Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Alpha & Omega #5
Publisher: Ace
Released: March 6, 2018
Received: Own
Warnings: Assault, trauma, PTSD

One of my goals in 2021 is to finally get caught up/read many of the series I’ve been meaning to for years. What better place to start, than getting caught up in Patricia Briggs’ Alpha & Omega series? (I’m up to date with Mercy Thompson).

Burn Bright is the fifth novel in the series, making it the twelfth novel in the Mercy Thompson world (not counting all the short stories and everything else that fits in between). This series follows two of my favorite characters, Anna and Charles.

For perhaps the first time ever, Charles and Anna’s story doesn’t require them to leave Aspen Creek, Montana. The Marrok, Charles’ father, is away on the first vacation in a very long time. That leaves Charles in charge of the pack, a challenge in and of itself.

Naturally, that means that shit is about to hit the fan. One of the wildlings (older members of the pack who do better away from society) has raised an alarm. One of their own was nearly abducted, and the end result is a bloody series of events. Now it’s up to Charles, and the rest of the pack, to try and stop the enemies before the situation escalates any further.

“Fire is a powerful thing. It cleanses as it destroys- and it brings light to darkness.”

Burn Bright is, as with the rest of this amazing series, the perfect balance between dark and fascinating. Once again we see a dual portrayal: the best that humanity/others have to offer, alongside the worst.

I do want to mention, before I get much farther in this review, that there are a few points that make this novel a bit more difficult to read. Anna’s past trauma is forced to the forefront on multiple occasions, and the pain it brings is so raw. So very real.

There are a few other points that I’ve seen fans upset about, but the ones revolving around Anna are the biggest in my mind, so that is what I wanted to focus on. That, and the constant sense of loss throughout. The pressure of trying to get things right, and save those elders who have only ever been trying to buy some time for themselves.

“You cannot look at a person, and say, ‘If I could change this or that, if I could pick what I want and discard other things, I could love this one.’ Such a love is pale and weak—and doomed to failure.”

Honestly, I really enjoyed seeing more of Aspen Creek, and of the pack itself. I knew that wildlings existed (Asil’s presence was enough to suggest that), but I certainly didn’t know that there were so many.

The dynamics in Burn Bright were intense and so well done. I honestly can’t wait to see what Briggs is going to do to the characters in Wild Sign. Only a couple more months!