Year of the Wolf (Changeling Sisters, #1) in Multiculturalism in YA,Fantasy, Sci FI,Paranormal and fun books ;p

May 24, 2014 Ayesha rated it really liked it

Shelves: poc-characters, awesome-lady-protag

I bought this a few months ago based on a good review from Fangs for the Fantasy, especially because the main character is a WOC (a Latina teenager). It was on my TBR list for a long time after I bought it, I wouldn’t pick it up, because I was worried that it was yet another melodramatic YA vampire romance. Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Citllali is the middle child in a big family. She’s impulsive, stubborn and fiercely protective of her family. But, like so many teenagers, she I bought this a few months ago based on a good review from Fangs for the Fantasy, especially because the main character is a WOC (a Latina teenager). It was on my TBR list for a long time after I bought it, I wouldn’t pick it up, because I was worried that it was yet another melodramatic YA vampire romance. Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Citllali is the middle child in a big family. She’s impulsive, stubborn and fiercely protective of her family. But, like so many teenagers, she has a flawed perspective, can be short sighted and sometimes is thoughtlessly cruel to the people she loves most (this latter trait ends up indirectly causing this whole mess). While the personalities of her siblings are given less attention than that of Citillali (there is lot of “telling, not showing” when it comes to Marisol, Miguel, and Daniella’s personalities), from the reader’s perspective, it’s pretty clear that she loves them (however hurtful her actions towards them may be). The complicated relationship between the five kids, and their parents, though, is another story. It’s made pretty clear that both parents suck the big one, (an alcoholic, gambling father and a narcissistic, manipulative mother), but, like in a lot of YA dramas, the dynamic between parents and kids goes unexplored, the parents seem to be there more or less to show how brave, strong, independent and capable the narrator is. (Can you hear my sarcastic voice? This kind of crap drives me nuts.) There are also mystical skeletons in the family closet, starting with the odd illness and then disappearance of the oldest sister, Marisol.

The first 10% of the novel is written in a really disjointed way. Each chapter consists of a flashback to a different point in the narrator’s life. Presumably these moments are intended to show something vital about Citllali or her family, but I was too confused by the unexpected jumps through time to figure out what. Fortunately, the use of flashbacks stopped pretty early on. And that’s when the book got good.

Citlalli’s youngest sister, Raina, begins experiencing the same odd symptoms that plagued Marisol before her disappearance: cold skin, hallucinations, inability to eat anything other than fruit. When medical experts are unable to diagnose the illness (and, thank god!, characters sought medical attention first, rather than immediately jumping to the conclusion that it’s a magical disease), Citlalli begins to suspect that Raina and Marisol’s illnesses were mystical in origin. Coincidentally, that same night, Citlalli is bitten by a werewolf. (Yeah, I know. Just go with it)

There’s a lot that happens in YOTW. If I tried to give a brief synopsis, I’d probably ended up plagiarizing the whole damn book. There’s ancient evil, a mythical troublemaker, homework and Korean lessons, a dog that may or may not be magical, a war council, the North and South Korean DMZ, and a train that travels through Infinity. Long story short, Raina and Citlalli end up trapped in a war that’s been waging for hundreds of years across multiple continents. Both are out of their depth (although, Raina, being the less impulsive of the two, is the only one who seems to be aware of that) but are determined to find each other again.

The world building is pretty damn good. The spirit world is treated not like some mystical, fog-filled, upside down, version of Alice’s wonderland, but like a real place with its own rules, maps, and cultures. The background stories about Queen Maya and her seven sons, Rafael and his family, and the were-people hit me smack-dab in the chest. It was hard not to feel for these people (even the psychotic evil ones). There’s mystery and intrigue and more than enough danger to get my heart beating at a speedy clip. The fight scenes aren't bad either.

And to keep me coming back for more, there are a lot of people keeping secrets. How is Yun-Li connected to Queen Maya and her sons? How does Fred know Miguel? How much does Citlalli’s mother know? Can Khyber really be trusted? (Nevermind, I know the answer to that: No.)

Because this is a YA novel about vampires and werewolves, I kept trying to figure out who Citllali would end up with. Oddly enough, after finishing the novel, I’m starting to think she won’t end up with anyone. Is it odd that I’m delighted by that? Citlalli is a 17 year old girl, so, duh, she’s notices when somebody’s attractive, but it doesn’t take up a lot of time in the story.

This is the first book in a trilogy. In the time between reading YOTW and writing this review, I've already bought and read Year of the Tiger. Now I've got to wait for the third book, Year of the Dragon. ...more

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