I won this in a First Reads Giveaway.

This is basically the same book as the first. I'm sure if you loved the first, you'll love this book. We do find out what happened with the wolves from the first book. Again, it was a quick one sitting read and I bet middle schoolers will like it more than I did. I did love all the talk and information of animals and science. That's a really great part. Everything else was just okay and meh to me. The portrayal is very realistic just not particularly gripping for me. It's a tried and true story, but I found it to be a bit dull. It's very clean and sanitized for middle schoolers and the only problems parents might have with it is if they aren't Christian.

More complications arise due to the stepsisters brief I grew so frustrated with her family and their treatment of her. The roles of the girls are clear. Diana is the scapegoat lost child, while Stephanie is the token placating hero. It's rather sad how the family treats Diana. I have a hard time caring about Stephanie though. It's hard to believe she's always that nice. She's so good, she squeaks and it gets on my nerve. I get and understand her pressure but it's grating. It's irritating because if Stephanie does anything, she just has to bring up or blame Diana while she squeaks by.

There's still no specifics on Diana's mood disorder. It makes me suspect there really isn't one the author has in mind. Just threw in an mental issue to give Diana a reason for her feelings, even though Diana's feelings are understandable. It sounds like it's bipolar disorder but I'm not seeing it in Diana. She gets upset when talking about her absent father, that's normal. I'm not seeing the mood swings either. She gets angry at certain things that are completely understandable. I don't know, it just rubs me the wrong way. On one hand, I want kids to get help, understand and see a character just like them. On the other hand, this particular series treatment of Diana and her disorder comes off badly and gimmicky to me.

More talk of god and faith. It's more often, more noticeable and is a bigger part of the book. It's not all encompassing but it can't be removed from the book either without hampering the book. It mostly about Stephanie being the goodie two shoes believer and Diana dealing with the problem of Evil. The way it's escalating I have a feeling it's going to be more pronounced in the next book as well. At least the family didn't pressure Diana into believing or going to church or anything. ( )