Monday, December 30, 2013

Pride's Run ~ Cat Kalen (earc) review [@bwkids]

Pride's Run (A Wolf's Pride #1)
Bloomsbury Spark
December 19, 2013
310 pages; ebook
add to Goodreads/buy NOOK book/or for Kindle

Eighteen year old Pride is a tracker with a hunger for blood. Taught to trick and to lure, she is the perfect killing machine.

Kept leashed in the cellar by a master who is as ruthless as he is powerful, Pride dreams of freedom, of living a normal life, but escape from the compound is near impossible and disobedience comes with a price.

When she learns her master intends to breed her she knows she has to run.

Pride soon learns if she is to survive in the wild, she must trust in the boy who promises her freedom, the same boy she was sent to hunt.
Pride's Run is a werewolf book and, yet, also not a werewolf book, at the same time. The characters are not referred to - by others, or themselves - as werewolves but they do shift, or shade, into something more animal, more dangerous. There's always something present in them, something affected by the full moon that calls for blood.

It's why Pride has lived her life - most of it in cage - in her master's mansion, working for him as a tracker. It's why she and others fear the Paranormal Task Force. It's also why Pride's escape is potentially so dangerous, for her, of course, but possibly others, as well.

Knowing not to trust anyone else and not sure she even trusts herself, Pride's very reticent to accept the help of Logan, another shifter. Soon, it becomes clear that - at least for a time- she'll have to, though.

Pride's reluctance to go along wit Logan, her hesitancy in trusting anyone - even herself - especially as the full moon draws closer, made perfect sense. She has lived such a controlled (literally under lock and key) life  that this is the first time she's being truly forced to test her own instincts, her own limits.

She's been on tracking missions, yet they were all very controlled. She has the right bit of naivete for someone so uniquely sheltered but has the toughness that also makes sense for her.

Her own lack of knowledge about certain things, along with a need to have certain things reinforced - or perhaps, certain thoughts dispelled - definitely helps the readers to learn more. Kalen's sort of werewolf is different than others but the characters and the set-up of the story do a great job of explaining how, what they are. It's all very interesting and enjoyable to read.

What didn't work quite as well for me, was the development of the romance. Pride's Run is more of an NA book than YA and while that can be fine, here it felt due to some ill-fitting developments. Pride is a really well done character who has a great background and is developed very well. Then, however, a few decisions, statements seem to take the story in a more (very) simple romance novel type* direction which didn't fit with the characters, their story thus far.

It was great for an okay, NA romance tale but seemed a turn-around from what had been established with the characters, Pride especially, up until that point.

After the ending I am curious where the next two books in the series take the characters and their story.


Rating: 7/10



*nothing against romance novels, many do have a simpler plot in favor of the romance, though and that's what the turn brought to mind


thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for my egalley to review

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