Scan barcode
komet2020's review against another edition
1.0
This book could have been so much better than it turned out to be. The world of female werewolves is representative of a part of the horror genre that has been little explored. Aside from 3 or 4 exceptions, the stories were flat. One of the dullest stories by far in this collection was the one with the Jamaican woman werewolf. It read like a series of disjointed vignettes, haphazardly patched together, leaving no sense of what she was really like, either as a woman or as a Wolf.
Sadly, there are too few novels out in the market now that provide a well-developed and credible treatment of the female werewolf (the exceptions being the novels "BITTEN", "STOLEN","SHADOW OF THE BEAST", and "NAKED BRUNCH").
I give this collection 1 star only because I hope that it will inspire other writers to develop more works (short stories and novels) featuring well-rounded, down-to-earth, real women - who just happen to be werewolves.
AWFUL BOOK!!!
Sadly, there are too few novels out in the market now that provide a well-developed and credible treatment of the female werewolf (the exceptions being the novels "BITTEN", "STOLEN","SHADOW OF THE BEAST", and "NAKED BRUNCH").
I give this collection 1 star only because I hope that it will inspire other writers to develop more works (short stories and novels) featuring well-rounded, down-to-earth, real women - who just happen to be werewolves.
AWFUL BOOK!!!
lauriereadslohf's review against another edition
4.0
This is an anthology of wolfy tales, some good, a few "meh".
I've read many raves about Charlee Jacob's work but was a little unimpressed with this story Permafrost. An institutionalized woman with bipolar has dreams of running under the light of a full moon as a werewolf. It was decently written but too brief and I saw the ending coming as soon as the author described the doc's eyes. I don't know, I guess I expect more out of the first story in an anthology but this one disappointed.
Many elements of Boobs by Suzy McKee Charnas reminded me a lot of the movie "Ginger Snaps". Have you all seen that one? If not, you must. I'm curious which came first, the movie or the book but I'm too lazy to look it up. I enjoyed this story a lot. It brought up body issues, bullying and made me thankful I'm long past over all of that stuff!
Moon Running by Jody Brewer was a unique take on the whole "I despise being a beast" thing usually found in these types of collections and is worth a read.
A Model of Transformation by Renee Charles was a bit of uninteresting froth about a beautiful young woman's transformation from stunning to super model with a twist, of course. Alas, I found the "erotic" bits to be very clinical and detached. The story would've been the same without them. They seemed as if they were added after the fact and it felt as if the author were uncomfortable with writing the scenes. As a result they were anything but erotic.What a waste!
The Final Truth by Steve Eller starts out like a teenage boy's wet dream and ends like a bad version of a Tales From the Crypt episode. A workaholic city boy decides to get away from it all and rents a cabin in a secluded area. Immediately a beautiful woman appears and jumps his bones. He decides to give up his previous life and play house with the were-woman. But as with most wild things she's unpredictable and her actions in the end weren't adequately explained enough for me to buy into.
The Wife's Story by Ursula LeGuin I liked this one a lot. It was short, melancholy and precise with an emotional impact behind the words.
Teamwork by Paul Allen I love dogs but I didn't like this story featuring a guide dog and her new owner Gretchen. The reason? Gretchen was not a sympathetic character. At all.
Sisters of the Weird by Thomas S. Roche This one about bar chicks who howl at the moon just didn't thrill me. There wasn't enough meat (sorry) to the story to grab me.
The Change by Barbara Ferrenz I liked this one about a woman experiencing personality changes and a lust for blood. Her doc insists her changes are due to menopause but she believes he screwed up her head after prescribing her a drug. His solution is to write up a prescription for something else. I enjoyed the whole distrusting the medical industry bits in this story.
The Hound of God by Tom Piccirelli I wanted this story to be longer. The heroine, Tangera, was a fascinating character with an interesting life story that was only briefly touched upon in this short story. I have some of this author's work and will have to see if he ever expanded on this one.
Visitation by Pamela Jensen This was a sad story about an older woman abandoned by her children who apparently gave up her best years, her dreams and even resisted her own nature in order to raise them.
A Wilder Truth by Mari Hersh Tudor Shunned by her wolf family because she's different; a young woman is forced to enter into a strange new world. This was an okay story but not as original as some in this collection.
Breaking the Circle by Michael W. Lucas This is yet another story about an adolescent werewolf who is shunned by her family and trying to cope. This theme seems to be a common one in this collection but this one was one of the better ones as it really gets into the head of the protagonist.
Wilding by Melanie Tem was a bit confusing and hard to follow for me. I believe this was an excerpt of the full length novel which I have in my to be read pile. I'll have to read it one of these days and see if it makes more sense. I'd skip this one if I had it to do over again.
I missed taking notes on one or two stories and my memory is so bad I can't remember enough about them to post a comment but overall this was a decent collection. Beware though with the exception of a small handful of the stories, it is not what I'd call horror erotica (even if the back cover says so). Only a very small handful of the tales fit in either category. Many of them are twisted coming of age tales. If you're into this thing you may want to check it out.
I've read many raves about Charlee Jacob's work but was a little unimpressed with this story Permafrost. An institutionalized woman with bipolar has dreams of running under the light of a full moon as a werewolf. It was decently written but too brief and I saw the ending coming as soon as the author described the doc's eyes. I don't know, I guess I expect more out of the first story in an anthology but this one disappointed.
Many elements of Boobs by Suzy McKee Charnas reminded me a lot of the movie "Ginger Snaps". Have you all seen that one? If not, you must. I'm curious which came first, the movie or the book but I'm too lazy to look it up. I enjoyed this story a lot. It brought up body issues, bullying and made me thankful I'm long past over all of that stuff!
Moon Running by Jody Brewer was a unique take on the whole "I despise being a beast" thing usually found in these types of collections and is worth a read.
A Model of Transformation by Renee Charles was a bit of uninteresting froth about a beautiful young woman's transformation from stunning to super model with a twist, of course. Alas, I found the "erotic" bits to be very clinical and detached. The story would've been the same without them. They seemed as if they were added after the fact and it felt as if the author were uncomfortable with writing the scenes. As a result they were anything but erotic.What a waste!
The Final Truth by Steve Eller starts out like a teenage boy's wet dream and ends like a bad version of a Tales From the Crypt episode. A workaholic city boy decides to get away from it all and rents a cabin in a secluded area. Immediately a beautiful woman appears and jumps his bones. He decides to give up his previous life and play house with the were-woman. But as with most wild things she's unpredictable and her actions in the end weren't adequately explained enough for me to buy into.
The Wife's Story by Ursula LeGuin I liked this one a lot. It was short, melancholy and precise with an emotional impact behind the words.
Teamwork by Paul Allen I love dogs but I didn't like this story featuring a guide dog and her new owner Gretchen. The reason? Gretchen was not a sympathetic character. At all.
Sisters of the Weird by Thomas S. Roche This one about bar chicks who howl at the moon just didn't thrill me. There wasn't enough meat (sorry) to the story to grab me.
The Change by Barbara Ferrenz I liked this one about a woman experiencing personality changes and a lust for blood. Her doc insists her changes are due to menopause but she believes he screwed up her head after prescribing her a drug. His solution is to write up a prescription for something else. I enjoyed the whole distrusting the medical industry bits in this story.
The Hound of God by Tom Piccirelli I wanted this story to be longer. The heroine, Tangera, was a fascinating character with an interesting life story that was only briefly touched upon in this short story. I have some of this author's work and will have to see if he ever expanded on this one.
Visitation by Pamela Jensen This was a sad story about an older woman abandoned by her children who apparently gave up her best years, her dreams and even resisted her own nature in order to raise them.
A Wilder Truth by Mari Hersh Tudor Shunned by her wolf family because she's different; a young woman is forced to enter into a strange new world. This was an okay story but not as original as some in this collection.
Breaking the Circle by Michael W. Lucas This is yet another story about an adolescent werewolf who is shunned by her family and trying to cope. This theme seems to be a common one in this collection but this one was one of the better ones as it really gets into the head of the protagonist.
Wilding by Melanie Tem was a bit confusing and hard to follow for me. I believe this was an excerpt of the full length novel which I have in my to be read pile. I'll have to read it one of these days and see if it makes more sense. I'd skip this one if I had it to do over again.
I missed taking notes on one or two stories and my memory is so bad I can't remember enough about them to post a comment but overall this was a decent collection. Beware though with the exception of a small handful of the stories, it is not what I'd call horror erotica (even if the back cover says so). Only a very small handful of the tales fit in either category. Many of them are twisted coming of age tales. If you're into this thing you may want to check it out.
More...