Taken by Storm by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This is the third novel in the Raised by Wolves series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

My review of #1: Raised by Wolves.
My review of #2: Trial by Fire.

WARNING - This book will contain spoilers from the previous two novels in the series. Proceed with caution!

Bryn has had to make some tough decisions as alpha of her pack. The latest one was having to kill a wolf she took in her pack, only to have him challenge her. And once an alpha is challenged, there is no going back. They have to fight. To the death.

While Bryn won the fight, and killed Lucas, she lost another member of the pack: Maddy. She was in love with Lucas and could not look at Bryn afterward without feeling anger at her for killing the one she loved.

So Bryn let Maddy go and now she's living on her own in the No-Man's-Land.

Let's just say things were going pretty rough for Bryn.

Now she's training with Jed, another human like Bryn who has a psychic ability to go feral, or rabid but without shifting into a wolf. They lose control of what their body does and they fight to survive any threat that tries to kill them. And almost always they get out of the situation somewhat unscathed.

Things can't keep staying normal for Bryn, though. Shay, the alpha of the bordering territory has called for an alpha meeting. He reveals that there is a lone, rabid wolf roaming around killing animals and humans, brutally. Local police are starting to notice.

But the part that intrigues all of the male alphas is that the rabid wolf is FEMALE. Female wolves are very rare and every pack, besides Bryn's, wants their own so they can breed more children and make their pack larger.

Bryn needs to find this wolf before everyone else because she is the only one that won't force the female wolf to join her pack just to use her as a breeding tool. She will allow the wolf to be free, just letting her join her pack to steer clear of the other alphas.

But the mysterious killer wolf is not what Bryn's pack thinks. And Shay is not a wolf to underestimate. Because he usually has an ultimate goal that Bryn doesn't see coming. And everything is about to become 100 times worse before she can see any brightness in her future. Will Bryn be able to help this female wolf and figure out who is attacking innocent humans and animals? Read Taken by Storm by Jennifer Lynn Barnes to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Wow. I was a little leery when down to the last 20 pages and it was still mid story, but Barnes did a wonderful job creating this ending to her series!

And I'm going to say it: it was bittersweet and heartbreaking. I was very teary eyed and couldn't believe all of the things Barnes did in the last 50 pages of this book. I was angry, I was sad, I was satisfied, but I was devastated.

All in all, I went on a rollercoaster ride and, even though I know I loved the ending, I'm still trying to get past all of the emotions that I went through.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you why I went through all of those emotions, because it would give away the ending and I'm so not a spoiler reviewer. Let's just say that some characters die and if you want to know who, you'll have to read the series to get attached to them just to lose them.

Ironically, I read many reviews saying that this was the best YA werewolf story ever written. I'm not sure if I would go that far, but I did really, really like this storyline. There was so much randomness and multiple topics thrown into this series that I felt satisfied with how Barnes pulled it off.

I would definitely recommend this novel to werewolf fans, and also supernatural fans since there's a little bit more going on than just werewolves. Also, if you've read the first two novels, you HAVE to read this story to find out what happens!

For those who want to read this series but only have the third novel, I would advise you to find the first two because it will make the story so much better and you would also understand a lot more by the third novel.

Great series, Barnes! I was made a believer by the very last page of this book that this series is a great story and beautifully written! Now, I'm going to hunt for more of Barnes's books and see if she will entrap me again with her story telling!

Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This is the second novel in the Raised by Wolves series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

My review of #1: Raised by Wolves.

Warning - This book will contain spoilers from the first novel. Proceed with caution after this sentence!

After saving a group of humans turned werewolves, Bryn has now found herself their alpha, even though she's only human and can't transform like everyone else.

But she set them all free from the Rabid and they decided that they wanted Bryn to be their leader. She's not just human; she has a power that no other werewolf has and they feel safe with her. Devon and Lake, her two best friends since childhood, have also joined her pack, being her guards and protecting her.

Things aren't necessarily going to work out right away though. In fact, because Bryn is human and a female, many of the other alphas don't like what she is doing. They can't do anything about it, though, because they are a democracy and go by rules, rather than judge on their feelings.

The one alpha that hates Bryn with a passion is Shay - who just happens to be Devon's older brother. He is ruling his own pack on the other border next to Bryn's and is definitely trying to get a reaction out of Bryn's pack.

When a werewolf shows up on her doorstep, beaten and bloodied and shifting from human to wolf, Bryn gets her first duty as alpha. Lucas is part of Shay's pack. But Shay tortures and abuses his wolves, so Bryn doesn't want to send Lucas back there.

However, she can't keep him since he is still Shay's wolf. So now she has to figure out a way to save Lucas without going against werewolf rules.

And to top it off, there is a coven in town - a group of humans who have extraordinary powers and are after Lucas. They hate werewolves and follow so such rules that Shay and Bryn have to follow from the werewolf council.

But things are not what they seem to be and Bryn has only a week to figure everything out before she could lose her entire pack. Can Bryn save everyone, including Lucas, or will she find herself without a pack right after she just got them? Read Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
A great sequel to the first novel in this series!

We jump right back into the story following what happened at the end of the first novel, and boy is there no rest for the weary! Bryn just got used to being a sophomore in high school and also being an alpha to a bunch of rowdy teenage or younger werewolves. She has a lot of things to balance.

I don't know what it is about these novels. There's just something different about them that leaves me satisfied but also a little bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong! I really enjoyed both of them and gave them both 4 stars out of 5.

Well, one, there isn't as much romance, which is unique in YA  literature and also a little refreshing.

And two, there is a lot of inner dialogue that Bryn shares with her packmates, so that might be throwing me off a little bit when reading.

And, third, there is just so much in this novel that is unique to any other novel I've read, so many aspects and plot lines that actually go together real well.

So yeah, I liked this novel. We got to see more of Bryn growing up, learning from mistakes, and having to make tough decisions before she's ready for them. But she does it thinking about her pack, thinking about others instead of herself.

I think others who are a werewolf fan will really enjoy this series and that they should pick these up now! There is only one more novel in the series, so I'm hoping that it will end well. And now I'm going to go and read it :)

Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This is the first book in the Raised by Wolves series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

Bronwyn Alessia St. Vincent Clare. Well, that's her full name, anyway. And Bryn only hears that when she's in serious trouble by her "guardian" Callum.

Who also happens to be a werewolf and alpha to his pack. But Bryn has been living among werewolves for 11 years, so she's pretty used to their oddities and short tempers. Though that doesn't mean Bryn is used to their run every full moon. And she basically just steers clear of them when tempers run through town.

Thankfully, Bryn grew up with Ali, another human like Bryn and treated her like her own daughter. So there was so normality in her life growing up. Well as normal as being raised by wolves can get.

When Bryn was 4, her mother and father were brutally attacked by a Rabid wolf, one that follows no rules and has no alpha. And this wolf was on a killing mission. Bryn was able to escape, though, when Callum rescued her just in time.

But Bryn still has nightmares about that wolf, and remembers that he called himself that "Big Bad Wolf", making Bryn very wary as to who she gets close to.

Plus, Bryn is unique even among humans. She is able to connect, or stay disconnected, to the wolves. She can feel their energy when they are emotional. And after years of training, she can run fast and fight against wolves. She's not as good as them, but she knows what to do in order to run away to survive.

Bryn finds out that Callum is keeping another stray wolf locked up in the basement. However, Chase is no ordinary werewolf. He was changed human, got bit by a werewolf, and was change. Biting a human usually results in killing them, so seeing Chase alive and well was startling.

Bryn wanted to get to know Chase. She feels a connection with him almost from the minute she saw him. Then she finds out that the wolf who bit him? Was the same wolf who has been haunting Bryn's dreams for 11 years: "Big Bad Wolf", or, as Chase calls him, "Prancer". And now Bryn has been betrayed by everyone she loves since they didn't tell her the truth all of these years.

Now, Bryn is on a mission to kill Prancer. He ruined her life and is still out hunting humans; he must be stopped. But Bryn is part of a pack - even though she is human. Can she stray away from the only family she has ever known to kill another being? And who will join her on this murder hunt? Read Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Another werewolf story! I seem to be on a streak lately :)

This was really different than other werewolf stories I've read in the past. Especially because it's Bryn's viewpoint we are reading, who is one of the few humans in this society, and she's not exactly like anyone else in the story.

I liked it. There were some parts where I felt it dragged a little bit and I started skimming, but overall it was a good story and I was anxious to find out what was going to happen at the end of the novel.

I'm also really glad that this is a trilogy and that all of the books are published. In fact, I have all three of them in my possesion so there is no waiting around to find out what happens with all of the characters.

The romance in here was very bland compared to most YA werewolf stories, I thought. Chase and Bryn have a connection. They can talk to one another through their thoughts and can sense each others emotions. And, if I didn't miss anything through my skimming, there was only ONE kissing scene. That is very low key compared to other novels!

So, yeah, it was a good book. I'm excited to see what happens in the second novel because of the way this one ended (no, not really a cliffhanger, but something major does happen to Bryn that changes everything for her).

I would recommend this to anyone that wants to read about werewolves and about redemption, because once Bryn found out about her parents killer, she was all about revenge.

And there are a lot of plot lines that I didn't talk about that happened in this novel, so you just might be surprised as to what else unfolds throughout this novel.

Now, I'm off to read the sequel! Come back tomorrow for that review, because I will have finished it by then :)