gak_does_books 's review for:

When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy

4.25

dark tense fast-paced

---

Jess, a struggling actress in L.A., discovers a terrified young boy in her apartment complex—and soon after, finds herself fleeing a feral, wolf-like creature intent on reclaiming the child.
I went into this expecting a typical creature feature—but that’s not what Nat Cassidy delivers, and I couldn’t have been happier. It’s fast-paced, visceral, and creatively gruesome, but beneath the carnage lies a deeply human story about trauma, protection, and the strange power of childhood fears made real  . Themes like grief, parental failure, and the shapeshifting nature of fear unfold as cogently as any monster’s howl.
The pacing is relentless. Once Jess and the boy flee, the narrative barrels forward—violent set pieces collide with tender character moments, propelling you forward relentlessly . The blend of absurd supernatural elements and grounded emotion is uncanny. It’s horror strapped to trauma; when the wolf finally breaks through, it’s terrifying, but it also reveals something about who we protect and why.
Jess herself is flawed, witty, and human. Her initial missteps made her feel real, and the way Cassidy grounds her through guilt and regret makes her fiercely relatable . I was gripped by how the narrative explored the tension between caretaker and monster—sometimes the line between saving and controlling feels almost invisible.
That said, there were a few pacing dips mid-journey where the story felt momentarily adrift. And while I appreciate thematic ambiguity, a clearer ending might have felt more emotionally satisfying for me personally. Still, the final twist stuck—with me even days later  .
Horror at its most inventive and heart-rending. It isn’t the story I thought I was signing up for—but it became exactly the story I needed.