Waer
Meg Caddy
While on a training trip with his little brother, Lowell finds a waer washed up on a riverbank, mostly dead, mostly mute. As Lowell tries to nurse her back to health, other forces are moving that she knows about, but Lowell’s little town doesn’t. Little do they know that there will be even bigger things at stake.
I didn’t feel a distinction between the perspectives of Lowell and Lycaea. This is a common complaint of mine. Also, for a couple of chapters I didn’t realise that Lowell was a boy. Honestly, I thought it could have gone either way. Lowell isn’t depicted as a fighter, and Lycaea certainly breaks any stereotypes of a passive woman. Kick-ass!
Mm, don’t mind if there is a plot twist. Or two. Or just any plot twist that Caddy wants to throw at me. She gave me enough clues, but I was too entranced by the storytelling to really get a handle on what could be happening. Lowell was more switched on than I was, and I’m supposed to be the all-seeing reader!
What I enjoyed was that being a Waer (a human able to change into a wolf) was really a minor plot point. The characters themselves provided the momentum and the motivation to keep reading the novel, no relying on tropes. Apart from a spirit-bond, which happens in other races, they just have that extra little bit of awesome.
The ending felt a little rushed, but what made me happy was that it was a complete ending. So note to everyone – this is a stand alone, and it’s brilliant as one. Don’t expect a series. But at the same time, I can totally see a series happening from this, and I wouldn’t be objecting so long as that each novel is a true stand alone. I can see a distant novel either in the past, or the future.
I had my eyes on this novel ever since I saw it at a publisher event last year. I tweeted like mad and put my name in for it as soon as possible. I think maybe that built it up in my mind as a phantom of ‘amazing’, and then when I read it I felt like it wasn’t worth 5 stars, and that made me sad. It’s really hard to get 5 stars from me anyway. A well-deserved 4 stars, and I’ll be keeping my eye out for more novels by Caddy.
