Early Review: Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson
Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson
Jessica McClain #1
Born the only female in an all male race, Jessica McClain isn’t just different—she’s feared.
After living under the radar for the last twenty-six years, Jessica is thrust unexpectedly into her first change, a full ten years late. She wakes up and finds she’s in the middle of a storm. Now that she’s become the only female full-blooded werewolf in town, the supernatural world is already clamoring to take a bite out of her and her new Pack must rise up and protect her.
Life has never been easy for Jessica McClain. As the only female to ever be born to a werewolf clan, a race full of superstitions, she is reviled and feared. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that she is the Alpha's daughter, she probably wouldn't have lived far past her birth. Yet in the past few years, she has managed to form herself a life away from most of the pack and its scrutiny. But that carefully constructed life comes tumbling down when she makes the first change to a wolf years past when she should have. Suddenly everyone wants a piece of her, and with the attacks coming from all sides, it is only a matter of time until someone succeeds in their goal of eliminating her permanently.
I absolutely adore Jessica's character. She is just so sassy and fun, as well as fiercely loyal to her pack. This is especially impressive due to the fact that vast majority of them have shunned her, and otherwise made her life incredibly miserable due to their superstitions. Granted, she is the only female werewolf to ever have been known to exist, but that should have made her something to be treasured rather than despised and mistrusted. It really is amazing that she didn't turn bitter due to her treatment, and that only made her more admirable. I was also incredibly impressed with the way she handled everything that was thrown at her in the very short time after she experienced that first change. Of course, she did have a few moments of panic when things became overwhelming, but she regained control in no time flat. Not only was Jess an amazing character, but the rest of the cast was pretty spectacular as well. Each and every single one, both good and bad were fully fleshed out, making them very realistic. I won't get into any more specifics as this book and characters deserve to be experienced directly, but suffice it to say they were awesome.
The mythology in Full Blooded was absolutely amazing. I really enjoyed the dynamic between the wolves, with the alpha structure, as well as the telepathy aspects between Jess and her twin as well as her father the alpha. It was nice to see that while the Alpha did hold most the power, he wasn't above reproach, and had to be careful especially in regards to Jessica. In addition to the wolves, there were also many other types of shifters as well as witches, vamps, and sorcerers, making for a very interesting variety. I especially liked to see the way those dynamics played out, especially as politics between clans played a part. I have a feeling those politics will be playing an even larger role in future books especially as each clan still clambers to get their hands on Jessica.
I haven't enjoyed a werewolf story this much since the first time I read Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. I can hardly believe this is Amanda's debut novel as everything flows like she has countless books under her belt. With her writing being this good right out of the gate, I am incredibly excited to see where things lead. Granted, she does already have a bit of that evil author tendency with the nasty cliffhanger ending, but that is easily forgiven in light of how amazing the rest of the book was. That being said, I am incredibly desperate to get my hands on the next installment. In fact, Full Blooded has easily earned itself a place as one of my top reads for 2012. Considering the very large volume of books I read (300+ per year), this is no small feat. Full Blooded is an absolute must read for fans of Urban Fantasy. Trust me, you won't want to miss this fantastic debut!
(Received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley)
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