Blog Tour ~ Shadow of the Wolf by S.M. Pace

Shadow of the Wolf by S.M. Pace
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Source: Received to Review for this blog tour
Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Description:  Toby has always felt like an outcast in his village, but he thought winning a game at the Summer Fair was the answer to making friends. The local boys disagreed and literally threw Toby to the wolves. Stranded in enemy territory with a broken leg, he’s offered two options by the resident werewolves; death or permanent exile from his race.

Although Toby longs to return to his family, he chooses to live. But the werewolf children torment him just like the boys and girls back home. When he fights back and discovers he can wield magic, a crime in his old kingdom, he realizes he’s safer with the werewolves than he ever was amongst his own kind. He even finds happiness and acceptance, until his real sister contacts him with her own forbidden magic. 

Fearing for her safety, Toby must decide where his loyalties lie; with the family he grew up with or the werewolves who took him in when his own people discarded him?
My thoughts:  Toby is an outcast. He has always been shunned by the people of his village. He is a boy, has done nothing wrong, but everyone treats him as if he carries some horrible social disease. All he wishes for is friends, a place to belong, people other than his family to care about him and his welfare.

At the local competitions, Toby finally wins at something. He is sure that this will help him gain acceptance. It backfires and he finds himself broken, beaten, and left on the other side of the line that separates the human territory from the werewolf. One a human crosses the line, there is not coming back. Death awaits.

Toby does not have the typical sentence. The elders see more in him and grant him the opportunity to live and become part of the pack. While he is learning to speak the language, the culture, the laws, and survival skills, his human sister is facing her own trials.

The book is of two children, Toby and Ora. They are brother and sister, hiding secrets, and learning to live in less than desireable circumstances. They do not realize that while separated, they are working toward a common goal. To keep war from coming between the werewolves and the people of the kingdom.

I loved reading this book. It is well written and thought out. Toby's stubborness and his struggle to learn another language reminded me of my cousin. She was adopted from Vietnam in the 1970's. I remember watching her frustrated because she couldn't communicate in the same language of her new brother's and sister's. I enjoyed that she was able to write his situation realistically.

It looks like there may be more books continuing on with the storyline. I look forward to reading them.

My only content warning would be for sensitive readers who would have a hard time differenciating between cultural living conditions.  Toby comes to live with a pack.  They are not sensitive to nudity the way that human's are.  There is also some violence.

Read an Excerpt:  

(Ora has just found out what the village boys did to Toby)

********************

They couldn’t have.  The words echoed inside her head.  She reached out quivering hands to brace them on a tree trunk, and squinted into the darkness of the forest.  All black, with only the smallest hints of lighter gray.  Toby was down there; she could sense him.  Beyond the slope, just a few yards away, but it might as well have been miles.

Ora screamed, a ragged, broken sound. 

Yellow eyes materialized in the darkness, like candle lights flaring to life.  Starlight glinted off its sharp teeth.

It growled at her, a warning. 

Ora gasped, but stiffened her legs rather than back away.  "Give me my brother.  Please." 

The werewolf snorted, shaking its head like a dog shaking off fleas.  Or perhaps giving her an answer.  With another growl, it disappeared.  If she followed, she wouldn't get far.  Tears pricked her eyes. 

Noah, that monster.  He had fed Toby to the werewolves.   

********************

About S.M. Pace:  Stephanie Pace is an avid reader of every genre, though fantasy is her favorite.  She started writing at fifteen, and never looked back.  She currently works as a pre-K teacher by day, and a determined self-publisher by night.  When she’s not distracting herself with conlanging and world-building, she loves to do cross stitch or escape to the outdoors when the weather is nice.  She lives in central Virginia with her boyfriend, and the rest of her crazy, amazingly supportive family close by.   

Find her at:   Blog * Website * Twitter * Facebook

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