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prairieraven's review against another edition
4.0
Dirty, descriptive, full of twists and turns, beautifully raunchy in places and thoroughly enjoyable. I could barely put this one down. My favourite of the two books & am now insanely curious to read more of Duncan's work. Borrowed this set from the library & want to add it to my own collection. Brings out our own wulf with its insatiable appetite.
adelaidemetzger_robotprophet's review against another edition
4.0
MUCH better than the first book. So much so I felt that this sequel deserved more advertising and its own soundtrack than its predecessor did, but the first book needed exposure or I wouldn’t have known about the trilogy in the first place.
I think what made this one more interesting is the main character herself. Tallula isn’t only a woman who is emotionally driven by a new maternal instinct, she’s a “brand new” werewolf that still has close ties to her human side. I have to agree with some other reviewers that Glen Duncan’s pessimistic and ironic narrative gets a little annoying after a while, although I understand that this is his writing language as well as the tone for this trilogy. Even though this pinched a nerve every once in a while, Tallula’s character did change up the flavor compared to the first book because of what I previously pointed out. She’s more emotional than Jake was and she finds herself becoming sentimental about the things that she says and does—unlike Jake who didn’t give a s----. This made the book more enjoyable and thickened the plot as there was so much more at risk.
One thing I found that kind of dampened my view on Tallula was that her point of view on life—and her life in general—revolved around her being sexually interested since she was a young girl. It’s weird to think that Duncan’s characters all have sex related to their past and that’s what shapes them. I get that their libido is a byproduct of becoming werewolves but to have them already obsessed with it before the Curse kind of makes them addicts. I found this detail repetitive and annoying and I won’t be surprised if it’s a harboring trait in part three. Duncan could have been creative and spiced it up to have Jake’s personality influenced by something else (violence for example) while Tallula could still have sexual interest as part of her personality or vice versa.
Despite that, I am still interested in continuing to the third book because, hey, it’s the vampire’s turn.
I think what made this one more interesting is the main character herself. Tallula isn’t only a woman who is emotionally driven by a new maternal instinct, she’s a “brand new” werewolf that still has close ties to her human side. I have to agree with some other reviewers that Glen Duncan’s pessimistic and ironic narrative gets a little annoying after a while, although I understand that this is his writing language as well as the tone for this trilogy. Even though this pinched a nerve every once in a while, Tallula’s character did change up the flavor compared to the first book because of what I previously pointed out. She’s more emotional than Jake was and she finds herself becoming sentimental about the things that she says and does—unlike Jake who didn’t give a s----. This made the book more enjoyable and thickened the plot as there was so much more at risk.
One thing I found that kind of dampened my view on Tallula was that her point of view on life—and her life in general—revolved around her being sexually interested since she was a young girl. It’s weird to think that Duncan’s characters all have sex related to their past and that’s what shapes them. I get that their libido is a byproduct of becoming werewolves but to have them already obsessed with it before the Curse kind of makes them addicts. I found this detail repetitive and annoying and I won’t be surprised if it’s a harboring trait in part three. Duncan could have been creative and spiced it up to have Jake’s personality influenced by something else (violence for example) while Tallula could still have sexual interest as part of her personality or vice versa.
Despite that, I am still interested in continuing to the third book because, hey, it’s the vampire’s turn.
djrmelvin's review against another edition
3.0
The idea of a monster as a mother is interesting, and for the first third of this book, Duncan turned that idea every which way. Unfortunately that left two thirds of the book with an exhausted theme. The carry over from the first werewolf book, Vampires looking to the "wulf" for a remedy to light sensitivity gets more convoluted and slightly more interesting. I'm not sure there was entirely enough new story for this book, but if you enjoyed The Last Werewolf, you'll like this well enough. By no means should you read this book first.
lirael's review against another edition
3.0
Smart, sophisticated, sassy. Gruesome at times. Dark, so dark. Felt detached by intrigued enough and even faintly charmed. Like Marco!
twoclaws's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Murder, and Pregnancy
intothevolcano's review against another edition
3.0
I verged on giving this two stars, to be honest - but I think my distaste for it mostly stemmed from comparison to The Last Werewolf (the book's prequel, which is far better). Something about Duncan's portrayal of Talulla in particular didn't sit right with me - and the constant referencing back to things Jake had written or said (i.e. quoting the last, far better, book) was not only lazy, but pointed out how unsuccessfully we were shown Talulla's inner voice in comparison. Meh.
anrobe's review against another edition
4.0
I think that I may have liked this novel better than the first in the series, The Last Werewolf. But, all in all, it's a very similar tale but from a woman's perspective. I think it was the female voice and her struggles around motherhood that spoke to me the most, pushing this one to a higher place in my mind than the first novel.
This one is dark, violent, gory and highly sexual, just like the first book. If that puts you off, do not read this book. It's in no way a 'nice' werewolf novel. It's extremely violent and has incredible amounts of sexual content. It's definitely not for everyone.
Much of my review of The Last Werewolf could be repeated here ... Glen Duncan is a great writer & this novel continues to be an introspective look at the thoughts and emotions of werewolves which I find interesting. However, I think this novel continues to be uneven, just like the previous one. There are areas of brilliance and then others are eh. The story itself was fine and the pacing was good.
But, all in all, I don't think this novel was much different from the first other than it focused on a female instead of a male. Otherwise, much of the content felt similar to what I'd read in the previous novel with just a few tweaks. It's my understanding that this is a trilogy so I'll probably read the last one but I'm not particularly excited about doing so. Yet, I feel compelled to see the series through.
This novel is definitely an adventure into the dark world of the werewolf. I think its worth the read if you liked the first novel. But, it's not for the sensitive reader. Read only if intense violence and sexuality don't bother you.
This one is dark, violent, gory and highly sexual, just like the first book. If that puts you off, do not read this book. It's in no way a 'nice' werewolf novel. It's extremely violent and has incredible amounts of sexual content. It's definitely not for everyone.
Much of my review of The Last Werewolf could be repeated here ... Glen Duncan is a great writer & this novel continues to be an introspective look at the thoughts and emotions of werewolves which I find interesting. However, I think this novel continues to be uneven, just like the previous one. There are areas of brilliance and then others are eh. The story itself was fine and the pacing was good.
But, all in all, I don't think this novel was much different from the first other than it focused on a female instead of a male. Otherwise, much of the content felt similar to what I'd read in the previous novel with just a few tweaks. It's my understanding that this is a trilogy so I'll probably read the last one but I'm not particularly excited about doing so. Yet, I feel compelled to see the series through.
This novel is definitely an adventure into the dark world of the werewolf. I think its worth the read if you liked the first novel. But, it's not for the sensitive reader. Read only if intense violence and sexuality don't bother you.
rothcoe's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this, and I didn't like this.
I like Jake more than I like Talulla.
I like Talulla better when she's alone - I love her fierceness. I don't love everyone else around her. When she was in the cell, plotting her escape, I loved her. When she was plotting with the other werewolves, I didn't like her as much. I don't know why.
I didn't like the other werewolves being introduced. It seemed too... Convenient, almost? I don't have a really solid reason behind WHY I dislike stories that involve a group of people banding together to fight - there are some instances where it works really well, and there are some instances where it's just page after page of prep and it seems so silly and trite - like girls getting ready for a high school dance and assigning maximum importance to each and every movement. It's difficult to explain, and I sound kind of vagueish and "Hmph", but it rubs me the wrong way sometimes. It rubbed me the wrong way this time. It reminded me of the last Twilight book, kind of - there was a bunch of preparation for an event that was somewhat disappointing. Though I fucking LOVED every single bit of scenery that Marco was involved in. (I don't know why, I picture him looking like Tim Meadows, and I'm ok with that). This book was set up like there will be a sequel, and I am crossing all of my fingers and hoping against hope that Marco plays a larger part.
I didn't like the instant closeness that Talulla fell into with the other werewolves - it seemed like there should be more to their friendship, other than "We're all werewolves!" I get the "pack" structuring, sort of - even though it's been stated a few times that werewolves are solitary creatures. Maybe it's different because they are special, I don't know.
Lots of "I don't knows" sprinkled in here - overall, I liked the book. I like the style of writing, for the most part, and I like the characters, for the most part. I think I like it best when they are solitary, I think the characters are more appealing when they are fending for themselves. This makes me sound like a horrible person? This makes me sound like a horrible person.
I like Jake more than I like Talulla.
I like Talulla better when she's alone - I love her fierceness. I don't love everyone else around her. When she was in the cell, plotting her escape, I loved her. When she was plotting with the other werewolves, I didn't like her as much. I don't know why.
I didn't like the other werewolves being introduced. It seemed too... Convenient, almost? I don't have a really solid reason behind WHY I dislike stories that involve a group of people banding together to fight - there are some instances where it works really well, and there are some instances where it's just page after page of prep and it seems so silly and trite - like girls getting ready for a high school dance and assigning maximum importance to each and every movement. It's difficult to explain, and I sound kind of vagueish and "Hmph", but it rubs me the wrong way sometimes. It rubbed me the wrong way this time. It reminded me of the last Twilight book, kind of - there was a bunch of preparation for an event that was somewhat disappointing. Though I fucking LOVED every single bit of scenery that Marco was involved in. (I don't know why, I picture him looking like Tim Meadows, and I'm ok with that). This book was set up like there will be a sequel, and I am crossing all of my fingers and hoping against hope that Marco plays a larger part.
I didn't like the instant closeness that Talulla fell into with the other werewolves - it seemed like there should be more to their friendship, other than "We're all werewolves!" I get the "pack" structuring, sort of - even though it's been stated a few times that werewolves are solitary creatures. Maybe it's different because they are special, I don't know.
Lots of "I don't knows" sprinkled in here - overall, I liked the book. I like the style of writing, for the most part, and I like the characters, for the most part. I think I like it best when they are solitary, I think the characters are more appealing when they are fending for themselves. This makes me sound like a horrible person? This makes me sound like a horrible person.