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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Let me start by saying I needed to listen to this and not read it physically. It deals with some pretty triggering things, so please read the TWs. Guys.. This book broke my heart. I wanted to shake every character in the book at least once. Virgil my GUY! He couldn't catch a break and couldn't get anyone to believe him. His family, the town, even his boyfriend didn't believe him. It is the perfect book for spooky season because it has beasts and magic. It took me a while to get into, but after I started.. I was hooked.
Merged review:
Let me start by saying I needed to listen to this and not read it physically. It deals with some pretty triggering things, so please read the TWs. Guys.. This book broke my heart. I wanted to shake every character in the book at least once. Virgil my GUY! He couldn't catch a break and couldn't get anyone to believe him. His family, the town, even his boyfriend didn't believe him. It is the perfect book for spooky season because it has beasts and magic. It took me a while to get into, but after I started.. I was hooked.
Merged review:
Let me start by saying I needed to listen to this and not read it physically. It deals with some pretty triggering things, so please read the TWs. Guys.. This book broke my heart. I wanted to shake every character in the book at least once. Virgil my GUY! He couldn't catch a break and couldn't get anyone to believe him. His family, the town, even his boyfriend didn't believe him. It is the perfect book for spooky season because it has beasts and magic. It took me a while to get into, but after I started.. I was hooked.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Like other Hutchinson books I have read, Howl's main character, Virgil is dealing with a lot. Howl starts with the aftermath of a brutal monster attack, leaving Virgil needing 63 stitches and enough mental/emotional trauma for a lifetime.
The language used as Virgil thinks about his attack evokes a sexual assault, leading to a dark take on the teen werewolf story. Virgil also finds himself in a new small town, surrounded by homophobic people and classmates that treat him as an outcast, nutcase, or an attention seeker, and a family environment that isn't much better. Virgil is a sympathetic (to an almost pitiful) character who can't catch a break but tries to push forward. Hutchinson's repeated use of phrases recalling the attack helps push how deeply affected Virgil is, and I imagine how hard it can be for survivors of sexual assault to heal and trust again.
Howl is a dark take on the werewolf/monster story. I recommend checking the trigger warnings before starting. Overall, I enjoy the story and pacing and recommend it to fans of Hutchinson's other works. Be warned, the amount of abuse Hutchinson can place on his characters is a lot, but I think it pointedly drives home the mental turmoil of his characters.
Howl is a dark take on the werewolf/monster story. I recommend checking the trigger warnings before starting. Overall, I enjoy the story and pacing and recommend it to fans of Hutchinson's other works. Be warned, the amount of abuse Hutchinson can place on his characters is a lot, but I think it pointedly drives home the mental turmoil of his characters.
3.2 ⭐️ I don’t know how to feel. it was okay, i didn’t hate anything about it and the strongest part of this book was how realistic virgils character was. the ending kinda fell a little flat and i think that’s why i docked a star. the entire book is just building and building and im invested, in the mystery, in virgils growth and then the endings … that. i wouldn’t say it was a cop out but it didn’t land for me.
loved virgil (crazy name) i just wished i liked the book just as much.
loved virgil (crazy name) i just wished i liked the book just as much.
Exceptionally hard to read. I wanted to hold Virgil and fight for him. This is a town that reminds me of a beautiful and heartbreaking song: < a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPNh-ZIdaYk"> The Missing Stair. I caution anyone looking to read this to look into trigger warnings and to know it's okay to stop a book if it's too much for your own well being.
This was an enjoyable read and I think I could’ve gotten through it way faster had I been able to commit to reading more the last month.
Queer monster story with a good “whodunit” resolution and some great nods to how important theater can be to lost souls in high school.
Queer monster story with a good “whodunit” resolution and some great nods to how important theater can be to lost souls in high school.
I've been struggling with how to rate this book, and the answer is... I just don't know. I liked the plot, I liked the characters, but... god is the writing insufferable.
Hutchinson employs a stylistic technique that just, to me, does not work in the slightest. Rather than feeling like foreshadowing, we are beat over the head with the same phrases, over and over and over until I felt like I was going insane. This book had such a solid concept, but the way it came together was messy. It felt like the repetition easily takes up a fifth of the book, and that is not a good thing. If I have to hear "don't tell anyone" or "drink" one more time I think I'll actually go insane.
The ending twist was not even a twist. I was disappointed that the obvious villain from page 1 was, in fact, the villain. It felt like a waste of my time to throw so many red herrings in for no real reason.
At a risk of sounding like I'm victim-blaming, Virgil (our MC) is so passive that it just feels aggravating. I understand that the whole book is a metaphor for sexual assault, I understand that victims aren't perfect and often stick with their abusers to feed a sense of normalcy... but that doesn't work with the actual text of this book.
Because the text of this book is not its metaphor; there is no believable reason for Virgil to keep willingly attending all these parties with these homophobes who treat him terribly. With a weird closeted guy who he's sort of emotionally cheating with. For most of this book, Virgil just kind of lets things happen, embraces it even, then acts shocked when the obviously suspicious evil dudes are evil. Wow. And yet, despite the corruption and the evil that possesses the town, he stays because... he's made one friend, I guess. And that's worth all this evil.
To be honest, the more I think about it, the less I like this book. It feels like a lot of unnecessary grief with no resolution other than Virgil, still passive, deciding to just live with it to "not let them win"... but that isn't a good message to me when the choice is to live in misery.
A lot of the side characters have arcs and threads that end up going nowhere. It feels unfinished in that regard.
Overall this book had potential, but is unfortunately just not very polished.
Hutchinson employs a stylistic technique that just, to me, does not work in the slightest. Rather than feeling like foreshadowing, we are beat over the head with the same phrases, over and over and over until I felt like I was going insane. This book had such a solid concept, but the way it came together was messy. It felt like the repetition easily takes up a fifth of the book, and that is not a good thing. If I have to hear "don't tell anyone" or "drink" one more time I think I'll actually go insane.
The ending twist was not even a twist. I was disappointed that the obvious villain from page 1 was, in fact, the villain. It felt like a waste of my time to throw so many red herrings in for no real reason.
At a risk of sounding like I'm victim-blaming, Virgil (our MC) is so passive that it just feels aggravating. I understand that the whole book is a metaphor for sexual assault, I understand that victims aren't perfect and often stick with their abusers to feed a sense of normalcy... but that doesn't work with the actual text of this book.
Because the text of this book is not its metaphor; there is no believable reason for Virgil to keep willingly attending all these parties with these homophobes who treat him terribly. With a weird closeted guy who he's sort of emotionally cheating with. For most of this book, Virgil just kind of lets things happen, embraces it even, then acts shocked when the obviously suspicious evil dudes are evil. Wow. And yet, despite the corruption and the evil that possesses the town, he stays because... he's made one friend, I guess. And that's worth all this evil.
To be honest, the more I think about it, the less I like this book. It feels like a lot of unnecessary grief with no resolution other than Virgil, still passive, deciding to just live with it to "not let them win"... but that isn't a good message to me when the choice is to live in misery.
A lot of the side characters have arcs and threads that end up going nowhere. It feels unfinished in that regard.
Overall this book had potential, but is unfortunately just not very polished.
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes