Ever since reading Michelle Paver's WOLF BROTHER books I have always wanted to find another series set in the pre-historic world that evokes the same sort of feelings in me that they did, but this just felt too similar in places and also just didn't engage me in the same way. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. It was just okay.

This is a no plot just vibes book, which is fine... but I don't know if the vibes were interesting enough for the intended age group. They weren't enough for me. We barely get to know the stranger boy Tuuli finds, as he's introduced quite late in the book. So it makes what happens to him very emotionally void. He was words on paper, not a character who jumped off the page (if that makes sense?).

Side note: not sure why it's called Wolf Road. The wolf Tuuli tames is more of a side character and not a key part of any plot.

This is an interesting story, which was a perfectly pleasant read.
This being said, I didn’t find there was enough happening throughout the story to keep a younger reader turning the pages. The relationship between Tuula and her wolf had great potential, and I believed was going to be the backbone of the book. However this wasn’t the case and I felt the relationship could have been made stronger through the narrative.
For this reason I am unclear on the target audience for this book - whilst younger audiences would really enjoy the story and find it interesting, I feel the introduction of young love would be lost on such a young audience.
The author is clearly extremely knowledgeable and the epilogue was incredibly interesting. I felt I could have benefited from this at the beginning of the book, or with more of these facts sprinkled throughout the story.

I found this a nice easy book to read which manages to convey the world and way of life of stone age people really well. I also felt that the characters were well developed and engaging overall. The issue I had with it was a lack of a compelling plot which let it down. I also wasn't keen on the modern language but that is a personal preference and children will have no problems and will find it very accessible. Overall, I think young readers will enjoy it, I felt more could have been done with it.

Alice Roberts has written a fictional reconstruction of life in a nomadic hunter-gatherer tribe during the last Ice Age that is both loving and knowledgeable. It gives a very vivid picture of both landscape and peoples. It provides many illuminating insights into the way of life of people that are very different, but also shows the ways in which human beings of whatever time and place share many of the same thoughts and feelings. The narrative is peppered with incidents, some quite dramatic, and heightened with meaningful relationships, both human and animal., although sometimes the thoughts and dialogue of the main characters seem anachronistically contemporary. It will probably be of most interest to children who would like to know more about early human history and the lives of others. The text is enormously enhanced by wonderful, striking charcoal images created by artist Keith Robinson, and it looks like the finished book will be a very handsome volume indeed, especially in its exclusive independent bookshop edition.

An intelligent, imaginative story that does not condescend the readers it is aimed at. Characters were well developed and it is set in a time that does not often get covered.

I thoroughly enjoyed Wolf Road as, like other reviewers, it reminded me of the 'Wolf Brother' series by Michelle Paver.
From the outset, I was intrigued by Tuuli and how she viewed herself both as an individual and within her 'talo' group. It was clear that she was on the cusp of an adventure and ready to challenge herself and those around her. The illustrations throughout the book are stunning and the language rich with the description. The book reminds us of the importance of working together and to not instantly judge those who are different too harshly.

Hmmm… While starting dreadfully, the book soon turned into something at least interesting. In showing a girl in a small tribe back in prehistory, watching for the first signs of the end of winter and the reindeer movement that heralds spring, you fear this will be a lumpen story about climate change. It certainly feels lumpen – the first few conversations are just not written as anybody has spoken, ever, and the exposition is really high for a mighty long time, especially when the author has to use some of her archaeological nous to explain something. But no, the ice is not behaving perfectly and yet we're allowed to skip that and witness other things happen, such as Tuuli our heroine befriend an injured wolf cub, and keep it as a pet, and then… well, What Tuuli Finds Next would be telling.

And even the whole genre of the story, beyond the fact it's got its prehistorical setting, would be too much of a spoiler, so I shall leave it to other people to declare where it fits on the shelf. I just would not blame you to hesitate to place it there, though, for it was underwhelming to me. Tuuli and her people seem intent on inventing common, everyday phrases, such as "keeping it close to my chest". They may even invent Somerset. I mean on the whole their drama is played out reasonably well, but it's not that surprising or dramatic a plot, and when we see the motive, or lesson, behind the story you may be thankful it's been underplayed, but wonder why the anthropology wasn't given similar treatment. I certainly didn't hate it, but it fell into the three star category, and in fact onto the shelf marked "books where it's too easy to see an improvement".

Wolf Road is an exciting, engaging and fascinating adventure that gives a wonderful insight into pre-historic life through rich and detailed description. It is a story that completely captured me.

Twelve-year-old Tuuli is migrating with her tribe from their Winter camp to their Spring camp, following the path of the herd of reindeer that they depend upon. Whilst making the journey, she finds an injured wolf cub who does not have a family, and decides to save it, and take it back to camp. Lupa and Tuuli become inseparable, but will others in the tribes accept a Wolf in their midst?

When Tuuli finds herself in danger, she meets a lone boy who helps her and the two strike up a wonderful, warm friendship, learning to communicate despite language barriers. But who is this boy who wanders alone and looks different to those in the other tribes? Can he ever find acceptance within the tribes?

This is a wonderful adventure which really takes the reader on a journey into the past, immersing them in a richly described prehistoric world: the changing landscape, the life of the tribes, foods eaten, tools made and hunting expeditions. It doesn’t shy away from describing the difficulties and dangers of surviving in this time, how people lived in these times including vivid descriptions of hunting, but also gives a real feeling of life within the tribes - both the closeness and friction within the tribes who depend upon members for survival.

Tuuli is an incredibly sympathetic young girl. She is strong-willed and independent with a sense of adventure. She is finding her own path, wondering what is beyond the boundaries of her tribe life which follows a set path. Her friendships with both her young wolf cub, Lupa, and with the boy she meets are wonderful: loyal and accepting despite the difficulties these bring for her when seeking their acceptance within the tribes.

This is a gripping prehistoric adventure with friendship at its heart, perfect for readers of 10+.

A wonderful novel which will transport you back to prehistoric times. This author has clearly done her research as the world she creates is vivid in atmosphere and detail. During Tuuli's adventure, we learn a lot about the seasons, her tribe, beliefs and cultures of the time and Lupa, her wolf, was a particularly great character. The front cover was striking and the illustrations enhanced the enjoyability of reading the book.
This is a great educational text which would be a great read as part of a class topic on the prehistoric age. The facts woven into the text make it a great source for non-fiction as well as fiction. I would have liked to have felt a bit more emotion at times but the adventure and plot are strong and there are not many novels set in this period, which instantly makes it stand out. Children will be immersed in the world - a fantastic way of bringing history to life.

This book went down very well with our family. Being set in such ancient times added an extra dimension of interest for the children and led to many discussions and further internet research on related topics. The front cover picture is just beautiful.

Interesting dip into the lives of ice age dwellers & the Neanderthals. A good introduction into the area for children who may not have every read fiction based texts supporting their learning of the Stone Age, Ice Age etc. In this day & age it enhances children’s learning to understand how shelter & food had to be gathered & prepared, it wasn’t instantly available, purchased from a store or downloaded!

The cover drew me to this book and with the author being renowned palaeontologist and tv presenter Alice Roberts, I knew the content would be accurate. It is an excellent children's adventure story which I enjoyed.

I also let my ten-year-old grandson read it and he loved it. He started it in the evening and then went to bed with two hours left to read. Instead of going to sleep he sat up and finished it. You can't be cross with a kid who wants to read after all, can you? He said he just couldn't put it down and had to know how it ended. It reminded him of his favourite series by Michelle Paver, The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, which he adores. His favourite character was Lupa, the wolf.

This is a well-written and entertaining story that will appeal to children of eight and upwards, who love a good adventure.

I absolutely adored this book and could not wait to get back to reading it each day. I think at the start I was a bit confused with all the names, but it was good how it has a list of who is who at the start and of course a wonderful map! I loved getting to know more about life at the end of the last Ice Age with Tuuli and her family and tribe as they made the journey from their winter camp to the summer camp. Knowing it was all underpinned with so much research and archaeological evidence made it so valued as a story - not only was I following Tuuli and her adventures but also learning more about their way of life, food, animals, daily activities etc. I honestly thought the ending was going to go a different way though with Andar and Tuuli and so that came as a bit of a shock - but a good one in a way and I just know there is the next stage in Tuuli's journey to come!

I’ve always been a big fan of Alice’s work; her books, TV appearances and research. She has this effortless way of communicating history to anyone and in such a way that you feel like it’s alive, not just a dry tale of bygone eras. This book was a perfect example of that!

It’s written so vividly that you feel like you could almost be there with the Talos. You follow Tuuli on her adventures and get totally sucked into her way of life and living. This is a time of wooly mammoths, ice ages and living in the Palaeolithic.

It took a little while for me to sink into it and get its measure but it slowly and surely drew me in. It has a steady pace and gentle rhythm which becomes utterly charming and enthralling.

I definitely think though for the intended audience and as it’s meant for younger readers, it comes with caveats. There’s animal murders a plenty as would be historically accurate in this era, with guts, intestines and chomping on the raw livers of still warm animals. Just a warning! As a child I think I would have balked but I can appreciate the historical accuracy of this and really commend Alice Roberts for introducing this era of history in such a true to tale fashion. It isn’t necessarily happy (in fact, it’s rather sad) so as long as those picking this up are aware of such things, it’s a good to go.

Hats off to her first foray into fiction writing and I can’t wait for more!

Twelve year old Tuuli is a member of a talo, a small tribe of connected families. She lives with her parents, ten year old brother and her cousins, aunts and their partners. Their talo are reindeer people, “sustained by the reindeer, connected with the reindeer”.

One day, Tuuli meets a boy who doesn’t look like anyone she’s ever seen before.

I’m a sucker for an eye catching cover image but usually rely on the blurb to decide for sure if a book is going to be for me. My decision to read this book, though, was based solely on the fact that I saw Keith Robinson’s name on the cover. Keith is one of my favourite illustrators and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see more of his work. I was not disappointed. I only wish there had been more illustrations.

It’s obvious how much research has gone into this book. As I tagged along with Tuuli and her talo while they travelled through the seasons, I saw how they lived and was able to get to know them through their beliefs and customs. While I learned a lot reading this book, my emotions never really engaged.

I absolutely adored Lupa, Tuuli’s wolf, but didn’t form a connection with any of the humans. Andar was the one I was most intrigued by but I’m left with unanswered questions about his past. I thought I should be reaching for a tissue a couple of times but I experienced those events as an observer, looking on from a distance, rather than feeling them.

Kid me would have had difficulties with the hunting and the sad events. Adult me was too busy worrying that something bad would happen to Lupa.

While this story would work as a standalone, an opening is definitely left for a sequel. I would be interested to find out what happens next.

Content warnings include death of animals and humans.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was a nice look into our ancient history, with a glimpse into how the ancient people used to live. But it's also a good moral tale about how we should care for others and, basically, not just jump to killing anyone or anything we perceive as different.

It's compared a lot to Michelle Paver's books, which I adore. I wouldn't say it's quite on the same level (The amount of research in her books absolutely leaps from the page), and although this books author has clearly done a great deal of research, to me, it didn't shine quite to the same extent.

The story wasn't perhaps as deep as i wanted or expected, but i still really enjoyed it, and if there are any follow up books, i'd definitely be tempted to read it, because overall, it really was a very enjoyable read and i do recommend it.