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weronine's review against another edition
3.0
important & powerful yet i felt something was missing.
also - why so many hp mentions?
also - why so many hp mentions?
haileyannereads's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warning: sexual assault, drugging
After going to the Frat Fair, 15-year-old Nora wakes up on a golf course. She has no idea how she got there or what happened the night before. But she doesn’t want to think about it. She knows nothing happened, and she knows her parents would freak out if they found out. Her father is the local college’s athletic director and a beloved figure in their town– if people found out that Nora ended up in such a compromising position, it could hurt his reputation. But Nora can’t help but think about what could have happened that night.
Cam just wants to be there to support Nora. She and Nora had an argument, so Cam didn’t go to the Frat Fair with her. Instead, she went to another party…and ended up kissing Nora’s brother. Now, she’s trying to be there for Nora, while also keeping her budding relationship a secret.
Adam is working on his baseball skills on the golf course when he comes across a group of guys and an unconscious girl. After running the guys off, he realizes it’s Nora, who he’s had a crush on for years. He doesn’t know Nora well, but he would do anything to protect her.
While Nora tries to come to terms with what happened to her, Cam and Adam decide to team up to investigate, in hopes of finding who is responsible. What they don’t expect is to uncover a history of secrets that will cause a rift through their entire town.
This is a powerful book about friendship, family, and growing up as a girl in society. It also creates a frighteningly realistic small town, where “boys will be boys” is the common attitude. It’s a timely topic and I think it’s handled really well in this book.
I really appreciated how it explored the inner struggles of each of the three characters. While Nora knows that it wasn’t her fault, she can’t help but wonder “what if”? What if she hadn’t gone to the party? What if she hadn’t dressed the way she had? Blame is placed on women all the time, while men get a free pass. Cam just wants to help Nora, even if Nora doesn’t want help. She wants to get justice for her friend, but is it her place to go after it? Adam has had a huge crush on Nora for years, so of course he’s willing to help her. But what are his motives? And he knows that this isn’t the right time to pursue Nora.
Overall, This was just a really good book. It’s timely, realistic, and explores the situation from a variety of perspectives, which we don’t always see.
Content Warning: sexual assault, drugging
After going to the Frat Fair, 15-year-old Nora wakes up on a golf course. She has no idea how she got there or what happened the night before. But she doesn’t want to think about it. She knows nothing happened, and she knows her parents would freak out if they found out. Her father is the local college’s athletic director and a beloved figure in their town– if people found out that Nora ended up in such a compromising position, it could hurt his reputation. But Nora can’t help but think about what could have happened that night.
Cam just wants to be there to support Nora. She and Nora had an argument, so Cam didn’t go to the Frat Fair with her. Instead, she went to another party…and ended up kissing Nora’s brother. Now, she’s trying to be there for Nora, while also keeping her budding relationship a secret.
Adam is working on his baseball skills on the golf course when he comes across a group of guys and an unconscious girl. After running the guys off, he realizes it’s Nora, who he’s had a crush on for years. He doesn’t know Nora well, but he would do anything to protect her.
While Nora tries to come to terms with what happened to her, Cam and Adam decide to team up to investigate, in hopes of finding who is responsible. What they don’t expect is to uncover a history of secrets that will cause a rift through their entire town.
This is a powerful book about friendship, family, and growing up as a girl in society. It also creates a frighteningly realistic small town, where “boys will be boys” is the common attitude. It’s a timely topic and I think it’s handled really well in this book.
I really appreciated how it explored the inner struggles of each of the three characters. While Nora knows that it wasn’t her fault, she can’t help but wonder “what if”? What if she hadn’t gone to the party? What if she hadn’t dressed the way she had? Blame is placed on women all the time, while men get a free pass. Cam just wants to help Nora, even if Nora doesn’t want help. She wants to get justice for her friend, but is it her place to go after it? Adam has had a huge crush on Nora for years, so of course he’s willing to help her. But what are his motives? And he knows that this isn’t the right time to pursue Nora.
Overall, This was just a really good book. It’s timely, realistic, and explores the situation from a variety of perspectives, which we don’t always see.
mindfullibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely inhaled this nuanced and complex YA story of sexual assault, fraternity culture and family dynamics. I wavered on being upset about how one character was handled but I also, in my ripe old age of 41, recognize that family dynamics are insanely complicated and that a clean break would have been unrealistic.
aichaa's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Rape
popthebutterfly's review against another edition
1.0
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc, arc, and finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: The Wolves Are Waiting
Author: Natasha Friend
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 1/5
Diversity: Chinese character, Haitian character
Recommended For...: I don’t recommend this book AT ALL
Publication Date: March 22, 2022
Genre: YA Contemporary
Age Relevance: 16+ (date rape, attempted sexual assault, rape, sexism, HP mentions, romance, slut shaming, language, drugs)
Explanation of Above: The book revolves around an incident where our MC is given a date rape drug and is almost sexually assaulted. The events are described and rape and other incidents of date rape drugs being used is also mentioned throughout the book. The book also talks a lot about sexism and slut shaming. There is some romance between two characters and there is slight cursing in the book. There are also drugs mentioned occasionally. Unfortunately, there are also 6 HP mentions in the book in a positive manner, one of them being a page and a half long and others being at least a paragraph. The ending also makes an allusion to a scene from HP.
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 370
Synopsis: Before the night of the Frat Fair, 15-year-old Nora Melchionda's life could have been a Gen-Z John Hughes movie. She had a kind-of boyfriend, a spot on the field hockey team, good grades, and a circle of close friends. Of course there were bumps in the road: she and her lifelong BFF Cam were growing apart and her mother was trying to clone her into wearing sensible khakis instead of showy short skirts. But none of that mattered, because Nora always had her dad, Rhett Melchionda, on her side. Rhett was not only Nora’s hero, but as the Athletic Director of Faber College, he was idolized by everyone she knew.
Now, Nora would give anything to go back to that life. The life before whatever happened on the golf course.
She doesn’t want to talk about it—not that she could, because she doesn’t remember anything—and insists that whatever happened was nothing. Cam, though, tries to convince Nora to look for evidence and report the incident to the police. And then there’s Adam Xu, who found Nora on the golf course and saw her at her most vulnerable. She ignores it all, hoping it will all go away. But when your silence might hurt other people, hiding is no longer an option.
The Wolves Are Waiting begins in the aftermath of an attempted assault, but reaches farther than a story about one single night or one single incident. What Nora and her friends will uncover is a story that spans generations. But it doesn’t have to anymore.
Review: This will not be a happy review. While I thought that the base story was good and there were some good parts about it that young girls should read, especially revolving around how slut shaming and sexism are not okay and how some frats can be unsafe spaces, I was extremely disappointed in the book for numerous reasons. The biggest reason is the inclusion of HP in the book. I don’t have any idea why the author, in this day and age, thought the inclusion of HP was a good idea. The mentions are not just one and done, there’s at least one that’s a page and a half of text and the ending includes an allusion to what’s going on to a scene from the HP books. Writing a book that’s pro-female is great except when you exclude trans women from your book and the inclusion of the amount of HP references makes me think that the author wanted to exclude trans women. There’s also not any trans women, queer women, or hardly any women of color in the book with the exception of one Haitian character, and again you can’t talk about feminism and you can’t be pro-female unless you include ALL females. The HP issues alone caused me to knock the book down to a 1 star due to my review policy, but there are further issues in the book that are equally as troubling. There’s a character that is pro-female but doesn’t call out the sexist and misogynistic jokes and comments her own boyfriend makes until much later. The boyfriend had been making these comments for a very long time in the text, before they got together, and I’m confused as to why she would even want to get with someone like that. The book also has a moment between the MC who had been date raped and a character who was found to be a big part of the ongoing issues in the book. After one event where the character brings tiki torches and makes a sort of apology, the MC and others accept that character back into the fold. It’s extremely troubling that some of the male characters in the book are almost infantilized in the text, that they do the bare minimum and get accepted back to where they previously were. Even when the male characters are asked to be held responsible, the book doesn’t offer any real conclusion on if they were or not and the issue becomes null when the book and author pick and choose who it will punish and who it won’t when all actors made equally as horrifying choices. This fact troubled me greatly while reading this book. The book was also very fast paced and had a few continuity errors, where stuff was brought up multiple times. I also thought the characters weren’t developed, especially the MC past her trauma which is a whole other issue I had with the book, and the world building was way too simple.
Verdict: I don’t recommend this book at all. There are better ones that talk about the issues this book tries to talk about in a better and more inclusive manner.
Book: The Wolves Are Waiting
Author: Natasha Friend
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 1/5
Diversity: Chinese character, Haitian character
Recommended For...: I don’t recommend this book AT ALL
Publication Date: March 22, 2022
Genre: YA Contemporary
Age Relevance: 16+ (date rape, attempted sexual assault, rape, sexism, HP mentions, romance, slut shaming, language, drugs)
Explanation of Above: The book revolves around an incident where our MC is given a date rape drug and is almost sexually assaulted. The events are described and rape and other incidents of date rape drugs being used is also mentioned throughout the book. The book also talks a lot about sexism and slut shaming. There is some romance between two characters and there is slight cursing in the book. There are also drugs mentioned occasionally. Unfortunately, there are also 6 HP mentions in the book in a positive manner, one of them being a page and a half long and others being at least a paragraph. The ending also makes an allusion to a scene from HP.
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 370
Synopsis: Before the night of the Frat Fair, 15-year-old Nora Melchionda's life could have been a Gen-Z John Hughes movie. She had a kind-of boyfriend, a spot on the field hockey team, good grades, and a circle of close friends. Of course there were bumps in the road: she and her lifelong BFF Cam were growing apart and her mother was trying to clone her into wearing sensible khakis instead of showy short skirts. But none of that mattered, because Nora always had her dad, Rhett Melchionda, on her side. Rhett was not only Nora’s hero, but as the Athletic Director of Faber College, he was idolized by everyone she knew.
Now, Nora would give anything to go back to that life. The life before whatever happened on the golf course.
She doesn’t want to talk about it—not that she could, because she doesn’t remember anything—and insists that whatever happened was nothing. Cam, though, tries to convince Nora to look for evidence and report the incident to the police. And then there’s Adam Xu, who found Nora on the golf course and saw her at her most vulnerable. She ignores it all, hoping it will all go away. But when your silence might hurt other people, hiding is no longer an option.
The Wolves Are Waiting begins in the aftermath of an attempted assault, but reaches farther than a story about one single night or one single incident. What Nora and her friends will uncover is a story that spans generations. But it doesn’t have to anymore.
Review: This will not be a happy review. While I thought that the base story was good and there were some good parts about it that young girls should read, especially revolving around how slut shaming and sexism are not okay and how some frats can be unsafe spaces, I was extremely disappointed in the book for numerous reasons. The biggest reason is the inclusion of HP in the book. I don’t have any idea why the author, in this day and age, thought the inclusion of HP was a good idea. The mentions are not just one and done, there’s at least one that’s a page and a half of text and the ending includes an allusion to what’s going on to a scene from the HP books. Writing a book that’s pro-female is great except when you exclude trans women from your book and the inclusion of the amount of HP references makes me think that the author wanted to exclude trans women. There’s also not any trans women, queer women, or hardly any women of color in the book with the exception of one Haitian character, and again you can’t talk about feminism and you can’t be pro-female unless you include ALL females. The HP issues alone caused me to knock the book down to a 1 star due to my review policy, but there are further issues in the book that are equally as troubling. There’s a character that is pro-female but doesn’t call out the sexist and misogynistic jokes and comments her own boyfriend makes until much later. The boyfriend had been making these comments for a very long time in the text, before they got together, and I’m confused as to why she would even want to get with someone like that. The book also has a moment between the MC who had been date raped and a character who was found to be a big part of the ongoing issues in the book. After one event where the character brings tiki torches and makes a sort of apology, the MC and others accept that character back into the fold. It’s extremely troubling that some of the male characters in the book are almost infantilized in the text, that they do the bare minimum and get accepted back to where they previously were. Even when the male characters are asked to be held responsible, the book doesn’t offer any real conclusion on if they were or not and the issue becomes null when the book and author pick and choose who it will punish and who it won’t when all actors made equally as horrifying choices. This fact troubled me greatly while reading this book. The book was also very fast paced and had a few continuity errors, where stuff was brought up multiple times. I also thought the characters weren’t developed, especially the MC past her trauma which is a whole other issue I had with the book, and the world building was way too simple.
Verdict: I don’t recommend this book at all. There are better ones that talk about the issues this book tries to talk about in a better and more inclusive manner.
helterskelliter's review against another edition
4.0
“Why should she thank him for believing her? She was telling the truth.” (317)
15-year-old Nora Melchionda has what some would call a charmed life. She comes from a loving family, has a great best-friend (Cam), is fairly popular at school, and loves sports. Her life is going well.
Then, the night of the local frat fair happens.
Nora wakes up on the golf course, unsure of how she got there. The night is a blank. She doesn’t know how she got to the golf course or why Cam and Adam Xu—a classmate who she barely knows—are looking at her with such concern. That is, she doesn’t remember anything until Cam and Adam tell her what almost happened the night of the frat fair, what would’ve happened had Adam not intervened and then called Camto meet them.
Then, Nora wishes she could just forget and move on.
Nora doesn’t want to talk about that night or think about what almost happened to her—what did happen to her. Despite Cam wanting to file a formal report about the assault and Adam having video evidence of it, Nora can’t imagine how this could go well. No one believes women, especially girls who were drinking and likely drugged like she was.
Nora just wants to pretend that everything is fine.
And, it is fine. For a bit. Until Cam does some digging and discovers that what happened to Nora is not novel. Lots of women have been assaulted by frat brothers from the local university over the decades. Lots of stories have been swept under the proverbial rug—some by the athletic director at the university. A man who just so happens to be Nora’s father, a former frat brother himself. A man who swore to always protect Nora.
But, how can her dad think he’s protecting her by getting men who assault women off from facing consequences for their actions? How can any man claim to support women and then cover for men who hurt women?
Nora doesn’t want to be silent anymore; she wants to scream. Shout and rage.
She wants to be heard.
And, this is her story.
What an unexpectedly intense and thoughtful and moving story! To be honest, when I started this book, I wasn’t expecting much. But, this plot grips you as soon as you dip your toes in. I was riveted. I couldn’t put this book down!
I really appreciate how this story approaches talking about sexual assault, rape culture, misogyny, and the patriarchy’s continuing chokehold on society.
I think Nora is such a relatable and relevant character. Her fears and anxieties and uncertainty all feel real. She’s this young girl being forced to confront a world that doesn’t like women and especially doesn’t like women who speak out against their own dehumanization. Her journey feels organic and all the more painful for it. All her realizations about the world’s feelings towards women and her disappointments in the men she believed once were heroes are ones I’ve had as a young woman.
Further, I appreciate how this book provides no easy answers for how to address these systemic issues. Rather, this book focuses on individual changes that can be scaled to communities. The community of Faber changes as young women and girls like Nora come forward and refuse to be silenced anymore. But, you also have the university where this fraternity operates, refusing to acknowledge any problems. You have Nora’s father making excuses for his athletes. You have several students who diminish Nora until the story breaks and her classmates realize the scale of the issue in their own community and their role in perpetuating it. We’ll, at least some student realize that.
It’s complicated and messy and leaves readers with so much to consider.
This book lingers.
I just can’t get over how real this book feels and how relevant it is—how relevant I believe this book and this story will be for a long time.
This is a 4.5/5 stars for me! Highly recommend it! I think it’s thoughtful and potentially eye-opening for a lot of young readers. Trigger warnings for mentions of assault, violence, drugs.
15-year-old Nora Melchionda has what some would call a charmed life. She comes from a loving family, has a great best-friend (Cam), is fairly popular at school, and loves sports. Her life is going well.
Then, the night of the local frat fair happens.
Nora wakes up on the golf course, unsure of how she got there. The night is a blank. She doesn’t know how she got to the golf course or why Cam and Adam Xu—a classmate who she barely knows—are looking at her with such concern. That is, she doesn’t remember anything until Cam and Adam tell her what almost happened the night of the frat fair, what would’ve happened had Adam not intervened and then called Camto meet them.
Then, Nora wishes she could just forget and move on.
Nora doesn’t want to talk about that night or think about what almost happened to her—what did happen to her. Despite Cam wanting to file a formal report about the assault and Adam having video evidence of it, Nora can’t imagine how this could go well. No one believes women, especially girls who were drinking and likely drugged like she was.
Nora just wants to pretend that everything is fine.
And, it is fine. For a bit. Until Cam does some digging and discovers that what happened to Nora is not novel. Lots of women have been assaulted by frat brothers from the local university over the decades. Lots of stories have been swept under the proverbial rug—some by the athletic director at the university. A man who just so happens to be Nora’s father, a former frat brother himself. A man who swore to always protect Nora.
But, how can her dad think he’s protecting her by getting men who assault women off from facing consequences for their actions? How can any man claim to support women and then cover for men who hurt women?
Nora doesn’t want to be silent anymore; she wants to scream. Shout and rage.
She wants to be heard.
And, this is her story.
What an unexpectedly intense and thoughtful and moving story! To be honest, when I started this book, I wasn’t expecting much. But, this plot grips you as soon as you dip your toes in. I was riveted. I couldn’t put this book down!
I really appreciate how this story approaches talking about sexual assault, rape culture, misogyny, and the patriarchy’s continuing chokehold on society.
I think Nora is such a relatable and relevant character. Her fears and anxieties and uncertainty all feel real. She’s this young girl being forced to confront a world that doesn’t like women and especially doesn’t like women who speak out against their own dehumanization. Her journey feels organic and all the more painful for it. All her realizations about the world’s feelings towards women and her disappointments in the men she believed once were heroes are ones I’ve had as a young woman.
Further, I appreciate how this book provides no easy answers for how to address these systemic issues. Rather, this book focuses on individual changes that can be scaled to communities. The community of Faber changes as young women and girls like Nora come forward and refuse to be silenced anymore. But, you also have the university where this fraternity operates, refusing to acknowledge any problems. You have Nora’s father making excuses for his athletes. You have several students who diminish Nora until the story breaks and her classmates realize the scale of the issue in their own community and their role in perpetuating it. We’ll, at least some student realize that.
It’s complicated and messy and leaves readers with so much to consider.
This book lingers.
I just can’t get over how real this book feels and how relevant it is—how relevant I believe this book and this story will be for a long time.
This is a 4.5/5 stars for me! Highly recommend it! I think it’s thoughtful and potentially eye-opening for a lot of young readers. Trigger warnings for mentions of assault, violence, drugs.
winnzwordz's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to love this book because of the theme and the characters. At the beginning, I liked all the four main characters because they were etched well.
However, as the story progressed, I felt the protagonists, particularly the survivor's friends were acting out of line. Further, I was hoping to see genuine empathy from the sexual assault survivor's friends and family but that was missed completely. Even the 'sisterhood' in the climax scene felt forced and abrupt.
One thing I will give the author kudos for, though, is the character growth arc for Nora. From the initial denial, to her post traumatic stress, to subsequently her anger and frustration, to her final strength and taking action against her wrongdoers has been done very well. But the author fell short in the character arcs for the other protagonists.
Overall, it is a good novel inspired by the #meToo and #timesUp movements but not one I would rave to my friends about.
However, as the story progressed, I felt the protagonists, particularly the survivor's friends were acting out of line. Further, I was hoping to see genuine empathy from the sexual assault survivor's friends and family but that was missed completely. Even the 'sisterhood' in the climax scene felt forced and abrupt.
One thing I will give the author kudos for, though, is the character growth arc for Nora. From the initial denial, to her post traumatic stress, to subsequently her anger and frustration, to her final strength and taking action against her wrongdoers has been done very well. But the author fell short in the character arcs for the other protagonists.
Overall, it is a good novel inspired by the #meToo and #timesUp movements but not one I would rave to my friends about.
lyrasanaa's review against another edition
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
booksintheirnaturalhabitat's review against another edition
5.0
TW: Discussion of sexual assault, rape, and drugging
The Wolves Are Waiting is masterful at handling a difficult subject in a way that opens the conversation for YA readers and adults alike to have conversations. Nora is a high schooler who wakes up on a golf course after having attended a frat fair with no recollection of what happened or how she got there. Her father is the Athletic Director at the local university, and Nora doesn’t want anyone to find out. Fortunately, she has two fantastic friends who will go to no ends to protect her and to find out what happened and how to stop it from happening to anyone else.
The story transported me back to my teenager years when I was frequently on campus at my local university due to my Dad working there. The story was completely believable and the more the story unfolded, the more infuriated I became.
I would highly recommend this to mature teenage readers as well as adults. It opens important dialogue opportunities for us all to have about gaining consent, and accountability for our actions.
Thank you to @thenovl for running the ARC contest. I won a copy and voluntarily read the book. The review expresses my personal opinions.
The Wolves Are Waiting is masterful at handling a difficult subject in a way that opens the conversation for YA readers and adults alike to have conversations. Nora is a high schooler who wakes up on a golf course after having attended a frat fair with no recollection of what happened or how she got there. Her father is the Athletic Director at the local university, and Nora doesn’t want anyone to find out. Fortunately, she has two fantastic friends who will go to no ends to protect her and to find out what happened and how to stop it from happening to anyone else.
The story transported me back to my teenager years when I was frequently on campus at my local university due to my Dad working there. The story was completely believable and the more the story unfolded, the more infuriated I became.
I would highly recommend this to mature teenage readers as well as adults. It opens important dialogue opportunities for us all to have about gaining consent, and accountability for our actions.
Thank you to @thenovl for running the ARC contest. I won a copy and voluntarily read the book. The review expresses my personal opinions.