Howdy YAL!

To see full review click here: http://yalbookbriefs.blogspot.com/2012/12/wolf-pact-melissa-de-la-cruz.htmlHmmm, what do I say about this one. To be honest, I've been waiting for this book for awhile. It was originally suppose to be released in 2010, and I honestly I thought it was going to go the way of some of de la Cruz's unfinished series. So, I was thrilled to hear it was going to be released this fall. I wasn't thrilled though to here that it was going to be released just as an ebook since I don't have an e-reader and quite frankly hate reading from my computer. I did however manage to find a paper copy and finally got to read it.The book itself was alright. It had its moments. The action sequences were cool. And I did enjoy Bliss, she grew on me a lot. Though you didn't get to see her until fifty pages (about a fifth of the book) had passed. However, I don't think it deserved it's own spinoff. Rather, I think these scenes would've been better included in the original series. I also didn't like how this book was treated more or less as a promotional piece, but more about that later.Probably my biggest fault with this book was the wolves themselves. Particularly Lawson. I can't stand this guy. I get he's going through a lot. But Jesus, did he annoy me. And I wasn't even that much of a Dylan fan (Bliss's dead boyfriend). But Dylan, as brief as screen time as he got, was far superior to Lawson Maybe it's because Lawson tries to kill Bliss, berates her, and treats her like scum because of her heritage. Oh, and the girl he's originally in love with. Their romance is laughable. Essentially they almost have coitus in the bathroom, he later declares his insta love for her, they get together and then she dies. And like less than a month after she's dead he comes this close to having grief sex with Bliss.Yes, grief sex. It didn't work on All My Children and it's certainly not working here.I also hate the fact that the term mate is used in this book. I think I'm at the point now anytime I see mate in a YA Book there goes one point (or half a star in a GoodReads review). People do not have mates. Animals have mates. And yes, I get he's a wolf but he's living in a human body. He should have a partner. Using the term mate just......Ugh.Best Feature: Bliss can kick ass. I have to be honest, I'm not a Bliss fan. Probably my favorite female character in the Blue Bloods series is Mimi followed by Schuyler. Mimi is hard tongue bitch who has style and Schuyler has all this interesting backstory going on and she can fight. Bliss though....she's interesting enough, but I never thought we got to see her full potential. In this installment she really shines. She solves problems despite her weakened state (she's now human). However, despite the fact that I loved Bliss, I did not like her relationship with Lawson. Maybe because I don't like Lawson in general, but Bliss deserves better. She deserves Dylan. Or a guy who's like Dylan not this.....Worst Feature: Cash Cow. Okay, I have to say a part of me likes the fact that all of de la Cruz's books are connected. But at the same time, something about this particular spin off left a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe it's because in one of the earlier pages when a minor unseen character from her Witches series makes a cameo appearance there's a footnote telling me I can read more about this warlock's family's adventures in Witches of East End. Then there's also the fact, I had to do a lot of work to get a hard copy of this book and that they're breaking up this 270 page book into four parts for ebook and charging about $2 a pop (without taxes) to read fifty or so pages. That's just....I'm sorry. And yeah, I get that it had to be published as an ebook because of apparent scheduling conflicts, but just release the whole thing at once so people don't have to pay twice as much as what they could pay for a paperback. And yeah, you can get a paperback. It's the UK version though, so shipping might be weird.Appropriateness: Hmm, there's some heavy making out here. And violence. Definitely PG-13. Not for younger tweens or teens, that's for sure.