The protagonist Tommi is a young woman seeking out her birth family in New Zealand, only to stumble across a world-shattering secret. (Spoiler alert: she's a werewolf). Said family reunion does not go well and now she must fight to defend herself and her loved ones.
There's a lot that's good about this book. Its premise is similar to Kelly Armstrong's Otherworld series - young woman undergoes traumatic initiation to the supernatural community - but it approaches the subject matter in its own unique way. Sometimes I'd argue a better way. For example, when your family knocks you out and locks you in a cage, it's not for your own good. They're just assholes.
However the book is undermined by its jarring tones. Tommi's light breezy narrative clashes with the trauma she undergoes, and not in a 'bad things happen to good people' kind of way. More as if it can't decide what kind of story it wants to tell. Halfway through a riveting tale of abduction and escape, the book takes a sharp turn into paranormal romance.
To be clear, there's nothing wrong with paranormal romance. Nor is there anything wrong with dark and deconstructive. In this instance, the combination just doesn't work well together.
It's hard to care about Tommi's forbidden relationship with the mysterious Lorcan when the first half of the book worked so hard to set up her conflict with her family. Lorcan works perfectly well as a mentor figure and exposition-giver. But as a love interest, he offers nothing I haven't see a hundred times already and - if I'm being completely honest - comes off as kind of skeevy, given what Tommi just went through.
Finally, I found the presentation of Maori culture problematic, similar to Stephanie Meyer's appropriation of Quileute beliefs. For a more indepth outline, see this article which articulates it far better than I ever could.
There's a good story in Who's Afraid, about a vicious fight for survival and families of choice versus blood. Unfortunately it focuses on the least interesting aspect, making it a rather frustrating read. I may get round to the sequel eventually, but I'm not exactly panting for it.
Final Verdict: Okay. Has good stuff, but I'd like it better if it could follow through on the grittiness of its premise.
"I screamed, and not with fear this time, with pure exhileration. It took me a second to realise I wasn't screaming at all. Following me down into the unknown was a piercing howl."
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