Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Mongrels

found this veeery slow and hard to get into to the point where i kept putting it down for other books over 2 months, but then the ending made me cry a ton. writing is a bit difficult to visualize sometimes, something i noticed continues into the only good indians but found much improved by my heart is a chainsaw. wish there was more build-up to the main twist (?) re:

the externimation company's werewolf piss slavery

but the last part of the book was much more engaging, and love a good framing device reveal. i feel like i'd enjoy it more on a reread

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badgersorbet's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

3.75

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jiggityjog's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

I thought this novel was a very unique, in-depth, & personal take on the classic werewolf tale, a horror sub-genre that I had considered played out (for the most part) prior to reading this book.

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avareadsoccasionally's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

I liked it a lot! I thought the concept was fun and I liked how it wasn’t exactly an everyday-werewolf book but it did still lean on some of those old werewolf stories. I thought the pacing of it was nice and I liked how it went back and forth in time as it went through the story. I wouldn’t necessarily consider this horror, though there was gore (which both are fine with me). Overall, a fun book!

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eevee314's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

SGJ is just next level. I wasnt even in the mood for this type of book currently but it was so compelling I just couldn't stop till I was done. The way he writes is both simple and wildly evocative. Hes excellent at capturing a feeling or action perfectly in as few words as possible.
A really new take on werewolves.
I wouldn't say it's scary like a horror movie but it's visceral and raw with horror elements.

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witheringghoul's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Not bad but dogs die and that made me really sad

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c_serpent's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This was well written. I liked how the narrative switched back and forth between the main character's perspective and then a third-person perspective of different parts of his life. That was a cool narrative trick. I also really enjoyed how Jones took werewolf lore and just kind of ran wild (puns intended) with it. I liked the Americana voice. It was good horror-- spooky, unsettling, takes itself just seriously enough, feels just real enough, was pretty horrifying. Good job, Jones.

I didn't care about any of these characters, though, and I thought the ending was stupid.

Actually why did Libby leave? Why. There was no reason for that to happen. It felt fake deep and really disappointed me from a literary perspective. It felt like "I want to end on a bittersweet note so his mom figure is gonna bop off into the woods forever. Nice, literary, I'm such a writer." Which is lame.

A star has been given for Libby and Darren's relationship because siblings are everything. A star has been given for the truck-stop, American Gothic, liminal space feeling that Jones crafts in this novel. A star has been awarded for Grace Ellen. A star has been removed for the death of a grizzly bear. Another star has been removed for a lot of the characters being unlovable, albeit realistic.

Total score: 3/5 stars

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