every character that make it fairly easy to always tell who is speaking. This is a DENSE book though, so it was definitely a 1.25x or less listen, as opposed to my usual 1.5x. So beware you might not speed through this one like other books.
Don't read this if you haven't first read Alpha & Omega, the novella that introduces Charles and Anna. Every list says Cry Wolf is the first of the series, but it's really not - that novella is. It also may be helpful to know this ties into the Mercy Thompson series, but for this book at least it is unnecessary to read Moon Called before you read this.
I really enjoyed this book, though it moved a little slowly and the audiobook at times made perspective changes a little difficult to pick up on right away. You might see the "Alpha and Omega" title and think this is going to be Omegaverse, but while it shares some conventions with that trope, this isn't erotica even in the slightest. This is Urban Fantasy. Anna is an Omega, a rare type of werewolf who exists between and outside the werewolf hierarchy of Dominant Alpha's and Submissive Beta's. As a long-time victim of abuse, she doesn't have any faith in her strength or her power, and a lot of this book is about her learning how to trust both others and herself.
It's also about a weird left-field villain who shows up at the midpoint of the book with little to no preamble. You just find out about a Thing which has happened, and that leads down the path to said Villain, and then the rest of the book is about defeating them. I'm hopeful this isn't going to be a pattern, that it was simply a consequence of this being the first novel in the series and thus had to introduce and explain a lot, especially for folks who haven't read Moon Called and thus are meeting many of the Montana wolves for the first time. There also needed to be time to develop Anna and Charles' relationship. Still, that plus the constant POV switching and backtracking narrative to fill you in on the bits you missed while in the wrong POV made parts of the book drag. Overall though, if you're okay with the content warnings (see below) I give this one a hearty recommend.
The audiobook is narrated by Holter Graham, who also did the novella audiobook, and continues to do a fantastic job. I'm not usually a fan of male narrators for female POVs, but Holter avoids a lot of the really off-putting vocal styles many of his peers employ, and creates really distinct voices for every character that make it fairly easy to always tell who is speaking. This is a DENSE book though, so it was definitely a 1.25x or less listen, as opposed to my usual 1.5x. So beware you might not speed through this one like other books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Violence
Minor: Rape, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
CW Context:Animal Cruelty: I strongly disagree with folks classifying this as graphic. It's a couple sentences through the book, nothing is graphically described, but it IS disturbing to know it happened.
Violence: There is a fair bit of fighting, rarely described in any detail.
Minor CW's are all to do with Anna's backstory, and referring to what happened to her without actually describing any of it.
bookfun's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I am quite torn about this book and I think the reason is, that I didn't read the novella "alpha&omega", so the beginning of this book felt rather abrupt and made it hard to instantly conenct with the characters.
I loved Charles, his kind of brokenness that he hides so well, his protectivness of Anna and his silent determination and I love most how he relaxes because of Anna and how she is able to see his soft and fun side, without him actually having to change himself. I love seing the relationship between him and Samuel and him and Bran, I loooooved seing so much more of Bran and getting insights into him and I love that Patricia Briggs made him a kind of ambivalent good character. We know he is a good guy and he means good, but he is also ruthless in a way a truly good guy wouldn't be. He has to decide some things and act in ways that are kind of morally grey, like his relationship with Lea, but he has very good reasons for it and you feel for him, even as you wish that he would find another solution. It's really interesting getting to know him more.
I didn't like Anna too muc hin this book, but that is mostly becaus she is so passive and insecure and honestly, I don't think she could have been written differently, seeing her past, her trauma and her abuse. It makes sense, it just didn't make me like her, but she did came out of her shell from time to time and that made me confident that I will like her in the future. I'm a sucker for the silent strong woman in books and she seems to be exactly that. Strong and badass but in a different way than the kickass fighters (don't get me wrong, I love them too, but this is just a bit rarer, so I love reading about it).
Oh, and I absolutely loved Asil and I hope to read much much more of him in the future.
I didn't really read the Mercy Thompson world books in order unfortunately, I started with the Mercy Thompson series and didn't realize this series exists in the same universe and time, so I have to catch up a bit before I can go back to Mercy, and I would highly encourage people to read all the books in this world in the correct order, even the novellas.
I loved Charles, his kind of brokenness that he hides so well, his protectivness of Anna and his silent determination and I love most how he relaxes because of Anna and how she is able to see his soft and fun side, without him actually having to change himself. I love seing the relationship between him and Samuel and him and Bran, I loooooved seing so much more of Bran and getting insights into him and I love that Patricia Briggs made him a kind of ambivalent good character. We know he is a good guy and he means good, but he is also ruthless in a way a truly good guy wouldn't be. He has to decide some things and act in ways that are kind of morally grey, like his relationship with Lea, but he has very good reasons for it and you feel for him, even as you wish that he would find another solution. It's really interesting getting to know him more.
I didn't like Anna too muc hin this book, but that is mostly becaus she is so passive and insecure and honestly, I don't think she could have been written differently, seeing her past, her trauma and her abuse. It makes sense, it just didn't make me like her, but she did came out of her shell from time to time and that made me confident that I will like her in the future. I'm a sucker for the silent strong woman in books and she seems to be exactly that. Strong and badass but in a different way than the kickass fighters (don't get me wrong, I love them too, but this is just a bit rarer, so I love reading about it).
Oh, and I absolutely loved Asil and I hope to read much much more of him in the future.
I didn't really read the Mercy Thompson world books in order unfortunately, I started with the Mercy Thompson series and didn't realize this series exists in the same universe and time, so I have to catch up a bit before I can go back to Mercy, and I would highly encourage people to read all the books in this world in the correct order, even the novellas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Sexual assault