Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC of this.

To be frank, this one didn't grab me as I was hoping it would. I found Lynn to be boring and flat. post apocalpytic books tend to be my bread and butter but this just wasn't it for me. I kept wanting more out of the story. I'm not sure what more would entail but I just needed it.

I guess it just didn't hit for me.

WOW. The Wolves of Winter really sucked me in, and held on right until the end! I've read a lot of YA dystopian fiction over the years, so I feel like I've seen it all. But this felt fresh and new, even though the bones are your typical evil government framework. I loved the setting and the fast-paced story. The descriptions of the scenery and the winter season were gorgeous. I loved the survival aspects. The characters were all great. Jax in particular was a really intriguing character, and I enjoyed learning more about him. I'm disappointed there's no sequel, but was satisfied with the ending. This is definitely a standalone novel.

Tyrell Johnson's THE WOLVES OF WINTER is a very well-written, post-apocalyptic thriller.
The setting is very well constructed -- incendiary politics have ravaged the country and world. Biological weapons continue to wreak havoc the on the population. Life is hard in this world. Survivors are constantly aware of the possibility of danger and disease catching up with them. Lynne McBride, our protagonist, is living with her family in the Yukon -- life is still hard, but it seems somewhat sheltered from the worst this reality has to offer. However, Lynne's life becomes more complicated and dangerous after a chance encounter.

This is an engaging novel. I was hooked from early on, and Johnson's prose and plot kept me hooked and reading into the night on two occasions. The characters are well drawn, especially Lynne.

Definitely recommended. Looking forward to reading more by the author.

Life is hard for Lynn McBride. She and what's left of her family have fled to the Yukon after the lives they had were devastated by nuclear war and the flu that was released as a bio-weapon. She lives with her mother, uncle, brother and a young boy whose father died but was her uncle's best friend. Her days are consumed with getting enough food for the family to live. She spends her days hunting, her weapon a crossbow. She is a young woman now but there is not much hope of forming her own family as men are few and far between.

Then Jax appears one day with a dog. Dogs are rare now and Jax, a young man on his own, is an even rarer entity. He is hesitant to befriend the family after being on his own but slowly comes to trust them. That trust is shattered when members of the Immunity come looking for him. This is the group that created the flu that ravages the population and now they are searching for an antidote. It turns out that Jax was raised in their camps and survives now due to the experiments he underwent there.

Jax takes off after he is forced to kill the Immunity who came searching for him. Lynn goes after him and her uncle and is captured. It turns out that Lynn has her own secrets as her father, who died from the flu, was a research scientist and injected her with his secret antidote when she got sick as well. Now Lynn's blood can cure those who are ill and she has become a prized resource. Can Lynn and Jax survive the attempts of the Immunity to capture them and use them as subjects in another terror war?

This is a debut novel. The beginning is quite interesting as the author details the life of survivors who have had to move further and further into the wilderness in order to survive the horrors man has unleashed on the world. The action picks up with the introduction of Jax and questions of morality and what one would do to protect their family arise. This book is recommended for readers of dystopian science fiction.

3,75 *

The Winter of Wolves by Tyrell Johnson was a quick read. I had a hard time with the writing at first but it went away rather quickly. Even though the book was short, I got attached to all the main characters, and Wolf! It was a post-apocalyptic story but it seemed very, very plausible, to the point we forgot that it was taking place in a near future.

Trigger warning for sexual assault.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a free ebook copy in exchange of a honest review.

I liked that this apocalypse novel was set in winter as a lot of the other ones I've read are usually set in the dead of summer, but the characters and story fell flat for me as I didn't seem to connect with the main character or her motivations.

With my goal this year of getting my @netgalley feedback ratio up to 80%, 2019 had become my year of finding underrated gems of books. For example, take THE WOLVES OF WINTER by Tyrell Johnson. I just finished this book yesterday and I loved it! I’m really hoping there is a sequel in the works!
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When the Asian flu kills most of the world’s population Lynn McBride and her family retreat to the the cold and desolate Yukon wilderness. When a stranger shows up to their camp, he brings with him parts of the world the McBrides wanted to leave behind. Who is this stranger? What is he running from?

This is a post apocalyptic story set in the Yukon after nuclear war and a deadly flu virus have devastated most of the population and caused the collapse of society. It is told from the point of view of 23 year old Lynn McBride who is living in an isolated settlement with her mother, brother, uncle and a few others. They never see strangers, until Jax arrives, soon followed by even more strangers. Since the book is written in first person past tense it telegraphs that nothing fatal is going to happen to Lynn, and unfortunately her thoughts are mostly banal. In fact, nothing surprising happens in the book at all. It’s full of clichés, from the love interest to the government conspiracy. And the ending is sappy. I admit that I’m not a big fan of wilderness survival stories. However, that constituted only about 10% of the book. So that doesn’t explain why I didn’t connect with this book. I think it just wasn’t novel enough. Also, there are no wolves. I don’t know what the title was getting at. 2.5 stars. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Tyrell Johnson’s The Wolves of Winter starts out as a reasonably well-written, if undistinguished, post-apocalyptic tale – a sort of YA-ish version of Cormac Mcarthy’s The Road (the “ish” owing to the fact that the protagonist, Lynn, is a handful of years older than the usual YA heroine). It quickly turns into a reasonably well-written, undistinguished, YA-ish post-apocalyptic tale crossbred with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a development that doesn’t do it any favors. Lynn is a little bit Katniss (hunts with bow and arrow) and a little bit more Bella (attracted to dangerous men, makes bad decisions, needs to be rescued a lot).
After a nuclear war AND a superflu wipe out most of the planet’s human population, Lynn and some of her surviving family and friends band together in the snowy wilderness of the Canadian Yukon. Their difficult if mostly peaceful existence is disrupted when a mysterious, reclusive stranger named Jax wanders through the vicinity, bringing a dangerous governmental agency known as Immunity on his tail. Lynn, of course, falls for super-strong super-fast Jax, whose most marketable skill is murdering people.
The Wolves of Winter is economical and fast-paced, and Johnson has the basic storytelling skills required to write a not embarrassingly bad novel. Johnson can’t really be blamed too much for the unoriginal setting; your options are limited when you plug “nuclear war and disease ravaged wasteland” into the worldbuilding machine – there’s basically a sliding scale between Station Eleven and Mad Max, which Johnson scoots closer to the former. He can, however, be blamed for all the other trimmings. The characters are rather bland to begin with, but the total lack of chemistry between the romantic leads is unforgivable. Their banter is clumpy and insipid, and Johnson contrives a number of obvious and threadbare excuses for slamming them together (e.g. Jax rescues Lynn from being buried in a blizzard, seemingly only so the old “we have to get naked and spoon to save you from freezing to death don’t worry it’s just science” card can be played). Worse still is the cookie cutter villainy of Immunity; every representative of the organization is a sinister, sneering, underhanded creep lacking any shred of human decency, all the better for Jax to slaughter them indiscriminately and with moral impunity. I kept hoping he would at least hunt down the head of their HR department for their questionable application review process (Are you indifferent to the suffering of others? Yes. Are your employer’s goals more important than basic human rights? Of course. You’re hired!).
A novel only for the most forgiving of readers.

A dystopia after a war. Character was well done and interesting. I would give to both adults and high level young adult readers.

(I have a book-related podcast, and I would love to interview Tyrell Johnson about his book! www.closemindedpodcast.com)

Johnson writes well, with solid character development and steady pacing as he unveils a post-apocalyptic dystopia. Set in the Yukon territory a decade or so after civilization has fallen to a deadly virus in the wake of a worldwide nuclear war, the story follows a family living peaceably in the secluded northern frontier. That is, until a stranger appears in their midst, pursued by a militarized CDC-like organization. Johnson pens a compelling story that ends satisfyingly, yet with hints of more to come in the broad narrative. I hope he continues writing.

This book was really enjoyable
I loved the idea behind it, the characters were so well done. The world-building was done exceptionally well also. Can't wait to read more by this author

Excellent first time apocalyptic thriller—in the near future a flu in conjunction with weather changes influenced by nuclear war wipes out most of the population. Some escape to Alaska and other cold areas—a few may be immune to the flu. Some are searching for the answer to immunity which sets up the battle between Lynn and Jax who are immune and the Immunity group. Looks like this will be the first in a series and I look forward to the next. Well written, fast pace and with a love story at its heart. Read it.

Wow! Great book! I can’t wait to read more from this author. I’ve read a lot of dystopian fiction, but this is a standout. There are so many things done right: intriguing plot, skilled writing, superb pacing and well fleshed out characters. And I may have found a new favorite heroine in Gwendolyn, a courageous young woman determined to protect her family and play a part in solving a worldwide crisis.
The story takes place in the wilderness of the Yukon Territories in the near future. Small groups of survivors are hiding there after cataclysmic events cause more populated areas to become dangerous. Gwendolynn’s family is among these. They are hiding an additional secret that puts Gwendolynn in great danger, but may also be the key to saving civilization.
Highly recommended.

Note: I received an advance copy of the ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Society has collapsed due to nuclear war and a worldwide killer virus which has left very few survivors. Sixteen year old Lynn McBride and her family move to the harsh Canadian Yukon in the early days of the war in order to survive. Aside from Lynn’s mother, father, brother, Uncle Jeryl and Sam a young man whose late father was friends with Jeryl, the only other person nearby is Conrad. A terrible, thieving man who only has his interests in mind and will never be the kind of person you’d want as your neighbor at the end of the world. While Lynn’s family is largely unaffected by the virus since living in the wilderness, Lynn’s father passes away (not a spoiler this happens before the book even begins) from the virus. Lynn too catches it, but miraculously survives. Her brother and mother luckily never fall ill. Lynn, now 23 years old is thinking about venturing off on her own when a mysterious man appears with his dog. Lynn’s mother and Uncle Jeryl are hesitant to let Jax into their home, but when they realize he is hurt and badly in need of their care they cautiously open their home to him. Jax has secrets which only begin to be revealed when a group of men show up at the cabin under the guise of a traveling general store. When one of them men points out the tattoo on Jax’s arm, Jax erupts into a fast moving warrior able to fight off and murder all the men by himself. This begins the action adventure portion of the book that I did enjoy. We find out more facts about what society has been up to in the years since Lynn’s family went off the grid, and we learn more about Jax. As the story progresses, we realize that this virus that has been ravaging the world may be man-made, and that Lynn, Jax and her family may have more to do with it then meets the eye. Old memories of her father’s mysterious work in the basement and her miraculous recovery from the virus come back into play and the story does get interesting. Of course, the predictable love story blooms between Jax and Lynn even though she literally tells him “I am not going to have sex with you.” That made me laugh at loud when I read it. It seemed like a cheesy line at the time, but it grew on me as their relationship developed.

I gave this book two stars because while I enjoyed parts of the story, on the whole I sped through it to get to the end. The premise sounded great and probably based on my review you may think, “That doesn’t sound bad!” Part of my reasoning is that the writing seemed more YA than adult fiction. Some of you may really enjoy it more because of that, but I am not a fan of YA Fiction except in rare circumstances. I haven’t seen this book listed in that category, so it threw me off while reading it as I was expecting a more adult feel. I’m not sure if the author did that intentionally, but maybe this should be marketed as YA if that’s the case. He may find that the audience is more receptive in that genre. The main character Lynn is in her early twenties but reads much younger. Her inner dialogue is sexually charged (not usually a problem for me) and it feels weird reading it because I didn’t see her as an adult. I would chalk her naiveté up to living in the Yokon since the age of 16, but you would think that kind of life would inspire a type of maturity in order to survive. Instead, she makes poor decisions left and right and puts herself into situations where her life is at risk. She seems very bored and tired of her isolation so that could also be a factor in her poor decision making. Maybe skip this one? Or read it and let me know your thoughts.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

"I exist as I am, that is enough."

Lynn McBride is surviving in the stark Canadian Yukon after society collapsed after a nuclear war and the onset of disease. She is not alone, her Mother, her brother, her uncle and others live in a small settlement relying on their hunting skills to survive.

One day she comes across a young man, Jax, and his dog named Wolf while out hunting. Jax appears different from others she has met. He is mysterious, and she is intrigued. She brings him back to her tiny settlement and their entire world changes forever.

"Forget the old days. Forget summer. Forget warmth. Forget anything that doesn’t help you survive."

Lynne thought she was struggling to survive before, but now she is really in a struggle to survive. This newcomer is not the only change in her life, his arrival triggers a change of events that threaten their way of life.

I really enjoyed this post apocalypse tale of survival. I also love how the landscape and climate feel very much like a character themselves. I could almost hear the crunch of the snow under their boots and feel the chill in the air. I found this to be a nice touch to setting the mood of the book. Winter is not coming - Winter is here in this book! Another thing I appreciated was how fast paced this book was. I found it to be a riveting, chilling, and suspenseful read. It's part coming of age tale (even though Lynne is in her early 20's), it's also about family secrets, learning who you really are, learning what you are made of, bravery, hope, fear, desperation, violence, redemption, and starting over. This book is atmospheric, thrilling, and a page turner.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars.

OKAAAY.....SIGN ME UP for the next Tyrell Johnson novel. THE WOLVES OF WINTER is a super-fine debut....available NOW!

............."Everyone has something to hide.".............

What you'll find here is a great post-apocalyptic adventure set in a snowy Yukon wilderness....with freezing temperatures....a feisty, smart-mouth protagonist....her expanded family....a "fat-face" creep neighbor, a mysterious man, his cool dog Wolf....and a fight for survival....literally.

When the McBride family flee Chicago for Alaska, Lynn's father knows what's coming. As a biologist, he fears the worst....desperate violent people and infection....and he's right.

THE WOLVES OF WINTER is a fresh, but scary look at an apocalyptic future with a reality all too possible.

The story is very atmospheric, well written and totally engaging throughout. For me (did not seem YA) and was unputdownable. A possible series? Hopefully!

Many thanks to NetGalley and SCRIBNER for the complimentary ebook in exchange for a review.

A great novel with action and good pacing with a believable premise of what "might" happen. It did skirt the YA theme of both "hunger Games and Divergent" but was fresh enough to hold my interest

I couldn't put this book down. I was drawn in immediately by the cold setting, so atmospheric. Would recommend to others that love post-apocalyptic fiction.

This is very by-the-numbers. Characters are not compelling and the plot is very predictable. I can't really recommend much about it.