A beautiful, dark, adventure story for middle grade readers. The illustrations added to the sense of tension and were absorbing in their own right. I enjoyed this even more than the first book.

I think I enjoyed this even more than the first book, when we were wolves, again this can be quite dark in places with some violence , I loved Rabbits development in this one and learning more about Joe’s past, how we finally find out Rabbit’s real name. Fantastic story

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I really enjoyed this book, even more than the previous book We Were Wolves! Rabbit and his mum have moved to East Ferry where his mum helps to clean and look after a caravan park. While Rabbit doesn’t talk much, hence his name, he and Joe are the best of friends. One hot summer day, Joe takes Rabbit to see a dead horse, but the boys soon come across a hole in the ground with a door over it, and when the boys open the door, they find a man stuck in a hole, pushed down there by someone Joe knows.

This is an interesting story from the start with our narrator, Rabbit, telling his story of what happened during one summer. It’s been some months since the events of We Were Wolves took place, and now the narrator of that book, the boy, has a new nickname of Rabbit. While Rabbit is still affected by the events of the past, things in his life feel better now, especially after he and his mum moved to the coast and he has now met Joe. Joe and Rabbit are the best of friends, inseparable, and do everything together, but when Joe leads Rabbit to the man in the ground, Rabbit soon discovers something dark happening with Joe’s brother Billy.

I like this story better than We Were Wolves, probably as there wasn’t the foreshadowing of what would happen at the end. As a result I found myself instantly swept up into the story and I really enjoyed finding out what happened with Rabbit and Joe and the man in the hole they find. Once we discover who has dumped the man in the hole and why, the story takes us on a deeper track, with Rabbit wanting to help the man which he soon tries to do. I like where the story goes and how we later find out more about the man who was stuck in the hole, and more about the horse that plagues Rabbit’s dreams.

The tale is quite gritty and dark in places with some violence and arson taking place. The story is interesting and exciting though, especially the further it gets in and how tense things get when Rabbit is trying to help the man. There are some deeper moments I enjoyed too, Rabbit learning more about Joe’s past and the bond between the two of them being so close that it was lovely to see their friendship and the way Rabbit cares for Joe even more than we first think. As the story draws towards the ending, I like how we finally find out Rabbit’s real name (something that’s been missing since the first book) and how he grows as a character.

There are illustrations throughout the book, on some pages and I assume they either take up a whole page of part of a page or are fitted around the text like in the first book. I have only had access to a digital copy of this book so far, and so have seen the illustrations but not the way they are formatted around the text. The illustrations are all lovely though, in black, white and grey and they are so mesmerising to look at. I’ve shared a couple of images of pictures in this story, which are so detailed and bring to life some of the magic of the story.

The ending is very good, a lot happens and it was so dramatic and exciting. Thigns take a dark turn, especially when Rabbit is searching for someone at the end, and I like how this book kept me guessing at what would happen, it ending in a very satisfying way. I do like how Rabbit and Joe both grow and how Rabbit’s story especially sees him grow and mature a lot through the book, and how he feels more sorted out in his mind with everything that’s happened to him, including with his dad by the end of the story. I also like how we see mentions of characters from the first book, like with what happens with Sophie too. There are occasional uses of the s and b swear words but it’s not frequent. There is also some violence described including violence towards a child.

Overall I have really enjoyed reading this story, so much more than We Were Wolves! This book could be read as a standalone, there is enough mention of what happened in the previous book to understand Rabbit’s back story. However, I did try reading this book first and it just didn’t have the same impact as it did when I read We Were Wolves first. So, although this book feels like a better read to me, I do think you’d get more enjoyment if you read We Were Wolves first. The book is marked as a fantasy, but I’m not sure I’d call this one fantasy either, apart from the dreams Rabbit has about the horse, and the magical way the horse appears, it really isn’t a fantasy book so much as it is a contemporary one. A great read, with such beautiful illustrations that I will love to read again in future.

Thank you to the publishers Andersen Press and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book to review, along with the first book.

However, due to the usage of ableist language in the first book, I decided not to continue reading this series and dnf’d the book after reading a few chapters.

As with the previous book, the illustrations were stunning, so I have given it three stars because of that.

A fantastic read that follows on from Cockcroft’s first book We Were Wolves. Running With Horses follows our narrator to a new town where, under a new name ‘Rabbit’, he tries to leave his grief and trauma behind him. However, our narrator soon finds himself embroiled into a bigger drama Involving kidnapping, violence, arson and death. Cockcroft builds on the tension and drama of the first book and I feel that our narrator has a clearer voice this time, despite being selectively mute in some parts of the novel due to his past traumas, I enjoyed the Northern colloquialisms as they really grounded the narrator’s character. He has matured in this second novel, being able to talk about his trauma and his therapy and even his deep feelings for his best friend Joe.

Cockcroft has created a proper villain for the audience to hate in Joe’s brother Billy. He seems to have no redeeming qualities at all and hates the world. He takes his hatred out on people smaller and weaker than him, such as his brother Joe, or one of his friends called Max who is one of the main protagonists driving the plot. He is a well rounded character who has hidden strengths but also moments of weakness.

Our true hero is the narrator, Rabbit. Despite being paralysed with fear about his past catching up with him, his love for his friend Joe frees Rabbit into making the right decisions, into acting rather than reacting and to come to terms with his past and not also his future. Cockcroft’s brilliant illustrations add to the tension and drama with the moody lighting capturing the essence of the novel. A gripping read.

Despite references to some of the despair in We Were Wolves, it is not essential to have read it first, although it does help for context.

Fantastic original book. This is a truly captivating story, the art work stunning and a book which deserves to get a lot of recognition. I know a lot of our readers will enjoy this read.