This book definately succeeded in making me fascinated in the pack lives of wolves. There were a lot of facts and antecdotes throughout that I kept repeating to my husband. Maybe the other characters weren't quite as interesting, but then again, when compared to something as unusual as a man living in a wolf pack, it's hard to compete. I think Edward grew on me the most, because he was trying so hard to do what he thought was right. Whereas Cara seemed to just be reacting based on emotion, probably appropriate for a teenager girl suffering from survivors guilt, but it makes her less relatable. I also turned out to like Joe a lot, though Georgie never fully developed for me. She was only fleshed out in relation to her ex, her kids, and her current husband. I thought the quirky lawyer/pet psychic might have a bigger role (it's a case with wolves and she doesn't try to contact them?), and was disappointed that she didn't. But by the end of the book, I did care about how the family was going to pull through the tragedy. And I wanted to know about the mysteries that string along throughout the book: what happened when Edward left, and why does Cara feel guilty? I also wasn't sure if the voice we were hearing from Luke was supposed to be passages from his book or how we were hearing from him. There were doodles throughout, so I assumed it was a journal or book, but that was never quite explained. I also thought we might hear from the 'abenaki friends' Luke keeps referring to, but they never materialized. The last chapter did catch my interest though...what happens when he follows the wolf?
I do still like Jodi Picoult alot, but her books have gotten pretty formulaic, so I didn't rush out to read this one when it came out. But after finishing it, I'm still a fan. I like that she takes a culture/phenomenon that we may not be familiar with and gives us glimpses into the lives around it. I like that even when I'm frustrated by characters not doing what I want, she can make me see why they might be acting that way. Let's face it, in real life people do stupid things all the time on impulse or without thinking of consequences...I have to remind myself that fictional people don't need to be perfect either. I'm surprised so many reviewers were disappointed in this one, but maybe the wolves weren't enough to pull them through this one. For me, it worked.