Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced copy.
Once I started this YA Urban Shifter fantasy I couldn’t put it down! Although it wasn’t a perfect book by an stretch (there are a few motivations and mysteries that are convoluted and complicated) the characters including the lead, Nessie pull the reader in wondering what will happen next. I was VERY invested in Nessie’s romantic situation and her hatemance with one of the pack members. I look forward to seeing what happens next to Nessie and the Boulder Pack.
Highly recommend this to urban fantasy fans that like female protagonists and shifter stories.

This is very late but I did get a chance to read this book and I appreciate the opportunity!
I am a sucker for a good shifter story and A Pack of Blood and Lies – The Boulder Wolves Book 1 did not disappoint!
Ness is forced back to Colorado from LA by the pack that rejected her as a child. Being kicked out of the pack after her father died just because she is female left a bad taste in Ness’s mouth and not a lot of love for those that judged her just by her gender. Wanting to prove herself as capable as the males, Ness decides to compete for the coveted Alpha position, going against her nemesis – and hottie – Liam, whose now deceased father was the last and cruelest Alpha. As these things often go, Liam and Ness fall in love. This isn’t just a romance, though, it also explores the trouble with existing misogyny and the triumph of following your dreams.
I recommend this book to any fan of the genre and I will definitely read the next in the series.

I read this book when I was on holiday and it was the ideal book to read whilst relaxing on a sunbed beside the pool. It was easy to read and a great story - I can't wait until the next one! The story is interesting and keeps you guessing through the whole book and I didn't guess the ending until it happens. I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes werewolf books and wants an easy, but interesting story to read.

I lost both my parents and was forced to come back to this hellhole where people look down on me because I wasn’t born with the right blend of chromosomes. What exactly do you think you can do that will hurt me, huh?”
When Ness is forced to return to the pack that turned their backs on her and her mom years prior, she is not happy at all. Forced out of the pack for simply being a girl, she never wanted to see these people again. But news of her moms death reaches her long forgotten family and Ness reluctantly agrees to return with them to Boulder, Colorado. Eagerly counting down the days until she can once again leave, an unexpected opportunity falls in her lap.

“My mother had raised me to go after what I wanted. And what I wanted was to stop another Kolane from being in a position of power. I held on to that as I readied to fight for my beliefs.”

With the Boulders pack leaders dead, a new pack leader must be chosen. But no one is going to go for it except Liam Kolane, son of the previous leader. The thought of another Kolane as leader makes Ness furious. Not one to back down from a challenge, Ness leaps at the chance to prove to those Boulder boys that she’s got what it takes, even being a girl.

“My heart hardened to steel. My resolve too.”

This was a pretty good werewolf shifter book that made me realize just how much I missed werewolf shifter books. Ness was a tough as nails main character who was sick of being told she was less of a person for simply being born a girl. This book had moments where the flow was so smooth and seamless and then other parts where I was like um, ok let’s get this moving along. I enjoyed the chemistry between Ness and Liam(can you say ENEMIES TO LOVERS YEEHAW) however, like previously mentioned, the will they, won’t they, just lasted too dang long. JUST KISS ALREADY GEEZ.

Besides the middle finger to toxic masculinity, this book was also full of mystery and some crazy twists that will leave you going whaaaaaaaaaat (as well as twist that I guessed miles away) I give this 3.75 out of 5 stars. Soooo close to being 4 stars for me but just didn’t quite make it. That being said I do still want to continue Ness’s story, especially with that ending! I sense a possible love triangle coming up?!

I think I'm just past the point of enjoying books about werewolves. I've read so many and it's past its prime at this point. The overall concept of this story was good but I found myself disappointed by the writing style. It was very early 2010's style Young Adult and a lot of the dialogue felt incredibly immature, which yes I realize this is a Young Adult book. But also this book contained a lot of topics that are a little mature for it to be a Young Adult book. There were some triggering scenes in this book that seemed more appropriate for a New Adult or even Adult book.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book.

A Pack of Blood and Lies by Olivia Wildenstein is the first book of the new The Boulder Wolves series. This is the beginning of a young adult romantic paranormal fantasy series of which is probably obvious by the title and series names features Werewolves. Werewolves are probably my second favourite mystical character, dragons of course are the first.

This is the first book I had read by Olivia and I was intrigued by it, the cover is beautiful and so intriguing. This is such a quick read and it appears effortless. I love Olivia's writing style it is so wonderful and it really grips you. I could not put this book down.

There are so many twists and turns in this book, some I expected, some I definitely did not and that is something that I absolutely love! Some of the characters did get on my nerves and I struggled to warm to them which is what will let the book down for me slightly which is a shame. Its not the authors fault though, you can't like everybody!

I can't wait to read the next book in this series. The ending shook me, and left me wanting so much more. I would recommend this book!

DNF'd at 30%

I was so excited to read this book, but unfortunately, it wasn't for me. I tried to read this many, many times over many, many months as I'd thought it was related mostly to me being a mood reader, but I just wasn't enjoying it.

The actual concept of the book is so interesting, though the explanation of everything leading toward it wasn't very clear and I was confused a lot of the time about what was happening. The writing itself was okay but the disjointed nature of the narrative made it difficult to read.

The characters were also a bit confusing. There is a huge month gap right near the beginning of the novel that I feel was really necessary to actually have in the novel as I missed - presumably - more backstory, getting to know the new characters introduced very quickly in the prologue, and just the whole situation the main character found herself in. I also disliked the MC in some ways; there was a passage where she 'said' she disliked a girl without having spoken to her because she was pretty and 'knew it'. Not to mention the massive amount of tension between herself and many of the other characters which I feel I never got a clear understanding of their previous relationship with the MC. I also disliked many of the main male characters as they were very possessive and controlling.

I always feel so disappointed when I DNF a book despite having tried many times to push through and being unable to. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if the missing month was in the book and if most of the backstory was revealed earlier. I understand that not everything can be revealed at once, but getting to 30% and still being confused was a bit offputting for me, personally.

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Twig Publishing, and the author via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ness Clark is doing okay for herself, she's got a stable job and she has a woman who cares for her so deeply, that it almost fills the hole her mother left behind when she passed away. All of this is thrown to the wind however when she returns home one night after work to find her Aunty, Uncle and cousin waiting for her. She has to return to Colorado. Namely, Boulder. Which means, that she has to return to the pack. She's three months away from turning 18 and being classified as an adult, she almost made it, but now she's forced to go back to the life that she wanted to forget about. She's the only female werewolf the all male Boulder pack, and it's not something she's forgotten. When she finds out that the former Alpha, and the main reason her and her mother fled, has died, she realises that she has a chance here. A chance to get out from under the shadow of the pack, out of the shadow of the men, and really show them what she's made of. All she has to do is survive the trials...

I have had this book sitting in my TBR pile for SO long, I have absolutely no idea why I haven't read it until now because this is my jam. I absolutely ADORE urban fantasy, and I also have a massive fondness for werewolf stories. I'm so mad at myself for waiting so long to read this, it pleasantly surprised me and I'm left wanting to buy up the following two books in the series because I need to know what happens!! Don't get me wrong, the story is not left on a cliffhanger, but there is a story arc that I believe will go over a couple of books, the main plot in this book is all wound up by the end, so you're not left cursing the author for making you need to rush out and get the next book now.

The characters were absolutely fantastic. I loved Ness' character so much. Yes she's got a chip on her shoulder, but after we learn a bit about what she's been through, we can definitely understand why. She's not the normal grating seventeen year old that I find in a lot of other stories, and she definitely doesn't come across as a teenager. The whole book I totally forgot that I was reading about young adults, and not people in their mid twenties, which I actually really liked, I found it refreshing. Ness is hard arse, and yes, she probably should learn to trust people a little bit more, but as I said above, you can completely sympathise with why she has these trust issues and why she thinks everyone is out for themselves. Evelyn was such a wonderful character that warmed my heart, I absolutely loved her and I sincerely hope that we'll be continuing to see her throughout the remainder of the series. The boys...oh the boys. Some were good, some I wanted to punch in the throat, and some I wanted to drop off a cliff. What I liked about their dynamic was the fact that, even though Ness isn't technically part of the Boulder pack, they protected her like she was. These are boys that she's going up against in order to be Alpha, yet they still protected her, whether it was on Liam's call or their own, who knows, either way, it was a nice little addition and I really enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of damsels in distress, and Ness is not one in the slightest, but I do like it when others can see that shit is going sideways, and regardless of how they feel about the person, they'll jump in and help. Each character had their own distinct voices and personalities which was great, because there's a few characters that we get to meet in this story.

The story line was well thought out and executed. I loved the backstory, I loved the trials, and the tribulations that Ness had to go through, not just in the trials themselves, but in her actual life. There was a lot of things she had to work through and had to get past in order to grow as a person, so there's more depth to the story than a bunch of Alpha males trying to fob off the female because she has a vagina which is nice. I also loved that there was a touch of a mystery in this story as well, I love a good mystery and this one I did not see that revelation coming until it was right upon me. It made me go "Holy shit!" so that's a big bonus here.

This story also deals with the inequality that a lot of women still face in general life. Sure, it's put in a context of werewolves, but it's still relevant which I thought was great. It goes through the thoughts and feelings that I know myself as a female has had, and I'm sure many other females have had as well. It's tough when no one takes you seriously.

All in all, this was a pleasantly surprising book and I absolutely cannot wait until I get my hands on the next one!

Going in to this i was a little afraid it would be cliched and just little meh but i found myself enjoying it. So much so I just finished this in a single sitting.

Ness is not a typical werewolf female, instead of being apologetic and mild tempered, she is fearless and willing to fight for the people she loves.

At only 300 pages, this novel covers so much content including not only Ness' plight but also that of various members of her pack that are no longer of this world.

The writing style was a little juvenile but I feel that this only contributed to my ease of reading, allowing me to not have to think about the events that were occurring.

I will say here though, this book is shelved as YA but could probably be better classed as New Adult as it is probably not appropraite for those under around 15.

Yes it took me a while to finally read it, but i have now purchased the next in the series because I really want to know how things pan out with the Boulder Pack

I just couldn't get past the first chapter! I wanted to read this book because werewolves and the author's name is Olivia. But I couldn't make it work for me. For a book published in 2019, it has the writing quality of something published in the early 2000s. I'm sure it would have worked then but it's not working now.

This one started out slow and I almost DNFed it but I held out and I am so glad that I did. By the end of this one I was hooked and I couldn't put it down and now I need book two. I do think that this one could have been a little better for the start of it but overall it was a great story. It had action, adventure, creatures, and magic. With a great cast of characters. However, the pacing was a little off.

I absolutely LOVED this book. It kept me engaged at every point and the twists were so surprising, I genuinely laughed out loud at Wildenstein's cleverness. I will 100% be awaiting book 2 with bated breath!

2.5

After the death of her father six years ago, Ness Clark and her mother were forced to leave Boulder, Colorado and the wolf pack of which Ness was the only female born to in nearly a century. Now, just three months shy of her eighteenth birthday, Ness is forced back to the pack by her aunt and uncle. Once there she is confronted with a pack in upheaval over the death of their previous alpha, Heath Kolane, an all-around awful and cruel person. In the top spot to replace Heath is his son and heir Liam Kolane. Ness can't let his bid for alpha go unchallenged, but what she finds is that Liam Kolane sparks an interest in her that she's never felt before. Could he be different from his father or is it all an act in order to make Ness give up her challenge? Regardless, Ness is here to fight, for her pack, for herself, and possibly for her heart.

When I initially read the blurb for A Pack of Blood and Lies, It read like what I've been missing from my YA recently. When I actually started the book, I found a few cases of incongruity that did not mesh with my perceived ideas.

First off, the story gets off to a jumbled start when, after Ness is pulled from her current home in LA, we're suddenly back in Boulder...a month later. Sooo much has happened in this month. Olivia Wildenstein fills in the gaps in what happened within the month piece by piece but instead of each instance being a revelation that only expands upon the plot, it felt a little jumbled and messy at times.

Also, Ness was not the easiest heroine to like. She's rash and impulsive. Yes, she has a lot going against her first and foremost the fact that the pack is built upon a heaping pile of misogyny that was almost over the top with it's "boy's club" mentality. I can somewhat forgive Ness because she's got a lot of pushback, but I didn't feel the growth I had expected I would feel from her after everything that happens.

What irked me the most was the idea that nobody was put off by the fact that Ness is the only female born to the Boulder pack. She's considered an anomaly. But when we see an example of another pack (complete with more than one female pack member) no one bats an eyelash. The entire system within the Boulder pack is foul and clearly broken. This is abundantly clear when we learn about the former Alpha's many instances of cruelty and violence, mainly perpetrated toward women. But instead of questioning the mores of the Pack, everyone seems ok with the status quo, even Ness. Remember, she's not competing for alpha out of a sense of proving herself capable, she's doing it in order to thwart Liam Kolane's chances.

Let's talk about Mr. Kolane while we're here. He is the typical brooding, protective alpha male. Unfortunately, I wasn't swooning for it. If you take away that aspect of his character (whenever he's around Ness) he is seemingly a good guy, and truly seems to want to do right by the pack. He's intelligent, he knows the customs. He doesn't seem bothered by Ness being the lone female - although he doesn't seem to want to break the status quo and he tends to get a little hurt when she does something better than him which enables him to flip flop on his feelings for Ness quite easily.

I did enjoy the mythology presented here. Olivia Wildenstein does a great job of sticking with the basics (no silver!) but also putting her own spin on the traditional werewolf story. I'm especially interested in the pack dynamics. I don't think that this first outing shows the Boulder pack very well (see broken comment above), but by the end I'm interested to find out if we'll see any changes.

I know it feel like I've only been griping about the book, but I feel like where the characters are at the beginning it's only natural. It's clear that changes need to be made within the pack as well as with Ness herself. Ness goes through a lot over the course of the book. She learns a lot and her eyes are opened to things she never thought of before. I would definitely be interested to see where Ness goes from here.

I just love shifter books. Werewolf ones in particular. And this definitely satisfied my need for one. I tend to be a mood reader. I follow that mood where it leads, though sometimes it can be a pain and indecisive as heck. Reading this one however was a pleasure.

Three months shy of her eighteenth birthday, Ness is forced to return to Colorado. Even though it’s been six years, and the wolves of her all-male pack don’t recognize her, she recognizes them. People who shun others because of their gender are hard to forget. Especially Liam Kolane—son of Heath, the crudest and cruelest Alpha to have ruled the Boulder Pack. Liam is as handsome as he is infuriating, as kind as he is punishing, and he makes Ness’s traitorous heart race, which isn’t good. After all, he’s a Kolane. Like father like son, right? When Heath dies, Liam vies to become the new Alpha and no one dares challenge him. Except Ness. Thus begins a treacherous game. The rules: winner takes all…including loser’s life.

A Pack of Blood and Lies approaches the genre of Supernatural romance, bringing the readers into a brand-new, yet familiar tread. The story takes place in a hotel nestled in the mountains of Boulder Colorado, an unexpected location for a book of this genre, but one that works well. The mountains and forests of Colorado provide a blanket of mystery for a story about werewolves. It is very easy to lose yourself in the environment, picturing the lodge surrounded by wolves on a moonlit night. The book’s atmosphere is especially strong, guiding the reader into a greater understanding of the world. Setting the story in Boulder also offers a nice contrast between the world of the wolves, and the one of humans. Boulder does have easily accessible urban areas, but is also surrounded by large forests and mountains. This serves the image of wolves hidden amongst human society well, and provides a nice mix of the wild with the tamed.

The story follows a seventeen year old girl named Ness Clark, the first female werewolf born to her pack in a hundred years. Almost all of Ness’ character beats match well for someone going through her personal struggles. The recent loss of her mother, coupled with being surrounded by an oppressive and sexist environment support the current, standoffish and closed-off person that Ness is. That being said, Ness’ character arc, as well as her romance, is a little less clearly defined. Throughout this story, I constantly found myself asking ‘what does this character want?’. It’s not that she doesn’t have wants and desires, but, Ness doesn’t seem to know what is motivating her to try and lead her pack. She changes her motivation several times, going back and forth on why exactly she wants this, but never seems to come to a clear conclusion. She has her share of struggles throughout the book, but almost all of them are resolved about as quickly as they’re brought up. And, when her love interest Liam is introduced, his attraction feels completely one-sided until she decides to reciprocate. Liam was possessive of Ness to the point of setting off alarm bells, and could have done with giving her a little bit of space. When it comes to Ness, her interest in Liam feels more confusing than sweet. Ness doesn’t seem to have a specific thing that attracts her to Liam, aside from his body, and the two just lack chemistry.That being said, Liam and Ness both had personalities outside of the budding romance, and the extra characters were rather interesting. Everyone has understandable motives and personalities that made them likable. While they could be simplistic at times, I still found myself either enjoying their company, or wanting to understand their beliefs. Without revealing too much, Ness’ cousin Everest has an exceptionally sad backstory, making his choices and actions heartbreakingly understandable.

A Pack of Blood and Lies has two separate intentions. The first is to set this story and characters up, and the second is to set the stage for the book’s sequel. However, as it stands, the book feels less like the first installment in a series, and more like a second book. Certain plot points are discussed and passed over as though the reader is expected to know about the setting and story already, with very little weight being given to what should be shocking and unexpected developments. Had this been a sequel, this wouldn’t have been such a problem, but it’s placement as the first book in a duology left me longing for a moment to take in what I’d just learned. In fact, throughout the book I struggled to find any rising action or climax that wasn’t resolved very quickly, leaving me feeling as though the book lacked any true stakes for our main character. However, while the lack of rising action hurts the overall plot, I feel it creates a perfect mood for the romance and descriptive scenes. Scenes where Nell is describing being a wolf, or the outdoors are absolutely beautiful, being wonderfully paced and cohesive, absolutely dripping with the atmosphere of a classic werewolf story. These kinds of scenes are where the writing is strongest, and I genuinely feel the skill of the author comes out best. There wasn’t a moment I couldn’t visualize perfectly how the characters were feeling, or how they were seeing the world.

The premise for the book was intriguing, but it wasn’t for me. The pacing was strange, and the author throws you into the story with hardly an explanation. All the characters were introduced way quickly, and it was hard to keep track of it all.

Ness was a fierce character, but that’s all she was. I couldn’t connect with her, nor could I connect with any of the other characters.

This book wasn’t bad, just not for me.

Interesting story with good twists and turns. Have an open mind as you go through the various conflicts presented throughout. A good read.

DNF AT 15%

The writing is engaging but nothing really happened in these first pages so I was thoroughly discouraged. I think I might give this book a second chance someday but for now, I'm shelving this as a DNF.

Again, it's not the book. It's me.

This was a very enjoyable read for me! I loved Ness as a character and how strong she is! I do think that there were some slower parts as well though. There were some feminist aspects that I enjoyed and how Tess was fighting the whole male pack and their rules.

A Pack of Blood and Lies was incredibly reminiscient of Twilight to me. It wasn't at all perfect, but gosh - it was absolutely unputdownable. Like a 12-year-old in 2007 with Twilight, this book made me giddy and excited. Unlike in 2007, it is not likely that I will build an altar for this book nor will I probably reread this for 15 times, but it was nevertheless such an experience reading it. Twilight is widely criticised, and I have absolutely no idea how I would find it now (I haven't touched the book for 9 years). But my point is that A Pack of Blood and Lies gave a notch of the intense feeling I had as a 12 year old. To be honest, I didn't think that would be possible as I thought that Twilight-kind-of-giddiness was a special superpower of a tween. But hey, I can still go a bit unrationally crazy over a story! I'm so excited about that!

The writing

I was pleasantly surprised by A Pack of Blood and Lies. I was expecting the writing to be a bit on the young side of YA books but that wasn't at all the case. It's pretty perfect for anyone older than 16.

The author is clearly very talented in her craft, and this is something that sets A Pack of Blood and Lies apart from Twilight. The authors are witty and their banter is great but still realistic. Also, there is little narration in the book and Ness' thoughts and other characters words dominate the pages. This means that the book is easy to get immersed into but also that any problematic things that the characters say remain unchallenged. The problematic aspects seem like characteristics of the characters themselves, as in they are quite judgemental, but I would have still liked some of these ideas to be challenged further. Especially all the comments and prejudices against prostitution and the expectation that women who happen to go on a date with a guy must be having sex with them.

I have to say that some short scenes were quite cringey though. One scene in particular comes to mind, but as it is a spoiler I won't say anything more about it. If you read it, you will know what I'm talking about.

The plot

I have talked about Twilight a lot in this review, but do not expect to see A Pack of Blood and Lies to follow a similar storyline to Twilight. This book has a solid plot line due to the Alpha competition and many sub-plots from the many unsolved mysteries of the past. The plot stands on its own without the romance which is probably why I liked this book so much. Also, the romance does not happen all at once and it is nicely paced across the story.

The sequel to this first book in the Boulder Wolves trilogy was published yesterday on the 28th of May! I have to admit that I'm freaking excited to read the next installment in this series because I am predicting that there will be more of August in it. Also, the third and final book in the trilogy comes out quite soon after, in August 13th this year, so this trilogy is a great contestand for a Twilight-nostalgic binge-read.