“I thought I might actually cry. That was so unlike me, I wasn’t sure how to respond. Bronwyn Alessia St. Vincent Clare didn’t get sad. She got mad. Or better, she got even.”’
Title: Taken by Storm
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Series: Raised by Wolves #3
Publication: May 22nd 2012 by EgmontUSA
Pages: 314
Source: Purchased
Summary from Goodreads:
In the eye of a storm stands Bryn, the alpha of the Cedar Ridge werewolf pack. She is young. Female. Human. Physically weaker than any werewolf, she could never survive a battle with another alpha, the strongest, fiercest, and canniest of his pack.
Yet she cannot refuse a summons from the werewolf Senate. A rogue werewolf is attacking humans. The risk of exposure threatens to destroy pack life, and the center of the crisis is Cedar Ridge territory—her own lands.
Bryn has no choice but to attend the meeting, a gathering of the most powerful werewolves on the continent. The subject is the rogue wolf, but Bryn knows the other packs want what she has. Her territory. Her females. Her pack.
They want her death.
Werewolf law prevents the other alphas from making a direct attack. It also prevents her former alpha, the mysterious and powerful Callum, from coming to her aid. But it doesn’t prevent Bryn from knowing what she wants. To keep her lands. To protect her pack.
To survive.
My Thoughts:
This is it. The series finale to end all series finales. I know Taken by Storm has some hate, and I totally get it -this is not a happy book. This is not a happy end, wrap it all up with a pretty romance bow. This book is brutal, it rips your guts out. Taken by Storm is the epitome of a bittersweet end. It hurts, but you learn to live with it. It is so fitting, so perfect, for the world Barnes created with these wolves. Ugh, I love this series so much.
This is basically the book:
meets
leaves us lovely readers with
Taken by Storm is one of my favorite series conclusions because it strays away from the happy ending. Not only does the ending created fit within the scheme of the world, it isn’t a complete disaster – though it is a complete decimation of all your feels. I’ll never forget the first time I read it. I was an angry-crying mess. That feeling doesn’t go away when rereading it, but it also doesn’t diminish my love for this book, this series, as a whole. The best part is, the ending isn’t all bad. There is actually one of my favorite political, game-changing moves ever as part of the ending – seriously. It’s just that this one thing, this one, terrible, terrible thing, goes down and it just kills you from the inside out while you’re still screaming at Bryn to kick major ass. It’s amazing.
Long story short, the Raised by Wolves series is one of those reads that I can always come back to and enjoy. These books are so full of life. The characters are wonderful, the details of the society Barnes created something to aspire to, and the kick to the gut ending something to admire. If you haven’t picked these up yet, or maybe if you have and you never finished them, I highly suggest giving these a go.
Reed's Reads & Reviews 