Den of Wolves
Juliet Marillier
Blackthorn and Grim have been living peacefully in between solving mysteries (Dreamer’s Pool, Tower of Thorns) but Blackthorn is plagued by her need to serve justice on the man who killed her family and obliterated her first life. While Grim has his own mystery to solve, Blackthorn is left to look after a lonely young girl who might hold the key to another mystery.
What I liked about this novel was that there was plenty of Grim time. I love Grim as a character because he is so real and flawed and fantastic! Don’t get me wrong, I also like Blackthorn, but it’s nice to have a counterpoint to the somewhat traditional role of ‘Grumpy Healer’.
I love the way that Mariller is able to combine fantasy with real problems (such as PTSD) and make them accessible to her readers without being too confrontational. Her work makes other fantasy feel too simple and plain.
While I am very sad that this trilogy is over, I know that Juliet will no doubt have some more fantastic novels coming my way – this novel gave me the chance to interview her, which was a dream come true.
This novel gets 5 stars from me – I think I’ll have a little reread of my favourite section in the middle before going on to my next review to write…
Pan Macmillan | 27th September 2016 | AU $29.99 | Paperback
I felt somewhat frustrated by the ending. Nate, why? Anon, why? This made no sense at all. Sure, they’ll fix things somehow, but why did they do that? Perhaps someone else who has read it can give me a more informed opinion for why on earth the ending worked.
I find it very difficult to give an objective assessment of this novel. It’s told from Jess’ perspective, which granted is rather limited. Jess is basically a book stealer by trade, and so he looks at everything with a certain degree of detachment, which is actually very useful. He could do better with hiding his emotions though!
Libby connected with me really strongly and left a lasting impression for me. She’s a strong female protagonist that nevertheless needs support from her family, friends and a counsellor. No woman is an island, and Libby is no exception.
I feel like I didn’t get a really good grip on Snow’s character. But then you consider that she has been locked up and completely drugged for the last 10+ years and you can’t be surprised. She felt quite cold to me, and never seemed to warm up. I’ll be looking for more character development in the second novel of this.
Martha has lost a lot of important people, and I can see why she does the things she does. But she came across as a selfish, shallow character that I simply couldn’t like very much. And considering that I was supposed to get attached so I would be worried when she was close to dying, well, I wasn’t.
Who doesn’t love an underdog? Nessa is going to fight for what she has, and pretend she doesn’t care about everything else. Her legs aren’t going to stop her, when her mind is sharp. Her mind ends up being the thing that can save her. Other reviewers have picked on her being a character trope, but I didn’t have an issue with that. I appreciated that Nessa couldn’t see her own faults until it was to late – she couldn’t be too self-sacrificing after all.
This novel reminded me of another that I read a while ago, but never got around to reviewing (very naughty of me). It seemed to be aimed at younger readers, with just enough danger to excite them. Apart from the initial rather traumatic way that Izzy thinks of her brother’s death, it’s not too scary. I can’t think of the ideal audience though, apart from children and early teens who love reading. There are other novels which stand out for me a lot more strongly.
Ok, so another reviewer has pointed out that the novel is filled with predictable character types. I think that’s certainly true – plucky heroine protecting her too kind brother and tolerating the hatred of a foster brother who blames her for his parents’ fates. However, I didn’t find it offputting. It gave me more space to think about the implications of the novel, rather than having to do too much thinking about the characters.