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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
One of the more interesting werewolves novels. It doesn't exactly have a plot as it's told as a series of vignettes. That said, they all work well to tell the character's story.
Great writing, interesting take on the mythos, lots of thrills.
Recommended.
Great writing, interesting take on the mythos, lots of thrills.
Recommended.
despite being a little confusing at times, this is a gorgeous coming of age story and such a fresh take on the werewolf novel. i really enjoyed the emphasis on family and storytelling as oral tradition — the nonlinear timeline reflects this really nicely.
dark
emotional
medium-paced
emotional
medium-paced
challenging
dark
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Bloody and heartfelt, this story cuts deep. Everything about this story is great. It is a werewolf story, sure, but just barely. This is a story of a young boy living in an unconventional family living in the best ways they know how. This characters could all be dismissed as trash, and yet Graham Jones’s loving and tender depiction of this family forces the reader to contend with their own judgments in face of unblinking humanity. The characters, at least our core family, are detailed and feel completely actualized, tying with stereotypes only to fill them out in ways that refuses them anything less than genuine personhood. The world-building is tactile, yo-yoing across the southeast in a way that lets you smell the burning garbage in the fire barrels and feel the sticky heat radiating from the pavement. More importantly then the external setting is the internal setting, the world of this family, who they understand themselves to be, how they understand themselves to exist to each other and to the world. It is immersive and holds your whole heart. The care and dedication they have to each other is intense and carries the story. The writing itself is great, the prose itself being playful with a hint of vernacular to keep you immersed but also always keeping things moving. Yet it always feels like there is room to breathe, there is emotion and depth buried in the language. Part of that is the structure. While all of the chapters are from the same character’s perspective, the chapters alternate between the present storyline and that character’s re-telling of the life that he lived in the time jump of four years or so that happens at the end of the first chapter. This back and forth provides a wonderful type of reflexivity that lets the story curl in on itself, sleeping nose-to-tail. This isn’t your typical werewolf story, it is a family story and the whole “werewolf” part of it is entirely secondary… but there are still glimpses of violence, small action set-pieces buried throughout that keep the pacing fresh and exciting.
This story starts with a young boy looking at his aunt, who is raising with along with his uncle and grandpa, as his own mother died when birthing him, and insisting on seeing his mother in his aunt, keeping alive this woman who he never met yet who is his whole world. The deep, cutting emotion that pervades that small child’s frame gutted me right from the beginning, and Graham Jones keeps it going through the whole story. I finish the story with reflections on childhood and family, on growing up faster than you have to and creating your own sense of normalcy in a world that isn’t made for you. There is a constant struggle about fitting in, not just in society but in your own family, and what it means to have loyalty, to be dedicated to others no matter the circumstances, even when that dedication may be holding you back from realizing some other potential. This story felt like being ripped open and exposed, in some of the best ways.
This story starts with a young boy looking at his aunt, who is raising with along with his uncle and grandpa, as his own mother died when birthing him, and insisting on seeing his mother in his aunt, keeping alive this woman who he never met yet who is his whole world. The deep, cutting emotion that pervades that small child’s frame gutted me right from the beginning, and Graham Jones keeps it going through the whole story. I finish the story with reflections on childhood and family, on growing up faster than you have to and creating your own sense of normalcy in a world that isn’t made for you. There is a constant struggle about fitting in, not just in society but in your own family, and what it means to have loyalty, to be dedicated to others no matter the circumstances, even when that dedication may be holding you back from realizing some other potential. This story felt like being ripped open and exposed, in some of the best ways.
Llegué hasta este libro por recomendación de una amiga y creo que fue todo un acierto. Si bien está calificado como terror, creo que es bastante light en ese aspecto, por lo que es un libro perfecto para dar el primer paso en esta dirección. Aunque cabe mencionar que hay descripciones muy detalladas de ciertas escenas un tanto truculentas. Vamos, que no es para estómagos delicados.
Durante gran parte del libro no tenía del todo claro a dónde quería llevarme el autor y, sin embargo, no me importó lo más mínimo. Allí a donde Stephen deseara llevarme, yo me dejaría guiar con los ojos vendados. Porque su narrativa atrapa de una manera brutal.
Los personajes son tan realistas que ni siquiera puedo calificar si me caían bien o mal, porque había momentos para todo. Tienen sus puntos fuertes y, sobre todo, muchas flaquezas. Me sentí muy representada en sus meteduras de pata, sus frustraciones y el modo en que afrontaban sus conflictos.
No es una lectura ligera, pero se el libro se bebe. Tiene un final cerrado, pero para nada me importaría encontrarme con un segundo tomo que siguiera narrando las desventuras de este protagonista. Dato curioso, no recuerdo que se mencione el nombre del chico en ningún momento del libro y, sin embargo, te metes de lleno en su piel.
Durante gran parte del libro no tenía del todo claro a dónde quería llevarme el autor y, sin embargo, no me importó lo más mínimo. Allí a donde Stephen deseara llevarme, yo me dejaría guiar con los ojos vendados. Porque su narrativa atrapa de una manera brutal.
Los personajes son tan realistas que ni siquiera puedo calificar si me caían bien o mal, porque había momentos para todo. Tienen sus puntos fuertes y, sobre todo, muchas flaquezas. Me sentí muy representada en sus meteduras de pata, sus frustraciones y el modo en que afrontaban sus conflictos.
No es una lectura ligera, pero se el libro se bebe. Tiene un final cerrado, pero para nada me importaría encontrarme con un segundo tomo que siguiera narrando las desventuras de este protagonista. Dato curioso, no recuerdo que se mencione el nombre del chico en ningún momento del libro y, sin embargo, te metes de lleno en su piel.
dark
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated