Review: Raised by Wolves (Raised by Wolves #1)

Raised by Wolves, Book 1 in the Raised by Wolves Series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Published By: Hachette
Publication Date: June 8, 2010
Date Read: January
Genre: YA – Paranormal Romance
Source: Bought
Format: Paperback
Pages: 432

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At the age of four, Bryn watched a rogue werewolf brutally murder her parents. Alone in the world, she was rescued and taken in by the mysterious Callum, the alpha of his werewolf pack. Now fifteen, Bryn’s been raised as a human among werewolves, adhering to pack rule (mostly). Little fazes her.

But the pack’s been keeping a secret, and when Bryn goes exploring against Callum’s direct orders, she finds Chase, a newly turned teen Were locked in a cage. Terrifying memories of the attack on her mom and dad come flooding back. Bryn needs answers, and she needs Chase to get them. Suddenly, all allegiances to the pack no longer matter. It’s Bryn and Chase against the werewolf world, whatever the consequences.

I originally picked up Raised by Wolves back in 2011, not long after I started my blog. And then it just sat there unread. Fast forward to a few years ago when I picked up The Inheritance Games… and fell head over heels in love with Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ writing. Since then I’ve been working my way through her backlist and I thought it was about time I picked up the first one I ever bought… and my god, why did I wait so long? This book was absolutely incredible. I loved every single moment of it.

Raised by Wolves follows the story of Bryn, a teenage girl whose parents were brutally murdered by a rogue werewolf when she was 4. Since then, she has been brought up by a pack of wolves, the only human in their midst (unless you’re counting some of the wolves human wives). She is bonded to the alpha and loves the security of being a part of the pack. When a new wolf ends up joining the pack, and he was turned, something that has never happened before, Bryn is determined to find out how it happened.

I absolutely loved every moment of Raised by Wolves. I went into this book fully expecting a fun Twilight-eske paranormal romance, and while it does have that typical old skool YA feel to it, I just feel like this one is even more unique. I loved the idea of it being the FMC who knows all about the paranormal world, rather than being someone who is thrown into it. I found this super unique and interesting. I also really loved the fact that there is a mystery present throughout the plot. As someone who fell in love with Jennifer’s writing from her mystery books, I was thrilled to discover there was a mystery sub-plot.

Raised by Wolves is truly a fantastic read. I fell head over heels in love with the world, the characters and the plot. It was fast paced, action packed and I just couldn’t put it down. There were twists I did not see coming and I was shocked at. I always love being shocked by books. This was one of the easiest 5 star ratings I’ve given in a while. I absolutely cannot wait to dive into the second book in the series. I highly recommend this one to anyone who loves a good romantasy set in this world, or an old school Twilight-era YA series. It was fantastic!