Review: Trial by Fire (Raised by Wolves, #2) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Publisher: Random House (EgmontUSA)

Spoilers?: Some. And for the first book, Raised by Wolves.

Goodreads Synopsis:

 There can only be one alpha.

Bryn is finally settling into her position as alpha of the Cedar Ridge Pack—or at least, her own version of what it means to be alpha when you’re a human leading a band of werewolves. Then she finds a teenage boy bleeding on her front porch. Before collapsing, he tells her his name is Lucas, he’s a Were, and Bryn’s protection is his only hope.

But Lucas isn’t part of Bryn’s pack, and she has no right to claim another alpha’s Were.  With threats—old and new—looming, and danger closing in from all sides, Bryn will have to accept what her guardian Callum knew all along. To be alpha, she will have to give in to her own animal instincts and become less human. And, she’s going to have to do it alone.

Bryn faces both the costs, and the rewards, of love and loyalty, in this thrilling sequel to Raised by Wolves.

Review:

I've had this on my shelf for a while, and I don't know why I've been putting it off for so long. I really enjoyed the first one, and this one was really good as well.

In the last one, Bryn parted from Callum and became the alpha of her own pack, despite the fact that she's not a werewolf. This has bothered me, but because of how her pack is, with their ages and everything, it could be worse. And because of those things, I think it's believable, even if she does need to grow up some more. Bryn does need to grow, though, she's a bit too young to be controlling a pack of people. And learn how to fight some more, maybe?

In this one, she's still the alpha, still sixteen (I believe?) and going to school. She's with Chase, and there are some cute moments between them, but mostly ones where it's obvious how they feel about each other. They seem to still be working things out but I like them together. And then there's Devon, whom I love, but feel a bit bad for because of Bryn. He just needs to find himself a partner.

They get a new wolf in this book, one who's been abused by his alpha, and Devon's older brother, Shay. His name is Lucas, and I was afraid he was going to cause problems with Bryn and Chase, but instead he made a connection with a different wolf in her pack. Which was sweet.

Shay is, overall, a terrible person. He set them up. In several different ways. Least of all with a pack of, um, people with “knacks”. Like how Callum kind of has a web of the future in his head, and Bryn (along with most of her pack) have a stronger-than-usual instinct to survive. Only they're much more dangerous, and they have a deal with Shay. There's a lot more to them, and I wasn't really expecting it. But I'm glad it happened.

The ending, I think, really threw the rating up. Something happens with Lucas that I really wasn't expecting. (At one point, I did question what he said, but I pushed it aside like everyone else in the book did.) It was a good twist, in a not-really-good way. Especially because I liked him, felt bad for him, hoped for more from him, and also feel bad for the person he made a connection with. Also, Bryn goes to talk to Callum, and I really liked their conversation, and am looking forward to it happening. Hopefully in the next book?

One thing that bothered me from the last book, and made me a little wary, was that we were introduced to so many new people at the end, all of her pack members, and I had no idea who was who. Aside from a few people that I was confused about a bit longer than I'd have liked, everyone was explained pretty well. And I got more of all of their personalities in this book, which is good. With Lake, for instance, Bryn's one good, tough, girl friend. And Maddy. We learned some more about Ali, too, who is a pretty awesome parental unit. (I feel bad for Casey, Ali's ex-husband. I see both sides of what happened, and it's just sad.)

I'm excited to see what happens next. I'm really hoping for that thing between Bryn and Callum. I want to see more things between Chase and Bryn. I'm really not looking forward to what is hinted at with Devon and his brother. I'm hoping the next (and final?) one is good, as good as the first two and with a good ending.