Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR RAISED BY WOLVES

Synopsis

At seventeen, Bryn is has the usual schoolgirl worries: a new boyfriend, a new school and a new home. But she has one major concern that her friends don't have: she is an alpha - a human girl in charge of her own werewolf pack. When Bryn and her closest friends, Dev and Lake, broke from the werewolf Callum's pack, it had all felt right. Together with Chase, Bryn's new love, they had rescued some newly made female werewolves from a despicable master and established their own pack, with Bryn as leader. Yet Bryn has always resented the rules of Pack life - the constant bowing to authority, the submission to the alpha. And she is determined to live differently, to run this pack openly and justly. Then one night, a badly beaten werewolf shows up on her territory. He needs help, sanctuary, care. But taking him in could violate inter-pack rules, and no one knows better than Bryn the costs of challenging those rules. Obedience is law in Pack life, but Bryn is going to break the rules, again.

The second book in a series can be tricky. After all, some of the exciting stuff has been and gone; world building, character introductions, love interest etc. However, the flip side to this is that the characters are now old friends. We know that Bryn is a survivor, stubborn and determined to succeed despite the difficulties she faces. The book opens with Bryn getting used to being the alpha of her new pack. Whilst she wants to be relaxed and non-confrontational about it the events of Trial by Fire force her to look at her position in a different way. Just as she's trying to adjust Lucas arrives on her doorstep; beaten and bloody.

Now she's an alpha there are few people she can turn to for advice. Callum is being unhelpful and the other alphas are just not the kind of wolves Bryn would turn to. Instead she finds she has to dig deep and find the answers within whilst trying to keep her pack calm. Devon is as brilliant as even in Trial by Fire and has become Bryn's second in command - but even this can be difficult as Bryn treads the fine line between friendship and leadership. Just as things couldn't get more difficult a strange group of humans turn up and stake a claim on Lucas.

Ironically it's the human characters that are more menacing in this book. I enjoyed the complex and threatening character of Caroline who really pushed Bryn into difficult decisions. Also, Chase and Bryn's relationship isn't just cut and dried which I appreciated. They haven't known each other long and Bryn realises that they have a great deal to learn about each other before their relationship deepens. I loved that wolf and human or not they still have to deal with mundane complications like differences of opinions. Trial by Fire is a great sequel to Raised by Wolves. The stakes have been raised and as a result Bryn is forced to make serious decisions which have far reaching results. Also, an absolutely awesome twist at the end which I didn't see coming. I look forward to more!

Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Synopsis

Pack life is about order, but Bryn is about to push all the limits, with hair-raising results. At the age of four, Bryn watched a rabid werewolf brutally murder her parents. Alone in the world, she was rescued and taken in by Callum, the alpha of his pack. Now fifteen, Bryn's been as a human among werewolves, adhering to pack rule. Little fazes her. But the pack's been keeping a secret, and when Bryn goes exploring against Callum's orders, she finds Chase, a newly turned teen Were locked in a cage. Terrifying memories of the attack on her parents come flooding back. Bryn needs answers, and she needs Chase to get them. Suddenly, all allegiances to the pack no longer matter. It's Bryn and Chase against the werewolf world, whatever the consequences. A thrilling new YA adventure, with an electrifying link between a tough heroine and an exciting boy-were at its heart, Raised by Wolves will leave you howling for more.

This poor book has sat on my TBR shelf for ages, since September of last year to be exact. I kept looking at it and thinking, "I really must get around to reading that." I read brilliant reviews of it and then the sequel turned up and I was finally spurred into action. A day and a half later I was totally sold on the world that the author has created.

Bryn lives with her human adopted mother with a pack of werewolves in the middle of a wood. Kids at the local school know she's different and avoid her, occasionally poking fun at her in class but otherwise she doesn't exist. She holds herself separate from the pack too and even goes so far to erect barriers so she doesn't have the mental traffic that were's share. As a result, apart from truly brilliant friend Devon, she's very alone in her world. This all changes when she senses a change in the pack. She has to be home by dusk by order of Callum, the alpha were. Finally, her curiosity gets the better of her and she breaks into Callum's basement to find Chase, a boy who got bit and survived the transformation into a werewolf.

Firstly, the voice of Bryn is brilliant. From page one you feel as if you're kicking back at the side of a creek chatting to her. I was reminded of Kelley Armstrong and I hope I'm not throwing her name in just because she's a fellow werewolf writer but rather because she also has amazing skills in writing voice. Bryn's fierce, stubborn and independent - a life in the pack has moulded her. She drives the plot through and I never questioned her thoughts or actions. There are an amazing array of secondary characters - I particularly loved Lake, Devon and Callum. Raised by Wolves doesn't hold back on the harsh realities of pack life either. This is no simple paranormal romance and the pack dynamics are well thought out, sometimes to their brutal end.

As the book progresses it becomes something of a manhunt and the tension ramps up. The showdown and resulting conclusion was certainly not what I was expecting. Raised by Wolves is exciting, unconventional and innovative - I thoroughly enjoyed it (and am still apologising to my copy for keeping it waiting so long).