Unleashed by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié

Katelyn McBride’s life changed in an instant when her mother died. Uprooted from her California home, Katelyn was shipped to the middle of nowhere, Arkansas, to her only living relative, her grandfather. And now she has to start over in Wolf Springs, a tiny village in the Ozark Mountains. Like any small town, Wolf Springs has secrets. But the secrets hidden here are more sinister than Katelyn could ever imagine. It’s a town with a history that reaches back centuries, spans continents, and conceals terrifying truths. And Katelyn McBride is about to change everything.

Broken families, ageless grudges, forced alliances, and love that blooms in the darkest night—welcome to Wolf Springs.

There are a lot of werewolf books out there (I'm not spoiling anything by saying this--the cover is a dead giveaway), so when I pick up another, I've got pretty high expectations. Unfortunately, this book didn't meet them.

Katelyn is okay as a character, I guess, but I didn't connect with her. Mostly because it was obvious from the start that there are werewolves in the story, but it takes her two thirds of the book to figure it out. I spent that time wishing she would hurry up and figure it out, which took away most of the reading enjoyment. I don't like figuring things out so far ahead of the characters.

I wasn't fond of the love triangle, either. Justin is a creep and Katelyn has no reason to trust him. And the mystery behind Trick felt purposely withheld, also making it feel contrived. There was no chemistry between Katelyn and either boy, so I wasn't invested in either.

Lastly, I had a major issue with how she ended up with her grandfather. He insists she come and live with him, even though her best friend's family has offered to let her stay with them so she can finish senior year. Instead, he brings her to his house, which is in the middle of nowhere, and is incidentally unsafe to be outside after dark. Why would he bring her there under these circumstances? It doesn't make sense, especially considering how the story unfolds with her and the werewolves. I couldn't get over that.

Overall, this wasn't unique or compelling enough for me, especially when there are better werewolf books out there.