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midora's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
magikspells's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. I enjoy the world building, the history, the characters. I love the terra indigene and how they interact with the humans as well as each other. I just feel like the book built to a very quick climax and then it ended very suddenly. Idk, we'll see how it goes. I'll may write a little more on this later.
brendalovesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. I'm so glad I found this series.
halynah's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant sequel with rich plot, my only regret is that it is not twice its size, because the appearance of many well-liked characters like Sam is too short and, frankly speaking, one can never get too much of this world with so many wondrous creatures. Need the third book right now!!!!!!!!!
with_whimsy's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kzimm2024's review against another edition
5.0
Re-Read Aug 2023- buddy read with my nephew. Past Krista did not do any review so Present Krista is going to fix that! :)
This is such a great story, with some horrible and gory parts that really hit home as to how evil humans can really be, but all the characters and how Meg becomes their touchstone is so satisfying. Some spoilers ahead but not really since I just highlight my favorite bits.
Simon:
If someone had told him a few weeks ago that he would befriend a human and care enough to watch over her at night, he would have laughed his tail off.
Meg, after a nightmare/prophecy:
“It was nothing,” she said, wanting to believe it. “Just a dream.”
Even blood prophets had ordinary dreams. Didn’t they?
“It scared you enough that you kicked me off the bed. That’s not nothing, Meg.” Simon’s arm tightened around her.
“And just so you know? You may be small, but you kick like a moose. Which is something I’m telling the rest of the Wolves.”
Great. Just what she needed. Yep, that’s our Liaison. Meg Moosekicker.
I love how Simon is totally up for telling everyone about Meg being a kicker. LOL.
The best parts are with Simon and Meg navigating a new "relationship":
The Wolf didn’t notice. “What difference does it make if I’m furry or not?” He pointed at Heather, and the look in his eyes made it clear he expected an answer.
“Aaaaahhhh,” she said, glancing at Monty. “Weeeellllll. When my mom takes a nap, our cat curls up with her, and my dad doesn’t care. But I don’t think he’d like it if the cat suddenly turned into a man.”
“Why?” Simon demanded. “The cat would just be a cat in a different form.” Heather made a funny sound and didn’t answer.
Monty quietly cleared his throat before he said, “A form that would be able to have sex with a human female.”
“I didn’t want sex!” Simon shouted. “I just wanted my share of the covers.”
and more thoughts from Simon that I loved:
"Besides, Jester had told him that Meg felt nervous about being too alone. Very Wolfish of her, not wanting to be too alone. He approved."
---------
“You sure you feel all right to do this today?” He opened her carry bag, took out a couple of containers of food, and put them in the under-the-counter fridge.
“I’ll be fine,” Meg replied, sounding testy.
If she would let him sniff her properly, he’d know if she was all right without having to keep asking.
---------
“Maybe you should go home and rest,” Simon told Meg. Maybe he could go home with her and they could cuddle for a while or play a game. Or she could watch a movie and pet him.
“Merri Lee is helping me make some sample packages of cookies,” Meg said, sounding like the only game she wanted to play right now was whack a Wolf.
And when the Others meet Namid's terrible creation? Priceless:
“Simon?” Charlie finally said. “It was just a mouse.”
“I know,” he replied.
“A small mouse.”
He sighed. “I know.”
“So,” Alan said after a long pause. “That’s Namid’s terrible creation?”
“Yeah. That’s Meg.”
Love the world building, love the characters, love Simon and Meg :)
This is such a great story, with some horrible and gory parts that really hit home as to how evil humans can really be, but all the characters and how Meg becomes their touchstone is so satisfying. Some spoilers ahead but not really since I just highlight my favorite bits.
Simon:
If someone had told him a few weeks ago that he would befriend a human and care enough to watch over her at night, he would have laughed his tail off.
Meg, after a nightmare/prophecy:
“It was nothing,” she said, wanting to believe it. “Just a dream.”
Even blood prophets had ordinary dreams. Didn’t they?
“It scared you enough that you kicked me off the bed. That’s not nothing, Meg.” Simon’s arm tightened around her.
“And just so you know? You may be small, but you kick like a moose. Which is something I’m telling the rest of the Wolves.”
Great. Just what she needed. Yep, that’s our Liaison. Meg Moosekicker.
I love how Simon is totally up for telling everyone about Meg being a kicker. LOL.
The best parts are with Simon and Meg navigating a new "relationship":
The Wolf didn’t notice. “What difference does it make if I’m furry or not?” He pointed at Heather, and the look in his eyes made it clear he expected an answer.
“Aaaaahhhh,” she said, glancing at Monty. “Weeeellllll. When my mom takes a nap, our cat curls up with her, and my dad doesn’t care. But I don’t think he’d like it if the cat suddenly turned into a man.”
“Why?” Simon demanded. “The cat would just be a cat in a different form.” Heather made a funny sound and didn’t answer.
Monty quietly cleared his throat before he said, “A form that would be able to have sex with a human female.”
“I didn’t want sex!” Simon shouted. “I just wanted my share of the covers.”
and more thoughts from Simon that I loved:
"Besides, Jester had told him that Meg felt nervous about being too alone. Very Wolfish of her, not wanting to be too alone. He approved."
---------
“You sure you feel all right to do this today?” He opened her carry bag, took out a couple of containers of food, and put them in the under-the-counter fridge.
“I’ll be fine,” Meg replied, sounding testy.
If she would let him sniff her properly, he’d know if she was all right without having to keep asking.
---------
“Maybe you should go home and rest,” Simon told Meg. Maybe he could go home with her and they could cuddle for a while or play a game. Or she could watch a movie and pet him.
“Merri Lee is helping me make some sample packages of cookies,” Meg said, sounding like the only game she wanted to play right now was whack a Wolf.
And when the Others meet Namid's terrible creation? Priceless:
“Simon?” Charlie finally said. “It was just a mouse.”
“I know,” he replied.
“A small mouse.”
He sighed. “I know.”
“So,” Alan said after a long pause. “That’s Namid’s terrible creation?”
“Yeah. That’s Meg.”
Love the world building, love the characters, love Simon and Meg :)
rebeccazh's review against another edition
Reread this, Written in Red and Vision of Silver.
I really liked Written in Red because of the interactions between Meg and Sam. Was disappointed to realize that Sam doesn't make much of an appearance in the second nor third books. Meg's kindness and guilelessness is really sweet. My favourite parts of the book was where she chose to be generous and kind, unknowingly winning others over. The arc focused on her coaxing Sam out of his shell is wonderful. Really great to read. I love stories about healing.
Unfortunately, the subsequent books are very heavy on the narrative about gender and romance and all that that the story felt bogged down by it. Should've expected that since this is primarily a series about romance.
Also couldn't ignore the parts that I really didn't like - I have some major problems with this series so far. It's intensely gendered. I've read Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series and I see the similarities. Intensely heteronormative, lots of gender stereotypes (men are protective, dominant, strong, aggressive, dangerous, etcetc; women are precious, need to be looked after, sweet, etcetc), all the men in the series are focused on a single woman who is Immensely Important, characters are referred to by their gender more often than not as though gender predominates everything. Left me with a faintly icky feeling. It also causes the characters to be quite indistinguishable from each other - all the men are similar to each other, and all the women are similar to each other.
Soo. First book was good. Second and third, not so good at all.
I really liked Written in Red because of the interactions between Meg and Sam. Was disappointed to realize that Sam doesn't make much of an appearance in the second nor third books. Meg's kindness and guilelessness is really sweet. My favourite parts of the book was where she chose to be generous and kind, unknowingly winning others over. The arc focused on her coaxing Sam out of his shell is wonderful. Really great to read. I love stories about healing.
Unfortunately, the subsequent books are very heavy on the narrative about gender and romance and all that that the story felt bogged down by it. Should've expected that since this is primarily a series about romance.
Also couldn't ignore the parts that I really didn't like - I have some major problems with this series so far. It's intensely gendered. I've read Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series and I see the similarities. Intensely heteronormative, lots of gender stereotypes (men are protective, dominant, strong, aggressive, dangerous, etcetc; women are precious, need to be looked after, sweet, etcetc), all the men in the series are focused on a single woman who is Immensely Important, characters are referred to by their gender more often than not as though gender predominates everything. Left me with a faintly icky feeling. It also causes the characters to be quite indistinguishable from each other - all the men are similar to each other, and all the women are similar to each other.
Soo. First book was good. Second and third, not so good at all.
nalian's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
brianne_k's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely love the day to day routine in these books. I find every aspect fascinating. It is rare that this happens, but this is that rare time.
melindacraig87's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
medium-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
5.0