Review: Unleashed by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie

Book: Unleashed (Wolf Springs Chronicles #1) by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie
Genre: Young Adult / Urban Fantasy 

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Available Formats: Ebook | Hardcover | Paperback
Publication Date: November 22nd, 2011 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Version Reviewed: Ebook
How Did I Get This Book: From Library
First Sentence: "I can fly. Katelyn Claire McBride was the girl on the flying trapeze."
Description: Katelyn McBride’s life changed in an instant when her mother died. Uprooted from her California home, Katelyn was shipped to the middle of nowhere, Arkansas, to her only living relative, her grandfather. And now she has to start over in Wolf Springs, a tiny village in the Ozark Mountains. Like any small town, Wolf Springs has secrets. But the secrets hidden here are more sinister than Katelyn could ever imagine. It’s a town with a history that reaches back centuries, spans continents, and conceals terrifying truths. And Katelyn McBride is about to change everything.

Broken families, ageless grudges, forced alliances, and love that blooms in the darkest night—welcome to Wolf Springs.

Unleashed, for me, held a great deal of potential. I'm a sucker for this genre, I loved the idea of the book and the opening chapter or so. However, as I continued reading, my opinion of the book changed.

The main character, Katelyn doesn't really bring much to the table personality wise. The only thing that sets her apart from other characters we've seen before is her love for dance and gymnastics. Yet, that is never really demonstrated within the book. Sure, she talks about dance occasionally - but she never does anything. I thought that her passion for being an athlete could have folded into the storyline, but it never really way. Instead we are stuck with a version of Katelyn who is almost a shell of a character. This made her difficult to connect to and I couldn't seem to create an attachment to her. On top of that, she made terrible decision after terrible decision. Plus, I could not get behind Katelyn's narration. I'm not going to do into too many details about it, but she literally drove me crazy. She just came across an incredibly naive and immature.

The rest of the characters aren't much to write home about either. Cordelia, Katelyn's new BFF comes off as unreliable and flaky. She claims to care about Katelyn, yet spends the majority of the book dodging her questions, being fake and putting Katelyn in impossible positions.

Then there is Trick - one of Katelyn's love interests. Now here is the thing. I believe that I could like Trick. But unfortunately, we don't get to know him at all. He has some crazy mood-swings, but that's never address. I have some ideas about why, but the authors never touch on it. So, he may just be a complete jerk. Then there is Justin, the second love interest. That's right - it's love triangle again. Can we please stop with the young adult/urban fantasy love triangles? The relationship between Katelyn and Justin literally comes out of nowhere. There is absolutely no build up and it really bothers me. I'm sure there is a reason for it, but it still irritated me.

Overall, the characterization throughout the book is seriously lacking. None of the characters (including the lead) are well-rounded or even fleshed out. It makes it incredibly difficult to get through the book when you are unable to connect to any of the characters.

Long story short, in today's market a young adult story about werewolves really needs to bring something new to the table in order to be successful. Unfortunately, that was not the case with Unleashed. I don't think I'll be continuing this series, but you're welcome to give it a try. From looking at other reviews, it seems people either loved it or hated it. If you really have a thing for this type of storyline, you may enjoy it.

 Favorite Quotes

The front door was open, but the porch light was off, and someone tall was standing on the poor, silhouetted by the moonlight.

"He's like the pied piper of lunatics."

"Don't worry about it, honey. There's nothin' dumber on the face of this earth than a teenage boy. They do grow out of it, eventually. The ones who live long enough."