This one has been on my radar for a while. Let's take a look. Spoilers ahead.
Jack is an older Border collie who lives on his farm, where he and his canine family are in charge of protecting the herd. When a sickly wolf stumbles across the farm, however, Jack will have to face this new threat, all the while also facing the fact that he's getting older and may not be well-equipped for this task anymore.
Cute book if you ask me, however I think it was a bit too simplistic for me to truly get into it. It's a pretty clear cut book. Jack and his family are the good guys, the wolves and coyotes are the bad guys and there's not much of nuance to be found. I do appreciate that not every single one of these animals are demonized (as one of the coyotes, a puppy, is actually rescued) but since it's written from the POV of a sheepdog who hates predators it comes across as pretty one-note.
There are a few chapters written from the wolf's perspective, but they're very brief there's only a few, and they mostly go into how he's feeling sick and confused, being desperate. I was hoping there was going to be more nuance in some form of pity for the wolf, since it's essentially an animal driven mad by a horrible sickness which knows no cure, but there's very little of this. It's really more Jack's story.
Which also disappointed me, because with the title Wolf you'd expect the book to be first and foremost about the wolf and not the dog. I was hoping that there were going to be at least a few scenes of meaningful interactions between Jack and the wolf, but again this was very few and far between.
Jack's story in and of itself is fine, though. I like him as a character, how devoted he is to his herd and family, and how he's facing the fact that he's slowly getting older. This arc was well set-up at the beginning of the story with him failing a task during a competition at a dog show, which then causes Jack's thoughts to spiral. But in the end he proves himself still a worthy sheepdog for the task and protecting his family, and he also gains a newfound appreciation of his granddaughter Jackie, who will one day take over his job.
It's overall a fine book, but it was a bit too simplistic for me and aside from Jack's arcs there wasn't that much that really drew me in. I wasn't particularly emotionally invested (aside from the rabid wolf) and it goes by pretty fast.
I've also seen some reviewers compare this to The Call of the Wild by Jack London, however I wouldn't do the same. While both books involve dogs and wolves, the themes and depictions of the animals are different, and Jack London's book is also far better and more emotionally gripping than this book if you ask me.
Rating 3/5
I decided to search this book up since on the cover jt mentions some other book called "Sheep" and it seems that this book is a sequel to it, interesting that this book you had no issues despite it being a sequel which is pretty cool
ReplyDeleteIt is a sequel but it can be read as a standalone, yes. I didn't know when buying the book it was a sequel, didn't figure that out until after I finished it (not listed directly on the Goodreads page, it just says they're by the same author but not part of the same series) but honestly it's very accessible. The book provides the reader with enough context to know what's going on and who these characters are.
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