Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses

Lots of reviewers have already pointed out issues with how Kristen O'Neal (a white author) constructs Priya (a Tamil American main character) and her family. Especially because Kristen O'Neal tried to argue this was Own Voices because she's chronically ill which... is not what Own Voices is, like one aspect of a character's identity aligning with yours does not make it Own Voices. Plus we get into kind of mixed territory since Priya has chronic Lyme and the author does not, so it's like... do different chronic illnesses experiences even still "count" as Own Voices? Diagnostic categories are constructs, but recognizing wildly varied chronically ill experiences given diagnostic journeys and labels plus other identities like race is critical?

Anyway. I'm just gonna link this because I think it highlights the biggest issues: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3824728041. Brief media studies/pop culture studies rant, the cover is shitty. No one is arguing that the werewolf is Priya or a direct stand-in for another Desi character. But for the love of God, aesthetically, what this cover does is absolutely juxtapose a Desi character with a werewolf against a highly contrasted background, and that is still problematic! And on a larger systemic level this cover would've passed from illustrator to editors to marketers and not one was like, hmm, maybe this is not appropriate and will not make readers of color feel safe, and that's a huge problem. Like the combo of limited diversity in publishing, limited avenues for editors or marketers of color to really voice their concerns or make substantive changes, and white-audience-centric, profit-over-purpose structures in publishing is bad and this is a good, small-scale example of how it is bad, actually. Please make connections and consider the larger whole. ~Critical consumption~ and all that jazz.

Beyond the other criticisms I've seen about how O'Neal represents Priya and her family, I'll quickly add: they're really Christian and it's not a huge part of the book but it's also not written well at all. It feels very smushed in and there's no recognition or nuance at all around the distinct cultural barriers and biases that Christian Desi folks experience, besides a somewhat throwaway and underdeveloped mention of how they drove a little extra to a mostly Desi church. And it became pretty clear in the Acknowledgements that it's because O'Neal is very Christian and that affected how she wrote Priya's family's religious experiences and I just... do not like how any of this layers onto what is already Not Great Writing of a Desi Character and Family From A White Author.

Nothing else in the story is that great either. Chronically ill rep is eh (fine, not outstanding) but the main friendship between Priya and Brigid can get really frustrating plus O'Neal really needed to read some more perspectives from neurodivergent folks and others most affected by continuing eugenics rhetoric because

it was all I could think about in Priya and Brigid's argument over Brigid's attempts to "cure" herself via literal poison. Like autistic children are murdered regularly by parents and guardians via similar "cures" like bleaches and other toxic poisons via similar rationales and someone really needed to take a step back and be like I get you are having a hard time, Brigid, and suicidality in chronic illness is real, but this is eugenicist shit

. Especially in a book that is supposed to be taking on chronic illness rep well, like that was how it was sold and marketed. And when eugenicist rhetoric always impacts disabled and chronically ill folks of color most!

Content Warnings

yeojinqueen's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted slow-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

4.75

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging slow-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

3.0

I have such incredibly mixed feelings about this book.

On the one hand, I absolutely loved the representation. As a spoonie myself (for all you healthy people, that's what some of us with chronic illnesses call ourselves), it was really refreshing reading about others who deal with some of the same challenges that I do. From obnoxious MLMs telling us we can solve our health issues with essential oils, to the way it's so easy to fall into depression when going through flare-ups, to just feeling all the feelings (and all the pain). I appreciated it so much because I felt seen in so many ways.

I thought that creating a "chronic illness" out of lycanthropy was incredibly creative. It definitely manifests itself similarly to spoonie symptoms with "flare-ups" each month, strange changes in the body, not feeling yourself, etc. This low fantasy that read more like contemporary was really well done!

On the other hand, it was so slow. I couldn't believe how long it took for the werewolf discovery to occur. I'm used to contemporary novels being about 6-8 hours tops on 2x speed narration. This one was almost 11 hours on 2.5x speed! And the reveal didn't happen until 3 hours in! I was baffled. I also found it really annoying to listen to the Discord chat conversations - reading a physical copy would've been better for that (that's not a diss on the book, just a personal thing while listening to an audiobook). It got obnoxious every time someone did a keyboard smash or shared a link because hearing "adscxzhuiweufbjdksfj" read aloud is just... ridiculous-sounding!

In addition to that, I definitely felt my age. The fact that the oldest person in the chat was 25 (26?) and I'm several years older than that right now had me feeling distinctly millennial grandma (cue laughter). Yes, I realize this was YA (though I guess it's more technically NA since the main character is 19), but I hoped I'd be able to relate a bit better. It just really screamed gen-z.

I would definitely recommend this in a physical format for spoonies looking to feel seen and for others who want to learn more about what it's like to have different chronic illnesses.

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aviery's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

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bookishandjoyceful's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

TW: Chronic Illnesses, Medical content, suicidal thoughts, grief, ableism, animal death

Priya is a a girl who has had her academic dreams come to a halting stop as she is diagnosed with Lyme Disease and must stop taking courses at Stanford. During this time while she is home she becomes online pen pals with Brigid and starts participating in an online support group of those living with chronic illnesses. This support group takes a turn when Brigid suddenly goes offline for multiple days and no one can get ahold of her. In steps Priya to check on her friend and make sure she is alright, so she drives to Brigid to make sure her friend is alright and that is when things turn in an unexpected direction.

Lycanthropy & Other Chronic Illnesses was a fun listen where I didn’t know what was going to happen next and you were kept fighting for Priya, Brigid and the other members of the online support group. This had a fun twist to it, which would not have been my typical type of twist, but it was fun and suspenseful. It was a great story of friendship, fighting for those you care about and it being ok to ask for help and getting support from others in times of need.

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malloryfitz's review against another edition

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4.5

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