Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs (Alpha & Omega #5)
Released: March 6, 2018
Urban Fantasy
Ace
Reviewed by Mandi
The Alpha & Omega series is set in the same world as Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series. Over the years, I have found A&O to be consistently amazing, where as sometimes I find Mercy Thompson series to be just okay. (Although overall, both series swirl around as urban fantasy favorites). Briggs is a terrific storyteller. She presents strong, flawed, sometimes terrifying characters and her werewolf culture and world building is absolutely the best.
Burn Bright is a good addition to this series, but I wouldn’t put it up there with my favorites. I think my main complaint is that I found it a little slow – but there is also a lot of good things we discover in this book. We learn much about the wildlings, those few wolves that live alone, and are extremely fragile, broken, scarred – but Bran allows to thrive by themselves in the wilderness. I think the blurb describes them well:
They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok’s pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.
We also get a lot of page time with Leah, Bran’s mate, who always totally intrigues me.
Bran is away (isn’t he always?) so Charles, the second in command, and his wife Anna, the omega, are leading the pack. Charles gets a mysterious phone call from a wildling named Jonesy. He has fae blood and is mated to a female wolf named Hester. Jonesy calls because there has been an incident, and they need Charles’s help. He won’t give any more detail. Charles and Anna make their way to Jonesy and Hester, and chaos erupts. Humans, armed with super-advanced technology and weapons, are secretly prowling around. They are hunting for someone or something, and Charles and Anna, along with the rest of the pack must figure out why they are there, who they are and how to stop them before more devastation and destruction occurs. As you learn in the prologue – there is a traitor among them….who could it be?
I don’t really want to give away any details surrounding Jonesy, Hester, and the action that takes place so I’m being vague about it. But I’ll talk about what I liked in this book. I found the wildlings so fascinating. Briggs writes a very structured shifter world, where there is hierarchy and strict rules. The wildlings are more unknown. Bran allows them to live on their own terms, deep in the forest, but with one rule – they are not allowed to kill anyone. For any reason. They cherish their freedom, so they obey this rule. I love how intensely mentally unbalanced they are. When Charles and Anna have to interact with them, it’s quite suspenseful. Are they lucid? Will they make a sudden, violent move? As the reader, it really keeps you on the edge of your seat. Briggs writes Charles and Anna as almost sweet (and yes, I know Charles is the one sent to kill wolves when needed – sweet isn’t an accurate description). But they have a conscience is maybe better put.
The wildlings – they feel so different. They can have monsters living inside of them:
The outer man who was simple and…sweet, and the creature that lived inside of him who was not sweet. And that something inside Jonesy was powerful, his magic a dense ball of power imprisoned within. How much power, Charles could not fathom. A lot. The monster saw Charles looking and grinned a bloodthirsty grin, though Jonesy’s rather anxious expression didn’t change at all.
Or what we get from another wildling, named Wellesley:
Wellesley shook his head violently. “That’s stupid,” he growled. “Stupid. Stupid. We have seen her when she didn’t know we were watching. haven’t we? She is weak, she is prey. We should eat her. She would taste like the girl in Tennessee. Better maybe.”
Gulp.
I love the supremely violent nature that Briggs puts into this world. It makes it feel so – detailed and realistic.
We also spend time with Leah. With Bran gone, she is walking around the house butting heads with Anna, big time. There is eye rolling, and blame and just – all things cranky Leah. I love her. It’s interesting to see her openly hate people, but also protect her pack and cut anyone who dares harm one of hers. We get multiple points of view in this story, which I also really liked.
One odd thing that is brought up early in the book and it’s not mentioned at any other time but made me take notice. Anna and Charles are talking about Mercy/Bran/Leah dynamic and they have this conversation:
Bran is funny about Mercy. If you were that funny about Mercy, I would feel the same way Leah does—no matter how likable I might find her.”
“Bran’s not funny about her,” he told Anna, feeling uncomfortable. “He thinks of her as his daughter, and he doesn’t have any other daughters still alive. There’s nothing strange about it.”
“Or so everyone is much happier believing,” agreed Anna blandly. “Including Bran. We’ll leave it at that. So the musical evenings were a thing between Bran and Mercy?”
“Not like that,” Charles said, feeling defensive because Anna put her finger right on something that he’d been ignoring for a long time. He took a deep breath. “All right. All right. You might have a point about Da and Mercy.”
She smiled, just a little.
He threw up his hands. “Okay. Yes. I saw it, of course I did. As did Leah. But my da would never have moved on Mercy. Say what you will about him—but his wolf has accepted Leah as his mate, and he will not cheat on her. And Mercy has never seen him as anything except a father figure and her Alpha. That’s what she needed, and that’s what he gave her. I don’t think Mercy has ever recognized that it could be more than that.”
Now – I’ve not reread this series at all, I only read the books when they release. And obviously this plays into the Mercy Thompson series as well – so maybe this IS a thing that is known to other readers and I’m just out of the loop/missed it. But I thought this was weird. I’ve never once gotten the impression that Bran had any thoughts about Mercy that were not fatherly/guardian. Romantic?? I don’t like this. I personally really hope this doesn’t come up again. I find Bran so freaking fascinating even though he barely ever has page time and for his feelings to maybe lean towards Mercy doesn’t sit well with me. And like I said, it’s not brought up anymore in the story so maybe it was just a glimpse into Bran and Mercy’s past (a story is brought up about Mercy and the pack when she was younger right after this) and it’s not meant to have a big impact. But it definitely caught my eye.
There are a few slow parts in this story, but overall I found it all intriguing. I will never be able to get enough of this world.
Grade: B
So, I’ve reread both series more times than I care to admit, and the Mercy/Bran thing was never even hinted at in previous book. I clutched my imaginary pearls when I read it and was a bit grossed out, but I kind of love it, because to me it makes perfect sense not just that he would have feelings, but that it would come as an out-of-nowhere piece of info. First, we know Leah *hates* Mercy in a way that’s borderline irrational and Bran has said that he couldn’t raise M because Leah would have killed her, and the hatred only makes sense within the context of Leah feeling threated by Mercy, and she’s only a threat if Leah thinks Bran could replace her with Mercy, am I making sense? And then we never get any hint of his feelings, because we only see him from Mercy’s POV. Maybe Adam and Sam suspect, but maybe not, even then, I get why they wouldn’t say anything. I just though this book put Bran into perspective and made him look kind of bad, to be honest, which I liked because I always thought he was an asshole. I don’t know, I loved the whole thing! LOL
That makes sense. It just took me off-guard – but it I can see how he may have looked at her at one point and hence the whole Leah feeling threatened thing. I forgot the Leah/Mercy dynamic. But I still don’t know if I like it.
I loooove Bran – but his action in this one (being a bit of a weenie with running away) – I like how flawed he is. They are all flawed – and I love all of it.
I think this is my favorite book series, and I will be downloading this to start reading today. The world is really immersive, and it feels real – people are complex, and there are scary things out there. The writing just draws me in every time. The audiobooks are great too – the actor who does the voice of Charles just feels so true to the character.
I do the Mercy books on audio and LOVE
I’m still in the middle of the book but yes, the part about Bran and Mercy had me going huh? what? where’d that come from? I’m all caught up with the Mercy series and I don’t remember any hint or reference about this between those characters. It was always stories about a rebellious child/teen. Even in this book when they talk about the music nights, they mention how Bran realized he was fighting with a child. So….yeah I don’t see how this could be anything but weird. Anyway, I hope it’s the last we hear of it.
On twitter it was mentioned that Briggs isn’t afraid to write things like this – which I do appreciate.
But I don’t need more on the Bran attraction in the future I think
I wonder why now though. Unless it was just to explain Leah’s hatred of her. If that is case, make up something else..? Just baffled after all this time this is the route she went with.
Right – I mean – Leah does REALLY hate Mercy so maybe she wanted to address it? But – I just don’t need that triangle. I like that Leah has anger and she could still be jealous of Mercy/Bran relationship even if it was 100% father/daughter
Jealousy of the father/daughter dynamic always made sense to me. I REALLY HATE the idea that it was more…especially when Mercy’s Mom brought her to Bran as a baby. Ugh.
Agree with both of you!
The Bran/Mercy bit is not okay. I remember being under 18 and not minding the Edward/Bella thing but as an adult, it became weird. Bran is even older. Thousands of years older. Just because someone looks young does not mean they are. Yes, older male/female or even female/male relationships happen all the time but this is not a 20 or even 30 year difference when Mercy is living in Montana. Not okay and weird given how Bran knew Mercy was basically a child.
I also dislike when authors decide one female character (or male character) is just so damn irresistible to most everyone. Mercy is a good character. I like her or I would not have read the series. I also like Anna but why do we have 3 main males in the series who liked/loved/obsessed over her around or at the same time? It doesn’t feel realistic. I know lots people can be attracted to beauty at the same time and while Mercy is sexy in her own way, she is not considered model gorgeous (points in her favor) so that argument does not stand.
I am ranting but I still have great respect for the author. I just dislike it when authors get caught up in their own hero/heroine and start changing things that do not seem to fit based on the evidence we have had thus far because they become too enamored with their character. It is her world, her rules and she can do whatever she wants. For me, if this goes any further then I count myself out of this series. It becomes like a YA novel at that point. I have read enough of those with the much older man fawning over the just out of teen years female to be turned off by it.
Amazing how one small convo completely ruined the book for me. Probably because the book was sort of slow and not my fave of the Alpha/Omega but I have no urge to reread this again.
I didn’t even think of the age difference! That brings a new dynamic into it
Your feelings on this are totally valid. I like it when readers have a strong reaction – good or bad. It shows how much we are invested :)
I agree with your “too irresistible” character comment too. That happens a lot and it’s not a favorite turn of events for me.
Yes you are right! Probably way too invested which is why we are on here in the first place. I know people will disagree (that is okay!) it is just a turnoff for me.
Fingers crossed this was just a blip. Maybe Patty will address it more or leave as is. We shall see :)
So the Mercy/Bran comment threw me for a loop also, but it does make sense in a way and why Leah acted the way she did.
Those who don’t like it may be judging it based on today’s morality and social norms. Remember, some of these wolves can be hundreds, if not thousands, years old. Based on the time period when they were turned, most people did not live long, so children were married off when they hit puberty.
And I don’t remember people getting worried/weirded out about the age difference between Samuel and Mercy, when Samuel is pretty ancient himself. I just remember people angry because he only wanted her for the potential of longer living children.
It was an interesting choice to make regardless and I wonder where Patty will take it next.
very fair points :) The thing about Mercy and Adam is that A) Adam did not watch her grow up and basically be her father figure and B) Mercy was at least older. Someone can correct me but Mercy was fairly young when she left Montana(?) making it a bit more weird. I put the Twilight example and YA example because the girls in these books are just that: girls. I would use the same logic about Bran’s age to point out that Bran has been around a long time and should be able to curb those baser instincts better. Some people will say he did because Mercy never found out but he wasn’t that good: Leah found out. Charles knew and denied it. I would wager that Same also knew. Mercy was just oblivious (naive even?).
You have a valid point about the time period and when they came of age. And in the context of historical romance novels, I let it go. In a contemporary book where Mercy grew up in the modern world, I am less forgiving. I know not everyone agrees with me. That is okay. In contemporary books, I cannot stand that kind of behavior. Just not for me :) And I also point to Bran being older and able to control himself a bit more. If others are okay with it, to each their own. As I said in another post, it is Briggs world and she can do whatever she wants with it.
My other point is that why do we have multiple males finding Mercy so darn irresistible and to the detriment of Leah’s character. This is how I am reading this: Bran chose Leah because he never wanted to feel the kind of pain he did when Blue Jay woman died. Yet, now we have evidence that that is not really true. Maybe if he and Mercy got together Bran would have openly loved again (which makes it really crappy for Leah if this is true. Possibly Briggs’s point but I wish she would have chosen differently). I have always been in the camp of wanting Leah and Bran to have a happy ending but accepted that things would stay as they are because Bran still mourned Blue Jay Woman. This now smacks away the groundwork already laid out and makes me wonder if Leah is that bad because Bran basically said he could never love again and spurned her but later on sees Bran act this way around Mercy. Because I was rooting for Leah and Bran, Bran’s attraction to Mercy just makes me sort of hate Bran. I do not think Briggs will but if this persists further or discovered by more people (like Mercy), I count myself out of this series.
I see your points and I also accept that my reasoning is not perfect lol
Ps sorry for poor grammar and any repetitive language. I wrote this on my mobile device and did not check my work.
No worries. You have valid points too and everyone has their “squishy” topics. The whole father figure thing creeps me out, but he hasn’t actually done anything, and it’s two peoples opinions and not fact (at this point), so that makes it tolerable for me. But to each their own.
Personally, I think Bran is a bit of an ass anyway for making Charles his hit man and thinking that there would be no issues with guilt down the road. And in this book, holding back what he knew and thinking that Charles would figure it out and take care of it. I understand why he did it, but it makes him no less of an ass for keeping it to himself. ;-)
To be honest I saw Bran being in love with Mercy throughout the series but only because she reminds him of Blue-Jay woman. Bran knows that is not fair to her. He does play the father role for Mercy because he wants to be in her life but also keep a distance.