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Blood Moon #1
Wolf Born
An ancient power revealed.
A shifter she is forbidden to love.
Can one woman save the Wychwood werewolves?
A week ago Emma worked in a lab and in the field, as an ecologist she’s always loved nature. Now nature becomes a little too close as she finds out her estranged family are not just the normal outdoors type.
Visiting her injured uncle in the ancient Wychwood forest, what was once familiar and comforting turns sinister and dangerous. Who can she trust, her uncle? The strange man who has befriended him, or the socially awkward Luke who seems to always overstep his boundaries?
An Orcadian demon rises, malicious spirits and a pack of shifters enter her world fast, she has to fight for survival and to save them.
But she’s only a scientist. Or so she thought.
Wolf Born is a retelling of Red Riding Hood for adults, darker, bloodier and packed with monsters from British folklore. All set in one the worlds most haunted forests, Wychwood, England.
- GenresFantasy
133 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 20, 2018
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December 23, 2019🎁 FREE on Amazon today (12/23/2019)! 🎁
November 18, 2020
I received a complimentary review copy of Wolf Born from the author via Silver Dagger Book Tours in exchange for an honest review as part of my participation in the blog tour. Thank you to J.N. Moon and Silver Dagger for making this possible! This has not affected my review in any way. My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
As you have no doubt heard if you’ve read the official synopsis or pretty much anyone else’s assessment of this book, and if not as you’ll probably be delighted to hear, this is Little Red Riding Hood for an older audience, except what if Red is not so helplessly human? On her way to visit her newly injured uncle at his remote woods home, Emma comes face to face with a red-eyed wolf. Not only is this odd because wolves typically don’t have red eyes, but this is also odd because there are no wild wolves in Great Britain. You’d think she would be terrified, but isn’t. She presses on to her uncle’s place only to be confronted with her uncle and his secret friend who both insist that they, and she, are wolf born. Naturally, she doesn’t believe them. That is, not until a wolf-hunting demon comes knocking.
In this case, the “big bad wolf” is not a wolf at all, but Red and her new-found allies are.
I absolutely love Moon’s writing style. She manages to paint the most beautiful settings and keep the reader informed of everything going on around her characters while still focusing so carefully on what the characters are doing and saying, and what the POV character is thinking, feeling, and experiencing. It’s completely immersive. The story flows beautifully, with just enough information given about important outside things, written in a way that feels natural, poetic, and genuinely intriguing.
The point of view (POV) is first person, written for the most part in the past continuous tense, which is dangerously easy to get wrong, but also a favourite target of amateur critics who mistake it for present tense with passive voice because they haven’t understood what passive voice means. I think Moon has done a good job of remaining consistent in her tense choice and has not used too much unnecessarily passive phrasing.
I don’t always enjoy first person narrative because so few authors do it well. Quite often authors who attempt first person in a continuous tense fall into the trap of narrating every little thing the POV character does or could potentially notice, even if most of it wouldn’t register for a real person, because they’re not sure how else to build the scene, set the atmosphere, and keep things moving. That’s not the case here. Moon has definitely taken the time to consider her scenes from a distance and figured out to best convey everything the reader needs to know without accidentally giving Emma some sort of compulsive disorder.
Now, my inner editor is itching to give fellow editor readers a little warning. Typically I don’t comment on editing points in ARC or tour reviews due to the possibility that the copy I have received is not a finalized version. In this case, the copyright page indicates that this is a second edition and credits an editor. My warning: If you can’t turn your inner-editor off, your inner reading voice is going to sound like it’s doing a William Shatner impression at times. Commas were abused. More periods and semicolons were needed.
Overall I really did enjoy this book. I’m a huge fan of all types of fairytale retellings and versions of Red that empower the heroine are among my favourites. (My absolute favourites follow the Beauty and the Beast format.) Wolf Born’s protagonist Emma is written in such a way that she feels real and relatable. I was in her corner cheering for her the whole time! This is book one of the Blood Moon series and since review copies were mailed all at once to everyone on the tour who volunteered to review any of the books, I do have access to books two and three. I have absolutely added them to my TBR! I need to know how this story continues to play out. I want to know how Emma is supposed to live anything resembling a normal life after all this! I want to see Connor’s predicament resolve. I don’t like Luke and I’m still not sure if I’m supposed to or not, so I’m curious to see if more chapters will convince me. So many questions!
--
I read this title for a blog tour! To read the rest of the post and gain easy access to the rest of the tour, visit: https://www.westveilpublishing.com/?p...
As you have no doubt heard if you’ve read the official synopsis or pretty much anyone else’s assessment of this book, and if not as you’ll probably be delighted to hear, this is Little Red Riding Hood for an older audience, except what if Red is not so helplessly human? On her way to visit her newly injured uncle at his remote woods home, Emma comes face to face with a red-eyed wolf. Not only is this odd because wolves typically don’t have red eyes, but this is also odd because there are no wild wolves in Great Britain. You’d think she would be terrified, but isn’t. She presses on to her uncle’s place only to be confronted with her uncle and his secret friend who both insist that they, and she, are wolf born. Naturally, she doesn’t believe them. That is, not until a wolf-hunting demon comes knocking.
In this case, the “big bad wolf” is not a wolf at all, but Red and her new-found allies are.
I absolutely love Moon’s writing style. She manages to paint the most beautiful settings and keep the reader informed of everything going on around her characters while still focusing so carefully on what the characters are doing and saying, and what the POV character is thinking, feeling, and experiencing. It’s completely immersive. The story flows beautifully, with just enough information given about important outside things, written in a way that feels natural, poetic, and genuinely intriguing.
The point of view (POV) is first person, written for the most part in the past continuous tense, which is dangerously easy to get wrong, but also a favourite target of amateur critics who mistake it for present tense with passive voice because they haven’t understood what passive voice means. I think Moon has done a good job of remaining consistent in her tense choice and has not used too much unnecessarily passive phrasing.
I don’t always enjoy first person narrative because so few authors do it well. Quite often authors who attempt first person in a continuous tense fall into the trap of narrating every little thing the POV character does or could potentially notice, even if most of it wouldn’t register for a real person, because they’re not sure how else to build the scene, set the atmosphere, and keep things moving. That’s not the case here. Moon has definitely taken the time to consider her scenes from a distance and figured out to best convey everything the reader needs to know without accidentally giving Emma some sort of compulsive disorder.
Now, my inner editor is itching to give fellow editor readers a little warning. Typically I don’t comment on editing points in ARC or tour reviews due to the possibility that the copy I have received is not a finalized version. In this case, the copyright page indicates that this is a second edition and credits an editor. My warning: If you can’t turn your inner-editor off, your inner reading voice is going to sound like it’s doing a William Shatner impression at times. Commas were abused. More periods and semicolons were needed.
Overall I really did enjoy this book. I’m a huge fan of all types of fairytale retellings and versions of Red that empower the heroine are among my favourites. (My absolute favourites follow the Beauty and the Beast format.) Wolf Born’s protagonist Emma is written in such a way that she feels real and relatable. I was in her corner cheering for her the whole time! This is book one of the Blood Moon series and since review copies were mailed all at once to everyone on the tour who volunteered to review any of the books, I do have access to books two and three. I have absolutely added them to my TBR! I need to know how this story continues to play out. I want to know how Emma is supposed to live anything resembling a normal life after all this! I want to see Connor’s predicament resolve. I don’t like Luke and I’m still not sure if I’m supposed to or not, so I’m curious to see if more chapters will convince me. So many questions!
--
I read this title for a blog tour! To read the rest of the post and gain easy access to the rest of the tour, visit: https://www.westveilpublishing.com/?p...
June 28, 2019
rcvd an advanced reader copy for giving my two cents. we meet emma, who is going to visit her uncle after his accident, when her car gets stuck and ends up walking the rest of the way thru the woods. Emma is in shock when she comes face to face with a very large wolf with red eyes...she is transfixed but not scared. when she finally reaches her uncles, an unknown man is there with him. Emma doesnt know what to make of her uncle and his friend Connor as they are sprouting tales of wolves and their family. however, everyone jumps up at the more horrifying sound Emma has ever heard and she connor is transfixed on the enormous creature outside with a body of a horse and head of a man, emma jumps in and shoots it. Connor and Ethan come out of their trance and emma is scared out of her wits. this has to be a dream, a really bad dream but when her mom confirms that their family is wolf born, it goes from bad to worse. will Emma make it out alive? will the creature return for them?
April 15, 2019
A alternative take on Red Riding Hood for adults. After becoming a avid fan of JN Moons Always Dark Angel books I was interested in seeing if her novels would continue with passionate descriptive writing which naturally draws the reader in and I was not disappointed. Wolf Born is imaginatively written using characters from folklore an the authors imagination brilliantly turns the twist on Red Riding Hood. We follow Emma and her sudden change (not by choice) of life, how She learns of her heritage and the tremendous power she has with her. JN Moon manages to portrays characters so well it's not hard to think of them as everyday people who are thrust into challenging circumstances and we can see how they develop in character and strength, which is something we all try to do, this I feel makes Wolf Born characters so relatable
June 24, 2019
This semi-retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, and the first book in the Blood Moon series by JN Moon was a very dark and deadly story vividly described. However, it was also a beautiful story about the realization and transformation of the main character and her interaction with others. The story was determined on a set course with little deviation allowed as the author wanted the reader to see the changes, both physical and emotional, from start to finish, instead of jumping back and forth as some authors seem fit to do. I definitely will be adding other books in this series to my TBR file. This is a voluntary review of an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Hidden Gems Books.
October 26, 2020
Brilliant read
The only reason I have given this brilliant read 4 stars instead of 5 is that in my personal opinion it doesn't have enough spacing, so it is difficult to tell where one sentence ends and another begins.
Although this story is well thought out, and the mix of different mythologies is masterly done, the author is brilliant in the way they incorporate the English countryside as well, as most modern books/films are only based in the states.
All in all I'd read this again, and I will eventually read the other books in the series.
The only reason I have given this brilliant read 4 stars instead of 5 is that in my personal opinion it doesn't have enough spacing, so it is difficult to tell where one sentence ends and another begins.
Although this story is well thought out, and the mix of different mythologies is masterly done, the author is brilliant in the way they incorporate the English countryside as well, as most modern books/films are only based in the states.
All in all I'd read this again, and I will eventually read the other books in the series.
September 5, 2019
Werewolf's aren't real, are they?
This is definitely a different spin to red riding hood. The story was interesting, but I found that it seemed like the author's thoughts were jumbled for what they were trying to say for part of the book.
I enjoyed some of the concepts in the story.
This is definitely a different spin to red riding hood. The story was interesting, but I found that it seemed like the author's thoughts were jumbled for what they were trying to say for part of the book.
I enjoyed some of the concepts in the story.
November 18, 2019
Emma's journey is just starting and I love it. The story has a steady flow with in depth and relatable characters that you will quickly become invested in. This is so much better than the Red Riding Hood Story I heard as a kid. I'm excited for more
January 18, 2020
Loved the pace of the story.
I enjoyed the book from beginning to end. The tension of the story kept me enthalled as each page brought me eager to see how it ends. I wasn't disappointed.
I enjoyed the book from beginning to end. The tension of the story kept me enthalled as each page brought me eager to see how it ends. I wasn't disappointed.
September 19, 2020
Wolf Born
I absolutely loved this book! I highly recommended it for teens through to well let's just say to an older audience such as myself! I read this in a couple of days! Excellently written & I am looking forward to reading Dragon Shifter next!
I absolutely loved this book! I highly recommended it for teens through to well let's just say to an older audience such as myself! I read this in a couple of days! Excellently written & I am looking forward to reading Dragon Shifter next!
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October 3, 2019I read a copy via ku
Full review to follow
Full review to follow
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews