Review: Second Thoughts
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 12, 2013
I have had second thoughts about this book after the third reading.  Yes, it's violent and abusive.  Yes the torture scenes annoy me and the grovelling submission scenes turn my stomach.  Yes, there does seem to be a sharp discontinuity in Michaela's character and abilities which are not adequately explained.However.  The book is well-written with plot, setting and characterizations done professionally and well.  If you grant, for the sake of the fictional universe Ms Roseau has created, the instinctive bullying nature of the werewolf pack, and you grant, as the text repeatedly states, that Michaela is head-over-heels for Lara, then Michaela's acceptance of the bullying logically follows.Ms Roseau has created a scenario where Michaela gets put into the position of extreme (usually male) athletes who want to test their ability to withstand hardship and even torture.  It takes her some time and persuasion to embrace the idea, but in the end she does embrace it.  This is explicit in the text.The abuse by her so-called friends is still pretty hard to take, but finally makes sense in this kind of scenario.  I have also noticed (my second complaint about this third volume) subtle connections and references to some of the plot elements in the two previous volumes.I can now say that there is a continuity of sorts in Michaela's character and behavior.  A lot is left unstated, but I have now noticed elements of the first two books which to some extent explain and set up the events which occur in this volume.For example (SPOILER) Michaela's willingness to submit to the council to the extent of playing a servant role, an anomaly that I just shrugged off in volume two, I now see as a set up for her later willingness to submit to the bullying and abuse in this volume.Several times in the three books Michaela is willing to put up with non-lethal abuse by the wolves that she loves and considers friends, this isn't such an abrupt departure as I first thought.  Several times in the previous books, she forgives even egregious behavior.  I am reminded of the cage incident in the first volume.So, even granting that her acceptance of the abuse is a departure from her normal feisty character, I now acknowledge that the departure isn't that dramatic a break, and is actually explained well (if not thoroughly) by her love for Lara and desire to "prove herself".It's still far from my favorite of the three volumes, but after three readings, I can now see that it's not the abrupt departure that I at first thought.And if that is seen as damning with faint praise, let me reiterate that the book is very well written and I do like it, even if not as much as the first two.