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bisonprints's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
cm_evans's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
whatshawnareads's review against another edition
I absolutely loved the world in this book where paranormal creatures lived out in the open in NYC. However, the third person narration that switches between the MCs and side characters is one of my pet peeves, especially when there is a secondary romance that plays out. I'm still excited to see where this series goes.
Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for my copy to review.
Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for my copy to review.
cassandra67b07's review against another edition
2.0
Thank you to Edelweiss and Sourcebooks for the review copy.
I’ve been looking for a good paranormal series and was really hoping this would be the start of a keeper series. Unfortunately I only made it about 35% in before suspension of belief kicked in.
One the plus side, this is a plausible look at post Trump America only with shifters and other supernatural forces. Of course, there would be surveillance, detention camps, and sanctuary cities. There are a rather dizzying number of secondary characters representing the diversity of America.
But.
The world building comes through in this stream of consciousness from all the characters as an enormous info-dump and it’s just not fun to read. The POVs are from too many characters and transitions are abrupt. I kept moving back trying to figure out whose head we were in now.
The main female character was appealing until she went into some sort of haze and decided as an officer of the court to go on the run with an escaped prisoner because the sex was good. Whaaat?
And like I said, I really wanted to like this book but the big, bad, wolf-Joe-just made me cringe.
I would try the author again but think I might like her contemporaries better.
2.5 for the attempt to do post 2016 as a dystopian paranormal romance.
I’ve been looking for a good paranormal series and was really hoping this would be the start of a keeper series. Unfortunately I only made it about 35% in before suspension of belief kicked in.
One the plus side, this is a plausible look at post Trump America only with shifters and other supernatural forces. Of course, there would be surveillance, detention camps, and sanctuary cities. There are a rather dizzying number of secondary characters representing the diversity of America.
But.
The world building comes through in this stream of consciousness from all the characters as an enormous info-dump and it’s just not fun to read. The POVs are from too many characters and transitions are abrupt. I kept moving back trying to figure out whose head we were in now.
The main female character was appealing until she went into some sort of haze and decided as an officer of the court to go on the run with an escaped prisoner because the sex was good. Whaaat?
And like I said, I really wanted to like this book but the big, bad, wolf-Joe-just made me cringe.
I would try the author again but think I might like her contemporaries better.
2.5 for the attempt to do post 2016 as a dystopian paranormal romance.
nickcarravay's review against another edition
3.0
Review Copy generously provided by #Netgalley and the publisher. (Thank you!)
I came to Suleikha Snyder from reading Tikka Chance on Me. I liked her voice and her very "take no shits" leading lady. So I was stoked to find out that she was writing a full-length paranormal novel with a killer cover. (Shout out to the Graphic Artist on that!).
The book is an interesting mix of politics, romance, supernatural intrigue, and Russian Mafia. There is a lot to unpack here, and ultimately not all the things worked for me.
The Russian Mafia - the well-developed infrastructure of this world, the nuanced research into the Little Odessa underbelly, are very well executed. I loved the addition of the Bear-Shifter into the mix of how scary these people can be.
The current politics as presented in this magical world - almost X-Men-esque expulsion policies, side-by-side with the actual bans and caged children that the administration was doing in real life, were shockingly believable, mostly because it is not a stretch to imagine this kind of oppression.
The Apex Initiative and Third Shift - Extremely fun and engaging. I need a second book about these people (there is a hint in the afterword that this is happening, squeeee!). These side characters stole the show for me. This could be an episodic show or a movie about supe-spies or just more and more books in this world. I NEED the Nate-Clare-Finn thruple story!
Neha and Joe - the central love story, was the least effective for me. Their insta-lust was somewhat believable, but the insta-love that followed did not hold water for me. He just kept repeating the same self-loathing mantra over and over while she kept telling him that she needs him inside her. It just didn't work and I am usually all about the sex.
I am definitely going to be on the lookout for book two in hopes that it is about the other operatives of Third Shift.
I came to Suleikha Snyder from reading Tikka Chance on Me. I liked her voice and her very "take no shits" leading lady. So I was stoked to find out that she was writing a full-length paranormal novel with a killer cover. (Shout out to the Graphic Artist on that!).
The book is an interesting mix of politics, romance, supernatural intrigue, and Russian Mafia. There is a lot to unpack here, and ultimately not all the things worked for me.
The Russian Mafia - the well-developed infrastructure of this world, the nuanced research into the Little Odessa underbelly, are very well executed. I loved the addition of the Bear-Shifter into the mix of how scary these people can be.
The current politics as presented in this magical world - almost X-Men-esque expulsion policies, side-by-side with the actual bans and caged children that the administration was doing in real life, were shockingly believable, mostly because it is not a stretch to imagine this kind of oppression.
The Apex Initiative and Third Shift - Extremely fun and engaging. I need a second book about these people (there is a hint in the afterword that this is happening, squeeee!). These side characters stole the show for me. This could be an episodic show or a movie about supe-spies or just more and more books in this world. I NEED the Nate-Clare-Finn thruple story!
Neha and Joe - the central love story, was the least effective for me. Their insta-lust was somewhat believable, but the insta-love that followed did not hold water for me. He just kept repeating the same self-loathing mantra over and over while she kept telling him that she needs him inside her. It just didn't work and I am usually all about the sex.
I am definitely going to be on the lookout for book two in hopes that it is about the other operatives of Third Shift.
balletbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. Maybe would have liked more “romance” in between the danger-banging between Neha and Joe (although given Joe’s life, he probably has to learn that so might be a toss up). I love how effortlessly diverse Suliekha’s characters are, even the side characters. She just slips in little bits into description or dialog that fleshes them out without stopping the narrative. This is also one of the rare books to nail the nail-bitingly, unstable, and nauseating reality of the political situation of the last four years....only this just has supernatural creatures doing romantic suspense in it too.
kristen_joele's review against another edition
DNF. I have never skipped over so much useless chunks to try to find the "good" parts. 100 pages in and gave up.
nelsonseye's review
3.0
My rating for Big Bad Wolf is hovering between three and four stars, and I might upgrade later. I was very invested in the characters of Neha and Joe; they were competent, flawed, made mistakes, apologized, etc., but I also liked that they were older — a lot of paranormal romances feature characters in their late twenties, so seeing leads in their mid-thirties and early forties was refreshing. I also thought the world building was very good though the world itself was not. I liked the varying points of view, though some were a bit stressful, and the secondary romances were also intriguing. But, I have to admit that I was worried about
Spoiler
one of them ending badly. Though I suppose the Romeo and Juliet reference may have foreshadowed that it wouldn'ttimitra's review
4.0
Loved it!!
Big Bad Wolf was awesome. It's my first book by this author but it won't be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed this action packed, steamy read and I'm looking forward to rest of this series.
Big Bad Wolf was awesome. It's my first book by this author but it won't be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed this action packed, steamy read and I'm looking forward to rest of this series.
haileyvsaliens's review against another edition
2.0
E-ARC from Netgally
I am not going to lie, I am the type of person who will pick a book solely amazing on the cover of the book. Yes, I know that I am not meant to judge a book by its cover because some beautiful covers are not the best or the not so pretty covers are amazing. I am sad to say that this book fell on the first option. I am a sucker for werewolf's esspeually if the cover has a hot dude on it but sadly this book didn't do it for me.
This book started out super promising but then took a turn for the worst. I really enjoyed the banter between the characters but I felt that at least 1/3 of the book was just a recap of what one of the main characters said and they were thinking about it. At first I thought it was a different way of writing but half way threw the book I was over it. It felt like something I would do in college when I was writing a paper and trying to meet a word count and I would start making quotas.
Trying to finish the book was just shy of pulling out teeth, and I couldn't even say that the ending was amazing. Yes it ended happy but the fact that it felt rushed was annoying. I say that it was rushed because the werewolf believed that he didn't deserve the girl and then the last 2 pages or so after the whole book of thinking he is bad for her he decides that he should end up with her. I felt like the author could have done more for the ending and how it could have been wrapped up.
I really wanted to like this book because come on... a werewolf romance is my jam but this book definitely didn't do it for me.
I am not going to lie, I am the type of person who will pick a book solely amazing on the cover of the book. Yes, I know that I am not meant to judge a book by its cover because some beautiful covers are not the best or the not so pretty covers are amazing. I am sad to say that this book fell on the first option. I am a sucker for werewolf's esspeually if the cover has a hot dude on it but sadly this book didn't do it for me.
This book started out super promising but then took a turn for the worst. I really enjoyed the banter between the characters but I felt that at least 1/3 of the book was just a recap of what one of the main characters said and they were thinking about it. At first I thought it was a different way of writing but half way threw the book I was over it. It felt like something I would do in college when I was writing a paper and trying to meet a word count and I would start making quotas.
Trying to finish the book was just shy of pulling out teeth, and I couldn't even say that the ending was amazing. Yes it ended happy but the fact that it felt rushed was annoying. I say that it was rushed because the werewolf believed that he didn't deserve the girl and then the last 2 pages or so after the whole book of thinking he is bad for her he decides that he should end up with her. I felt like the author could have done more for the ending and how it could have been wrapped up.
I really wanted to like this book because come on... a werewolf romance is my jam but this book definitely didn't do it for me.