Reviews with content warning for Violence - Thrown to the Wolves

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Thrown to the Wolves by Charlie Adhara

8 reviews

aroraback's review

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Continued to enjoy, upset I have to wait until the next one is available at the library.

The couple is just the cutest, and I love that they work in a healthy way to build their relationship. And that over three books we get to see them and their relationship grow.

This was probably the murder plot I saw coming the most between the three that I’ve read so far.

Content Warnings

bilbili's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

whozlis's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

wilybooklover's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

wardenred's review

Go to review page

emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Being open isn’t easy for either of us. Shit, maybe not for anyone. But I work on it because, to me, you’re worth it. And you know what, Oliver? I’m worth it, too. So pull your shit together so we can get on with being mates and in love and all that trash.

This is exactly the book I was waiting for! Finally, a nice deep dive into Oliver's past, as well as the werewolf society, politics, history, and tradition. Totally worth the wait, too! The first two books of the series served as an awesome build-up to this perfect storm (in addition to, you know, simply being excellent reads on their own).

In many ways, this installment mirrors The Wolf at Bay, except this time it's Cooper heading to Oliver's childhood home to meet his family and not the other way around. And it's so clear that Cooper has truly learned his lessons from last book's debacle, except it doesn't prevent misunderstandings from happening because Oliver hasn't really been learning any lessons, until now. The late part of the previous book made it rather clear that underneath his perfect facade he's at least as fucked up as Cooper, and I was eager to learn what flavor of fucked-up it is. Not to give anything away, but it's a very interesting flavor, and I can't wait to pick up the next book and see where these two go from here. I have complete faith in their relationship, but I also have no doubt there's still a lot of compelling rockiness ahead.

The mystery here was more convoluted, I felt, than in the first two books, but no less entertaining, and when all the threads came together it all made sense. In the previous books, I was able to guess at least one important detail early on. In this case, there was only one time when I was faster grasping information than it was revealed, and it was only like by half a page. Which is fun! I love being surprised by mysteries like that. The final big twist in the investigation was served perfectly along with the final big twist in the relationship arc (speaking of that relationship arc twist? definitely can't wait to read the next book, OMG).

Adhara's writing keeps getting stronger with each installment. I mentioned in my reviews for the first two books that I had some stumbles with the prose here and there; in this one, there's absolutely none of that. The banter keeps getting cleverer and cleverer, the descriptions for settings and characters are so vivid and spot-on, and I loved how the author managed to make everyone in Oliver's pretty huge family stand out. Also, happy to see a minor trope (is it even a trope?) that I happen to love: the LI's ex being first introduced as a potential menace to relationship, but then the MC and the ex end up becoming friends/friendly. Speaking of the ex, Eli has such a fun and entertaining personality, I need more of him!

All in all, I had a wonderful time with this novel, and Big Bad Wolf is now officially my top favorite m/m supernatural mystery romance series.

Content Warnings

galleytrot's review

Go to review page

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

FIRST READ: Jan 2023
SECOND READ: May 2024
FORMAT: Digital

BRIEF SUMMARY:

In book three of this contemporary shifter romance/suspense series, it’s time for Dayton to meet Park’s ex-pack/family. Park’s grandfather has passed away, and he invites Dayton along to attend the memorial service. However, Park’s closed lips on his identity and history leaves Dayton at a complete loss when he’s thrown amongst the wolves. On top of that, when it becomes clear that Joe Park’s death was almost certainly foul play, Dayton seems to be the only one who wants an investigation.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 3.75 / 5⭐

While I did enjoy reading this third installment of the series, compared to the first two I am left far less satisfied with the mystery we’re presented, the clues we’re given along the way, and the entire big reveal. The last two stories peppered in enough hints and red herrings throughout to keep me guessing, lead me delightfully astray, and surprise me in the end. This time around, I guess the clues were certainly there, but I felt like their connection to the crime was entirely esoteric. The reveal came completely out of left field for me, and I just felt... bummed out about it, instead of invigorated.

One thing that has delighted me about this series so far is how, even though werewolves exist in this world, their existence has been rather tertiary to the plot and the romance. Well, this third book is The Werewolf One. We are now getting into the rules of their world and learning what it is they can and cannot do. I’m not upset that we got here; I’d just found it refreshing to have a werewolf series that wasn’t necessarily about werewolves up until now.

Dayton and Park’s relationship continues to suffer for the lies and the secrets between them. Where book two was Dayton’s turn to make strides in his trust and his emotional availability, this time around it’s Park’s. Boogie also gets a chance to shine!

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 3.75 / 5⭐

So I just feel like, this time around, the plot is a little less accessible for the reasons I’ve already pointed out. In the past two books, I felt like nearly every character held a purpose, moreso in book one than two. Everyone held a piece of the puzzle, and everyone played an important part in solving the crime. Here, it felt more like we’ve been shown a vast cast of characters, and any number of them might or might not be involved at all. There were also a couple of time-jumps where Dayton is given information that we are not, giving us even less of a shot at figuring things out on our own.

I simply thought it wasn’t as well-crafted. That’s not to say it was poorly written or somehow worse than the previous books, but for me, it just wasn’t as engaging. Maybe another reader prefers this kind of out-of-nowhere plot twist/reveal; it’s completely fine if you do! Adhara definitely put the work into making it work. For me, it just hit differently.

FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 3.75 / 5⭐

If you’ve been following this series thus far and have been asking, “Okay, but what about the werewolves??” then this is the one you’ve been waiting for! As far as the suspense and the mystery and the romance go, those are also here.

This work has representation for gay and bi sexualities. A good number of characters are not white, and our MC comes from a Jewish family (although this is not mentioned in this third book). The author identifies as genderfluid.

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.

This book contains: strained family relations; use of tasers; light references to the main character’s old injury (disembowelment) and the physical trauma resulting from it; themes of racism between human- and werewolf-kind; a non-fatal single-car accident; murder, attempted murder; tranquilizers in unsafe doses; gun violence resulting in an injury; a possibly-alcoholic character; an agent who shoots first and asks questions later; and, various injuries involving head trauma, cuts, and bruises.

Content Warnings

ticktock's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

marysbookinit's review

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

More...