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michalice's review
4.0
What drew me to Who's Afraid? Was the press release, promoting it for fans of Patricia Briggs. That with the cover made me very interested in this book and as soon as it arrived I made a start on reading it.
Who's Afraid? is a book that drew me in, I needed to know more about Tommi and her life, getting to know her and her friends. We learn more about Tommi's past with her, as she discovers the truth about her Mum, and her heritage. But what could have been a nice family reunion quickly turns into something much worse, and Tommi finds herself going home with more than she bargained for.
Finding out she is a werewolf is a huge shock for Tommi, and I really like how it was all portrayed, even the typical change was different. I liked how we got the time to know the characters and learn about their relationships before we are hit with the werewolf issues. It wasn't rushed along at all and felt natural, if being a werewolf could ever be natural. Tommi was a character that I felt could really be a great friend, someone who would stand by your side no matter what. Her group of friends was small, but strong and felt real. Tommi herself is a very unique person, but having bright blue hair will do that for you. She comes across as a bitch to some people, but to those who are in her inner circle we can see the caring side.
I enjoyed getting to see this new side of Tommi, the new abilities she has, how adept she is already with some things that older wolves scant do. The training regime was funny to see her mistakes, but also marvel at her strength.
Who's Afraid? is a book that has a diverse blend of characters, from all walks of life. The plot is paced nicely without it feeling rushed, but there isn't a moment where you can relax your guard, something is always around the corner. I like how the story played out, and although I was sad at how something ended, I did see how this helped with the next installment. By the end of the book I thought of the characters as friends (or enemies) and I really didn't want it to end.
Final Verdict
Who's Afraid? did not disappoint at all, except for me having it in my hands at publication and having to wait forever to see what happens next. Tommi is a kick ass character, and with her new abilities I'm excited to see what happens next for her.
Who's Afraid? is a book that drew me in, I needed to know more about Tommi and her life, getting to know her and her friends. We learn more about Tommi's past with her, as she discovers the truth about her Mum, and her heritage. But what could have been a nice family reunion quickly turns into something much worse, and Tommi finds herself going home with more than she bargained for.
Finding out she is a werewolf is a huge shock for Tommi, and I really like how it was all portrayed, even the typical change was different. I liked how we got the time to know the characters and learn about their relationships before we are hit with the werewolf issues. It wasn't rushed along at all and felt natural, if being a werewolf could ever be natural. Tommi was a character that I felt could really be a great friend, someone who would stand by your side no matter what. Her group of friends was small, but strong and felt real. Tommi herself is a very unique person, but having bright blue hair will do that for you. She comes across as a bitch to some people, but to those who are in her inner circle we can see the caring side.
I enjoyed getting to see this new side of Tommi, the new abilities she has, how adept she is already with some things that older wolves scant do. The training regime was funny to see her mistakes, but also marvel at her strength.
Who's Afraid? is a book that has a diverse blend of characters, from all walks of life. The plot is paced nicely without it feeling rushed, but there isn't a moment where you can relax your guard, something is always around the corner. I like how the story played out, and although I was sad at how something ended, I did see how this helped with the next installment. By the end of the book I thought of the characters as friends (or enemies) and I really didn't want it to end.
Final Verdict
Who's Afraid? did not disappoint at all, except for me having it in my hands at publication and having to wait forever to see what happens next. Tommi is a kick ass character, and with her new abilities I'm excited to see what happens next for her.
erazonasarah's review against another edition
3.0
This actually wasn't a bad read, despite its flaws and bad reviews.
tonyriver's review against another edition
4.0
I truly enjoyed this book. The heroine is intelligent and feisty. The story telling is inventive and mostly of a consistent and high standard. I really like the creative detail - for example the pain of transformation just rang true!
Tommi is fun and has depth as a character. She has an interesting life which of course is blown out of the water by the events in this compelling read. Of course there is a love interest but while tantalizingly close, we are held back from fulfillment.
Of course I will now have to keep watch for a sequel... I am pretty sure that there will have to be one as, while the story is complete, there could be several follow up stories including a thread to wrap up the love story for one
I highly recommend this if you like werewolves and fantasy in general.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Tommi is fun and has depth as a character. She has an interesting life which of course is blown out of the water by the events in this compelling read. Of course there is a love interest but while tantalizingly close, we are held back from fulfillment.
Of course I will now have to keep watch for a sequel... I am pretty sure that there will have to be one as, while the story is complete, there could be several follow up stories including a thread to wrap up the love story for one
I highly recommend this if you like werewolves and fantasy in general.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
elizabethkg's review against another edition
3.0
This book was tough for me to rate because I went between liking it and not liking it many different times. I will say that the description on the back of the book is deceptive. I'm not too sure how I feel about the main character either. Ugh. Sometimes I really liked her and sometimes I really didn't. Super helpful right?
purplewidow's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars. I like the concept, it can definitely be a good series. But first it needs a better editor. Unnecessary details at every second page was bit annoying. Also, writing style wasn't really my cup of tea.
nerdywerewolf's review
4.0
"I'm so glad you put "bitch" at the end of that sentence, otherwise I would've had no idea who you were talking to."
I'm gonna start by gushing about how I knew I was going to love this book from the moment I set eyes on it. I'm artsy, have Scottish heritage and I'm obsessed with werewolves. It's like this was meant to happen. The MC, Tommi, is a badass werewolf artist with blue hair who works as a curator-in Scotland. Yes, please!
I would describe this as a very comfortable read. The pace was great; no over-describing things. It was easy to fall into what the characters were feeling. The story was mainly told from Tommi's point of view, but every now and again it would abruptly switch to someone else-right when you wanted to know what someone else was thinking! Like I said: comfortable, fast-fun.
I also can't help but feel like we've only scratched the surface of the mythology in this world. There's so much more to say, but I'll leave it with: Bring on the next one!
I'm gonna start by gushing about how I knew I was going to love this book from the moment I set eyes on it. I'm artsy, have Scottish heritage and I'm obsessed with werewolves. It's like this was meant to happen. The MC, Tommi, is a badass werewolf artist with blue hair who works as a curator-in Scotland. Yes, please!
I would describe this as a very comfortable read. The pace was great; no over-describing things. It was easy to fall into what the characters were feeling. The story was mainly told from Tommi's point of view, but every now and again it would abruptly switch to someone else-right when you wanted to know what someone else was thinking! Like I said: comfortable, fast-fun.
I also can't help but feel like we've only scratched the surface of the mythology in this world. There's so much more to say, but I'll leave it with: Bring on the next one!
someonetookit's review
5.0
Absolutely amazing from the first page. Tommi is an art curator who has recently graduated from uni and lost her mum. Now she’s setting out to find the father she has never met.
Full of delightfully intricate imagery, this novel draws you in from the very first page. The supporting cast are well fleshed out and all play their part in Tommi’s quest of self discovery.
I read this previously and forgot all about it. After attending supanova at the GC last weekend I discovered a new found intrigue for the shewolf.
A page turner in all respects, this work of art is a mind blowing first instalment into Lewis’s repertoire. If I could give more than 5 stars I would
Full of delightfully intricate imagery, this novel draws you in from the very first page. The supporting cast are well fleshed out and all play their part in Tommi’s quest of self discovery.
I read this previously and forgot all about it. After attending supanova at the GC last weekend I discovered a new found intrigue for the shewolf.
A page turner in all respects, this work of art is a mind blowing first instalment into Lewis’s repertoire. If I could give more than 5 stars I would
sarahcurtisreads's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. The main characters were vibrant but not over-explained. The storyline was clear, and led to the possibility of more books, although it fits as a stand alone for me too. Pleased to have picked this one up!
angelreads's review against another edition
4.0
You can this and more reviews at Angel Reads
I received an e-arc of Who’s Afraid by Maria Lewis from Hachette Australia via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way included my thoughts and feelings about the book.
I was surprised with this book. I thought it was going to young adult by the synopsis, but it’s not, defiantly not. Once you start reading, you realise that it’s not actually for anyone under the age of 16 at the least. In saying that I did enjoy the book.
Who’s Afraid follows protagonist, Tommi who is stubborn, sarcastic, troublesome however also slightly breakable. After her mother’s death, she travels to New Zealand to find out more about her father and instead find that’s she comes from a line of very powerful and dangerous werewolves and well that she is a werewolf herself.
As she struggles with her new self, she finds out the world she knew wasn’t as it seemed and that her life wasn’t sunshine and daisies.
I am not too sure how I feel about Who’s Afraid. I enjoyed it, it was a good read, but I didn’t love it. I enjoyed the writing style on the other hand I didn’t love how it was changing perspectives. It went from first person to third back to first, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, if I knew that it was happening. I could be reading a scene in first person and then it changed to third person and it confused me.
I actually enjoyed the plot, it was engaging and interesting. There was many twists and turns and things happened that I wasn’t expecting at all. It was a ‘real’ book, nothing was hidden. Gruesome, hideous things happened.
Tommi is one strong girl. She has gone through hell and back. Having to deal with the death of her mother was hard enough, but then she finds out that comes from a powerful line of werewolves, everything else seems to fall apart.
Then there is her dark and mysterious guardian who also happens to be very attractive. Lorcan MacCarthy. He is pretty amazing and perfect to Tommi’s outgoing nature. He is calm, but fierce that fights with swords.
The world building in Who’s Afraid was well written. It was well thought out and it kept on drawing me in. especially with the Praetorian Guard. It was something different and very fascinating. There was a lot going on and somethings that was a bit heavy, it was overwhelming, trying to remember everything and everyone.
I liked the writing style of Maria Lewis, it was engaging and easy to read. There were certain words that were hard to pronounce, but that was easy to go over. Lewis keeps the reader captivated until the end, she makes the reader go in circles.
Who’s Afraid is not for the faint hearted, it’s gruesome and there are deaths all over the place, but it’s an enthralling unban fantasy novel that takes you on a flight of the supernatural, death and romance.
Overall, I really enjoyed Who’s Afraid. It was something different from what I have read before. I am used to Fantasy in Young Adult, this is one of the New Adult novels that I have read that isn’t contemporary. I truly enjoyed and cannot wait to read the rest of the books in the series.
I received an e-arc of Who’s Afraid by Maria Lewis from Hachette Australia via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way included my thoughts and feelings about the book.
I was surprised with this book. I thought it was going to young adult by the synopsis, but it’s not, defiantly not. Once you start reading, you realise that it’s not actually for anyone under the age of 16 at the least. In saying that I did enjoy the book.
Who’s Afraid follows protagonist, Tommi who is stubborn, sarcastic, troublesome however also slightly breakable. After her mother’s death, she travels to New Zealand to find out more about her father and instead find that’s she comes from a line of very powerful and dangerous werewolves and well that she is a werewolf herself.
As she struggles with her new self, she finds out the world she knew wasn’t as it seemed and that her life wasn’t sunshine and daisies.
I am not too sure how I feel about Who’s Afraid. I enjoyed it, it was a good read, but I didn’t love it. I enjoyed the writing style on the other hand I didn’t love how it was changing perspectives. It went from first person to third back to first, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, if I knew that it was happening. I could be reading a scene in first person and then it changed to third person and it confused me.
I actually enjoyed the plot, it was engaging and interesting. There was many twists and turns and things happened that I wasn’t expecting at all. It was a ‘real’ book, nothing was hidden. Gruesome, hideous things happened.
Tommi is one strong girl. She has gone through hell and back. Having to deal with the death of her mother was hard enough, but then she finds out that comes from a powerful line of werewolves, everything else seems to fall apart.
Then there is her dark and mysterious guardian who also happens to be very attractive. Lorcan MacCarthy. He is pretty amazing and perfect to Tommi’s outgoing nature. He is calm, but fierce that fights with swords.
The world building in Who’s Afraid was well written. It was well thought out and it kept on drawing me in. especially with the Praetorian Guard. It was something different and very fascinating. There was a lot going on and somethings that was a bit heavy, it was overwhelming, trying to remember everything and everyone.
I liked the writing style of Maria Lewis, it was engaging and easy to read. There were certain words that were hard to pronounce, but that was easy to go over. Lewis keeps the reader captivated until the end, she makes the reader go in circles.
Who’s Afraid is not for the faint hearted, it’s gruesome and there are deaths all over the place, but it’s an enthralling unban fantasy novel that takes you on a flight of the supernatural, death and romance.
Overall, I really enjoyed Who’s Afraid. It was something different from what I have read before. I am used to Fantasy in Young Adult, this is one of the New Adult novels that I have read that isn’t contemporary. I truly enjoyed and cannot wait to read the rest of the books in the series.
raven_morgan's review against another edition
3.0
NOTE: This book is an entry in the Aurealis Awards for 2016, for which I am a judge. This review was written before the awards opened for entries, and does not reflect the view of the judging panel.
An eARC of this book was received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This review is presented as part of my contribution to the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2016.
***
Who’s Afraid is the debut urban fantasy novel from Australian journalist and author Maria Lewis.
The first thing that has to be noted about this book is the cover. The book itself is clearly urban fantasy (for where urban fantasy involves paranormal creatures like vampires and werewolves existing in the modern world) but there’s no randomly sexualised woman on the cover. Instead, we see the protagonist Tommi from the back, blue hair on display, in a pose that screams power and defiance. Well done, Hachette, bravo to the cover artist for a truly gorgeous cover.
Who’s Afraid is a fast-paced, easy read. The settings are well grounded, be they in Scotland or New Zealand, and Lewis has a deft hand for the dialogue and idioms used by the characters in each setting. There’s a lot to love about Tommi – she’s no cringing violet, and is is shown as having a well-rounded life, with a job she enjoys (and is good at) and a good circle of friends, both male and female. Tommi doesn’t need saving (she will save herself, and thank you very much, and do you need saving as well?) and she is comfortable in her own body and in control of her own sexuality.
It does need to be noted that there is a sexual assault in this book, which may be a no go for some readers.
There are some debut novel issues with this book. Some of the pacing feels off, with some events happening far too quickly, and it feels like too much explanation about the world and its paranormal denizens is handed to Tommi, where it could have felt more natural if it were discovered by her more slowly. Tommi herself doesn’t always seem to react to some of the events happening – I’d expect someone to be reacting more than she does to the discovery that she’s a werewolf, for example. Many of the characters don’t feel as developed as I’d like them to be, also. Tommi is wonderfully developed, which makes some of the others, such as Lorcan, her mentor, feel thinner in contrast.
I also had some issues with the antagonist of the book, who isn’t developed much beyond his role as “bad guy who does bad things and therefore needs to be defeated by Tommi”. This ties into some of the pacing issues with the book; it feels almost as though this part of the story would have been better served with it being threaded through more than one book.
There’s also an issue which may put off some readers, in that all of the “bad” guys are Maori (and we don’t get to see any Maori who aren’t the bad guys). Tommi herself is half Maori, but identifies as Scottish several times in the book, which does little to lessen this. Again, I feel like this is something that ties into pacing issues and possibly the need to keep the book to a particular length, and I don’t feel that this was something that was done deliberately by Lewis, but it bears noting in case it is something that some readers want to avoid.
Despite these issues, I feel like Who’s Afraid is a promising debut novel, and would recommend it to fans of fast-paced fun urban fantasy. I’ll be looking out for the sequel when it is released.
An eARC of this book was received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This review is presented as part of my contribution to the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2016.
***
Who’s Afraid is the debut urban fantasy novel from Australian journalist and author Maria Lewis.
The first thing that has to be noted about this book is the cover. The book itself is clearly urban fantasy (for where urban fantasy involves paranormal creatures like vampires and werewolves existing in the modern world) but there’s no randomly sexualised woman on the cover. Instead, we see the protagonist Tommi from the back, blue hair on display, in a pose that screams power and defiance. Well done, Hachette, bravo to the cover artist for a truly gorgeous cover.
Who’s Afraid is a fast-paced, easy read. The settings are well grounded, be they in Scotland or New Zealand, and Lewis has a deft hand for the dialogue and idioms used by the characters in each setting. There’s a lot to love about Tommi – she’s no cringing violet, and is is shown as having a well-rounded life, with a job she enjoys (and is good at) and a good circle of friends, both male and female. Tommi doesn’t need saving (she will save herself, and thank you very much, and do you need saving as well?) and she is comfortable in her own body and in control of her own sexuality.
It does need to be noted that there is a sexual assault in this book, which may be a no go for some readers.
There are some debut novel issues with this book. Some of the pacing feels off, with some events happening far too quickly, and it feels like too much explanation about the world and its paranormal denizens is handed to Tommi, where it could have felt more natural if it were discovered by her more slowly. Tommi herself doesn’t always seem to react to some of the events happening – I’d expect someone to be reacting more than she does to the discovery that she’s a werewolf, for example. Many of the characters don’t feel as developed as I’d like them to be, also. Tommi is wonderfully developed, which makes some of the others, such as Lorcan, her mentor, feel thinner in contrast.
I also had some issues with the antagonist of the book, who isn’t developed much beyond his role as “bad guy who does bad things and therefore needs to be defeated by Tommi”. This ties into some of the pacing issues with the book; it feels almost as though this part of the story would have been better served with it being threaded through more than one book.
There’s also an issue which may put off some readers, in that all of the “bad” guys are Maori (and we don’t get to see any Maori who aren’t the bad guys). Tommi herself is half Maori, but identifies as Scottish several times in the book, which does little to lessen this. Again, I feel like this is something that ties into pacing issues and possibly the need to keep the book to a particular length, and I don’t feel that this was something that was done deliberately by Lewis, but it bears noting in case it is something that some readers want to avoid.
Despite these issues, I feel like Who’s Afraid is a promising debut novel, and would recommend it to fans of fast-paced fun urban fantasy. I’ll be looking out for the sequel when it is released.