Loved this werewolf book. It was very well written and pretty well plotted. Its strength though was in the werewolf world building and the development of the characters. There was a mystery of what had happened to Silver and how to catch the bad guy. There was a lot of in depth character building especially of the main character, Andrew Dare. No info dumping in this book. All the info was working seamlessly into the words and actions of the characters. There was a love story that developed throughout the story but it was a bit of a different one.

There are several really good reviews out there and I can't think right now so I'll just say I loved it and recommend it, and maybe you should browse some of the other reviews. :-) ( )

Has so much room to world-build, especially if you're a really imaginative person. They leave a lot of things for you to guess and think about. Really excited about the other 3 books in the series. ( )

Andrew Dare, Werewolf and enforcer, is on the trail of a lone Were, but when he finds her, she is not at all what he expected. Discovering that she has been tortured and experiences periods of mental breakdowns, his natural protecting instincts surface, and he discovers that rather than confining her, he wants to find the person responsible for hurting her. The storyline is an interesting one and the main characters are well developed. But the secondary characters are less well developed, and it takes a bit of time to orient yourself to the state of the Were’s world. A pretty good beginning to what will likely become a better series. ( )

Pros: great characterizations, tackles tricky POV

Cons: pack politics seem insane

When the Roanoke wolf pack’s enforcer, Andrew Dare, finds the lone wolf he’s been tracking in their territory, he’s horrified to discover the woman’s been tortured into madness. He vows to help her find a home and take down whoever did this to her before they can strike again.

There are a lot of characters in the book, as several packs of werewolves are mentioned, though the author focuses of a few select people from each pack. Because of all the people mentioned, however briefly, there’s a fantastic variety of temperaments and strength levels shown (ie, some women are dominant, others submissive, one man’s an alpha and a coward, another’s brave but submissive, etc). This allows each character to feel like an individual rather than an archetype in the pack hierarchy (alpha, beta, mate…).

Silver’s character is particularly interesting as she’s able to modify her pack status depending on the result she needs from those around her. But her manipulations are only possible when she’s lucid enough to use them. Which she isn’t, most of the time. The author treats her madness with care, showing that, though she’s not always aware of her surroundings, she’s still a person with her own will and the right to make decisions for herself. This is particularly important when her lucidity improves and people refuse to listen to her because all they see is the madwoman she was (and may be again). I loved that it wasn’t clear if Silver’s visions of Death were hallucinations (as Andrew believes) or a real manifestation of their religion’s embodiment of evil.

Silver’s physical disabilities, particularly her arm that no longer works, are also dealt with well. Her acceptance of her new limitations and lack of depression and self-pity are directly contrasted when another character is injured at the end of the book. She’s shown as a character with true strength, despite her limitations.

I liked that the romantic elements were understated and felt real rather than forced. The romance enters late and encounters realistic roadblocks caused by the plot and the problems the characters face.

Werewolves aren’t my favourite subjects because I find the pack politics of dominance and ‘no one matters outside our pack’ mentality insane and unsustainable. Most of the problems in the book could have been solved easier and faster had the various packs communicated what was wrong. The book therefore caused a bit of cognitive dissonance for me as I tried to wrap my head around how their system worked and railed against it’s stupidity. And I acknowledge that this is my problem not the book’s.

On the whole I enjoyed the book and am interested to see how things progress in Tarnished. ( )

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

I’m always on the look-out for new spins on werewolves so I decided to give Rhiannon Held’s a try by reading her debut novel, SILVER. My feelings on this book are pretty much split right down the middle; I loved the heroine and her mad ravings, and the mythology drew me in, but the story lacked in intensity and the romance just didn’t jive. I enjoyed the author’s lyrical writing style, and there are definitely more than a few howl worthy quotes however, the ending failed to deliver on what the build-up promised, and as a result, I was left feeling somewhat meh about the whole reading experience.

I liked the simplicity of Held’s world-building; she conveys enough details to keep things interesting without falling victim to the “book 1 information dump syndrome”. I enjoyed learning about pack hierarchy, the lore surrounding Death, the Lady, Weres and humans, and the religious aspects of the story. The author’s take on the werewolves’ wild vs. tame selves felt like a page out of a Psychology textbook, and demonstrated a good grasp of the genre. Death’s character was also an unexpected surprise; originally I thought he was just going to be part of Silver’s delusion, but he actually takes on a life of his own and left me wondering about his true nature.

Piecing together what happened to Silver through a series of clues and delirious babbling was part of this book’s charm. Held’s way with words turned the girl’s crazed gibberish into poetic prophecies. I was easily mesmerized by the author’s imagery, and at times I felt like I was sitting down to tea with the Mad Hatter. Both of the main characters are incredibly strong in their own right, but they are also irrevocably damaged. Dare is Roanoke’s pack enforcer, the butcher of Barcelona, and one of the more dominant wolves in North America, but all he really wants is to belong. Silver is certifiably nuts and yet, only the most tenacious could have survived her ordeal.

The story started off strong, but was unfortunately unable to hold its momentum the whole way through. The plot felt like it was barreling towards one pivotal moment only to fizzle where it counted. Dare leaves his pack, flies half-way across the country to avenge a girl he barely knows, challenges another alpha for leadership so that he can set his brilliant plan into motion, and then… nothing. I couldn’t help but feel cheated by the ending. There wasn’t much of a segue to the next installment either, no hook to entice me into reading TARNISHED. I wish the secondary characters had been a little more fleshed-out as well. I loved Andrew and Silver, but the rest just blended into the background.

SILVER is a character driven novel, and Rhiannon Held is undoubtedly a talented writer, but the story failed to live-up to its synopsis by omitting two key Urban Fantasy elements: action and romance. I don’t think I’ll be continuing with this trilogy. ( )