In The Mouth Of The Wolf

Twin Willows Trilogy #2

Nicole Maggi

In the Mouth of the Wolfhttp://www.nicolemaggi.com/

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Adelynne

 

Synopsis:

A continuation of the Twin Willows Series that began with WINTER FALLS…
The Twin Willows Waterfall is now under the control of the Benandanti, but for Alessia, the victory comes at a steep price. And the arrival of Nerina, one of the seven Concilio elders from the Friuli Clan, only complicates her life. Now she’s hiding a 450-year-old immortal on her farm, juggling school and her increasingly frustrated friends, and trying to keep the Malandanti from regaining the Waterfall. But it’s the passion that still lingers between her and Jonah that really keeps Alessia awake at night.

After a fatal visit from the Malandanti’s mage, Alessia brings in Jonah’s twin sister, Bree, to serve as a Benandanti spy. Bree has her own reasons for wanting to bring down the Malandanti, and soon she and Alessia find themselves in a tenuous alliance. But not even the powerful magic that Bree possesses nor the strong leadership that Nerina provides can stop the vicious Malandanti. As the two Clans barrel towards their inevitable collision, Alessia and Jonah are swept into the devastation and forced to make the ultimate choice.

  Review:

Nicole Maggi’s writing style has definitely improved compared to the first book. The narration is a lot wittier, descriptive, and concise. However, In the Mouth of the Wolf was just an averagely well-written YA book for me.

There are a lot of action scenes, and the stakes are higher. The beginning was compelling, with new characters and more problems. As I got to the middle, however, I became bored. It’s not that the writing is terrible, or that the plot is dull—it’s just that everything began to feel repetitive. I’ve read many of YA novels, and most of them run along the same lines as this one, so a lot of the “plot twists” and action scenes are easy to anticipate.

The romance got off to an okay start in the first book, but felt fake in this book. Jonah and Aleissa care a lot  about each other, but it shouldn’t have jumped to the level of “love”. After all, the two have not interacted much or spent a lot of time getting to know each other. Aleissa spends a lot of time contradicting herself—the Malandanti are enemies, so Jonah is an enemy, but she still continues to meet up with him even after trying to cut off all ties with him. Jonah plays the tragic and trying-to-do-good-but-stuck-in-bad boy, while Aleissa is the golden girl. It is just too cliché for me.

I have to admit, Bree is the best character here. She gets her own POVs, and even though the switches between her and Aleissa’s POVs are confusing, and really loved the depth that she gets. I was annoyed by all the whining from all the other characters, but Bree was the one character I could appreciate.

Overall, In the Mouth of the Wolf isn’t bad, it just follows along the same lines of so many other YA books, and its plot is rather simple when examined. The writing is good, but I wanted a more imaginative storyline.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for providing a copy for review*