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A review by kblincoln
Wolfsbane by Rhiannon Held
4.0
3.75 stars, actually.
I really liked the first in this modern werewolf series, Silver. Not angsty/steamy werewolf, but more thoughtful world-building with concentration on pack dynamics. A character study more than plot/action.
In this the fourth installment (and I believe this is the author's first indie published installment of this series), we still get a tight focus on pack and pack politics now that Silver and Andrew are the alphas of Roanoke (super big pack in the USA), but now a member of a Russian/European pack is being sent to test their mettle.
We get Tatiana's POV mixed in with Silver and Andrew. All three end up under the influence of crazy visions of alternate realties mixed in with memories. While there's some nice character development that results, it was ....confusing to say the least.
It had been a while since book three, and when you have a pack of werewolves, I understand the need for an ensemble cast, but then you're adding Tatiana, some previous unknown Russian wolves, trying to remember Silver/Andrew's backstory and immediate pack, and then we get alternate versions of those people in the visions...it was too much.
Silver goes thru an alternate vision where she isn't scarred. Andrew goes thru an alternate vision where his first wife doesn't die...and there are versions of Silver and Andrew in each of the visions that conflict with the books "real" present day versions. So with the intertwining POVs, we have to keep two different realities straight from the actual book reality, plus learn all about Tatiana.
Silver and Andrew are still great psychological studies, although we didn't get as much of Silver/Death's relationship (which is the highlight of the previous books) due to her being for most of the book in a vision where she doesn't have Death following her around. I was disappointed. I can't help feeling that this book could have used a more brutal round of editing to clarify some of the fuzzy parts.
There is a smidge of fade-to-black steam in the visions as Andrew explores his bisexual nature more than we are used to in the first three books.
I really liked the first in this modern werewolf series, Silver. Not angsty/steamy werewolf, but more thoughtful world-building with concentration on pack dynamics. A character study more than plot/action.
In this the fourth installment (and I believe this is the author's first indie published installment of this series), we still get a tight focus on pack and pack politics now that Silver and Andrew are the alphas of Roanoke (super big pack in the USA), but now a member of a Russian/European pack is being sent to test their mettle.
We get Tatiana's POV mixed in with Silver and Andrew. All three end up under the influence of crazy visions of alternate realties mixed in with memories. While there's some nice character development that results, it was ....confusing to say the least.
It had been a while since book three, and when you have a pack of werewolves, I understand the need for an ensemble cast, but then you're adding Tatiana, some previous unknown Russian wolves, trying to remember Silver/Andrew's backstory and immediate pack, and then we get alternate versions of those people in the visions...it was too much.
Silver goes thru an alternate vision where she isn't scarred. Andrew goes thru an alternate vision where his first wife doesn't die...and there are versions of Silver and Andrew in each of the visions that conflict with the books "real" present day versions. So with the intertwining POVs, we have to keep two different realities straight from the actual book reality, plus learn all about Tatiana.
Silver and Andrew are still great psychological studies, although we didn't get as much of Silver/Death's relationship (which is the highlight of the previous books) due to her being for most of the book in a vision where she doesn't have Death following her around. I was disappointed. I can't help feeling that this book could have used a more brutal round of editing to clarify some of the fuzzy parts.
There is a smidge of fade-to-black steam in the visions as Andrew explores his bisexual nature more than we are used to in the first three books.