Not the type of book I usually read, that being general non-xenofiction fiction meant for adults, but it has wolves in it so of course I checked it out. Let's see if it's any good. Spoilers ahead.
The rural American town of Hope is being "plagued" by the return of wolves. A wolf biologist named Helen and the shy son of a rancher called Luke set out on investigating and protecting the wolves, all the while Luke's father Buck is trying to do anything within his power to get the pack exterminated.
Despite my initial skepticism going into the book (just the fact that I don't read this genre often unless it includes wolves), I was pleasantly surprised. Evans' created some really likable (or unlikable) characters who all have realistic motivations. Some of them are good, some of them are bad, but all of the ones that get a decent amount of page-time have a decent to good amount of depth to them. Heck, even Buck, horrible a person as he was, felt real to me, and I did (to an extent) understand his motivation of wanting to protect his livestock. It's just that his way of handling things (or, really, anything, including women and his son) that's horribly skewed.
Our two main leads both felt really developed as well. I particularly related to Luke, the shy and arguably neurodivergent wolf-lover who wants to protect the animals desperately. Helen's snarkiness was also quite fun.
The story, situation and setting of Hope also just felt real. No, I've never been in this particular situation before, with an American farming town having to cope with a large predator returning, but I've seen and read tons of nonfiction wolf material that deals with the comeback of wolves in the United States and how things are handled there.
Also, we're in a pretty similar situation where I live, in the Netherlands. Here, wolves actually went completely extinct, unlike in the USA, but they've made their way back here by themselves after a hundred or so years of absence. So we have the same "should they or should they not be here" discussions as are going on in the US, it's just that it's mostly sheep owners that are concerned here, rather than cattle owners. But same schtick. There certainly have actually been cases here of a wolf or two attacking a lot of sheep, sparking the whole debate, of course. So it's a hot topic both here and in the United States, and while not exactly the same situation, there are tons of similarities.
I was also afraid that the book wasn't going to have enough wolf-content to satisfy my needs, but I was proven wrong. While actual wolf-POV chapters are few and far between, there are tons of moments in the book where wolves are still central and not glossed over in favor for stuff like the romance or whatever.
However, I do have two issues with the book, only one of which I actively hold against it. First of all: the relationship between Helen and Luke. It made me feel...uncomfortable. Both of them are adults, so it's not pedophilia or anything, but the age gap between the two of them just didn't sit right with me. Luke is 18, Helen is almost thirty. That's a full 10+ years between the two of them, which wouldn't be so much of a problem if they were both older. But with Luke only having left his childhood behind a year ago it feels a bit icky to have this adult woman crush and actively pursue a romantic relationship with him. Don't get me wrong, I like both of them as characters, but I did not need for these two to get together in the book. I think I'd have preferred it if their bond had been a close comradery or maybe a mentor-student relationship or something.
Second, something I only hold against my Dutch translation of the book: animal mistranslations. Yeah, I don't know why the Dutch translator didn't get the memo that this book takes place in the USA, because they frequently translate animal species to Dutch names that only exist in Europe. Things like referring to white-tailed deer as roe/fallow deer, elk being red deer, etc. It just really confused me for a moment because those just don't belong in the US ecosystem, so to see these Eurasian species being brought up as wild animals there felt rather weird.
So overall a really good book that felt "real" to a certain extent; the only thing I really hold against it is the relationship between the two leads that made me feel uncomfortable.
Rating: 4.5/5
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