Reviews - Mongrels | The StoryGraph

1.15k reviews for:

Mongrels

Stephen Graham Jones

3.93 AVERAGE

nouhcake's review against another edition

4.0

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Stephen Graham Jones is a fantastic writer with a distinctive voice in all his works. His depiction of werewolf transformation is gnarly, and I loved every moment. His descriptions of gore are some of the best I've ever read, creating extremely vivid imagery. There's also a wealth of intriguing lore surrounding the werewolves. The characters are well-rounded and leap off the page. Plus, it gets bonus points for being partially set in my home state.

sirenbeereads's review

DID NOT FINISH: 0%

Overwhelmed myself with too many books.

lyndsay_bibliophile's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark funny inspiring medium-paced

Mongrels is unique and captivating. SGJ’s writing style is conversational, like the organic dialogue of a friend or elder (the audiobook is probably fire, but I read the paperback). It took me a bit to settle into his writing style, but once I did, I found SGJ to be incredibly amusing.

The story follows a boy (whose name we never learn) raised by werewolves, grappling with his human body while feeling deeply connected to his wolf nature. For me, it was a thought-provoking parallel to mixed-race experiences and was beautifully executed. SGJ has a knack for building suspense without you even realizing it. By the time the climax hits, you're completely caught off guard and wondering what the hell you just read.

I don’t usually read horror and this is my first SGJ story, but it won’t be my last.

charliebnl's review

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

drossg's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

I’m not much of a horror guy, but I really enjoyed what this book was using horror to do and the more I think about it the more I like it.

Content Warnings

goldxnapplxs's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

colofj's review against another edition

3.0

It was hard to know how to read this book and part of me feels that if I’d been able to figure that out earlier, I would’ve connected with it more. Was it allegory? Horror? Coming of age? I’m not sure one answer is better than another, and sort of wish it could have been them all, but somehow, it wasn’t.