Maria Vale

"S[ourcebooks] paranormal romance"--Spine.

The Last Wolf

Lover of Romance 

I was forced to DNF this story, I found myself lost in the worldbuilding and I don't think this type of shifter romance is my forte. Just felt bored with it and by 40% I had to let go of it. There were some aspects that I found interesting but not enough for me to keep going especially when I have been trying for almost two months to get into this book and haven't been able to!! Time to let go, maybe someday later I will pick it up again.

Lauren Sullivan

This is an odd duck to categorize. It’s got all the hallmarks of a romance novel (HEA ending, traditional romance plot arc, etc) but it’s also quite dark and raw. I think if you go into this expecting a regular paranormal romance, you'll be disappointed. But, oh man, this book surprised me in such a good way. This is the gritty paranormal romance I never knew I wanted!

In most of the paranormal/urban fantasies I’ve read, the shifters consider themselves both animal and human and generally try to fit in with human society, mostly out of necessity. In this book, the wolves, like Sil, consider themselves wolves first and are “in skin” (human form) only when necessary. Many live separate from human society, though those that do need to interact with humans on a daily basis (like their lawyers, accountants, etc) return home for the three days of the Iron Moon, when the wolves are forced to be in wolf form and are unable to change back to human. Those who are able to change back and forth at will, regardless of the moon phase, are called Shifters, and they chose to emphasize their humanity. Though they’re the closest to the usual shifter portrayal in romance, they’re actually the bad guys in this book.

The world building was superb. Their society is strikingly different from human society, and I thought Ms. Vale did a wonderful job of slowly explaining bits of it as it came up. Everything in their society revolves around the safety of the pack, so things that seem unspeakably horrible to a human (without being too spoiler-y, how Sil’s disability is dealt with) are accepted as a practicality. Ms. Vale does a great job of showing why the wolves are the way they are, and I really felt like I understood Sil’s love for her pack and the wild, despite the hardships she’s faced. I loved Sil. I loved her strength and her strong moral compass, and while I didn’t agree with all the choices she made, I understood why she made them. I started out the book identifying more with Ti and his confusion, but as the pages went by and more about the wolves’ way of life and reasoning became clear, it was Sil I sympathized with, especially her frustration with Ti’s inability to conform to the wolves’ way of life.

If you’ve read grimdark fantasy before, you’ll be familiar with a certain kind of humor that usually serves as a counterpoint to all the grittiness. That’s also present here, and some of it was masterfully done. I’m thinking in particular of the teacher who seems to be applying lipstick every time she appears.

As for cons, this is a first book, and I think it shows in some of the pacing and plotting. I never really felt like I understood why the Shifters felt they way they did about the wolves. Also, there are some threads that aren’t wrapped up, but as this is the first in a planned series, that’s expected.

Overall, while this wasn’t at all what I was expecting, I enjoyed this book very much and simply could not put it down, to the point where I stayed up way too late during a family vacation reading and didn’t regret it at all the next day! Recommended for fans of paranormal romance looking for something fresh and new, and for fans of urban fantasy who don’t mind a little romance in their grimdark.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Becky

What a surprising read this was! At first, I was uncertain. The writing felt stilted and oddly formal for the modern day setting it had and I continually felt lost with names and the language of the wolves. But as I found my footing with the book and learnt the characters and their world I found myself pulled into the story of Silver and Ti as they tried to become part of the pack.

I did really like the character of Silver. She is truly wild, not a wolf who can easily live in the human world but one who is drawn to her wild nature and is proud of what it means to be a wolf. She is confused by human social dynamics and could never comfortably live in their world where she cannot change and be comfortable. But as one who has grown up and been placed at the very bottom of the pack, she is someone who appreciates the things she has. She was the ideal person to show Ti, a shifter, the ropes of being part of a pack and help him try and join. I admit the hierarchy of the wolves and the various words and phrases used to describe their rules and part of their language was confusing. It's not an easy book to get into and I did worry I would up not enjoying this book. Thankfully, once I got used to things all was ok.

I did find the pacing a little off at times. It slowed for significant events and then suddenly brushed over other events I thought would hold more significance. It did leave me flicking back a couple of times to be certain I missed nothing as the shift forward was unexpected. That being said, it did help keep the story moving along and maybe my issue was I wanted to spend more time exploring the characters rather than the story. It wasn't a bad thing, but it did throw me a couple of times.

I did find some plot points which were probably expected to be a twist a little obvious, but not too obvious. And it was well written so that it didn't put me off at all. Just wish I could have been surprised by more things as I saw the big old clues for certain events. 

Overall, great book and one I really enjoyed. I will definitely be buying the next book in the series because it felt like quite an original take on werewolves exploring their wild nature rather than taming them to human standards they were shown to be far more similar to their animal counterparts and I liked that new angle to them.

Totally Addicted to Reading

I liked this story, but it did not wow me. If you are looking for romance, then this is not a book for you. The main characters became a couple, but the focus was more on pack politics and survival.

The Last Wolf, the first book in The Legend of All Wolves, tells the story of Silver Nilsdottir and Tiberius Leveraux. Silver is a member of the Great North Park, an ancient breed and the first of their kind to relocate to North America.

Because of a birth defect, Silver is at the lower echelon of the pack, destined to be a slave. At the moment she was to face her destiny, a wounded shifter seeking refuge entered their midst. To save him from death at the hands of her pack members, she offered to become his protector, which released her from becoming a slave. This would prove a risk as they both faced the possibility of being exiled if the Pack did not consider the stranger worthy to become a part of them. In addition, he is keeping a secret, which has the potential to destroy the pack.

The prologue provided a history of how the pack ended up living in North America. We also see how the enmity between shifters and werewolves originated. The events which occurred were interesting, which had me looking forward to the rest of the story. However, it did not go as expected. I found the pacing to be slow, and it took me some time to get into the story. In addition, I found parts of the story difficult to follow. I had to reread several paragraphs in my aim to grasp the Pack’s rules and behaviours among other things. The story yielded a few laughs and some awkward moments. Narrated from the POV of the heroine, the story treats readers to her perspective, but I feel it would have more of an impact if Tiberius’s POV was introduced.

Silver and Tiberius had a lot in common. They were both damaged physically and emotionally. Tiberius refused to embrace his wolf as result. Silver is determined, resilient, loyal, smart and somewhat impulsive, while Tiberius was strong and protective. I enjoyed getting to know them as individuals, but I found it difficult to connect with them as a couple. 

I found the world building unique. Pack members and shifters were sworn enemies and would kill each other when the opportunity arises. The pack members were wolves who changed to humans. Some were not comfortable being humans but did so as a means of survival. Shifters were humans who changed to wolves and preferred to embrace their human sides. The laws and customs of the pack were strange and gruesome. For example, whatever they killed, had to be eaten, which led to a few stomach-turning moments.

Narration
I received an ARC through Netgalley, but never got around to reading. I purchased a copy earlier this year and just as I was about to read it I discovered it was in Audible Escape, so I listened to the audio. It was my first time listening to Rachel Dulude. I enjoyed her portrayal of Silver. She brought the story to life, which made it easy to listen.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Overall, I found The Last Wolf to be an interesting start to the series. 

This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading

Southern Today Gone Tomorrow

*THIS IS NOT FOR CHILDREN*

Written by Marie Vale, this novel follows Silver, a runt and cripple werewolf, as she is given an opportunity to avoid being nidling (a servant to the alpha pair) by saving Ti and trying to bring him into the pack.

Okay, now that those things are out of the way: I enjoyed this novel (alright, I couldn't put it down), but that has more to do with the combination of the writing style, building the characters, and the topic.

I mean, a Shifter and a Werewolf trying to save each other to save themselves? If you didn't see the romance starting there, I don't know what to tell you. Besides, I always have to give a werewolf novel a good shot. And this one did not disappoint.

The writing style and progression of the story, and honestly the characters themselves to an extent, greatly reminded me of The Others series by Anne Bishop (don't worry, one day those reviews will all be put up and archived ever so nicely). What this means is that we have characters that are human-ish. That don't pretend to be anything that is closer to human than that. The writing style also reminds me of Bishop, though Bishop is more eloquent than Vale. Vale does suffer from the overuse of the same descriptive word. In the same paragraph. When she isn't doing it for emphasis.

It was refreshing to see these characters. *spoiler, skip this paragraph* Silver is a werewolf who is whole as a human, though with silver hair (her full name is Quicksilver), and canines that are always present, who doesn't know what life is like beyond the pack. She sleeps as a wolf. She doesn't have a real job. She is the runt. Her life is the pack. But you don't fully realize that until you get into the novel.

Ti, on the other hand, is a shifter who is all human. He rejects his wolf nature, and only comes to the pack after being kicked out of his own.

The setting is supposed to be in our world (New York state, I think), and there are a lot of references to things outside the pack in the rest of the country. 

At one point, the story was being told a bit backwards, and while I understand why the action had to happen, I think that it might be a remnant of  an old edit, or that something might have been missing.

Ti did start randomly calling her Wildfire, there was no transition into the name. I  like it, don't get me wrong, but it just started happening and Silver just knew he meant her.

Fans of Anne Bishop: it isn't her, but this might satisfy your cravings for more.

Who would like this novel? See above, anyone who years for more werewolves, romance lovers who like paranormal (this isn't too graphic, not suitable for children, but not horrible. She did write from the perspective of characters who don't understand human decency), those who like a little gore in their reading.

The Last Wolf

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