Note: The title of this book has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet). The original title reads De wolventemmer #2: Opgejaagd.
I really liked the first books, so let's see what the second installment has in store for us! Spoilers ahead!
Runa, a fourteen years old girl, now finds herself alone traveling Europe by foot with a humongous wolf pack following her. Her goal is to find a safe spot where her wolves can settle without the fear of being hunted and poached, but this proves difficult when the news is trying to keep up with her constantly and she and her wolves eventually become a social media sensation. To make things worse, a vengeful Giacomo is dedicated to hunting down both her and her wolves.
Yep, this one I am pleased to say even surpasses the original in most ways. The stakes have been upped, Runa's character becomes even stronger as we see her dedication to her mission and the wolves she loves so much, she makes very wholesome friendships over the course of her journey. And of course, she has to stand against the people who want to thwart her. Poachers like Giacomo who hate the wolves, but also child protective services who insist that a girl of her age should be at school and not walking across half of western Europe with about fifty wolves with her. And of course we also get some brief glimpses of her interactions with her family, adding more depth to their relationship as well. Her parents desperately want her to come home, when her sister meanwhile is being very supportive of her quest.
Overall this was just a blast to read. I was consistently engaged in Runa's journey and never knew where she was going to go next, and the stakes were especially high in this one. Giacomo isn't just out to kill the wolves, he's out to kill her as well, as a form of revenge. The higher stakes and the journey were my favorite elements of this story and executed very well.
Another aspect I really loved is the friendships Runa makes on her journey, they were just wholesome as all hell. She's naturally not very trusting of strangers, but several people she comes across actually turn out to be great allies. The first of all is Vito, a ten-year-old sheep herder who initially sees her and her wolves as a threat, but later helps her and the wolves across the mountain pass while also managing to thwart the hunters in the process. I really wanted Vito to tag along for the entire journey because he was a really enjoyable character who played off of Runa really well, but he eventually went home again.
At a later point in the story, Runa comes across two drifters from eastern Europe whose camper is broken down. She carefully befriends the couple, but later on do they not only become really close with her (to the point they almost read like older sibling figures), they also turn out to be wolfmen like Runa who are looking for their own place in the world. Again, these two characters and Runa have really great interactions and once again I really wanted them to stay, but in the end the couple both decide to travel back eastward.
However, not without doing Runa a huge favor: they take a few wolves of her giant pack with them to give them a safe home in the wide forests of eastern Europe. Initially Runa wanted to lead all of her wolves to their safe haven herself, but it's great to see her open up and accept help here. Especially when it's simply not realistic that she can just magically find a place to house 49 wild wolves safely in western Europe. So the drifters taking home some of the wolves fits and is actually a good solution because there's more open wilderness there than wherever Runa is taking her pack right now, slowly heading north to the Netherlands.
I also like how the conflict with Giacomo didn't overshadow the entire book. While I like him as an antagonist, I honestly enjoyed Runa's journey more than the subplot with him constantly trying to hunt down her and her pack. Giacomo definitely is a threat for a large part of the book, but I like the way they manage to dispose of him and also the fact that he's not the "final boss" of the book. He's just another threat Runa has to overcome and his defeat is quite clever and honest well-deserved. They don't kill him off (though I wouldn't have minded if they did), but instead he becomes stuck in his wolf-form and is shipped off to a German zoo. Serves the asshole right.
Now, once again for the only aspect of the book I did not care for: Rocco. In the first book I already complained about his romance with Runa being rather poorly-written and relying mostly on pining and Rocco acting creepy, and this book doesn't really do it any favors. He's in his wolf form for half the book, which makes Runa still being somewhat into him a bit...weird. I mean I get that they're both wolf-men and both can shift, but with him acting like an animal for most of the book it's still a bit odd. Heck the book even addresses it with Runa being a bit awkward about her feelings for him. Not just because she's an awkward teenager in love, mind you, but also because her boyfriend is trapped in the form of a mostly-mindless wild animal
Luckily they do manage to find a ritual which turns Rocco back to his human form again in the future, but even after that he doesn't improve much. Unlike all the other characters across both these books whom Runa has great interactions and chemistry with (Vanessa, her sister, Taddeo, Vito, the drifter couple), her interactions with Rocco feel bland and not really that genuine at all. They feel like an attempt at trying to be romantic with a mysterious stranger but honestly I just find it coming off as unoriginal and sometimes a bit creepy.
Rocco just is not a character I liked at all not do I find him to be well-written. Him having a sad backstory doesn't make me like him any more. I just don't think he's a well-developed character and especially his relationship with Runa lacks the great chemistry she has with other characters. Like I mentioned in the last book, I get more romantic chemistry vibes between her and her best friend Vanessa than her and Rocco whenever he shows up. Honestly, and I feel bad for saying this, I kind of liked Rocco more when he was in his wolf form? He was mostly a mindless animal in that form, but he was still different from the other wolves (with him not being a "true" wolf but rather a wolf-man in wolf form) and still could send some thoughts Runa's way without them being downright conversations. But once he's in his human form again and they go back to this blandly-written pining relationship stuff... It just doesn't feel as well-written and original as the rest of the elements of the book, at least to me.
The book does have a semi-open ending with Runa and Rocco splitting up and Runa hoping she'll see him again in the future, but overall the story is pretty conclusive and I don't think we'll be getting a third book as of now, but perhaps that'll change in the future. There's definitely aspects the story could elaborate on further so there's potential for a third book, but it's not like the ending of the first where it was clear setup for a sequel.
The ending is also pretty satisfying. Runa goes home and starts life as a normal teenager again, and her wolves are settled and protected in various reserves in the Netherlands. So we did get a happy ending despite all the hardships, which is nice.
So yeah, honestly a really solid book with a thrilling and gripping journey and very enjoyable characters. Even my gripes with the Rocco aren't enough to withhold me from giving it five stars. Deal with it.
Rating: 5/5
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