margaretadelle's review
5.0
When the author offered me an audio book of this story for review, I was a bit hesitant, as I'd never reviewed an audio book before. But the story intrigued me enough that I gave it a go.
Right out of the gate, this story has my all time favorite trope: found family. The brotherly love between Korban and his friends (and the very non-brotherly love his friends have for each other, LOVE an mlm relationship) shines off the page. The trio are incredibly likeable and I started rooting for them almost instantly. Korban may come across as a fairly typical white-bread puppy-love protagonist, but he has a noble and decisive side that keep him from being boring.
Admittedly, the first third took a moment to pick up. It seemed a large portion of the story was more about Korban's crush on Sophie than anything involving werewolves or the laws that bound them. I was afraid at some moments that it would turn into more soap opera with werewolves added on. But when things picked up, they REALLY picked up. There are several gigantic and adrenaline-filled scenes that make for tense reading (or, in my case, listening.) In some cases I kept listening long after I had stopped washing dishes or working on something else, because I couldn't bear to pause until I'd figured out what happened.
The audio book narrator, Torian Brackett, does a fantastic job with the main trio's voices. I knew what character was talking even before the narration told me, they were so identifiable. Even when I was reading the physical copy, his version of Korban's voice stuck in my head. Admittedly, his female voices were a bit harder to swallow. His voice for Nikki made me laugh more than once. Sophie's voice, on the other hand, did grow on me over time.
The only real struggle I had is less with the story in itself and more with the marketing in general. The book marketing in some places hinted at a much more society and oppression focused plot. While that wouldn't be a bad theme, that's not what the book is. It's much more focused on the lives of Korban, his friends, and the police force as they investigate one particular wolf attack. The laws and regulations werewolves face are notable in the plot, but they're much more side themes than major ones.
The big reveal of the story is who was behind the wolf attack. And I did figure it out before the end, but that's not to the book's detriment. A good mystery should leave enough clues for the reader to put the pieces together themselves. Although it did leave me mentally screaming YOU IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU DOING at one character in particular. Still, the very end was properly dramatic and ambiguous. I'd love to read the sequel.
TL;DR it's a highly dramatic and action-packed New Adult urban fantasy with a found family. Aka, a very good time.
Right out of the gate, this story has my all time favorite trope: found family. The brotherly love between Korban and his friends (and the very non-brotherly love his friends have for each other, LOVE an mlm relationship) shines off the page. The trio are incredibly likeable and I started rooting for them almost instantly. Korban may come across as a fairly typical white-bread puppy-love protagonist, but he has a noble and decisive side that keep him from being boring.
Admittedly, the first third took a moment to pick up. It seemed a large portion of the story was more about Korban's crush on Sophie than anything involving werewolves or the laws that bound them. I was afraid at some moments that it would turn into more soap opera with werewolves added on. But when things picked up, they REALLY picked up. There are several gigantic and adrenaline-filled scenes that make for tense reading (or, in my case, listening.) In some cases I kept listening long after I had stopped washing dishes or working on something else, because I couldn't bear to pause until I'd figured out what happened.
The audio book narrator, Torian Brackett, does a fantastic job with the main trio's voices. I knew what character was talking even before the narration told me, they were so identifiable. Even when I was reading the physical copy, his version of Korban's voice stuck in my head. Admittedly, his female voices were a bit harder to swallow. His voice for Nikki made me laugh more than once. Sophie's voice, on the other hand, did grow on me over time.
The only real struggle I had is less with the story in itself and more with the marketing in general. The book marketing in some places hinted at a much more society and oppression focused plot. While that wouldn't be a bad theme, that's not what the book is. It's much more focused on the lives of Korban, his friends, and the police force as they investigate one particular wolf attack. The laws and regulations werewolves face are notable in the plot, but they're much more side themes than major ones.
The big reveal of the story is who was behind the wolf attack. And I did figure it out before the end, but that's not to the book's detriment. A good mystery should leave enough clues for the reader to put the pieces together themselves. Although it did leave me mentally screaming YOU IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU DOING at one character in particular. Still, the very end was properly dramatic and ambiguous. I'd love to read the sequel.
TL;DR it's a highly dramatic and action-packed New Adult urban fantasy with a found family. Aka, a very good time.
annalisaely's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The concept was really interesting and the plot was pretty good, and I liked the found family surrounding the main character.
The romance was unshippable for me personally because it started out based on looks on one side and a nominal sense of humor + being a decent human being on the other, and then didn't really get any deeper.
The good parts of the book were really hard to appreciate because the prose was so awkward.
But it gets an extra half star for being a werewolf story without alphas/omegas and creepy possessiveness.
tani's review
3.0
I bought a copy of this from the author during Genericon in March, so I'm glad I was able to pick it up relatively quickly. I do love urban fantasy, and werewolves are my favorites, so I thought I would give this a shot.
Over all, I had a good experience with this book. I really liked the concept of the book. I always enjoy seeing how authors will deal of the challenges of having supernatural creatures out in the open. In this case, by having exactly the kinds of rules and regulations that would probably be implemented in real life. I liked that the book opens with Korban doing his damnedest to just get a job, and that the difficulties of being integrated into society as a werewolf are highlighted throughout the book.
I also enjoyed the characters quite a bit. Korban is a good dude, and his friends, RJ and Alex, make for some fun interactions. I didn't mind the romance either, and I think that the author did a good job treading the line between attraction and real-life obligations, which I appreciate.
On the down side, there are definitely some grammatical issues here. The majority of the novel is written in past tense, but it slips into present tense intermittently. Also, there's an issue with commas throughout the book, as the author is apparently unaware of the vocative case. (Thank you, Google, for helping me figure out what that's called.) The latter is distracting, but not the end of the world. The former is really hard to ignore. I hope that both are corrected in the second book.
Regardless of grammar issues, I did enjoy the book, and I hope to read more by the author soon.
Over all, I had a good experience with this book. I really liked the concept of the book. I always enjoy seeing how authors will deal of the challenges of having supernatural creatures out in the open. In this case, by having exactly the kinds of rules and regulations that would probably be implemented in real life. I liked that the book opens with Korban doing his damnedest to just get a job, and that the difficulties of being integrated into society as a werewolf are highlighted throughout the book.
I also enjoyed the characters quite a bit. Korban is a good dude, and his friends, RJ and Alex, make for some fun interactions. I didn't mind the romance either, and I think that the author did a good job treading the line between attraction and real-life obligations, which I appreciate.
On the down side, there are definitely some grammatical issues here. The majority of the novel is written in past tense, but it slips into present tense intermittently. Also, there's an issue with commas throughout the book, as the author is apparently unaware of the vocative case. (Thank you, Google, for helping me figure out what that's called.) The latter is distracting, but not the end of the world. The former is really hard to ignore. I hope that both are corrected in the second book.
Regardless of grammar issues, I did enjoy the book, and I hope to read more by the author soon.
More...