This book could have been a 5-star book, but it earned its 3-star rating instead.
Cara Flynn is ecstatic about meeting her fated mate. Unfortunately, within minutes of having met him, she discovers he is a monster. Her wolf cannot get over it and fractures. Cara (minus her tragic wolf) meets Knox Redding, a strong and yet gentle wolf shifter who ultimately protects and helps settle her wolf.
There are some problems with the players: Cara’s wolf is too tragic a character and when it is time for her wolf to come to the fore as a heroine in her own right (unfortunately, not in this book), her potential for recovery is not believable. The hero, Knox, appears to be well-intentioned but causing fractured wolves even more pain – physically now as well as emotionally – is neither a good nor believable plot line.
The story, about a pack of rejected mates is fresh, fascinating, well-written, easy to read and immensely enjoyable…until its end which is nothing short of being ridiculously horrible – it’s a cliffhanger and no clue to this state was given in the book’s description. That is not playing fair – I would not have read the book(s) had I known there were cliffhangers…poorly written, at that.
Halfway through the book I knew I was going to read the next book because this writer’s style is good, enjoyable with so few errors (grammatical/typographical) that it is a real pleasure to just settle back and read. I loved the characters, flaws and all. The writer’s puppetry is discernible from time to time, but I still found myself liking Cara (while wanting to kick her wolf to the curb a few times: a wolf allowing her human to be beaten repeatedly because of a mate’s rejection seems too over-the-top since it goes on for the entire book) and Knox (I loved his wolf's sense of humor as much as his: and the writer portrayed them differently)…as well as the supporting characters. The wolfish characters were fractured, broken by their mates who refused them, their families, and their packs. I would have liked more details on how some of them recovered.
BUT…the most egregious wrong-doing in this book is the cliffhanger ending. This is a personal peeve of mine: a good writer has no need of the cliffhanger if she/he is writing well. A reader will want to read the next book in a trilogy or other series just because the books are a pleasure to read. The cliffhanger is like a broken contract between writer and reader. Generally, it is the mark of a bad writer or a greedy one (Buy.My.Books). I do not condone it and will not support it. We readers need to teach writers to stop such horrid behavior: truly, there is no excuse.
I am going to break my rule and read the next two books. I want to see if the writing stays as good as it is in this first book. I am doubtful because it is an unusual circumstance, regardless of the number of books in the series, for additional books to be non-repetitive and fresh as the first. We’ll see. Either way, I won’t be reading any more Lola Glass books beyond these three because I do not trust her. She fooled me once and it’s shame on her, but she won’t fool me again. No more cliffhangers!