Wolf’s Bane and Wolf’s Curse – Kelley Armstrong #bookreview #bookblogger #books

When Kate and Logan Danvers are targeted by a pack of Australian werewolves, they aren’t nearly as concerned your average sixteen-year-olds might be. The twins are werewolves themselves, children of the American Pack Alpha and her enforcer mate. For Kate and Logan, the threat is an opportunity to prove they’re full members of the Pack. Their parents see it a little differently and ship them off to a supernatural teen leadership conference while the adults handle the Australians.

Level-headed Logan is disappointed at the lost adventure but looks forward to making new contacts in the supernatural world. Hot-tempered Kate is furious at being kept out of battle and anticipates a torturous week of team-building exercises. They’re both wrong.

Instead, the twins find themselves thrust into a situation that’s quickly devolving into anarchy. What seems like teen hormones in overdrive becomes something much more dangerous, even deadly. Add in a strange magic-warded cabin in the woods and a local history rife with curses and macabre legends, and it becomes clear this was a really, really bad place to build a camp for teenage supernaturals.

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For Kate and Logan Danvers, sixteen-year-old twins of the werewolf Alpha, nothing could ruin a summer faster than the words “supernatural teen leadership conference.” They expected a boring week of earnest political discussions and team-building exercises. Instead, in Wolf’s Bane, they got a crash-course in real-life leadership, when the camp imploded and the twins and their new friends fled into the West Virginia forest.

Now, in Wolf’s Curse, the group has taken refuge in a magically warded cabin only to discover that they might have been safer taking their chances with the demon outside. Trapped in a dark witch’s sanctuary, surrounded by hell hounds, the twins will need to hone their leader and team building skills fast. There are battles to be waged and mysteries to be solved. Friendships to be forged in conflict and lost in betrayal. Even romances spark to life amid the turmoil.

It might not be the way Kate and Logan expected to spend their week, but it will certainly be a summer camp to remember.

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These books have been a long time coming. We’ve slowly seen Kate and Logan grow up through Armstrong’s novellas, but this is the first time they have an outing to themselves. I’ve combined the books reviews for both books as they are not long and the first book ends on a such a cliff-hanger that they both do really need to be put together.

The twins have been sent to the first retreat for young, supernatural adults. It’s meant to be a time to bridge the gap between the races, bring them together and show each other they aren’t that different. Thing is, no one really wants the werewolves, vampires and other ‘predator’ supernaturals there. Logan is looking forward to it, Kate would rather be hunting with her parents, but they both agree they are glad they are there together, even if they aren’t seeing eye to eye at the moment.

When they arrive things seem normal at first, well, as normal as a retreat filled with teenage supernaturals can be. Kate and Logan are split up into different dorms and quickly are made to feel like outcasts. Logan is placed with, who he has been told is a demon, and Kate is with a witch.

The first day goes as well as it can and they are handed a list of activities to take part in. But things take a turn when the other teenagers start acting weirdly and Kate, Logan and their new friends escape into a cabin in the woods to avoid death. While there, they uncover that maybe this ‘turning’ isn’t as straightforward as it seems and there’s a larger plan at work.

I must admit, I loved these books. I’ve waited so long to be able to jump back into their story and it was worth the wait. I will say off the bat though that this didn’t need to be two books. They were short enough to be made into one and the cliff-hangar at the end of the first was so abrupt, I was glad I had the second book to read straightaway else I don’t think I would have been too happy with it. That’s not to say the content and writing isn’t great, but the book didn’t feel long enough to me to warrant it.

Kate and Logan are brilliant, and everything I wanted them to be. They each have their own insecurities which comes from being not only the Alpha’s children, and children to the most infamous werewolf, but also being the children of the only female werewolf (bar Kate). While Logan is very similar to Elena and diplomatic, Kate is much more like Clay, willing and wanting to jump into everything. That isn’t to say she doesn’t think it through, both Logan and Kate have their parent’s intelligence, but she is the more reckless out of the two which is saying something as she’s still very hesitant. It’s clear to see Elena’s, Clay’s, Jeffery’s and the rest of their packs input in their upbringing, and yet they still remain individuals while being twins.

They are both also dealing with their own problems on this trip, problems which have driven a wedge between them which neither know how to fix, and it’s important as it shows they are both able to be their own person while still maintaining the bond they have.

The plot is out there, but considering the world we find ourselves in why wouldn’t it be. While you may be able to read these books without reading any of the Otherworld series I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s a huge history which adds to the richness of the story and shows these books as truly handing over the baton to the next generation, bringing Armstrong’s characters from her other YA series into it. If you want to read these books and some amazing paranormal stories, start with Bitten and work your way here. You won’t be disappointed.

Overall I loved it. I loved the nostalgia, I loved the references but most of all I loved Logan and Kate. Armstrong’s books always have her characters at the heart of it, and for those looking for character-driven paranormal her Otherworld series (and potentially these books if you’ve read the others) are for you. These books are aimed at a young adult audience so are a bit more PG compared to others, but Armstrong’s talent is there and not be trifled with.