DNF at 42%. I feel a little bad, as I do think this book is well-intentioned, and this is an important topic. But as I was reading, I found myself waffling about whether it was just a reaction to the tough subject matter, or if I was legitimately just not gelling with the book. And every so often, there are these completely random Harry Potter references, which just feels in bad taste for a book being published in 2022, when so much of the book community has turned against the author.

I received an ARC of this upcoming novel through NetGalley. Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley.

Oh man. This was such a tough read, and so well-done. A very important, thought-provoking novel about sexual assault, consent, rape culture and victim-blaming.

My blood is still boiling after reading this book.

I knew what I was getting into when I requested it, but still. It’s hard to read this story and know that stuff like this happens ALL OF THE TIME. A certain case comes to mind when I think about this book, and I’m sure it’ll be the same way for many readers. Unfortunately, stories like this are way too common. I’m grateful for this book because I think it paves the way for an open discussion about sexual assault, consent, and victim-blaming.

When Nora wakes up on a golf course partially undressed and with no recollection of the prior night, it’s obvious something isn’t right. While she processes what happened to her, her friends work to find out who was behind it. Her world unravels around her and her eyes open up to see that not everything is as it seems.

There were so many times I felt like punching somebody in the face while reading this. Nora goes into a denial period and honestly, I don’t blame her. She’s 15 and scared of what it’ll mean for her. What will people say about her? What will they say to her parents? Her feelings are completely valid. I think that most people in her position would be pretty terrified. Because of that, I felt like she was a really realistic character. She didn’t jump to action right away which I think is so important. It’s hard to jump to action when society makes you think that somehow it’ll end badly for you when you’re the one who has been attacked.

I could write paragraphs about how this book made me feel, but I won’t. I think it’s a great book to use as a resource to learn about SA. I hope it leads to more kids questioning things + being empathetic to victims. I thought it was really well-written. The ending really got me (I’m going to say this in the most non-spoilery way possible) because statistically, we all know a femme-identifying person who has been sexually assaulted.

Another point that was so powerful for me is that the people sexually assaulting others or “looking the other way” are people we know—grandfathers, dads, brothers, cousins, friends, etc. I love that the author put in there how the entire family reacted to the sexual assault, since it reflects our life so well; when people have gotten away with sexual assault for so long (I.e. men), it’s brushed off as “boys will be boys” or that it wasn’t a thing “back in the day.” In reality, it’s always a problem and we need to address it. We need to hold people accountable.

Okay, I’m done ranting, I thought this book was impactful. I enjoyed reading it even if 90% of the book I was pissed off. Also, I thought that the character growth was amazing for almost all of the characters, but especially Nora and Adam. Even Nora’s mom,

I highly suggest reading this one, as long as you’re aware of the trigger warnings, if you end up reading it, let me know what you think.

Thank you Little, Brown Books For Young Readers for this eARC! My review is live on Goodreads and will be live on Instagram, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble on publication day.

Thank you little brown books for providing me with a e-copy in exchange for a review!

the best word to describe this book is raw. the emotions were raw and just so real. i found myself thoroughly disturbed by several things in this novel, which is something that rarely ever happens to me. I love the different POV's, i felt it really showcased everyone going through this situation differently and how other people were affected along with the victim.

i don't usually read ya contemporaries as i don't enjoy them as much but this one made me rethink that. this was a phenomenal read and i hope everyone would give this book a chance!

The Wolves are Waiting is a powerful book looking at sexual assault and rape culture. It is not only about this, but it is about consent, misogyny and toxic masculinity. This book had me sucked in from the beginning, and pulled at my heart strings. I felt for all the people in this story.

This book had so many good discussion about sexual assault and the impact it can have on an entire community. It also talked about supporting someone who has been sexually assaulted and seeking justice. There was a great discussion on the fact that it is NEVER a persons fault for being sexually assaulted. It tackles the myths of "she drank to much" or "she dressed like she wanted it" head on and challenges, even well meaning men in the story, that it is not an appropriate narrative. Aside from the sexual assault storyline, there is also a discussion of friendships and the importance of friendship.

This book is written in multiple POVs, and that sometimes can take away from the story, but in this case it was so well done. Natasha Friend has a knack for knowing who's POV will most enhance the story at a particular time. This brough the book together in a way that made it cohesive and well written.

I found reading Cam narrative was hard. She wanted to be a friend to Nora so badly, and wanted justice for her friend, but struggled to do that in the time frame that Nora wanted. I understand why she did the things she did, especially her being a young person herself. She was looking for justice. Some of the justice she sought though, was pushing Nora to fast into talking about what happened. I think Cam and Adam came from a place of love and support, but the book did a good job of showing how it hurt Nora to force her to process the assault faster than she was ready to.

This book was chilling and challenging. Natasha Friend did an excellent job exploring the issue of rape and sexual assault. This would be and excellent book to be read by high school students to learn about some of the aftermath of sexual assault.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This writer is new to me, and I requested it based on the description, but I didn't feel prepared for what a wonderful, gifted writer that Friend is. She tackled this difficult subject of sexual assault so well. Overall it was the tone of the book and the writing that's a real win to me. Rarely does YA appeal to me anymore, but even though these are teenage characters, and they *think* and act like teenagers, they aren't dumbed down, simplified of unrelatable. If you loved Moxie, you will love this book.

Nora Melochiondra is a sophomore in her tiny town of Faber, New York which is a college town. Her dad Rhett is the athletic director at Faber College and well known since his college days, for sports and fraternity. She is close to him, loves going to sporting games with him, plays field hockey. Nora's best friend is Cam (short for Camille) and she is *best friend goals* Nora's older brother Asher plays an important role in the book as well as Adam Xu, a classmate. Then there are her parents who are lovey dovey, little sister Maeve who is 11 and loves Harry Potter.

Nora's decision to go to the Frat Fair instead of hang with her best friend turns out badly. Nora is a good kid. She gets a soda, which we later find out was drugged and hours later she wakes up on the golf course with her underwear off and no memory of how she got there. Adam lives by the golf course and happens to see 3 college students by her when she's passed out. He records it and shoos them away as one of them takes off his pants. Adam stopped what could've been clearly a rape and calls her best friend Cam.

Nora is freaked out at first and doesn't want to talk about it or tell anyone. Then a picture is leaked around town of her getting into a car with these 3 students, one has his hand on her butt. Cam and Adam team up to identify the students. In the meantime Nora has to reconcile her relationship with her dad as he seems to defend the student athletes.

This story about consent, rape culture, misogyny and sports heroship is nothing new but it was done SO well. Nora and her friends who support her, her family find the way to address the toxic environment and what was done. I really enjoyed the conclusion of the book. The only thing that surprised me was the identity of the love interest at the end of the book. I thought it would be q particular person, but it was someone we only "met" a couple times. I feel that its an important book for anyone 16+ to read.

TW for sexual assault, discussion of rape and rape culture, drugging with roofies/other drugs to take away their capacity to consent.

Release date 3/22/22

In the aftermath of an attempted assault, a group of teenagers try to figure out how to move forward or even if they can move forward, especially after uncovering that the assault was not an isolated incident, but rather part of a larger culture and tradition by a frat on a local college campus.

This book was impossible to put down even as it breaks your heart and grapples with questions that have no easy answer. Is it better to report an assault, even if the victim is not willing at that moment to come forward? How do you support someone who is a victim without taking over their own narrative? What is the path to forgiveness for someone complicit in your assault? How do you reckon with knowing that people around you instantly questioned your character rather than the people who attempted to assault you? None of these questions have easy answers and The Wolves are Waiting is too smart to offer you quick and palatable ones, which makes it so captivating. It also avoids cliches of falling into a relationship with someone simply because you're grateful to them, or friendship rifts that are solved instantly.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very powerful and timely book. It’s a strikingly realistic look at how trauma affects oneself, how harmful secrets can be, and it even touches on other important issues like institutional sexism. Each character thinks and acts like actual teenagers, not clichés. The relationships between the characters felt authentic; you could plainly feel their concern and tension between them. The multiple POV format works and distinctly portrays each character throughout the story.
As much as I admired how supportive Nora’s friend Cam was, it did bother me that she kept constantly pressuring and guilting Nora to report her crime, and attempting to make her assault into a call for action. Yes, sexual assaults should be reported, but badgering a victim isn’t the way to go, and I don’t want young readers to feel like they’re doing things the wrong way. I felt it would have been more palatable to have Cam called out for her unhelpful enthusiasm and to allow Nora to heal on her own timeline.

<b>“<i>My feelings aren’t hurt.</i>She thought, <i>I woke up on a golf course with a Sharpie 9 on my crotch.</i> She thought, <i>I didn’t misinterpret anything.</i>”</b>

<i>Thank you, Netgalley, for the arc!</i>

I’ve read books with this kind of social commentary on sexual assault and rape culture, and they always amaze me. This book was different for me because it felt like we got different POVs. I usually tend to steer away from books with multiple POVs, but this one was handled well since they all brought different perspectives and had their own struggles to relate to the main conflict.

I really wanted to know how things would’ve been resolved for Nora. That freaking plot reveal in the middle surprised me so I was hooked on seeing the resolution. It was amazing to see how Nora grew as a character who experienced the absolute worst — and that she had such a great support system.

<spoiler>I personally think the idea of Adam Xu being in love with Nora wasn’t necessary. I think it would’ve been better if he gave the perspective of being an outsider athlete with his own reputation at stake for whatever reasons. It would’ve been a cool dynamic and inner struggle since he helped Cam take them down.</spoiler>

This was such a hard book to read, but also an important work. Definitely trigger warning for an attempted sexual assault so you know what's coming though.

The Wolves Are Waiting. In this case, the "wolves" are frat boys. Because of course they are. In one instant, 15-year old Nora wakes up on a golf course without her underwear, with no memory of the night before, and with a boy she has never met crouched over her asking if she's ok. And there begins the story of Nora and Cam and Adam.

I absolutely loved this book. I loved how the characters were written, how strong Nora was and what solid, loving friends and family members she has. This reminded me a lot of Exit, Pursued By A Bear in that aspect. I love reading a story where the protagonist/"victim" has a strong wall of support around her. This was incredibly well-written and I loved how the story played out.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of The Wolves Are Waiting in exchange for an honest review.

gabndlsfolkm I'm so torn. On one hand, I think Natasha Friend does a really good job of writing Nora as a realistic young person dealing with trauma. I like how complex she and her relationships with her family are and think it paints a really realistic picture that is vital for these kinds of story.

Our two main POV characters Nora and Cam are also 15 year olds and 15 year olds are obviously allowed to not be perfect but I think the issue comes with this book not really spending enough time demonstrating how in the wrong Cam is for the majority of the book? I don't think it even had to make the reader turn against her or see her as an antagonist because she's clearly not and she's fighting for what she thinks is justice but her consistantly putting labels on Nora's trauma that Nora doesn't want, trying to micromanage how Nora deals with her trauma, and pushing the "well you have to do something about it or you'll be responsible for the next SA" is icky and since Cam is also framed as a heroic character I think The Wolves Are Waiting should have been more blunt and upfront with how wrong her reactions to Nora's SA was because otherwise, readers in the target demo might think that its a) their job to pressure their friends to do "the right thing" if they get assaulted or b) their duty to become a community symbol even if it means revisiting trauma they're trying to move past.

Hi All,

Happy Book Date Monday. Here is one that I was able to get early access to! :) (Thank you!)

Author: Natasha Friend

Summary from Goodreads:
From award-winning author Natasha Friend comes a compelling investigation of sexual harassment and the toxic and complicit structures of a small college town.

Before the night of the Frat Fair, 15-year-old Nora Melchionda's life could have been a Gen-Z John Hughes movie. She had a kind-of boyfriend, a spot on the field hockey team, good grades, and a circle of close friends. Of course there were bumps in the road: she and her lifelong BFF Cam were growing apart and her mother was trying to clone her into wearing sensible khakis instead of showy short skirts. But none of that mattered, because Nora always had her dad, Rhett Melchionda, on her side. Rhett was not only Nora’s hero, but as the Athletic Director of Faber College, he was idolized by everyone she knew.

Now, Nora would give anything to go back to that life. The life before whatever happened on the golf course.

She doesn’t want to talk about it—not that she could, because she doesn’t remember anything—and insists that whatever happened was nothing. Cam, though, tries to convince Nora to look for evidence and report the incident to the police. And then there’s Adam Xu, who found Nora on the golf course and saw her at her most vulnerable. She ignores it all, hoping it will all go away. But when your silence might hurt other people, hiding is no longer an option.

The Wolves Are Waiting begins in the aftermath of an attempted assault, but reaches farther than a story about one single night or one single incident. What Nora and her friends will uncover is a story that spans generations. But it doesn’t have to anymore.

Personal Review:
When I read that this was about a college town, I knew I needed it. I hadn't realized it would be quite this intense, but in a good way. It was an interesting read that talks about challenges following really hard times. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this one.



Happy Reading!

This one was a hard read, because of what happens to Nora. There is an attempted assaults that's mentioned in the blurb so no spoilers and it gives a content warning. I'm also going to give a trigger warning for the attempted assaults. Because while some readers will be fine to read this one others will not. Even with the warning and knowing what happened in the book I had a hard time with it as I was assaulted as a teenager. . But I don't regret reading the book. Even though the book is about a difficult subject it was a book that needed to be written and read. We do need more of these books in YA and New adult if they are well written and handle to subject correctly, because this happens more often than we want to admit and it shouldn't.

The Wolves Are Waiting tells the story of an attempted sexual assault of 15 year old Nora by three fraternity members and the journey to try to put the pieces together of what happened that night. Told from four POVs, the book alternates between Nora, her best friend Cam, Nora's brother Asher, and Adam, Nora's classmate who found her in the midst of the incident. As the four start to find answers, they also begin to reveal more than they could have expected.

The Wolves Are Waiting is an important and relevant story and one that I found to be captivating from start to finish. I had trouble putting the book down and was continuously interested in what would happen next. The four POVs really suit the book; it can be difficult to make that many perspectives work together and it was key to telling the different aspects to the plot. And wow, there were so many different layers to what initially seemed like a single incident. It was truly fascinating the direction that the story went and I was surprised and impressed. I strongly recommend The Wolves Are Waiting for YA fans looking for their next read with a serious topic.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for this ARC; this is my honest and voluntary review.

I have chills. "The Wolves Are Waiting" is an incredibly powerful piece of writing. It will speak to anyone who stands against rape culture and has the opportunity to educate those who have been living under a rock, especially since the Me Too movement shined a necessary light on the issue. Sexual violence exists and it is never the victims fault. The only person to blame and who should bare consequences for their actions is the assailant. Please remember that, always.

In the aftermath of an attempted sexual assault, Nora wakes up on a golf course with no memory and she does not want to talk about it, even if she could remember. Cam, her best friend, tries to convince Nora to document any evidence she may find for a police report, believing this is the route to be taken. The problem, Nora wants to ignore it all, but when your silence might hurt other people, is hiding the right choice?

"The Wolves Are Waiting" explores events and actions that may be triggering to some readers. It is highly realistic. As I began reading, I was immediately brought back to Chanel Miller and her memoir "Know My Name." I would love to see this book discussed in secondary schools as a time in young people's lives when misogyny, harassment, victim blaming, and unwanted sexual attention and demeaning comments start to prevail, largely due to peer pressure and the normalization of sexism at the hands of group behaviour.

I appreciated how all of the characters grew in their own way and love how this story spoke to the strength of supportive friendships.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THE WOLVES ARE WAITING by Natasha Friend in exchange for my honest review.***

Teachers, librarians, therapists and parents, purchase multiple copies of THE WOLVES ARE WAITING for your libraries, offices and families. Buy every middle and high school girl and boy a copy and discuss this important book with them. Listen to what they have to say for signs of misogyny, whether internalized or external. Check your own attitudes.

Natasha Friend has written the most important book on sexual assault since Laurie Halse Anderson’s SPEAK.

WHILE THE WOLVES ARE WAITING is an issue book that reads like a story, not an Issue Book. Aside from assault and consent, Friend’s story touches upon micro-aggressions, honestly, secrets, group behavior, institutional sexism, friendship, parents, siblings and loyalty.

At first Nora wants to pretend the incident didn’t happen, much to the chagrin of her über feminist BFF Cam, who almost goes too far pushing Nora to report.

Nora and nearly all the characters grow from their experiences. All the characters are multidimensional with imperfections. Though parts of the teens’ investigation are far-fetched, the important factors in the story are all too realistic.

WHILE THE WOLVES ARE WAITING is sure to be a classic.

The Wolves Are Waiting will speak to readers who can relate not only to Nora's struggles but also to those of her supportive friends. This is an important--realistically messy--story that will help us all be better equipped to support and empathize with the truth-tellers and the survivors of traumatic events. It will lead to discussions about how even "good" people handle their own flawed thinking that is rooted in the tradition of female objectification.