I haven’t yet read Book 1 but still enjoyed this sequel. Younger YA and older MG readers will love the grotesque descriptions. It’s a thrilling ride and I would read the whole series.

This is the second in the series and I definitely recommend that you start with book 1 as I feel that this has too many spoilers to read out of order. Saying that I do recommend the series, especially for upper primary – middles grades who want some gore and mystery.

The inhabitants of the town of Tremorglade were infected with a virus that causes them to turn into wolves each month. For a long time they were cut off from the rest of the world, but both the secret and the virus got out and now people from all over the world are having to come to terms with this rather drastic lifestyle change. Just as Sel is live streaming a video that talks about how the monthly evening as a wolf is actually quite fun and that those who ‘Turn’ each month are not dangerous; a man staggers out of the wood with a gaping wound obviously from a bite.

There starts the surprises and intrigue as the plot twists and turns. Sel and his friends including the reluctantly included 11 year old Mika with a dodgy hip (who is a lot smarter and resilient that people give her credit for), struggle to know who to trust. Who is Arty, who does she work for and what does she really want. What is this Revenant, how is it so powerful and where is it hiding out between Howl nights?

Pacy, with plenty to wonder about and analyse, the book also touches on friendship ups and downs as Sel tries to cope with his best friend moving out of town. I like that Sel isn’t perfect, is makes his predicament and struggles more relatable. Also seen is the hopelessness and frustration of trying to change someone’s beliefs when they just don’t want to see the truth. This we see in Sherman. A good book overall with plenty of themes and discussion points. As it has both male and female protagonists, it would work well as a class text.

This sequel to Bite Risk is even more gruesome than the first and just as full of twists and turns, Just when everyone is getting used to the idea that Rippers can safely turn & coexist with everyone else something changes. For fans of Jennifer Killick's Dreadwood series & Charlie Higson's Enemy series this is a gruesome but fun horror for 11/12 plus- a solid, engaging 'Young Teen' title that will gross-out and engage.

Not for me I'm afraid. Just couldn't really get into it and DNF'd at around 13%... Can see why others would love it, but not for me.

Hybrid creatures, institutional conspiracies, character betrayals, character frictions, tense action - this title packs a lot in and doesn't always go in the expected direction (tho many may guess the plot twists and enjoy them anyway!). It is a highly visual, pacey thriller that intrigues from the start. and pretty much follows the vein of the first in the series. There is a gap in publishing for younger teen fiction so this is very welcome. Good for Charlie Higson/Michael Grant fans. Epic stuff

I LOVE Bite Risk: Caught Dead. Edgy teen/YA sci fi horror. Deliciously creepy and unbelievably twisty with a cracker of an ending that leaves you needing MORE!

I loved reading Bite Risk so I was very excited to read the next one in the series, I love the whole world of the books!

I absolutely adored the first Bite Risk book — it was definitely one of my books of 2023, so I was a little nervous about how hard the follow up could hit now all the twists and turns and surprises have been revealed! Thank goodness, there are still more surprises to come! SJ Wills has the power to make me gasp when reading which is never a bad thing, and she’s created a totally fresh, fun and unique world with this series. My favourite thing about her books though, is the respect they treat their reader with…being thoroughly entertaining while not shying away from an undercurrent of political and philosophical thought — this sequel takes on radicalisation, among other things, and is no less fun for it!

The story picks up where we left it with Sel diving straight into the mystery of a creature biting the Rippers to take control of them.
What ensues is an adrenaline packed ride as Sel and his friends work hard to find out about the mysterious goings on in Tremorglade.
This book was brilliant! Much better than the first one (which was still good) but the author upped the stakes and I couldn’t put it down. Thank you for bringing Mika to the forefront of this story - her character really evolved into more of the badass that she clearly is and I loved that!
Can’t wait to see where the adventure heads next

I really enjoyed Bite Risk, the first in this series by SJ Wills and was desperate for book 2 in the series to be released.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster I was able to read an advance copy in exchange for a review.

We pick up the story a little later in Tremorglade and Sel and Ingrid now change into Rippers, Pedro and Elena have left town and the world has started to descend into chaos now that the Ripper virus is out there.

Factions arise, Ripper cults and Immutable look at what is happening from opposite sides of the spectrum, and both have come to Tremorglade.

And on top of this a new terror has been unleashed, a gigantic rotting monster that wants to feed on Rippers and take control of them.

This continues the story from the first book and develops some of the characters a bit more whilst throwing in surprises all over. We also see new characters arrive that flesh out the cast, and Mika gets a much stronger part in this tale.

Fast paced and slightly more tense than the first book as there were a couple of places I wanted to know what was going to happen next but had to put the book down, over all another satisfying horror story for the younger readers.

The twists and turns are great fun, and the ending!

A fabulous YA werewolf fantasy with BITE! Was wondering where this series would go after book 1 and [spoiler] everything was revealed. I really like the direction and the twists of book 2; full of action and heart racing moments. The world needs more werewolf books and this is a brilliant addition to that Lupine Pantheon

A fun, fast paced, fantasy/mild horror book for all teenagers and up. The ware wolf infection is out in the world, but it should be safe for all now in Tremorglade and further afield on full moon nights. Yet there is something out there in the dark, and it’s not friendly. Sel and his friends old and new are once again battling for their lives. Those causing problems better watch out, because these pesky children have a track record of fighting back. Thank you to Simon and Schuster UK Children’s and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

The moon was almost full when I got my claws on this book. Six Howl nights have passed since I first met Sel, which is appropriate because that’s how long it’s been since the Rippocalypse.

It was much easier getting into Tremorglade this time around because it’s no longer cut off from the outside world. Thanks, Sel. Now the entire world has been introduced to the corpus pilori virus. Thanks, Sel!

“When you’ve already helped cause the end of the world, what’s left to be afraid of?”

The people of Tremorglade have had a long time to get used to turning into Rippers and would be only too happy to lend a hand to the newbies, especially Olive. Depending on your perspective, transforming into a Ripper once a month is either the best thing ever (think Ripper Cultists) or the end of the world.

Immutables, people who don’t Turn, are now in the minority and some have little dog syndrome. They’re trying to convince anyone who’ll listen that Rippers should be put back in their cages, but Rippers aren’t dangerous anymore, right? Right?

The main characters don’t know who to trust and neither did I. I viewed practically everyone with suspicion and wondered if that was in part a result of the us versus them mentality of some of the characters. Fear of the other was the impetus for a whole bunch of dastardly deeds.

Having several narrators telling the story can be distracting for me sometimes but it worked really well here. It’s a good thing, too. Otherwise we wouldn’t know what was happening for entire sections as you don’t remember what you do when you’re Ripped out.

My favourites from the first book all returned for the second in some form or another and I got to meet some of the newbies. My favourite new character wasn’t a newbie at all. She was there all along but because she’s only eleven, Sel hasn’t really paid that much attention to her before, even though they’re next door neighbours.

Mika is oftentimes the voice of reason. She’s determined, persistent and gutsy. And she has a pony called Jelly Bean. I absolutely adore her!

After waiting six entire full moons to be able to sink my teeth into this book, I got sucked straight into it. The story was engaging from page 1 and was as good, if not better, than the first book.

I hoped all book that there’d be an opening at the end for a third book and, oh boy, is there an opening! I need the next book really soon, preferably before the next full moon!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this book.

Many adults will recognise that bizarre concept that the older you get, the faster time appears to go by and for me nothing speeds time up like losing myself in a good book. Having been blown away by the first in this series, I was thrilled when I found this on Net Galley and after having to wait a few days to pick it up after being approved, settled down to return once more to the town of Tremorglade, scene of the story that I enjoyed so much.

Fast-paced, action-packed and properly scary in parts, this is a book that I whizzed through in a day – one that had me on the edge of my seat as I headed towards its incredible conclusion and one that has left me with not just a want but an enormous need for Book 3 because this is astonishingly good. For that upper middle grade/ bottom end of Young Adult audience who want something crammed with frights and that treats them like the intelligent readers that they are, this is absolutely spot on – I simply cannot recommend it highly enough and am crossing everything that I have that this series will be adapted for the big screen.

It’s six months since the event now known as the Rippocalypse changed the lives of everyone in Tremorglade and in particular that of our hero, Sel. Now old enough to Turn, we meet Sel back in his human form following Howl Night as he thinks about creating his latest livestream with friend Ingrid to inform the wider world about the virus that has now spread outside of his hometown – a virus manufactured by a company called Sequest that causes its victims to transform into Rippers at the monthly full moon.

As he and Ingrid show their viewers around Shady Oaks – the retirement home where Harold, the man behind Sequest’s actions – lived before he was consumed by another resident in Ripper form, Sel reflects on the actions of the man he considered to be a friend and how little danger the Rippers actually pose to those around them. Leaving the building, Sel and Ingrid spot teacher Mr Costa who is badly wounded having apparently been bitten – something that the friends think is unusual but don’t give any further thought to until having recovered from his injury, the adult becomes violent towards his pupils on his first day back at school.

When Sel and Ingrid discover that Mr Costa is not the first to have been bitten, they decide to investigate what has been happening and very quickly realise that those who have been attacked are now acting completely out of character. Soon they find evidence of a creature that is attacking the Rippers – a creature that has its own agenda and appears to be using those it has struck to carry out some sort of plan. With Sel and Ingrid Turning at each full moon, how will they ever get to the bottom of what is going on? And if they can’t, just what is their unknown enemy intending to do to the residents of Tremorglade?

With the concept of the werewolf-like Rippers firmly established in Book 1, the author has taken the ideas that worked so brilliantly well in Book 1 and not only matched them here but surpassed them. Now that he is six months older, Sel is amongst those who Turn and with none of those who do able to remember what happens while they aren’t human, he now has to rely on those who are either young enough not to be affected by the full moon or the Immutables – those whose natural immunity to the virus protects them from transforming – to fill in the gaps in his memory that occur during the monthly Howl Nights.

With several new characters added into the mix, Sel is quickly forced to make decisions about which of Tremorglade’s residents and visitors he can or can’t trust and as the readers, we are kept just as much in the dark as he is for most of the book – leading to all sorts of twists and turns right up until the last page which left me absolutely gobsmacked.

For anyone who hasn’t read Book 1 and wants to jump straight into this title, the backstory is covered very well at the start of the book, with additional information woven through the rest of the text so that you could read this as a standalone. I would suggest that you do read the books in order though as they are brilliant; I just can’t imagine that you would want to deny yourself the pleasure you will gain from reading both of them. Sadly, I cannot find a date for Book 3 but like many other fans of this series, I will be keeping an eye open for news on that subject – I simply cannot wait to see what happens next.

Until then, my enormous thanks go to Simon & Schuster Children’s Books and to Net Galley for my virtual advance read. Bite Risk: Caught Dead publishes 14th March.

Now that the town of Tremorglade knows the truth, adults are free to Turn without caging themselves in. Life seems to be good, until the Turned start being attacked on Howl Night with shocking consequences. With an immortal beast on the loose, is someone trying to control the Turned once and for all?

I read Bite Risk over the summer (you can read my review here) and was instantly desperate for the second in the trilogy so when I got the chance to read Bite Risk: Caught Dead it instantly zoomed to the top of my reading pile and I dove in on Sunday afternoon ... and was finished by mid Monday morning!

With a new horror terrifying the town of Tremorglade, things get scary very quickly. Divided loyalties cause confusion and, at times, Hal doesn't know who he can trust which all adds to the tension. There are twists and turns a plenty in a book that kept me utterly gripped and on the edge of my seat, and, at times hiding behind my teddy (there are some truly scary elements to the book!). This is YA horror at its best and a series that perfectly bridges the gap between MG and YA.

Sometimes, when I read a book, I can anticipate the ending but then there are times when the end of a book takes you completely by surprise; Bite Risk: Caught Dead most definitely fell into the second category and I was left with my jaw hanging after the final page! I promise it will leave you aghast and absolutely desperate for the final instalment.

Creepy with just the right amount of darkness to it, Bite Risk: Caught Dead makes the perfect sequel to Bite Risk and will be a must-buy when it publishes on the 14th March.

I have got the sprayed edge edition of the first one but it is still in my TBR pile. So the prologue of this one kinda spoiled the plot for me.

But apart from that, it is a real fast-paced thriller that is sure to be a hit among my KS3 students. It is a lot more modernised than your usual werewolf story and that is exactly why I think my students will love it. The characters are oddly relatable (oddly because we are not rippers). And the main premise of the book seems a bit more realistic than we would hope it to be.