Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Cry Wolf by Charlie Adhara

5 reviews

13geese's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bilbili's review against another edition

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funny mysterious relaxing 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

4.5

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wilybooklover's review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

4.5

Another wonderful instalment in this series. Every book in this series has been solid (which is so rare, especially for a picky reader like myself) but I especially liked this one and how in tune Cooper and Park were. I loved how we've slowly learnt more about the werewolf world through the books, and I can't wait to discover more in the spinoff series. 
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galleytrot's review

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  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

FIRST READ: Feb 2023
SECOND READ: Aug 2024
FORMAT: Digital

BRIEF SUMMARY: 
In the fifth book of this contemporary shifter romance/suspense series, it’s three months after Cooper has proposed to Oliver. When Oliver’s ex, Eli, shows up to their new home requesting Cooper’s help with a sensitive situation, the affianced couple find themselves tangled up in yet another murder plot with apparently wide-spread roots – roots in the ruling packs, the rebel packs, the Wolf Independence Party, a certain human scientist, and potentially even the very Trust they work for. Even an old partner from Cooper’s days in the FBI seems to be involved. 

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 3.75 / 5⭐ 
I couldn’t be more pleased with how Cooper and Park’s relationship has continued to progress and develop in this series, although I feel like they may have peaked in the previous book and stayed on a steady plateau for the span of this one. We do get a fresh peek into an old relationship from Cooper’s past, giving us some retrospective insight that helps to explain his closed-off emotional constipation from the earlier books. 

I’ve got to say that while I was along for the ride for the majority of this book’s mystery, I really did disembark when we got to the climax/big reveal. Out of the five books in the series, this one was the plot I enjoyed the least. But despite the unsatisfying plot wrap-up, the book’s epilogue ended on a very sweet note and I feel so happy to have gone on this journey with these wonderful broken men with hearts of gold. 

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 3 / 5⭐ 
Going back to the plot’s wrap-up, compared to the previous books, this one just felt messy. I’m not sure where things went wrong – whether it was the over-large cast of potential suspects, the political influences pouring into the situation from every direction, the shocking amount of dumb luck that it would have taken to pull off all that was pulled off, the rather baffling character chosen for the big reveal (and how little setup there was to justify the payoff), or some combination of each of these things. 

I will say that, by knowing the trends from the previous books, the moment the character was introduced I clocked them as the killer – not by any reasoning the book offered, but simply because of how innocuous they were on their debut. I jokingly said, “That’s going to be the one,” and I wound up being correct. It would have felt better to guess based on tidbits and hints revealed throughout, but we're not really given much this time around.

FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 3.5 / 5⭐ 
If you’ve come this far in the series, there’s no reason you shouldn’t read this fifth (and at time of review, final) book of the series. It has nearly all of what I’ve come to love, and while it sets up more to come with some questions left unanswered, I'd say that it comfortably wraps up Dayton and Park’s relationship. 

This work has representation for gay and lesbian sexualities. A good number of characters are not white, and our MC comes from a Jewish family (although this is not mentioned in this fifth book). The author identifies as genderfluid. 

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.
This book contains: brief mentions of a past parent’s death; multiple references to the main character’s old injury (disembowelment), and the mental trauma resulting from it; a light panic attack relating to PTSD; violent murders involving disembowelment, poison/drugs; attempted murders; physical violence; gun violence resulting in a death; assault resulting in injuries; drugging/poisoning; stalking, obsessive behaviour; descriptions of a past toxic relationship potentially including emotional abuse and gaslighting; and, animal cruelty (animal testing leading to deaths, the questionable morality of zoos, taxidermy on display, etc.)
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readingthroughinfinity's review

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

For some reason I thought there were going to be six books in this series but apparently this is the last one??? I didn't know this when I was reading it but now I'm kind of sad that I've finished the series. Looking back, though, I do think the last chapter has a sense of finality and closure to it and I'm happy with Cooper and Oliver's HEA.

The main mystery of this book hinges around threats towards Cooper and someone blackmailing Eli. When Eli's blackmailer turns up head, he becomes the prime suspect and Cooper and Oliver have to help clear his name. I liked the way the tension ramped up as the circle of danger closed in around Cooper and the final action sequences were great.

I've enjoyed seeing Oliver and Cooper's relationship develop across the series, and I liked the fact that they still discover new things about each other in this book, even though they've been in an established relationship for a while. Their romance is healthy and loving (a little spicy, too) and I'm so pleased they get to (metaphorically) walk off into the sunset together. 
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