Counting Wolves
Michael F. Stewart
Publication date: August 14th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
The Breakfast Club meets Grimm’s Fairy Tales in the lair of an adolescent psych ward.
Milly’s evil stepmother commits her to a pediatric psych ward. That’s just what the wolf wants. With bunk mates like Red, who’s spiraling out of control; Pig, a fire-bug who claims Milly as her own—but just wants extra dessert—Vanet, a manic teen masquerading as a fairy godmother with wish-granting powers as likely to kill as to help; and the mysterious Wolfgang, rumored to roam for blood at night; it doesn’t take long for Milly to realize that only her dead mother’s book of tales can save her.
But Milly’s spells of protection weaken as her wolf stalks the hospital corridors. The ward’s a Dark Wood, and she’s not alone. As her power crumbles, she must let go of her magic and discover new weapons if she is to transform from hunted to hunter.
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Lisa’s Review:
I received an ARC of this book for review via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The main character, Milly, gets hospitalized in the psychiatric ward for her OCD tendencies which, in her mind, keep the wolf away and anxiety issues. While in the psychiatric ward she meets other teens with mental health issues. Throughout this book Milly is challenged to confront her tendencies and anxiety.
Milly’s is quirky but relatable to a certain degree. The portrayal of her anxiety and OCD tendencies was good and believable.
I got a real sense of how these impacted her. Milly was able to be open minded and could see the other teens in the hospital in a different light than others.
The other characters, Wolfgang, Pig, Vanet, and Red were great secondary characters.
This book flowed well and kept my attention. There were times that I thought something supernatural was happening which kept me on my toes.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those of you that read young adult.
Author Bio:
Michael F. Stewart is winner of both the 2015 Claymore Award and the 2014 inaugural Creation of Stories Award for best YA novel at the Toronto International Book Fair.
He likes to combine storytelling with technology and pioneered interactive storytelling with Scholastic Canada, Australia, and New Zealand’s, anti-cyberbullying program Bully For You. In addition to his award winning Assured Destruction series, he has authored four graphic novels with Oxford University Press Canada’s Boldprint series. Publications of nonfiction titles on Corruption and Children’s Rights are published by Scholastic and early readers are out with Pearson Education.
For adults, Michael has written THE SAND DRAGON a horror about a revenant prehistoric vampire set in the tar sands, HURAKAN a Mayan themed thriller which pits the Maya against the MS-13 with a New York family stuck in the middle, 24 BONES an urban fantasy which draws from Egyptian myth, and THE TERMINALS–a covert government unit which solves crimes in this realm by investigating them in the next.
Herder of four daughters, Michael lives to write in Ottawa where he was the Ottawa Public Library’s first Writer in Residence. To learn more about Michael and his next projects visit his website at www.michaelfstewart.com or connect via Twitter @MichaelFStewart.
Michael is represented by Talcott Notch.
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Thanks for the review, Lisa, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Great review, Lisa! This sounds like a fun read and entertaining overall! Glad you liked it! 🙂