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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
When the Wolf Comes Home has been receiving widespread praise since it’s released in April, and now that I’ve finished it, I can say with confidence that it’s 100% deserved.
Thirty-one-year-old Jess Bailey waits tables at a rundown LA diner, chasing auditions and open mics, hoping for her big break in acting or improv.
But her life takes a traumatic turn one night when she returns from a night shift to find a terrified five-year-old boy hiding in the bushes outside her apartment complex. As she brings him inside and tries to figure out what to do, a commotion outside draws her to the window, where two of her neighbours are in a heated confrontation with a naked man.
Moments later, they’re attacked by a massive, wolf-like creature with eyes disturbingly similar to the man’s. Jess doesn’t believe in werewolves – that’s just movie nonsense. It has to be a wild animal.
But whatever it is, it’s hunting the boy.
Forced to flee into the night with him in tow, Jess becomes an unlikely guardian. The boy insists it’s his daddy who’s after them, and wherever they go, the creature seems to follow. And as the bodies start to pile up, Jess realises she’s trapped in a deadly, bizarre, surreal nightmare.
This was my first read by Nat Cassidy and When the Wolf Comes Home was supernatural, monster, and psychological horror at its storytelling best. It was fun yet unnerving – gripping, tense, gruesome, thought-provoking, action-packed, and emotional. It utilised classic horror tropes straight out of the 1980’s – echoing the atmosphere of early Stephen King and Dean Koontz – while crafting a more layered, intellectually challenging, and modern narrative. Even though the novel was gory and bloody, the author wrote it in a way that was scary and cinematic tapping into dread and dark humour, which made it entertaining rather than repellent. It was a fast-paced read with short chapters that packed a punch.
The ending left me reeling – theorising and analysing every plot point in a new light. I can’t wait to dive into Nat Cassidy’s backlist.
Thirty-one-year-old Jess Bailey waits tables at a rundown LA diner, chasing auditions and open mics, hoping for her big break in acting or improv.
But her life takes a traumatic turn one night when she returns from a night shift to find a terrified five-year-old boy hiding in the bushes outside her apartment complex. As she brings him inside and tries to figure out what to do, a commotion outside draws her to the window, where two of her neighbours are in a heated confrontation with a naked man.
Moments later, they’re attacked by a massive, wolf-like creature with eyes disturbingly similar to the man’s. Jess doesn’t believe in werewolves – that’s just movie nonsense. It has to be a wild animal.
But whatever it is, it’s hunting the boy.
Forced to flee into the night with him in tow, Jess becomes an unlikely guardian. The boy insists it’s his daddy who’s after them, and wherever they go, the creature seems to follow. And as the bodies start to pile up, Jess realises she’s trapped in a deadly, bizarre, surreal nightmare.
This was my first read by Nat Cassidy and When the Wolf Comes Home was supernatural, monster, and psychological horror at its storytelling best. It was fun yet unnerving – gripping, tense, gruesome, thought-provoking, action-packed, and emotional. It utilised classic horror tropes straight out of the 1980’s – echoing the atmosphere of early Stephen King and Dean Koontz – while crafting a more layered, intellectually challenging, and modern narrative. Even though the novel was gory and bloody, the author wrote it in a way that was scary and cinematic tapping into dread and dark humour, which made it entertaining rather than repellent. It was a fast-paced read with short chapters that packed a punch.
The ending left me reeling – theorising and analysing every plot point in a new light. I can’t wait to dive into Nat Cassidy’s backlist.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
TLDR - a fun ride for those who are entry-level horror enjoyers, enjoy millennial sitcomy humor, and can empathize with a 20-something year old woman consumed with daddy issues (this is not an observation but a foundational part of the story and character that is articulated at length). Alas, I am not one of you.
Overall, it just wasn’t for me. For the most part, the humor—which was not an insignificant portion of the characters and characterizations—was a big miss. And worse, the horror never quite reached me. I think if you’re someone who engages with horror content semi-regularly, WTWCH will be about as horrifying as Ghost Files.
Not to say it wasn’t creative, because it certainly was, and that’s one of the book’s strongest points along with the pacing. However, that creativity tended to lend itself to the absurd which further undermined the horror elements.
I must also agree with many of the other reviews in saying that the ending left a great deal to be desired as it felt neither surprising nor earned. More for shock value than anything.
All in all, it served its purpose as a somewhat allegory, but because everything was treated haphazardly—things’ only use being whatever they could do to serve the MC (who, in addition to having a tedious sense of humor and daddy issues, constantly makes awful, reckless decisions that destroy other peoples’ lives), then once the use has been beaten out of them be discarded (much like that poor, dead little boy )—very little of the plot felt like it held weight or real impact.
Overall, it just wasn’t for me. For the most part, the humor—which was not an insignificant portion of the characters and characterizations—was a big miss. And worse, the horror never quite reached me. I think if you’re someone who engages with horror content semi-regularly, WTWCH will be about as horrifying as Ghost Files.
Not to say it wasn’t creative, because it certainly was, and that’s one of the book’s strongest points along with the pacing. However, that creativity tended to lend itself to the absurd which further undermined the horror elements.
I must also agree with many of the other reviews in saying that the ending left a great deal to be desired as it felt neither surprising nor earned. More for shock value than anything.
All in all, it served its purpose as a somewhat allegory, but because everything was treated haphazardly—things’ only use being whatever they could do to serve the MC (who, in addition to having a tedious sense of humor and daddy issues, constantly makes awful, reckless decisions that destroy other peoples’ lives), then once the use has been beaten out of them be discarded (
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was crazy I don’t even know how someone could come up with some of the wacky shit included. I enjoyed many aspects of this book, especially the fact that no gory detail is held back. It makes it 10x more jarring knowing that a kid is involved. I think I would’ve rated the book higher had the ending been better. I was hoping the kid would live and ending it with Jess having the same powers was crazy. It doesn’t feel realistic that the boy actually believed that Jess was just like him in that sense. Especially because he believes that everything that’s happening is his doing soooo that didn’t make sense to me.