Raised by Wolves
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
(Quercus, R100)
At last – a novel not about vampires, but werewolves.
It never fails to amaze me the number of teen novels that deal with the subject of vampires. To be honest, after the Twilight and Vampire Diaries series I found myself tiring of essentially the same theme being rehashed.
Raised by Wolves was like a breath of fresh air.
The world of werewolves can be just as interesting as that of vampires and the possibilities for intriguing plots are equally endless.
In Raised By Werewolves, Bryn is the equivalent of Bella or Elena of vampire fame – the human teenager who finds herself caught up in the unlikely world of werewolves.
Bryn’s family was murdered when she was five years old by a rabid “were” – the baddie in werewolf land who attacks and kills humans. Rabids are not tolerated in any way and are hunted and killed by other weres.
Only Bryn survives the attack, but not before she witnesses the carnage that becomes etched in her mind.
She is taken in by another were and lives among “the pack” as a human, but a part of the pack nevertheless.
Fast-forward a decade and Bryn is faced with a new member of the pack – he has “been bit” by a rabid, but survives the attack and is slowly morphing into a werewolf.
Unlike the others in the pack who have been born as weres, Chase’s “changing” is painful and dangerous – especially for Bryn.
But Bryn is determined to learn more about the new were, after all they share a similar past. Both have had their lives changed forever by a rabid werewolf. And Chase may have the answers Bryn is looking for.
As Bryn and Chase come together in an unlikely pairing of minds, they unleash a chain of events that ultimately pits them against the entire werewolf world.
Raised by Wolves is packed with intriguing and supernatural escapism that should have many teen readers hooked. I wonder if it’s going to become a new hit series? – Meneesha Govender