Ferals #3: The White Widow's Revenge

By: Jacob Grey

Narrated by: Josh Hurley

The thrilling conclusion to Ferals, a fantasy trilogy that’s part Batman, part The Graveyard Book, and all high-stakes adventure.

Caw has defeated the dreaded Spinning Man and vanquished the Mother of Flies. But a new feral has appeared—one who intends to uphold the Spinning Man’s dark legacy. Known as the White Widow, this spider feral is determined to destroy Caw and bring Blackstone back into an era of crime and fear.

Now everyone Caw holds dear is in danger. And this time Caw may not be able to protect them.

Excellent Ending

The White Widow ends the Ferals series nicely, giving closure but also widening the story in interesting ways. Caw continues to grow as a character and in similar ways to the Harry Potter series, faces his darkest hours in these pages as the confrontation with the Spider feral builds.

Story: The spider feral has returned, using Selina and her blood connection to the spider feral line as a doorway from the white world to the real world. His first objective is to first make Caw pay by taking away everything he holds dear. Then he will destroy Caw completely. The plan is insidious: as Caw's allies are destroyed or draw away from him, new enemies emerge and a larger picture comes into play - a sad history between the spider feral ancestors and the crow feral ancestors. Caw soon learns all is not as it seems and the true villain may not be the spider feral after all.

I greatly appreciated that the story expanded and changed to include the sins of the past of Caw's ancestors as well as wrongs done to the spider ferals. It's clear in the beginning that the spider feral has more than enough power to kill Caw but instead wants to torment him, to get revenge for the past. Unfortunately for Caw, his friend Selena is drawn into the battle and his friends and allies do not understand how he can be trying to save Selena when she has become the evil white widow.

There is loss in the book and I think one of the hardest parts is seeing all the dead animals after each battle; battles that only have relevance to the frailty and stupidity of the humans. If there is one flaw in the story it's that: humans should never have power over nature because it always ends badly eventually.

There are many surprises and Caw gets a great redemptive arc. Along with the surprises are the revelations and plenty of action and battles. It makes for an engaging read throughout.

I listened to the Audible narration and greatly appreciated the narrator's work. He has a young enough sounding voice to suit a 16 year old protagonist but also nicely embodied Caw's strengths and weaknesses.