In Havenwood, nine girls thrown together by chance are loyal to their community but are even more loyal to each other. They have become each others strength, and some in their religious enclave don’t approve. When one of them goes missing, they wonder, did she leave without telling them or did something sinister happen?

This book is unusual in that it’s written in a blank verse format. Each girl has chapters with her name on them, but then there is also some sections written by them as a collective. They are more a pack than they are individuals, and the book reflects this, with it’s introspective and dreamlike tone.

The eight girls who are left invite us into their world, a pastoral space surrounded by woodland. We know almost immediately that they are part of a cult and by creating their own strong bond, they are a threat. The girls are introduced to us through their own voices but also through each others eyes, which I thought was a nice perspective. Who knows us better than our chosen family? That said, the girls are very similar. They do have unique traits and tasks, but not as much unique voices. While I think this works to show how they are enmeshed, like the wolf pack of the title, I think it may alienate some readers, who want to tell them apart.

The thread of the book is the mystery of where the missing girl Rose has gone. They must investigate and cover for her absence so she doesn’t get excommunicated, and her and their own secrets spill out over the course of the story. I liked this idea, I love a mystery, and that aspect of it was great, couched in the sinister world of a cult.

The book is quite short, and probably mostly aimed at YA readers, with a subtly feminist outlook. It takes a minute to get into because of the poetry format, but I liked that it was something different. As an adult reader, I had expectations about where the book would go because it was set in a cult, and it really left a lot of those expectations as loose threads, though not in a bad way. The ending isn’t a big twist or anything, but because it’s a quick read, it felt like a snapshot of a friendship group, rather than a full exploration of their lives or even a full story. More like a dark fairytale.

Read It If: a lovely, dark little book about female friendship, with a mystery plot. The cult setting leaves some questions unanswered, but I liked the ending. Something a bit different.

Thank you to HBG Canada for the copy of this book for review.