Decent read but character beginning leading up to the sled race took forever. Ending of the book should have been in the middle, ideas introduced at the end were much more interesting. Would have loved to learn more about living under the lake. Would still try the book in the series but not my insta-buy list.

Although i didn't feel as though as this book was for me. I did enjoy this. I just think it took way to long to get to the actually race.

When I first started reading #coldthenightfastthewolves I thought, oh, I’m not really into sci fi anymore. However, the story of Iska and Sena quickly grabbed my interest and made me want to keep reading to see how they would get out of the many traps and problems they were encountering. This is a great young adult story with strong women characters that happens to be set on an icy planet in an unspecified solar system. The ending is completely satisfying and I could see reading another installment if there would happen to be one. Thank you to #netgalley and #wednesdaybooks for this copy to read and review.

This is a book that is right up my alley. A girl and her animal companion against the world! I was very excited to receive this ARC, and I can't wait to read more from this author. Highly recommend!

This is not my usual reading, but it was an exciting, atmospheric ride. I got swept up in the harsh icy climate of this setting and the relationship between a girl and a wolf. The story was slow at times, but I was still invested in the main character Sena and the world.

I really can't say enough about the world-building here. It's seriously the biggest draw and a good chunk of the reason why this book is rated so high for me. Watching Sena navigate the dark, sci-fi city and do what she had to to survive and then the vast tundra of the race—it was just fascinating.

And I seriously loved Iska, the wolf. I'd usually rather go for romances or at least friendships, but the relationship between a girl and a wolf turned out to be almost as compelling. The other human side characters were great, too.

As I said, this story was kind of slow to start, and I can see where this book wouldn't be for everyone. The race aspect (easily the most exciting part) doesn't start until halfway through and if you're not already intrigued enough, you may not get there.

Overall, a fun (though harsh and at times violent) read and I don't regret the time I spent reading it.

4.5 STARS

Sena wants nothing more than to escape the cold.

Unless you’re a corpo, though, chances are you don’t have the funds to escape this frozen planet. As a result, she’s spent the last few years stealing to survive, supplementing her income where she can in pursuit of her wild, distant dream.

That all changes, though, when she steals a fighting wolf from the most feared syndicate boss on the planet. With his ire chasing her across the frozen land, she finds her only escape lies in the race that killed her mothers, the race that has killed countless others since its inception. If she survives the race, she might be able to find a home on another world.

If she survives. That’s the hardest part, and that’s the part that must come first.


Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is an exercise in trust.

Nothing is freely given in Sena’s world. Everyone has a price, and success is a matter of how much you can afford to pay. She’s been scraping to get by for the last few years, and what little trust she has to offer is fading alongside her dream of leaving the icy planet. As a result, she keeps to herself, hiding behind towering walls and locking her heart behind as many doors as possible.

But then there’s Iska, the wolf she is forced to heal. The wolf she finds herself fleeing the Ket with. What began as a matter of contract evolves into something dangerous, and I love the way Sena struggles to make sense of what this could be.

It’s been so long since she’s felt love and trust that she doesn’t know how to recognize it anymore, and it hurts her almost every time.

It also sets her up for an arc I can’t resist. Found family is at the core of Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves, as Sena learns who she can rely on to survive the brutalities of the race. Not every member of her team is a friend, or even an ally, but each danger they face reveals who is worthy of Sena’s trust. More important, who is worthy of her love.

Of course, this puts Iska the wolf at the forefront. She begins as the bane of Sena’s existence, but as they grow closer, my heart grew about three sizes. Call me a predictable sap for loving the “ferocious animal loves and protects only one person” trope, but it’s true! I adore it! And Meg Long gets incredible mileage out of it, to the point you cannot have the girl without the wolf, nor the wolf without the girl.


While Sena’s walls are sometimes too high, I appreciate her flaws.

Sena’s shortcomings are the backbone of this story, too. Her growth seems to follow the pace of the race, only accelerating as thing rush closer and closer to the finish line. For all the assumptions she makes, the grudges she holds, the trust she refuses to give, there are always opportunities for her to make a different choice, to start again. Whether she realizes it or not, she’s making critical changes to her cruel, frozen world, simply because she lets her walls down long enough to try every now and again.

And she does it without an ounce of romantic love, which nearly had me cheering! Not once does she make her choices trying to obtain the romantic attention of someone else. All the love she receives, all the love that she gives, stems from a familial love. It’s based on trust and devotion, and choosing family despite the dangers at hand. No matter how many times Sena thinks she’s doing this for herself, it’s never quite true; there’s always someone else she’s protecting, someone else she’s trying to save.

Can you blame me for loving this book? Choosing love and compassion even when it feels impossible is one of my favorite features a book can have!


If you want to read Mad Max: Ice Edition, starring Angry Girl and Her Very Good Dog, Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is the book for you.

I know, that’s a very specific sort of desire. Maybe you didn’t even know you wanted all these things in a single book. But they’re here, and they’re delightful and gritty and raw. And maybe just a bit chilly, seeing as it’s ice for miles and miles and miles.

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves releases tomorrow, January 11th, and it’s a scifi standalone with incredible heart. Do yourself a favor, and pick this book up when you have the chance. It’s a perfect fireside read, and more importantly, it’s a first glimpse into a universe I hope we get to explore more in the future.

Also, Iska is the best girl, and I want her to get the biggest doggy treat in the world. She deserves it. 🐺


CW: violence (including gun violence), loss of a loved one, racism, animal abuse (dog fighting), animal death, graphic injury

This was a very interesting and engaging book, it got my attention from the first chapter and kept it to the very end.

Cold The Night, Fast The Wolves was an adventure from start to finish. I thoroughly enjoyed this wild ride.

The story is about Sena, a seventeen-year-old orphan who lives on a planet made entirely of snow and ice and full of creatures who will kill you if given the chance. Sena grows up being ostracised for her heritage and feels utterly alone. She makes a living through pick-pocketing and vows to never take part in the yearly race that she lost her parents. That is until she has no other choice.

I loved the characters and I never questioned our main protagonist's motives, feelings, or reactions. I absolutely adored the found family aspect and especially the relationship between Iska the wolf and Sena. Iska and Sena's relationship was my favorite part of the book.

The world-building was top notch and I had no trouble picturing myself on Tundar in the snow and ice; participating in the race. I appreciated the detail that was given to the inhospitable surroundings as well as daily societal life in the beginning. I felt it added more believability to Sena's actions in the story.

This book sunk its teeth in and wouldn't let go until I finished reading.
Solid 4.5 stars
* An eArc was provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest thoughts.

(1/25/2022) 4.5 stars.

A girl desperate to escape must face the ghosts of her past in order to survive. Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is a young adult, sci-fi story with a strong female protagonist forced to live in a harsh environment, not just because the planet itself is rough, but the people on it are harsh as well. The descriptions are so vivid, the situation so dire. The story was exciting and you root for the protagonist the whole way through. A wonderful story. Thank you Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read this book ahead of time.

This book was a lot of fun! Pitched as the Iditarod/Balto but on a different planet, this book definitely delivered what it promised. Sena is a teenage orphan living on a planet who's whole community has been built around corporate mining interests that involves a dog sled race a la the Iditarod. After her moms die racing, she swears to not get involved in the race and does her best to raise the funds to get off planet.

Where this book excels is in the world building and the atmosphere. The teenage orphan living in a world made worse by corporate greed is pretty typical in YA SFF, but I still loved learning the details of how and why the world functions the way it does and the icy, cold setting itself is not something I see very often. I also loved the descriptions of the environment and the way the fight for survival bled through the pages. And of course I loved the bond between Sena and Iska, her wolf.

Where I struggled a little was the pacing. While this book reads very quickly, the book's summary tells us that Sena is going to race despite not wanting it but the race doesn't actually start until around 55% of the way into the book.

Overall, I had a great time reading this and would highly recommend to those who are already fans of dystopia or survival stories or those who are just looking for something with a unique wintery setting.

I have to say I was nervous when I sent in my request for this book and then even more nervous when it got approved. But I am proud to say I enjoyed every minute of it. I love reading books where it takes me to another world and with amazing characters as well. I would write more but then I would be spoiling it. But I give this book 5 Stars and I can't want to be able to get a physical copy of it cause I want to do a re-read of Cold The Night, Fast The Wolves.

In Meg Long's debut, the young adult science fiction novel Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves, young Sena has lost both of her mothers to the brutal sled races on her frozen planet. Since then she's had to be scrappy, creative, and above all, tough.

That means making tenuous alliances, honing her pickpocketing skills, and maintaining a cursory relationship with her aunt in order to get by.

When she angers a local warlord and becomes eager to escape her world, she's relieved to secure promises of transport out--but the earnest scientists who would help her have one condition: she must help them take part in the planet's most infamous sled race (so they can conduct their research on the properties of the resources being plundered by greedy corporations--"corpos").

When Sena finds herself desperately on the run from certain death, she and her injured young fighting wolf, Iska, leap at the slim chance of surviving that icy journey in hopes of leaving this greedy, corpo-driven, ecologically damaged planet for good.

But first she'll have to trust others for the first time and leave herself vulnerable to them--and she'll need to look out for her oddball team instead of only thinking of herself for once.

In Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves, Long offers an intriguing story of brutal conditions, determined survival, hard-earned loyalty, grudging friendship, and a stubborn overcoming of various vivid dangers. I was hooked by Long's world-building, her evocative, immersive descriptions of the cold climate, and by tough, grumpy Sena, who has a big heart and a soft spot for Iska, her personality counterpart in wolf form.

I received a prepublication electronic copy of this book courtesy of Wednesday Books and NetGalley.

Hmm i feel ambivalent about this story. I enjoyed the initial 70% of it, but the last 30 were never-ending. As much as I loved Sena'story and the evolution of friendship with Iska, the race spoiled it for me: too luch struggle in the snow or storm, too much fighting, i felt often bored toward the end. But the beginning was exciting and promising. I particularly enjoyed Sena's coling face to face with wolf Iska and Sena letting down her guards as she rather quickly ubderstood that Iska wasnt trying to fight or hurt her, she was there "for " her. But the race dragged for too long, there wasnt nuch happened. This is really too bad

This book is amazing! And that cover 😍 The bond between Sena and Iska was my favorite part of this book but I loved every page!

I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to read this book. With its stunning cover and unique premise, I had high hopes and genuinely believed this was something I’d enjoy. I think it ultimately boils down to me not being the right reader for the story. There isn’t anything wrong with the book.

I would like to thank the publisher for providing an eARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This incredible debut tells the story of Sena, an orphan who wants nothing more than to get off her frozen planet and away from the race that killed her mothers. She is willing to do absolutely anything, including antagonizing a local crime boss, in order to get the money she needs to get away. Anything, that is, except join the race. That she won't do for anything - until she has no other choice.

As other reviewers have noted, this book starts slowly up until the race. There are a lot of things happening, but it seems like the author is creating more and more conflict to avoid getting to the main action. However, once the race starts the story moves incredibly quickly through the second half. The relationship between Sena and Iska is amazing, but I found I didn't care about most of the other characters until close to the end of the novel.

Long does a great job of creating a compelling world and an interesting main character. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

3.5 stars

For those who need it, "does the dog die" hidden behind spoiler tags in the Goodreads review.

Oh my I was not expecting everything that this was! What a fantastic, atmospheric and descriptive debut!! I could not stop reading. I was so immersed in the world, I wish there was more. Sena and Iska's bond shines through everything and is rooted in the backstory of Sena's moms. It was just an overall wonderful read.

A very big thank you to Netgalley, Meg, and Wednesday Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately this was not the book for me, I couldn't connect with the characters, and the lack of specific details in the world building felt lazy. The idea behind the book sounded really cool, but sadly it missed the mark for me. I DNF'd it after 20%.

Still working on this book, but the plot is interesting, the main character seems like a badass young woman, and I love books involving animals. I'll update the review once I finish!

Wow what a surprise and a treat, the first half is like a Sci/Fi Urban Fantasy mash-up, (I got some Mistborn/Six of Crows vibes here, but in space on a hostile winter planet) while the second half is pure survival/adventure thriller. **Thank you so much to both Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!** I'm a week or so late getting this up, but I already ordered myself a copy and shortlisted in and have it on promo in my store:)

I loved that this was essentially a survival adventure set in a Sci/Fi world that still felt like Urban Fantasy. This was one of those stories that after reading the synopsis I wasn't sure this was going to be my kind of read, but boy was I wrong. This is one of those universally great entertaining (and action-packed) and heart-felt reads that crosses genres and readers alike.

The Low Down: Lots of intrigue and danger happening here (there's a criminal under world along with corporations that run the planet more or less, and our MC is a thief who's crossed the big bad criminal underworld boss), and a ton of action (through out the town and into the wilderness where creepy monsters roam), along with some very hear felt developments, namely the bond that occurs between our MC Sena and the wolf Iska, and found family themes (family bonds and friendships). The plot culminates in a deadly sled race across the frozen mountains and planes (ala the Iditarod but with bigger bio engineered wolves), where our heroine must face off against rival teams, thugs determined to kill her, a hostile frozen environment, otherworldly predators, and ghosts from her past.

Overall there was lots of intrigue and danger - it was super fast-paced with lots of action, but also with a lot of heart! I definitely want more from this universe/world, and wish it wasn't a stand alone novel. That being said there's an open-ended-ness to the ending that has me hoping to return to another adventure alongside Sena and Iska:) I highly recommend, especially to those who usually steer clear of SciFi, this book will make you a convert.