Review: Wolf Hollow

Read if you like: interesting worlds, stories with dystopia-survival elements, shifters and pack life.

Wolf Hollow | Nikki Jefford

Series: Wolf Hollow Shifters

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic
Released: October 23rd 2017
Pages: 415
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

A REBELLIOUS OUTCAST

Cocky. Coy. Wolf shifter. Tabor is the hollow’s only half-breed, scorned and forbidden to use his powers. Constantly overlooked despite his strengths, Tabor believes Sasha is as shortsighted as the rest of the pack until she proves there’s more to her than a blindly obedient lapdog to the council.

A DUTIFUL PUREBLOOD

Spirited, stubborn, and deeply loyal, Sasha feels the pressure from her pack to claim another pureblood, yet no one is brazen enough to defy the elders and toy with her . . . no one besides a sexy, hotheaded half-breed.

AN ATTRACTION THAT THREATENS THE FUTURE OF THE PACK

Bewildered by the deceptively proud and surprisingly sensual Sasha, Tabor would risk everything to claim her. Despite her vanishing bloodline, Sasha can’t resist the charismatic half-breed even as predators threaten their pack and the elders pressure her to breed with a pureblood.

In a fantastical post-apocalyptic world, where only the strongest survive, sometimes trusting the heart is the bravest act of all.

Ehhh I did not love this.

The beginning was pretty promising, though it was weird how it set up Aden as love interest and Actual Love Interest (I LITERALLY just finished and I can't remember his name) as antagonist. Pretty jarring. I didn't mind Sasha but never connected to her, and it was odd how she went from super against Love Interest to jumping his bones. Plus there was a LOT of gratuitous sex, which would have been fine if I liked the characters. The story itself ... there were so many of plot points one after another but even with so much happening, the book dipped in the middle. I just got bored, which was sad because I thought I'd love this book.

I guess this book and I were just a bad match.

2 stars

Review: Wolf Magic

Wolves of Faerie: Wolf Magic | W.B. McKay

Published: January 23rd 2017

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Wolves

Pages: 132

Format: Ebook

Source: Purchased

The road to revenge is paved with sacrifice. 

Julia Grayson is a werewolf on a mission. When she learns of a suspicious murder she sets her sights on her old home town. As the case unfolds, she can’t help noticing the similarity to the murder of her family. 

Desperate to believe this is the lead that will fulfill her long-awaited revenge, she's determined not to let any distractions get in her way. Appeasing the local pack is the last obstacle she needs, but if she doesn’t want to lose her best lead in a century, she’ll have to play nice. Unfortunately, that also means having to deal with Nathaniel, a man from her past who is both tempting and infuriating. 

When it becomes clear the killers will not stop their deadly mission, it will take Julia and the pack working in harmony with their natural enemies if she wants to protect her home and satisfy her need for vengeance.

Do you know what I don't like about this book? Nothing. Nada. There's literally no issue I can  come up with. Julia wasn't snarky and stubborn enough? She certainly was. Nathaniel  wasn't charming and adorable enough? Yeah, that's not a problem either. The story wasn't  fascinating and mysterious and full of supernatural suspense and danger? The premise wasn't  unique enough? There wasn't enough super extra cool magic? Can't find one complaint.  I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the best urban fantasy novel of 2017.  I'm desperate for the second book.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★☆

Beauty and The Beast (Faerie Tale Collection) (Review)

Faerie Tale Collection: Beauty and The Beast | Jenni James

Published: June 4th 2012

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retellings, Shifters

Pages: 142

Format: Ebook

Source: Free on Amazon

A prince by day and a wolf by night—

Prince Alexander has been turned into a werewolf and has one year to find someone to love the beast and break the spell, or he will be a wolf forever. He has nearly given up achieving the impossible, knowing no girl would ever fall in love with such a monster.

Just when he is about to abdicate the throne to his cousin, he meets Cecelia Hammerstein-Smythe, while a wolf, and begins to hope for the first time in months. Can he balance both worlds as a human and beast, gaining the love and trust of a girl who has every reason to despise him?

Cecelia detests the prince. She only knows Alexander as the arrogant monarch—the tyrant who has made her life miserable—though perhaps he's changed right before her eyes. He's not as full of himself as he once was. The prince is gentle now... but then again, so is the beast.

I only really got this because it was free and counted towards my fairy tale challenge but I'm pretty glad I picked it up! 

Beauty and The Beast is a cute, traditional take on the fairy tale. Alexander is a prince forced to turn into a beast each night, while Cecealia is a typical village girl with a huge heart. I liked how Jenni James made the beastly aspect of the prince not his wolf form but his crappy personality as a human. He really wasn't that nice a guy, but by being trapped in beastly form he changed as a human. I liked that. I also liked the drama of Cecealia loving the beast but not the prince. I wasn't entirely sold on either character, but I did enjoy their romance and rooted for them towards the end.

Not a particularly outstanding or unique retelling, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. No world-building though!

Characters ★★★☆☆

Setting/world building ★★☆☆☆

Writing ★★★☆☆

This book counts towards my Fairy Tale Challenge!

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