Den of Wolves (Blackthorn & Grim, #3)

by Juliet Marillier

[e_rodz_leb]

Quite the Novel Idea http://quitethenovelidea.com http://quitethenovelidea.com/liza-reviews-den-wolves-juliet-marillier/Den of Wolves is the third book in Juliet Marillier's Blackthorn and Grim series and one of my most awaited released this year.  Oh my goodness! It is SO good :)

Since I failed terribly in reviewing the previous books let me just gave you a basic premise.  This series is very different of the books that I've read before.  It's an epic adult fantasy at it's best.  Blackthorn and Grim meet in a terrible prison where horrible atrocities are allowed to happen to the inmates, both the innocent and the guilty.  Blackthorn is saved by a fairy that after imposing certain conditions, allows her to escape and gives her a new reason to leave outside of the burning desire for vengeance.  Grim, at a loss of what to now now that he's free, follows Blackthorn to make sure she's safe.  They decide to travel together to keep each other company and keep each other safe.

Den of Wolves starts a few months after the ending of Tower of Thorns and starts with a new mystery in Wolf Glen.  Both Blackthorn and Grim are involved in it in different ways.  Blackthorn takes the shy Cara under her wing as a request of the princess and Grim accepts to help the seemly crazy Bardan to build a fairy house with magical qualities.  Our main characters get separated and feel the separation quite keenly. They don't keep any secrets from each other and the are constantly in each other's thoughts.

Blackthorn and Grim are both broken, complex and difficult to love characters.  However, as get get to know them thought the books, we can't help but fall in love with them and which them the peace and acceptance of their new life.  The abuse, heartbreak, horror they've endure has make them into the people they currently are: straightforward, open minded about magic, distrustful, afraid of love, prickly, and good to the bone.

The mystery of what happened in Wolf Glen was awful, but I was able to guess most of what happened. I don't want to spoil it for you, but I will say that that part of the story was very satisfying.  Mathuin, the Laois chieftan, makes an appearance here

I found the pace to be slower than previous books, and it has a lot of retrospection.  It also might have to do with the fact that Grim and Blackthorn were not together for most of the book.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed all the parallel stories, I was just impatient to get the ending :)  The ending was very satisfying and not open ended.  The writing is enthralling, interesting, and thought provoking. 

The Blackthorn and Grim series is, without question, one of my favorite of all time.  Although the ending was quite perfect, I would be ecstatic if we could get a few more books in the series.  I believe there's plenty of room for more strange, weird, fascinating stories involving these two beloved characters.This review was originally posted on Quite the Novel Idea