RAISED BY WOLVES by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Maybe you haven’t discovered Jennifer Lynn Barnes yet.  Possibly, you’re a fan of smart, tough heroines who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.  Perhaps you just want a paranormal that transcends the genre.  If so, you should check out RAISED BY WOLVES.  

Bryn is a human who lost her parents during a brutal attack by a rogue werewolf.  Rescued by Callum, the local werewolf pack leader, Bryn is literally raised among the pack.  But she’s not a werewolf and she constantly pushes the boundaries of Callum’s rule, resisting submission to the pack culture.  When she learns about Chase, a teen boy who was attacked by a rogue wolf and survived to turn were, Bryn will do anything to meet him.  She’s sure that he can help her understand the attack on her own family, and she’s willing to acquiesce to Callum and the pack if that’s what it takes.  But can she?  

I loved the complex world and strong relationships.  The werewolves live within a pack hierarchy that feels authentic, seamlessly incorporating wolf characteristics with human ones.  Bryn is a great character, a fighter who guards her humanity with a fierceness that rivals the wolves.  Her voice is smart, self-aware and peppered with humor.  I also loved Callum, the pack leader and father figure who must make hard choices of his own. 

The romance is sweet, built on an emotional bond forged of common experience.  But the focus of the book is Bryn’s path to self discovery, as she comes to terms with her horrific past and discovers her place in the werewolf society she’s resisted for so long.

The ending is satisfying, wrapping up the major plot points, while raising the specter of future conflict that will undoubtedly come to pass in the sequel, TRIAL BY FIRE, which will be released in 2011.  I thoroughly enjoyed RAISED BY WOLVES, and I hope you will too.

Comment, tweet @yamuses, or follow the blog to be entered to win a copy of RAISED BY WOLVES and BLEEDING VIOLET by Dia Reeves, two of the books I’ve enjoyed and reviewed here in recent months.  You’ll also be entered for our Thursday and Friday giveaways in celebration of the anniversary of the day the YA Muses met in a critique group at Big Sur.