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The Pact of the Wolves
A new girl at school. A secret society. A gray zone between human and beast. When 16-year-old Bianca arrives at her new boarding school, she is startled to hear that its history includes rumors of witchcraft and torture. The building itself rests on the foundation of a medieval convent with a troubled past. There is also a secret society, whose members begin to harass her. Then one night she stumbles over the body of a dead woman. With the help of her friend Nicholas, Bianca begins to piece together the story of the mysterious woman and the convent's disturbing history. But Bianca can't shake the feeling she is being followed. She soon realizes she can't trust anyone -- not even Nicholas. Using elements of the thriller and gothic novel, as well as hints of fantastic and historical fiction, Nina Blazon brings something new to the crime genre. Set in the present but summoning the dark and disturbing atmosphere of medieval times, the book's crisp language, unexpected plot twists and cast of untrustworthy players result in a spellbinding, unforgettable reading adventure.
218 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
5 people are currently reading
256 people want to read
About the author
Nina Blazon
58 books318 followersNina Blazon was born in Slovenia (the former Yugoslavia) in 1969. As a child growing up in the Bavarian town of Neu-Ulm, Nina enjoyed exploring the "forbidden" woods in search of dinosaurs, werewolves, and "monster deer" with the other children in town.
Given her taste for adventure and strange creatures, it is no surprise that Nina's favorite childhood books include the works of Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking) and The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. These books served as an inspiration to Nina as she began writing poetry and stage plays at the age of 13.
Despite a lack of encouragement from her parents, Nina pursued a work placement in journalism and began to further develop her craft. She credits the books of Theodore Sturgen as a major influence on her writing, and lives by her own advice of "Never forget your notebook!" as she often finds herself inspired by ordinary people doing everyday things.
In her novel The Pact of the Wolves (Spring 2008), Nina explores her fascination with secret societies, which she supplements with historic facts from a 17th-century German witch trial--two dark, mysterious topics that create an eerie backdrop for her cast of spellbinding characters.
Today Nina Blazon lives with her husband in Stuttgart, Germany--80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Black Forest. She enjoys traveling through Scandinavia, history, cinema, riding, and--undoubtedly--exploring the woods in search of dark creatures and bone-chilling adventures!
Given her taste for adventure and strange creatures, it is no surprise that Nina's favorite childhood books include the works of Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking) and The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. These books served as an inspiration to Nina as she began writing poetry and stage plays at the age of 13.
Despite a lack of encouragement from her parents, Nina pursued a work placement in journalism and began to further develop her craft. She credits the books of Theodore Sturgen as a major influence on her writing, and lives by her own advice of "Never forget your notebook!" as she often finds herself inspired by ordinary people doing everyday things.
In her novel The Pact of the Wolves (Spring 2008), Nina explores her fascination with secret societies, which she supplements with historic facts from a 17th-century German witch trial--two dark, mysterious topics that create an eerie backdrop for her cast of spellbinding characters.
Today Nina Blazon lives with her husband in Stuttgart, Germany--80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Black Forest. She enjoys traveling through Scandinavia, history, cinema, riding, and--undoubtedly--exploring the woods in search of dark creatures and bone-chilling adventures!
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 10, 2018
In some ways this was just your average school with creepier than average bullies book. Some of the twists were predictable...but only to a degree. Everyone who was a good person of course ended up with a love interest of the opposite sex (yawn) although the romances were not allowed to hijack the plot which I appreciated.
Tropes about gender were broken or not used so one of the love interests is a short, weedy boy; the female protagonist is a genius at maths and science but can't relate her way out of a paper bag, she comes across as "arrogant" as a result. I have too seldom seen this in a female character. Her romantic connection, both romantic connections are based on something other than physical attraction (I don't really know what Blanca looks like from the story, nor do I care). Another virtue is that the book is only 211 pages of writing that is mostly to the point.
To look at the cover (a scantily clad woman without a head...yawn) you would expect just the opposite, but this is a book that takes women seriously as characters and as people of substance. The "bad guys" are also fairly evenly split between men and women and take roles based on ability not gender. There is some horrible neoliberal ideology about education at some parts of the book, but considering how that turned out for everyone I am going to assume this was a semi-deliberate critique or use of irony. The view of "charity" portrayed here is certainly quite cynical, it is a dark book, but whatever goes well for Blanka only starts to go well once she decides to connect with people and begin to trust some of them. There is also a theme throughout the book of yearning for family and friendship and some interesting questions about personhood, agency and compassion.
I think I will keep an eye out for anything else written by Nina Blazon...
Tropes about gender were broken or not used so one of the love interests is a short, weedy boy; the female protagonist is a genius at maths and science but can't relate her way out of a paper bag, she comes across as "arrogant" as a result. I have too seldom seen this in a female character. Her romantic connection, both romantic connections are based on something other than physical attraction (I don't really know what Blanca looks like from the story, nor do I care). Another virtue is that the book is only 211 pages of writing that is mostly to the point.
To look at the cover (a scantily clad woman without a head...yawn) you would expect just the opposite, but this is a book that takes women seriously as characters and as people of substance. The "bad guys" are also fairly evenly split between men and women and take roles based on ability not gender. There is some horrible neoliberal ideology about education at some parts of the book, but considering how that turned out for everyone I am going to assume this was a semi-deliberate critique or use of irony. The view of "charity" portrayed here is certainly quite cynical, it is a dark book, but whatever goes well for Blanka only starts to go well once she decides to connect with people and begin to trust some of them. There is also a theme throughout the book of yearning for family and friendship and some interesting questions about personhood, agency and compassion.
I think I will keep an eye out for anything else written by Nina Blazon...
October 6, 2009
Yet another recent publication that is probably getting low ratings due to being marketed to fans of Twilight et al teen paranormal romances. This is an interesting an unusual story, but do NOT pick it up expecting werewolves and make-out scenes. There are some ambiguously supernatural elements, but it is primarily a mystery.
October 6, 2008
Translated from German. Story about a girl who gets accepted into a boarding school and then becomes harrassed by the exclusive club from the school. Also becomes embroiled in a mystery when she finds a dead body in the library. Had high hopes for this book, but perhaps the translation was off. The writing was very dry and there were several flaws that made reading it less enjoyable.
December 14, 2023
This was okay. I’ve had this book for so long and I’ve never read jt until now! I think I tried starting it once back when I first got it and it didn’t stick with me. I still am not quite sure what exactly was going on at all times in the book but it was okay
June 18, 2024
Vielleicht bin ich von Nostalgie geblendet, vielleicht auch durch das Hörbuch weil es gesprochen wird von Simon Jäger, aber ich liebe dieses Buch. Nina Blazon hat einfach eine Art die Freundschaften zwischen den Hauptfiguren zu gestalten, die mich einfach immer wieder begeistert.
September 20, 2008
Wow! This book had me a little scared. When I read fiction, I get sucked in and I become the character. So all the spooky, scary or upsetting things that happened to the main character Bianca, happened to me. This is the last book that I received from Annick Press's Spring Catalogue that I hadn't yet read. I was putting it off because I was having second thoughts about if I'd like it. Now I wish I'd read it right away!
It's an average size teen novel at just over 200 pages and has a very interesting cover. As the unexplained death became like a mystery subplot, I tried to figure out what happened, as I do with every mystery novel I read. The mark of a good mystery is if I can't figure out what happened until they reveal it. This is one of those books. My ideas were so wrong!
This is one of the best YA novels I've read this year for sure.
She's apparently written lots of YA novels, but as far as I know, The Pact of the Wolves is the only one translated in English. I hope Annick Press has more translated and published!
It's an average size teen novel at just over 200 pages and has a very interesting cover. As the unexplained death became like a mystery subplot, I tried to figure out what happened, as I do with every mystery novel I read. The mark of a good mystery is if I can't figure out what happened until they reveal it. This is one of those books. My ideas were so wrong!
This is one of the best YA novels I've read this year for sure.
She's apparently written lots of YA novels, but as far as I know, The Pact of the Wolves is the only one translated in English. I hope Annick Press has more translated and published!
October 10, 2010
The book has everything to be good: mystery, secret society, youth, murder, boarding school, mysterious guys, but ...
Blanka is going to go a boarding school. The building is a former convent. Inside the building there is a museum with some objects from time when the nuns were judged and sentence for witchcraft. There is a secret society at this boarding school: The Wolves who always welcomes new students. But they deal with Blanka in a different way, as if they did not wanted her to stay at school.
On her first day, returning at night to her dormitory, Blanka enconters a body of a dead woman near the stairs. Then all the mystery begins, was it an accident or a murder?
Blanka and Nicholas begin to follow clues to find out who the woman was and who the Wolves are and why they do not want them around. But Nicholas has kept many secrets that he does not want to tell to Blanka.
More: http://www.psychobooks.com.br/2010/10...
Blanka is going to go a boarding school. The building is a former convent. Inside the building there is a museum with some objects from time when the nuns were judged and sentence for witchcraft. There is a secret society at this boarding school: The Wolves who always welcomes new students. But they deal with Blanka in a different way, as if they did not wanted her to stay at school.
On her first day, returning at night to her dormitory, Blanka enconters a body of a dead woman near the stairs. Then all the mystery begins, was it an accident or a murder?
Blanka and Nicholas begin to follow clues to find out who the woman was and who the Wolves are and why they do not want them around. But Nicholas has kept many secrets that he does not want to tell to Blanka.
More: http://www.psychobooks.com.br/2010/10...
May 24, 2010
The Pact of the Wolves by Nina Blazon but translated by Sue Innes is gripping tale about sorcery and secret society called The Wolves.Can Bianca trust anyone and what is the secret society really after? I love how this murder mystery has a gothic twist with sorcery,torture and a secret society thrown in. This book will haunt you till you finish because it`s so good that you won`t want to put it down. I reccomend this to people who enjoy reading gothic sort of novels or murder mysteries.
July 12, 2010
I wanted to like this more. One, it's a book in translation and I enjoy reading things from other cultures. Two, it's got something going on with a wolf-thing that you have to read to the end to see what's going on. Except when I got there everything went up in smoke and I didn't really know what was going on. That's annoying.
March 25, 2012
On an afternoon after I'd exhausted myself ripping wild grapevines out of my garden, this book was a welcome escape. I fell into the story and stayed there right through supper, bathtime, and bedtime. I was expecting a cheesy teenage love subplot, but instead there's a gothic mystery, complete with mysterious hauntings, fear, and misdirection. Great fun.
April 27, 2013
This book was so all over the place. I don't know if it is because it was translated from German or if it was the writing. The book didn't get interesting until 2/3 through. The main character had so many issues and kept snapping at everyone for no reason. I do not recommend this book. The time spent reading it will never come back.
February 6, 2025
one of my all-time favorites and even I have a paperback version it still looks new, even after several readings, bc it's one of my treasured books. Often read it when I need something to feel home and safe. I just love the setting and the characters, especially Blanka! I feel a connection to her!
sadly the book is super underrated and barely known
sadly the book is super underrated and barely known
September 1, 2011
A very intense book with a fantastic concept and well-paced plot line. My problems with it were that the language was a little too childish and unimaginative for my liking, and that there were one or two loose ends that never got tied up.
July 17, 2009
This book isn't what I hoped it would be.
Read
March 1, 2010Confusing, but a work of art. It was a great mystery and a thrill ride.
August 3, 2010
I really wanted to like this book more but I think something was lost in the translation for me. I had a hard time fully connecting with the characters.
October 31, 2010
It was ok...
January 10, 2023
This is my second time reading this book, a decade in-between reads and still find myself enjoying it and wishing for a sequel.
October 19, 2011
Clearly something got let in translation. The dialogue was way too forced and I really didn't understand the point of the story. Disappointing, to say the least.
January 25, 2015
It was outstanding but i hated the ending. Something else would've happened and i wanted to know what happened to the other people on that building.
February 4, 2014
4 Sterne
Das ließ sich zügig durchlesen und war überraschend spannend und creepy, lediglich gegen Ende wurde es eine Spur zu abstrus.
Das ließ sich zügig durchlesen und war überraschend spannend und creepy, lediglich gegen Ende wurde es eine Spur zu abstrus.
October 18, 2015
i loved the book i couldnt put it down sometimes. i want to know if there is a sequel or not. and id read it again
Read
September 18, 2022DNF
Read
January 21, 2013I know this isn't really a review, but did anyone else ship Bianca and Nicholas?
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews