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themargherita_s's review
5.0
Second chance is one of my least favorite tropes, but the premise of this book sounded too good to pass, and when Allegra announced the ARCs I knew I had to read it. I'm so glad I gave it a chance because it's probably one of the best books I've read in 2023.
My favorite part was definitely the inclusion of Māori culture and language! It truly made the story unique.
I loved every single character in this story (which is rare for me) and I'm so excited to read the rest of the series!
When I hit the 30% mark I had already cried multiples times, then I got to the 50% mark and everything was suspiciously fine and cute, and I was like "no, everything is going a little too well", and then BOOM: PAIN, that made me cry till the very last page.
I fell like I'm always crying with this book lol (it's a good thing, don't worry).
Representation: mixed New Zealand European and Māori female main character, American male main character.
Content Warnings: abandonment, sexual content, off-page death of a child that occurred years ago, drowning, grief, loss of a sibling, loss of a child, symptoms of PTSD, brief mention of a side character's previous abusive relationship, mind control, attempted kidnapping, a shifted wolf attacking a shifted being and on-page death of this creature while in shifted animal form, blood, discussion of shifted wolves and werewolves hunting animals for food (not shown, but actions, sounds, and taste briefly described by characters), dysfunctional family dynamics, violence between shifted wolves, abuse of magic powers to exert will over others, struggles with identity, reference to situational depression (in the past), recreational use of alcohol, reference to binge drinking as a coping mechanism (in the past), secondary characters with children or babies, and non-humans being othered and experiencing microaggressions, racism.
My favorite part was definitely the inclusion of Māori culture and language! It truly made the story unique.
I loved every single character in this story (which is rare for me) and I'm so excited to read the rest of the series!
When I hit the 30% mark I had already cried multiples times, then I got to the 50% mark and everything was suspiciously fine and cute, and I was like "no, everything is going a little too well", and then BOOM: PAIN, that made me cry till the very last page.
I fell like I'm always crying with this book lol (it's a good thing, don't worry).
Representation: mixed New Zealand European and Māori female main character, American male main character.
Content Warnings: abandonment, sexual content, off-page death of a child that occurred years ago, drowning, grief, loss of a sibling, loss of a child, symptoms of PTSD, brief mention of a side character's previous abusive relationship, mind control, attempted kidnapping, a shifted wolf attacking a shifted being and on-page death of this creature while in shifted animal form, blood, discussion of shifted wolves and werewolves hunting animals for food (not shown, but actions, sounds, and taste briefly described by characters), dysfunctional family dynamics, violence between shifted wolves, abuse of magic powers to exert will over others, struggles with identity, reference to situational depression (in the past), recreational use of alcohol, reference to binge drinking as a coping mechanism (in the past), secondary characters with children or babies, and non-humans being othered and experiencing microaggressions, racism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Child death, Racism, Xenophobia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Mental illness, and Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse
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