Review: Unleashed (Wolf Springs Chronicles #1)

Unleashed (Wolf Springs Chronicles #1) by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié
Publication Date: November 22, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Press / Random House

Katelyn McBride’s life changed in an instant when her mother died. Uprooted from her California home, Katelyn was shipped to the middle of nowhere, Arkansas, to her only living relative, her grandfather. And now she has to start over in Wolf Springs, a tiny village in the Ozark Mountains. Like any small town, Wolf Springs has secrets. But the secrets hidden here are more sinister than Katelyn could ever imagine. It’s a town with a history that reaches back centuries, spans continents, and conceals terrifying truths. And Katelyn McBride is about to change everything.

Broken families, ageless grudges, forced alliances, and love that blooms in the darkest night—welcome to Wolf Springs.

If I took away one thing from Unleashed, it's that Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié must have a thing for men in tight jeans and form fitting shirts (preferably black). I don't think any guy in this book wore a loose piece of clothing.

I became excited when I got this book because I hadn't read anything by Nancy Holder since my "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" days when she wrote novel tie-ins (I briefly mention her here, as well) which I devoured like a madwoman. It's nice to know she hasn't lost her gift at sharp dialogue or writing strong female characters. Being the first book I have read with Holder and Viguié as a writing team, I was pleased.

I don't think I've ever read a YA book with so many dead or nonentity parents. This is a thing usually reserved for the middle reader genre. Katelyn's parents are dead, Justin's and Jesse's parents are dead, Caroline's mother is dead, Trick's parents are mentioned once...the list goes on. It was kind of weird. BUT, I love werewolves so I was excited to read something just involving them and nothing else. I love the setting of the story and the isolated feel of the environment. I love Katelyn and her budding relationship with her grandfather. I also love Trick, though he obviously has a huge secret that has yet to be divulged. He was freaking adorable. Speaking of Trick, a storm's a brewin' and I see fans quickly taking sides and forming Team Trick and Team Justin. P.S. Trick is better.

Unleashed would have been at least a 4 or 5 star book for me if I hadn't been disappointed by a few certain things. One, no questions are answered and nothing is solved. Like, at all. We get one and that's at the very end of the book with a cliffhanger that leaves you like "what?" Two, the story is slow to get moving. With the book's own title and synopsis and all of the hints being dropped on every page, it screams werewolf, but unfortunately it takes forever for someone to even mention the word. But once we reach that mark, the book picks up speed and gets moving. This is the point at which I couldn't put it down.

With the story now begun and the action set, I see the second book in the series being a thrilly angst-ridden journey if it keeps up the pace at which it ended. Unleashed may have been "just good" for me, but I am very excited about the next one!