black dog

I am intrigued by the idea of werewolves, and I know I am not the only one out there (see: the popularity of paranormal fiction and film).  Even more than werewolves themselves, I’m interested in the mythology and world-building it takes to make a story with werewolves in it viable and more-or-less believable.  So: I was interested, and I’d heard about Rachel Neumeier’s Black Dog, But what actually got me reading?  Stephanie Burgis’ tweet and Liviana’s review.  All at once I felt a pull toward the book – you could even say it was like the lure of the full moon (if you wanted to be incredibly cheesy) – and I am so glad I heeded that call.  The puns, they just write themselves…

Natividad is Pure, one of the rare girls born able to wield magic. Pure magic can protect humans against the supernatural evils they only half-acknowledge – the blood kin or the black dogs. In rare cases – like for Natividad’s father and older brother – Pure magic can help black dogs find the strength to control their dark powers.

But before Natividad’s mother can finish teaching her magic their enemies find them. Their entire village in the remote hills of Mexico is slaughtered by black dogs. Their parents die protecting them. Natividad and her brothers must flee across a strange country to the only possible shelter: the infamous black dogs of Dimilioc, who have sworn to protect the Pure.

In the snowy forests of Vermont they are discovered by Ezekiel Korte, despite his youth the strongest black dog at Dimilioc and the appointed pack executioner. Intrigued by Natividad he takes them to Dimilioc instead of killing them.

Now they must pass the tests of the Dimilioc Master. Alejandro must prove he can learn loyalty and control even without his sister’s Pure magic. Natividad’s twin Miguel must prove that an ordinary human can be more than a burden to be protected. And even at Dimilioc a Pure girl like Natividad cannot remain unclaimed to cause fighting and distraction. If she is to stay she must choose a black dog mate.

But, first, they must all survive the looming battle.

Natividad and her brothers Miguel and Alejandro are on the run – and they’re hoping that their destination will offer a refuge.  Hoping, but not counting on it.  Natividad’s parents were killed in Mexico in an attack from their father’s enemy, and now they’re fleeing to his homeland Dimilioc, in Vermont. Dimilioc is their only option, despite its repulation.  Natividad is Pure, a rare girl who can use magic, her twin Miguel is human, and Alejandro is a black dog, a shifter.  And Dimilioc is famous for being the home of the most vicious and protective black dogs – black wolves – in North America.  But before they can find a place in Dimilioc, they will have to prepare for a battle against the enemy that followed them across a continent.

I REALLY liked this book.  It had unique werewolf lore, diversity, fantastic world-building, beautiful writing, layered characters and an intense fight for survival (aka plot).  Wait, I need to write more?!  Ha.  Let’s go with Natividad.  She’s a girl who has recently lost her home as well as her mother, but she’s still intensely protective and caring.  She’s not surrendering to anger or turning her emotions into reasons to fight. She doesn’t always know the answer, she sometimes acts rashly, but she’s constantly learning and hoping and surviving, driven all the time by love for family. I wonder if it is possible NOT to fall in love with Natividad.

Even if Natividad didn’t carry the story, there’s Dimilioc and its complicated hierarchy, and Miguel and Alejandro struggling to find a place in it – all the while wondering if death is around the next corner.  It’s pretty intense stuff, and that’s not even counting the fight against Malvern Vonhausel, their father’s old enemy.  Add in the very nature of black dogs, where the ‘shadow’ of their other self is always trying to overtake their human side, and you have a setting rife with tension and anger, shame and secrets that keep trust from taking root.  And still, that’s not all.

Neumeier has written a story where familial relationships shine.  Miguel and Alejandro and Natividad are the obvious family unit, but so too are the Dimilioc wolves.  The give and take of those relationships adds layers of depth to every character – there are no cardboard representations in Black Dog.  Also wonderful: the diversity of those characters and families, and the Spanish dialogue that Natividad and her brothers fall into unwittingly or use to describe their magic/nature.  The obvious contrast of Mexico and Vermont adds to the strangeness of the situation for the newcomers.  As Natividad assimilates to her new environment, so does the reader.  It’s really rather genius.

You may have noticed that I have said nothing yet about the fact that Natividad, due to her status as Pure, must choose a mate (it’s right there in the official summary). I understand that this is part of the culture/tradition in this setting, but it still made me uncomfortable in the extreme, especially at the beginning.  I believe Neumeier deals with this element well (by narrowing the field almost immediately), but the fact remains that all of Natividad’s dealings with the Dimilioc wolves have at least a double meaning.  Of course they value her magic, but they value her possible fertility even more.  I can’t decide if I think this is creepy enough to be a true reservation, or adds to the world-building.  Probably a little bit of both.

I will certainly be reading the sequel, and I very much enjoyed the book overall.  It’s young adult fantasy with a bite, and the tension and pace compliment the characterization and plot wonderfully well.

Recommended for: fans of werewolves and unique paranormal lore, those who like diversity, great world-building and solid characters, and anyone who loved Robin McKinley’s Sunshine or Anne Bishop’s Written in Red.

Fine print: I received an e-ARC of Black Dog from the publisher (Strange Chemistry) via NetGalley for honest review.

darkest fear

I think I just accidentally read my first New Adult book?  I ended the previous sentence with a question mark because I’m still unsure how to categorize Cate Tiernan’s Darkest Fear, the start of her new Birthright series.  It is a shapeshifter (paranormal) fantasy with a protagonist who is in that liminal time between high school and college. Usually I’d say that means it’s YA, but most of the other characters are older than the protagonist.  So.  I think I may have read a New Adult paranormal.  And… it was addictive reading.

Vivi’s animal instincts are her legacy—and maybe her downfall—in this start to a romantic fantasy series that will appeal to fans of The Nine Lives of Chloe King.

Vivi has known the truth about her family—and herself—since she was thirteen. But that doesn’t mean she’s accepted it. Being Haguari isn’t something she feels she’ll ever accept. How can she feel like anything but a freak knowing that it’s in her genes to turn into a jaguar?

Now eighteen, Vivi’s ready to break away from the traditions of her heritage. But all of that changes with the shocking, devastating deaths of her parents and the mysteries left behind. Vivi discovers family she never even knew she had, and a life open with possibility. New friends, new loyalties, and even romance all lay ahead—but so do dangers unlike anything Vivi ever could have imagined.

Vivi (short for Viviana) was perfectly happy being the normal, beloved daughter of a Brazilian immigrant couple on the Florida coast.  But she’s not.  Normal, that is.  Vivi is a Haguari, a member of a group of shapeshifters who turn into jaguars.  And she’s been dead set on denying that heritage from age thirteen onward.  When a terrifying attack occurs on her 18^th birthday, Vivi can’t hide from what she is any longer.  Worse, she’s alone in facing the world.  In the aftermath, Vivi discovers a family connection she didn’t know about, and she takes a chance on a new life and new friends.  However, danger seems to be following her wherever she goes…

Darkest Fear was up on the Simon Pulse website as a free read this week (in case you were wondering how to hook me on a book I’ve never heard of before).  I started reading the first chapter on the strength of the words ‘shifter fantasy romance,’ and the cover art, which is pretty sweet.  From the beginning I felt like I was being towed into the story (and I went willingly!).  Tiernan is deft at writing strong emotion, and her portrayal of a scared, lonely and lost Vivi making a new life and dealing with the unknown was more than a touch mesmerizing.

That said, I experienced reader’s remorse upon finishing the book.  It’s packed with emotion throughout, yes.  However, the pace and action pick up in the second half, and by then it was too late for some of the details and world-building I wanted or for wrapping up certain plotlines.  *cough*WHAT WAS THAT ROMANCE*cough*  Actually, I have a bone to pick with the word ‘romance’ in connection with this book.  The actions/emotions having to do with the supposed romantic entanglement(s) never approached healthy, romantic, or even coherent.  I get that it’s the first in a series and the author can’t tip her hand on everything right away, but as a reader I have issues being supportive of or even excited about reading the continuation of that (whatever it was) in the next installment.

Actually, all of my confusion has to do with the second half of the book, and in particular the final episode.  Tiernan placed a completely different kind of action-movie-plot in the middle of what was a slow-moving but intense story of a girl finding herself and making peace with her heritage.  I didn’t stop reading, but I did expect an answer or two as to why that happened, and where the story would go in the future.  Unfortunately, nothing materialized.  I have reading whiplash in the worst way.

In all, Darkest Fear is an emotionally intense take on shifter mythology and tradition, but it suffers from uneven plotting and pacing and a weak/unfortunate romantic plotline.  I may try skimming book two to see if answers crop up, or I may not!

Recommended for: fans of paranormal fantasy and New Adult set in the South, and those who can’t keep their hands to themselves around shifter romance books.

Fine Print: I read a copy of this book for free on the Simon Pulse website.

the silvered

I may be over vampires and growing weary of other paranormal creatures in fiction, but a werewolf/magic-wielding society under attack by an empire devoted to the pursuit of science?  Sounds like something I want to read (like, yesterday).  Pair that synopsis with blurbs by Kate Elliott (Cold Magic) and Michelle West (Silence), and I put Tanya Huff’s The Silvered on my wishlist, despite not having read any of her prior work.  My brother gave me a bookstore gift card for Christmas, and this was the first title I picked.  The rest is history.

The Empire has declared war on the small, were-ruled kingdom of Aydori, capturing five women of the Mage-Pack, including the wife of the were Pack-leader. With the Pack off defending the border, it falls to Mirian Maylin and Tomas Hagen—she a low-level mage, he younger brother to the Pack-leader—to save them. Together the two set out on the kidnappers’ trail, racing into the heart of enemy territory. With every step the odds against them surviving and succeeding soar…

Mirian is a mage college dropout, only she hasn’t told her parents about her failure yet.  They’re social-climbers, and they’re sure that an advantageous marriage for Mirian is the family’s ticket to a place at the top of Aydori society.  However, war with the empire is brewing, and soon her mother won’t care about the opera or making a perfect match – she, along with the rest of the country, will be running for her life.  Only Mirian decides to take destiny into her own hands and runs toward danger.  With the help of shape-shifting Tomas, she may survive war long enough to do something good.

The cover art suggests a steampunk aesthetic, but this isn’t really steampunk – it’s high fantasy.  WHAT?!  Yes, high fantasy with deft characterization, which actually makes it unusual as well as unexpected.  The Silvered is peopled with flawed characters who change, learn and whose motivations do not fit in black and/or white boxes.  It’s not that it’s completely character-driven, it is that there are no flat, clichéd personalities or relationships.  The story’s scope is EPIC, but it is made accessible by the paranormal element (werewolves) and small, everyday interactions.  It is an utterly appealing, unputdownable adventure – with teeth. 

The one and only caveat to my enjoyment of The Silvered was a certain plot point that was eerily similar to a development in Kristin Cashore’s Graceling.  If you’ve read one of these books and then pick up the other you’ll know exactly what I mean.  To be clear: it didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the chase, of Mirian’s attempts at harnessing mage power (and finding herself in the process), or of the political machinations within the capital city.  It simply took me out of the story and became a ‘thing to note in the review.’  While Huff completes a story arc, there’s room for more in this world of weres and mages and science-crazed humans, and I hope to see more fantastic world-building and power to come.

Recommended for: fans of adult and young adult fantasy (it’s probably a good crossover title, as the protagonist is nineteen years old), those who love paranormal fiction and have wondered if they dare try epic storytelling, and anyone with a taste for adventure, risk-taking, menace and destiny in their pleasure reading.