Novel Review: Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega, #1) by Patricia Briggs

Genre: Adult Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

Rating (Out of 5): ~4 (maybe 4.5)

Publisher: Penguin (Ace)

Spoilers?: No/Very Minor

Buy it here: Amazon.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Anna never knew werewolves existed, until the night she survived a violent attack... and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she'd learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. Then Charles Cornick, the enforcer—and son—of the leader of the North American werewolves, came into her life.

Charles insists that not only is Anna his mate, but she is also a rare and valued Omega wolf. And it is Anna's inner strength and calming presence that will prove invaluable as she and Charles go on the hunt in search of a rogue werewolf—a creature bound in magic so dark that it could threaten all of the pack.

Something Specific:

Quotes:

•  "Listening to your instincts, his father liked to say, was not the same thing as being blindly obedient to them." (Mass Market Paperback, pg. 249) I just liked this quote, really.

Review:

I ended up picking this book up because, (1) my local bookstore had this book and On The Prowl in (which has the beginning story to this series), and (2) the bookstore didn’t have the next Mercy book in. Oddly enough, I’d had my eye on this series before I even thought of reading the Mercy books, but couldn’t seem to find On The Prowl, and somehow ended up with the first Mercy book instead. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to read this one soon, but started the first short story and liked it, and so continued onto this one immediately.

When I started this one, I hadn’t realized that it was about Sam’s brother, and that it would be based in the place that Bran lives. I was pleasantly surprised by this, especially to see all the ways that this story intertwines with Mercy’s.

I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed the two main characters, Anna and Charles. Anna is the omega, which I didn’t know what meant until I started this. An omega is someone who is kind of left out of the hierarchy in a pack. They have an alpha, and they’re part of the pack, but they don’t have to succumb to commands, and they tend to calm the people around them very easily, and can help with unruly and/or hurt werewolves. It’s awesome, really. One of my favorite parts to this was how easily Anna is able to stand up for herself, to anyone, and how she grows into being able to do that.

I love reading about characters that have been abused in some way, and Anna has definitely been abused, and I like seeing the ways in which she grows from that. She’s having a bit of a hard time, but she’s dealing really well, and she’s growing and not letting anyone push her back down, which is great. I was surprised by it, but I really like Anna, and am really looking forward to seeing how she continues to grow in the next book.

Next: Charles. He’s the, um, ‘enforcer’ of the pack? He takes care of unruly werewolves; he’s the one that has to go and kill them, or deal with the messy situations, when there is no more avoiding it. And I really like Charles. He’s strong, and protective, and sweet to Anna.

I love the relationship between Anna and Charles. Now, I’m a big sucker for romance, and I definitely like that their romance started right from the beginning, given that their wolves decided they wanted each other (also, how it didn't feel, or act, like insta-love). And how Anna and Charles have to deal with that, and accept each other after the fact their wolves want to mate. I like their dynamic, too, and seeing how they’re growing used to each other, getting to know each other more. I also liked seeing Anna stick up for herself, not let Charles be the big dominant man (not that he's particularly possessive or pushy in a jerk way). (I also liked, in the anthology story, how she told him that she doesn't like sex, and the anticipation that gave me toward some nice sex and how he's prove her wrong -- I believe there was one sex scene in this story, kind of skipped over, although I'm not surprised.)

There was a big case in this book, and we got to see Sam and Bran, including Bran worrying over Charles and Charles worrying about Bran, and there was a very-not-nice death. At the end of the book, the official mating happened, and Anna got to see her family after two/three years, which I would have liked to actually have seen instead of gotten a recap in the last chapter.

I like how quickly these books go, even if there are some slow parts. I would like more romance, but I know that’s not a big part of what Briggs’ tends to write. The writing was a bit different in this book as opposed to the Mercy series: this book was written in multiple points-of-view third-person. So, aside from being in Anna’s head, we also get to be in Charles’, and Brans’, and maybe some other people… I like multiple points-of-view, so I did enjoy this.

I really liked this book; surprisingly so, and I am really looking forward to reading the next one. It's actually rivaling with how much I like the Mercy series, and I'm not sure which one's winning, because I'm wary to say it's this one. I think the main reason is the relationship between Anna and Charles, and just Anna herself; I just really liked them.