Reviews

Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella

quitegood's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

5.0

A wonderful writing debut from a writer who has tremendous promise! Yes there are rough edges, but everything is a journey, and I can see this author making pure gold given time. 

All I can say is give this book a chance. It takes time to establish itself, to flourish from a mere bud to a complex Wolfsbane flower. Some might call it shlocky, and I agree, but that's why I loved it! Just wonderful and shows love and compassion triumphants over toxic masculinity and hate. 

Ending might lose some, but I kinda dug it. What can I say? 

This is a writer to keep an eye on! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

dandonatello98's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-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

4.0

amy_sashaaa's review

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

taegen's review against another edition

1.0

100% bought this for the cover. 
 The found family trope was BEAUTIFUL but unfortunately the rest of the story was boring 😢

berlinbibliophile's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was very predictable from the first page, but I enjoyed how it got there. Tyler is taken straight from the Men's Rights playbook. Darby and Nik were a delight though. I kind of felt like this book was the backstory, and the next book will get into the adventure stuff I think I'll like more. 

fraust's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

locket1981's review against another edition

Oh god this was boring

amybellbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

An easy read of a romp through the “coming of age” of Brian, a ‘chubby hipster’ werewolf. Predictable plot making for a comfortable read with likeable characters.

arockinsamsara's review against another edition

3.0

A quick fun read that is more bark than bite. I enjoyed this novel but wasn’t blown away by it. The characters all more or less fit into stereotypes or genre archetypes, but they were still given enough character to be fun and have a sense of individuality. The story was well-paced, knowing when to employ time jumps to keep the action going and keep you invested, and it really did pull me from chapter to chapter, never lagging or feeling monotonous. However, I wasn’t especially excited by the writing, especially during some dialogue scenes. It just felt very talk-y, with almost every conversation having characters speak in monologues. It was sometimes appropriate, for the character and scene, but it often just felt performative. The characters were saying nice things, though, and the inner dialogue and regular narration was well done, nothing fancy but compelling and fun to read. The story itself, though, was remarkably predictable. I felt like every character and plotline took the most expected route, and literally the moment we were introduced to a new character it was easy to see what was going to happen. It didn’t feel hackneyed, but it was kind of expected. The story tries to provide commentary on concepts of gender and masculinity at the intersection of late-stage capitalism, but this too felt surface-level and expected. It wasn’t offensive or anything, just not particularly insightful. The fact that the main character is queer is entirely incidental to the plot. There are a few hook-ups and nods to queer/progressive lifestyles and a few mild instances of homophobia, but nothing that really defined the character or impacted the story. Whether this is a point for or against the story is personal preference. Personally, for the most part I don’t mind the normalization of queer identities to allow stories to prominently feature queer protagonists (or antagonists, for that matter) whose queerness is incidental to the story. However, with a title like “Bored Gay Werewolf” one would expect queerness to be a more prominent factor in the character development or story. Plus, aside from maybe a paragraph or two comparing coming out as a werewolf to coming out as gay, none of the symbolism, thematic imagery or clear metaphors linking a burgeoning queer identity in a heteronormative world to the monstrous monthly explosion of a hidden mystical ailment were explored at all. Again, they don’t have to be, but with a novel that feels like it is trying to provide some sort of social commentary, it was a little disappointing to have all those delicious opportunities literally built-in to the framework of the story but then not explored.

That critique makes me sound more down on the book than I am. It is a fun story, that is well-paced and has characters that are fun to get to know, even if they are a bit expected. It isn’t particularly novel or surprising, but it takes a good idea and runs with it just enough to have a good time and not overstay its welcome. It has good queer rep and, if you don’t go in expecting anything other than a light, fun time, there is a lot to enjoy in this book.

I want to thank the author, the publisher Independent Publishers Group, Atlantic Books, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

storysam's review against another edition

funny medium-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

4.5