[REVIEW] Raised by Wolves – Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Raised by Wolves
Egmont (US: 8th June 2010); Quercus (AU: June 2010; UK: 30th September 2010)
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Dominance and submission in a YA novel? Yes, and lots of it…but not of a sexual nature. A cabin full of weaponry and ammunition in rural America? It doesn’t sound legal to my international brain, and the thought of gun-toting teens is terrifying, but it’s all here. There’s a chick-lit voice early on, but thankfully that disappears into something more mature, though Devon Macalister totally seems like a caricature. The babies grow way faster than regular tots, and the female is indeed a Speshul Snowflake. Psi abilities are among my most disliked tropes, and a lot of this novel rides on them.

And then there’s the domestic (of sorts) abuse scene, and the characters’ attempts to justify it…

By all accounts, I shouldn’t love this novel. But I do.

Raised by Wolves is a heck of a page-turner, and I scrambled to read it as fast as I could, which distracted me from nausea in the early hours of one particular morning. Bryn Clare may be the designated protagonist, but Ali is the most heroic. And the entire second half of the novel was sound-tracked by Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” in my mind, which formed an emotional reading experience.

There are so many amazing and genuinely thrilling scenes that can’t be mentioned (they’re spoilers), but believe me: this is a striking novel I won’t soon forget. Jennifer Lynn Barnes, I dip my hat to you.

Wow.

June 2010 Releases

Done with May 2010 Releases? Here are June 2010 Releases. To look further into the future, check Reading Wishlist.

[COVER ART] Raised by Wolves – Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Cover for Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s Raised by Wolves

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YA Releases – 2010 & Beyond

C. A. Moulton called out for a list of 2010 & 2011 YA fantasy fiction, but my list here contains other YA subgenres, too 😉 These are only the ones with known release dates – those without are on my Reading Wishlist. Release dates can and probably will change in the lead-up to the books’ publication. Some are re-releases, international editions, etc. Of course, I don’t list every single book – only the ones that I’ve heard of and am interested in.

ANN AGUIRRE – Razorland – Dec 2010
KELLEY ARMSTRONG – The Reckoning – 27 Apr 2010/6 May 2010
JENNIFER LYNN BARNES – Raised by Wolves – 8 Jun 2010
HOLLY BLACK – White Cat – 4 May 2010/17 Jun 2010/1 May 2011
S. A. BODEEN – The Gardener – 25 May 2010
RACHEL CAINE – Kiss of Death – 3 May 2010/4 May 2010
KRISTIN CAST et al – Kisses from Hell – 8 Aug 2010
CASSANDRA CLARE – The Clockwork Angel – 1 Sep 2010/14 Sep 2010
ANDREA CREMER – Nightshade – 14 Oct 2010
HEATHER DAVIS – The Clearing – 15 Mar 2010/12 Apr 2010
KAT FALLS – Dark Life – 29 Apr 2010/1 May 2010
CATHERINE FISHER – Incarceron – 26 Jan 2010
BECCA FITZPATRICK – Crescendo – 2010
AMY GARVEY – Cold Kiss – 2011
TERI HALL – The Line – 4 Mar 2010/9 Mar 2010
STACEY JAY – Undead Much? – 21 Jan 2010/26 Jan 2010
STACEY JAY – My So-Called Death – 1 Mar 2010/1 Apr 2010
CARRIE JONES – Captivate – 5 Jan 2010/5 Apr 2010
KELLY KEATON – Darkness Becomes Her – 2011
JACKIE MORSE KESSLER – Hunger – 11 Aug 2010
JACKIE MORSE KESSLER – Rage – 2011
KAREN KINCY – Other – 1 Jul 2010
GEMMA MALLEY – The Returners – 1 Feb 2010/2 Mar 2010
RICHELLE MEAD – Spirit Bound – 18 May 2010
JACKSON PEARCE – Sisters Red – 3 Jun 2010/7 Jun 2010
SUSAN BETH PFEFFER – This World We Live In – 4 Mar 2010/1 Apr 2010/3 May 2010
CARRIE RYAN – The Dead-Tossed Waves – 9 Mar 2010/8 Apr 2010/1 Mar 2011
JERI SMITH-READY – Shade – 4 May 2010/18 May 2010
MARIA V. SNYDER – Inside Out – 1 Apr 2010
LILI ST. CROW – Jealousy – 29 Jul 2010/3 Aug 2010
MAGGIE STIEFVATER – Linger – 20 Jul 2010
JESSICA VERDAY – The Haunted – 31 Aug 2010
ROBIN WASSERMAN – Wired – 14 Sep 2010