Red by Kait Nolan
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/red-by-kait-nolan/
Whenever I read a first person YA novel, I feel like I need to state in the review that it is first person, and the narrators are telling the story to the reader in each chapter directly. I know that drives some people bananas, though it doesn’t bother me. But be ye aware: this is first person narration from the hero and heroine’s point of view.
Awareness aside: Holy, holy crap, I really enjoyed this book.
Plot summary ahoy! Elodie Rose has just moved to town, and is keeping a big ol’ secret. She’s on the cusp of turning into a wolf, which means, according to her family history and all the evidence she has at hand, she’s going to go absolutely nuts and kill everyone in her path, including her father. She’s cursed. She and her father are doing everything they can think of to delay that violent change, so Elodie lives a live of near seclusion. They moved to a new town, they changed their names, and her father chose a place near a huge park so that if they have to run they can head into the forest and leave no trail. Elodie’s father and Elodie herself are highly-trained search and rescue team members, and have exceptional survival skills in the wilderness.
Sawyer is the son of a researcher who has come to town to study the integration of a wolf pack in the forest. Elodie was so enticed by the opportunity to be a research assistant for the summer, she lied to her father about her job, and when her new internship brings her into near-daily contact with Sawyer, she’s unsettled and furious with herself for deviating from her father’s very careful plans to keep her safe.