Review: Raised by Wolves

By: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Published: June 2010 by Egmont
Format: Hardback, 418 pages
First Reviewed: April 2011
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I got bit...

Adopted by the Alpha of a werewolf pack after a rogue wolf brutally killed her parents right before her eyes, fifteen-year-old Bryn knows only pack life, and the rigid social hierarchy that controls it. That doesn't mean that she's averse to breaking a rule or two.
But when her curiosity gets the better of her and she discovers Chase, a new teen locked in a cage in her guardian's basement, and witnesses him turn into a wolf before her eyes, the horrific memories of her parents' murders return. Bryn becomes obsessed with getting her questions answered, and Chase is the only one who can provide the information she needs.
But in her drive to find the truth, will Bryn push too far beyond the constraints of the pack, forcing her to leave behind her friends, her family, and the identity that she's shaped?

Rating: 3/5

I'm not a big werewolf person. In fact, I usually stay away from werewolf books just because they don't interest me much. But once I got into this book, I was pleasantly surprised. Considering I had very low expectations, I liked it much more than I thought I would.

There was a great tone to the setting from the beginning. Not sure if that's exactly from the content or if I had help from the cover tone. Even so, I loved the fact that this covered areas of the US that really aren't used much in book world. Not to mention, Kansas was mentioned a few times. Whoot whoot! :)

When it came to the characters, I wasn't too into them. The main character, Bryn, had a nicely developed voice and personality, but at times I found her annoying and ignorant in some situations. The male counterpart was just kind of...there. I never had a real personality from him, nor did I care about him. However, I think Bryn's male friend, Devon, made up for what was lacking from Chase. I loved Devon. So much. He was the most developed, even though he wasn't too major of a character. As for the other characters, some were developed well and had some great personalities while others felt a bit one-dimensional.

When I wasn't overwhelmed with the number of unnecessary adverbs or the excessive "snorting" that went on, I was growing annoyed with the crazy amount of single-lined repetition. For the most part, it was affective, but then it just became ridiculous and was one of the main reasons Bryn grated on my nerves at times. That, and it took a while for Barnes to create a solid narrative with Bryn's voice, in my opinion. Overall, Barnes has some nice writing, but sometimes she just murdered me with so much repetition.

With the plot, I was constantly back and forth between enjoying it and force-reading. That sounds strange since I said I liked this book more than I thought I would, but it's true. While I did like the book all right, there were sections I felt either drew on too much or just weren't too interesting. The plot as a whole was a nice change from typical paranormal, considering the romance element didn't take over, and I did like the turning points and major plot points. What bothered me the most was that I felt some elements were too vague, I found myself confused on some things, and other parts seemed to be thrown in as a quick explanation. But, still I enjoyed most of this.

Again, I will say I was pleasantly surprised with this book, as I expected a crappy, overdone paranormal romance like we're getting now. It wasn't any of those things, and it was definitely worth the read.