Kaala and her friends are back. Now that she's struck a deal with the Greatwolves, they agree to give her a test: her pack and the humans have to live in peace together for a year, otherwise everyone in the valley will be killed. The catch: the Greatwolves are secretly chasing away all but the smallest and largest prey, forcing conflict. Not only that, but they have still been keeping more secrets, and a power struggle among them may just impact the future for all of wolfkind.
In my opinion, everything the first book did great, this second installment does even better. Where do I begin?
We really see Kaala slowly grow up. She's not even a year old, yet she's already slowly growing to be more careful with her decisions. Yes, she's still a reckless hothead at times, but you can see glimpses of her maturity showing through. The other characters are still great, too. You really grow to like the main wolf trio and Tlitoo, though Marra could maybe use a tad more characterization. Trevegg and NiaLi are the great mentor figures, and TaLi shows signs of growing up as well. Even Torell and the other Stone Peaks, who were mostly just one-note antagonists in the first book, are surprisingly helpful in this book, showing that there's more to them than just villains. The Greatwolves are greatly divided, with some following Zorindru, but others supporting Milsindra, who wishes to take his place. Heck, we also see that not all of the right decisions are made by our main pack just because they're the environment the main character grew up in. Ruuqo and Rissa end up breaking their promise to help Kaala and side with Misindra, which is something I really didn't see coming. We got introduced to a very nasty villain called DavRian. He's a bit of an archetype, but he fills his role well and is just a jerk you simply cannot stand. Also, Borrla is back, against all odds. I really wish she got more pagetime and we got to see where she went after parting ways with Kaala, but maybe that's something for book three.
The world building is expanded on, too. We get introduced to the concept of the Nejakilakin, a bond between the chosen raven and wolf that can transcend the border of the living, and the Inejalun, the bridge between life and death itself. These are both just very interesting concepts, and, while they're explored quite in depth here, I'd love to get to know more about them in the next book. Wolf society is developed further as we get to meet other wolf packs than just the Stone Peaks, and we even get a bit more insight into the human way of life as well, though still not quite as much as I'd like to. But I can excuse that, since this book is written from the point of view of a wolf, not a human. Kaala understands pack politics, and the basics of the human way of life, but it makes sense that she wouldn't know the fine details.
I also really liked the pacing of this book. I simply didn't want to put it down. It constantly kept me engaged, and just when I thought I may have to stop reading, something new would crop up to keep me going.
Learning more about the secrets of the (Great)wolves and the lore is also interesting. Heck, we even get to meet the legendary wolf Indru himself briefly. And of course the revelation that it was never the Greatwolves who were meant to be with humans, it was the smallwolves.
There's also the devastating deaths of NiaLi and Trevegg, my favorite mentor characters in this series, alongside Torell maybe. You really felt the bond the main character shared with each of them, and how much they thought TaLi and Kaala respectively. Seeing them die was painful. Of course, Yllin's death shouldn't be left out. I never saw coming that out of all characters, she would die. She had such a bright personality and a good future ahead of her.
What can I say? I just love this book. I may have some tiny nitpicks, but that doesn't change the fact that I like this book just as much if not more than Promise. Give it a read after you picked up the first and learn the secrets of the wolves for yourself!
Rating: 5/5
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