Book Review: Wolf-Woman by Sherryl Jordan

Yay! I am back and with me, another review! WARNING!!! This review contains some spoilers. I tried to keep it spoiler-free but some details did get in so I advise that you stop reading now if you hate spoilers!

Front Cover

Title: Wolf-Woman

Author: Sherryl Jordan

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Release Date: October 24, 1994

Synopsis: Her earliest memories are of the wolves. And of the hunters who kill them and reclaim her to human society—as a slave. Tanith grows up part of a savage, plundering clan, in a world ruled by brute strength, superstition, and animal cunning. Hated and shunned, Tanith flees human society for the more humane company of wolves. The chief's son of a neighboring farming clan offers Tanith the chance to join once again with her own kind, but what will be the stronger—the wavering cry of the human or the steady beating call of the wolf?

This book… PISSED ME OFF TO NO END!!! Argh! I can’t even BEGIN to tell you how much this book made me angry! It was like getting a pair a’scissors and jabbing them into my eyes whilst dipping my lower body into boiling hot lava, having my skin melt off the bone then having someone stab me multiple times in my torso whilst pouring salt into each cut! Actually, no. IT’S WORSE THAN THAT! But enough about me ranting about how much this book made me angry. Let’s dive straight into the review!

Since this book is so short, there was not a lot I could have said without getting some spoilers into the mix. So, from this point out, you might not want to read if spoilers aren’t your thing. I did my best to keeping it to a minimum but I still feel I gave some of it away so stop now if you don’t want to have ANY type of spoilers. You have been warned…

This book is written in the perspective of Tanith, a girl who was raised by wolves. As an infant, she was born into a clan of humans who believed if they leave their child with the wolves for a few days, they would grow up with the knowledge of the wolves. Be it their ways or their language, those children will know it all. Tanith was chosen in her clan to be that child. However, an enemy clan that is run by the chieftain Ahearn, a mean prick who acts as if he’s caring but is really a douche, attacks the wolves Tanith was staying with. He kills them off and, feeling remorse towards the child, for he lost his own daughter when she drowned earlier on, takes the baby in as his “adopted daughter.”

Fast forward to present times, Tanith is shunned from the clan she was adopted into for not only once being from an enemy clan, but of being raised by the wolves. In fact, they mock her constantly by referring to her as “wolf woman.” Tanith doesn’t mind, though. She yearns to be by the wolves for they are the only ones to truly show her compassion. She learns this later on when a life-changing incident occurs. Want to know that incident? Then read the book!

In Ahearn’s clan, there is only one person who treated her as one of the tribe. Her name was Nolwynn, wife and supposedly “only love” of Ahearn. However, she was gravely ill. She tried to rescue her daughter from drowning and injured herself in the process. In short, Tanith did everything to please her, and the rest of the clan, in order to live in peace. Unfortunately, that was an impossible task.

One day, a woman by the name of Morag, Ahearn’s mistress (Little bastard saying that he loves Nolwynn more! What a load of bull!), sends Tanith to go find some fish for dinner, despite it being very late. Tanith does as she’s told so as to not upset the bitch, but little does she know that Morag tells Ahearn that she ran away from home. He goes out searching for her, getting severely injured in the process. What gets on my nerves is that once Tanith returns home and explains to everyone that it wasn’t her fault but Morag’s, nobody believes her and Ahearn casts her away from the village.

There was only one place left for her…

The wolves. They welcomed her with open arms… er… fangs… POINT IS THEY WERE HAPPY TO HAVE HER IN THEIR PACK! Ashok is the alpha wolf, Shula his mate, Zaal and Zeki their cubs, and Kalasin is like the cubs’ caretaker. His mate, Raida, comes along later in the book but I’ll let you read it for yourselves. They weren’t as critical or condescending as the humans. They loved her for her, and for a long time, Tanith lived happily with them.

Until Gibran came along. He’s her so-called “love interest” (Notice how I keep using quotation marks to emphasize certain things. That’s because this book is so full of contradictions you just want to kill someone! Or, at least, I do!) and he came to take her back to his own clan. Originally, Gibran is from a clan different from Ahearn. They are a much more peaceful lot and in order to preserve that peace they and Ahearn exchanged their sons as a treaty between them.

Anyway, he wants to leave and go to his tribe so that Tanith and he could live happily together! Sounds cute, right? WRONG! He’s a two-bit, no good, cheating asswipe that deserves to be shot! Seriously, he claims he loves her but as soon as she’s not around, he’s getting laid by some other chick who wears green (Hey, slut! That’s MY favorite color! Don’t go defiling it by having it wrapped around your body!!!). Her name was Sabra, by the way… retarded name… Anyway, Tanith calls him a liar and… I could say more about their relationship but I feel that if I keep ranting that I might give certain things away. I will say this, however. He blames his infidelity on being drunk… and Tanith seems to be okay with that. Stupid girl…

Well, from here on out the story goes through hell. I mean straight up hell! So many things happen and your mind is left whirling. There’s this huge fight and so much bloodshed… let’s just say I hate the ending of the book. It really was awful! It just leaves you… hurt. I never want to read something this depressing ever again (Watch me pick up some sad, messed up book next.).

I swear there was nothing that amazing about this book. The plot was decent… could have been more. However, all of the characters suck! Well, except the wolves. In fact, the wolves were the only good part of the book.

Jordan knows her wolves! I was completely amazed with how well she knew the actions and the actual living conditions and, one could even say, the rituals of the wolves. That amazed me! I was so fascinated to read those parts of the book that contained new things about wolves that I never knew before. Her writing style is awkward, though. Sometimes you would have to reread a line before you got what was being said. Though, that is only a minor setback. You still are able to see Jordan’s immense knowledge of the wolves.

Ashok is the sweetest of the wolves. He is so calm and gentle that you can’t help but want to put your arms around his fluffy neck! Shula is a kind she-wolf. She watches everyone in the pack as one really would their family. The two alpha wolves are so loyal to one another and affectionate that you wish humans really were like wolves. Zaal and Zeki are a bundle of joy. Raida is a bit on the mean side but she’s also strong and caring when she wants to be. And my favorite wolf is Kalasin. He’s adorable! So playful yet serious… so calm yet upbeat. He’s the perfect balance you could ever want in a mate… Man, I wish I was a wolf!!! *Ahem* Anyway, these are the only characters in the book worth your time.

Unfortunately, that’s about as good as it gets. The rest of the characters… ARGH!!!!! YOU JUST WANT TO MURDER THEM!!! Ahearn is a bastard that lets his bitch, Morag, do whatever she likes. Tallil, the exorcist of the group, is a hypocritical schmuck that forces everyone to believe the wolves are evil. Hrothi, the healer, is another douche.

There's this one character that goes by the name of Camelin. He's a bard that sings stories of every place he has traveled. He is one of the few human characters I like. He's very sweet to Tanith and I think that's awesome. He does have a flw though. When Tanith asks him to sings songs of how the wolves are really kind creatures, he says he can't because he fears them and he can't sing songs about something he doesn't believe in. It's really disappointing because I really did like him.

Gibran… okay… granted, he’s not as bad as the others but he’s still a jerk when it comes to loving women. His reasoning for being in love with Tanith is ridiculous as well. He says that he loves her for she pleases him, has a nice face, and is a good kisser. Now, if that isn’t fickle then I don’t know what is.

Tanith as well, gets on my nerves. She’s not a horrible heroine but neither is she epic. She takes all the crap the clan throws at her and does absolutely nothing! Okay. I get the fact that she is trying to prove to them that she is not evil but still! Throw a punch! Kick them in the nads! Do SOMETHING!!! Another thing that pisses me off about her is that she gives in to Gibran most of the time. I can’t tell you how many times I screamed at the book for her to stop being an idiot. Well, towards the end of the book she gets wiser, so that’s good.

My biggest problem, aside from everything else, is how they treat women in this book—as if they are objects merely meant for pleasing the man in bed. I’m not a feminist or anything but that’s just really annoying! I know that’s how things used to be but damn it! I don’t want to read a book about it! It’s just nerve-wracking! ACK!

I really… really didn’t like this book. It made me very upset and the ending just turned me off to the entire thing. I appreciate the parts with the wolves and how educational it could be but it is so overshadowed with everything else that happens that you kind of forget it’s even there. It’s a decent read but not one I would recommend to take with you everywhere you go.

If you like wolves and want to know a great deal more about it then this book is for you. If you like women being treated like dirt then this book is for you. If you like stupid endings and screwed up logic then this book is for you! However, if all these are a turn off, then STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THIS BOOK!!! I give it a three out of five, if only in recognition of the wolves.

Hope you enjoyed! Till my next review!



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