Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I read this book as part of author Gail Carriger's monthly online book club. I found the premise of the novel interesting. But I couldn't see the attraction for the human boy Vivian the main character became enamored with. I also found the plot to be a little slow at times. It wasn't until the very end when Vivian becomes embroiled in pack politics and some mysterious and grizzily human deaths that things really start to get interesting. For this reason I'm giving this book two stars. If you love stories about werewolves you might like this book. It was written before paranormal YA became hot so keep this in mind as you read. It also does have a strong female protagonist who I did like very much. Overall it is a short halfway decent story.
Vivian and her pack have the gift of transformation. During the day they appear to be human, but at night they can morph into a creature like a wolf, only more powerful. After one of the pack kills a human, the family business is burned down. The fire kills her father, the pack leader, and they all move temporarily to the suburbs. Everyone expects Vivian to connect with one of The Five, a group of males her own age, but Vivian feels an intense attraction to Aiden, a human boy. Aiden feels drawn to Vivian as well, but he doesn’t know the truth about her. Meanwhile, the males of the pack fight in an ordeal to determine a new leader of the pack. The winner is Gabriel, who is twenty four, attractive, and aggressive. Despite his attentions to her, Vivian doesn’t like him. While all this is happening, someone is the pack is committing violent murders, and Vivian is convinced she is the killer, though she has no memory of the killings.
This novel is a modern fantasy with a contemporary setting and contemporary issues. Vivian’s wolf-like perspective is different and interesting. Her view of the world is animalistic, focusing on food, mating, and pack concerns. She wants to be different, but she can’t really understand how the humans interact. She uses her self-confidence and sexuality to win Aiden, but she is frustrated with what she perceives as timidity. The essential conflict of the book is Vivian’s struggle with her own nature. She feels repulsed and attracted by the aggression and wolfish playfulness of her pack mates. She questions herself and her own nature. Is she a killer, an animal who can’t control her own impulses?
This novel is a modern fantasy with a contemporary setting and contemporary issues. Vivian’s wolf-like perspective is different and interesting. Her view of the world is animalistic, focusing on food, mating, and pack concerns. She wants to be different, but she can’t really understand how the humans interact. She uses her self-confidence and sexuality to win Aiden, but she is frustrated with what she perceives as timidity. The essential conflict of the book is Vivian’s struggle with her own nature. She feels repulsed and attracted by the aggression and wolfish playfulness of her pack mates. She questions herself and her own nature. Is she a killer, an animal who can’t control her own impulses?
I'm not that in to were-fiction but how can you resist a book with a line like this. (Please read in a deep voice husky with longing.)"I want to lay my kill at your feet."
Honestly, this book is awful but I was obsessed with it in high school and I'm still obsessed with it, despite the terrible writing.
Overall: 3 stars (in general, I liked it, and don't feel the need to rave about it)
Writing: 3 stars (the writing style is decent but certainly not literature)
Story: 4 stars (I thought Klause had an interesting take on what I thought would be a standard urban fantasy love story.)
This review is from a recent reread, as the book jumped back into my head after about a decade for some reason. It held up much better than I expected! Vivian, the protagonist, is a stunning, highschool-aged werewolf (and she knows it). The novel centers around her falling in love with a human boy, and the fallout this brings upon herself and her pack, despite gaining the attentions of the pack's new leader. A bizarre string of murders complicate the plot.
While I had a hard time identifying with Vivian personally (especially when I first read this in my early teens), I thought she was a pretty accurate representation of a young woman who has grown up in a privileged position in her society, and has been taught and shown her whole life that her looks and strength are her greatest assets. It was rewarding to witness her forget about those aspects of herself as we ascended the climax of the novel. Yes, she is vain, relishes in her "womanly wiles" so to speak; she is also self-confident, comfortable in her sexuality (both of which were shockingly novel for teenage-me to see in a female lead - take that as you will), and loyal.
What I particularly appreciated was that the primary love triangle never devolved into a macho standoff between Vivian's love interests - in fact (other may disagree with me here), the lack of interaction between the two served to emphasize Vivian's coming of age struggle over the "finding a mate struggle." Gabe and Aiden represent two aspects of Vivian's life: the pack/family/wolf that she passionately loves, and the easy friendships she earns for (that are absent for her in the pack due to infighting and the extreme sexualization and objectification of women). One of the key themes that Vivian struggles with throughout the book is what it means to love and be loved, and she learns different elements of how she needs to be loved, and how to show love in return from both her love interests, as well as a few side characters. At the time of main story, she has no examples of healthy relationships to look to, so this self-discovery is really key to her growth as a character. The lesson that passion, dominance, and desire to protect don't constitute love, that love is inherently selfless is a key difference between this novel and the dozens of trashy werewolf-human romance novels floating around.
What I didn't like:
- It's irritating to have clues staring you (the reader) in the face, SAID by the main character, that she is still incapable of putting together (some credit here: shock and fear muddle the mind, and when you're a teenager everything feels like the end of the world already, without adding murders to the mix).
- There is a scene during police questioning where a VERY legally and morally questionable alibi is presented that the cops don't look into it at all. I missed this as a child but I CERTAINLY didn't miss it as an adult.
- The biggest issue for me is the treatment of women and inter-female relationships throughout the novel, but especially within the pack. The fact that when a woman dares to challenge the patriarchal power structure (a) she is "put in her place" well before any challenging man, and, worse, (b) that the primary reason she wanted to challenge the men was to gain power and leverage over the other women. There are other female characters that want to rebel against the power structure, but the only one who does is the one descending into madness that seems fueled by jealousy and power-lust. The main examples of "female empowerment" were sexuality and self-objectification, and throwing other women under the bus (or maw, in this case). Both teenage-me and adult-me would have appreciated more positive examples (and maybe like 3 fewer examples of men viewing Vivian as an underage slab of meat).
Writing: 3 stars (the writing style is decent but certainly not literature)
Story: 4 stars (I thought Klause had an interesting take on what I thought would be a standard urban fantasy love story.)
This review is from a recent reread, as the book jumped back into my head after about a decade for some reason. It held up much better than I expected! Vivian, the protagonist, is a stunning, highschool-aged werewolf (and she knows it). The novel centers around her falling in love with a human boy, and the fallout this brings upon herself and her pack, despite gaining the attentions of the pack's new leader. A bizarre string of murders complicate the plot.
While I had a hard time identifying with Vivian personally (especially when I first read this in my early teens), I thought she was a pretty accurate representation of a young woman who has grown up in a privileged position in her society, and has been taught and shown her whole life that her looks and strength are her greatest assets. It was rewarding to witness her forget about those aspects of herself as we ascended the climax of the novel. Yes, she is vain, relishes in her "womanly wiles" so to speak; she is also self-confident, comfortable in her sexuality (both of which were shockingly novel for teenage-me to see in a female lead - take that as you will), and loyal.
What I particularly appreciated was that the primary love triangle never devolved into a macho standoff between Vivian's love interests - in fact (other may disagree with me here), the lack of interaction between the two served to emphasize Vivian's coming of age struggle over the "finding a mate struggle." Gabe and Aiden represent two aspects of Vivian's life: the pack/family/wolf that she passionately loves, and the easy friendships she earns for (that are absent for her in the pack due to infighting and the extreme sexualization and objectification of women). One of the key themes that Vivian struggles with throughout the book is what it means to love and be loved, and she learns different elements of how she needs to be loved, and how to show love in return from both her love interests, as well as a few side characters. At the time of main story, she has no examples of healthy relationships to look to, so this self-discovery is really key to her growth as a character. The lesson that passion, dominance, and desire to protect don't constitute love, that love is inherently selfless is a key difference between this novel and the dozens of trashy werewolf-human romance novels floating around.
What I didn't like:
- It's irritating to have clues staring you (the reader) in the face, SAID by the main character, that she is still incapable of putting together (some credit here: shock and fear muddle the mind, and when you're a teenager everything feels like the end of the world already, without adding murders to the mix).
- There is a scene during police questioning where a VERY legally and morally questionable alibi is presented that the cops don't look into it at all. I missed this as a child but I CERTAINLY didn't miss it as an adult.
- The biggest issue for me is the treatment of women and inter-female relationships throughout the novel, but especially within the pack. The fact that when a woman dares to challenge the patriarchal power structure (a) she is "put in her place" well before any challenging man, and, worse, (b) that the primary reason she wanted to challenge the men was to gain power and leverage over the other women. There are other female characters that want to rebel against the power structure, but the only one who does is the one descending into madness that seems fueled by jealousy and power-lust. The main examples of "female empowerment" were sexuality and self-objectification, and throwing other women under the bus (or maw, in this case). Both teenage-me and adult-me would have appreciated more positive examples (and maybe like 3 fewer examples of men viewing Vivian as an underage slab of meat).
The book wasn't bad. I just didn't care to finish it. Wasn't holding my attention like others I've already read this year. So moving on
I had read reviews before reading this book and it's interesting to think them over after reading the book and deciding for myself how I felt. First off I just want to say that Aiden was a puss, he was easily hurt and honestly with her personality they probably wouldn't have lasted long anyway. What they had was sweet though but I really didn't feel like I liked Aiden that much anyway.
Some reviewers say that the message was stick with your own kind... No... To me, it was that you have to be yourself and live life being as true to yourself as you can and to do that you need to be with people who will accept and love you for being yourself, if someone can't accept you fully they aren't worth your time, don't dim yourself just to fit in because you think you want to be like someone or just be accepted by a group of people that can't appreciate you.
All in all I loved this book.
Some reviewers say that the message was stick with your own kind... No... To me, it was that you have to be yourself and live life being as true to yourself as you can and to do that you need to be with people who will accept and love you for being yourself, if someone can't accept you fully they aren't worth your time, don't dim yourself just to fit in because you think you want to be like someone or just be accepted by a group of people that can't appreciate you.
All in all I loved this book.
Enjoyed this one a lot, really nice to read a standalone book for one but also nice to have physically strong female protagonist, even if she can be a bit bitchy. But can't well all be at times? It's also pretty racy for YA, which was actually rather impressive.
I had no idea this was the book the film of the same name was based on when I picked it up. There are certainly have a lot of differences but the social structure is similar and one of the most interesting takes on the lore.
I had no idea this was the book the film of the same name was based on when I picked it up. There are certainly have a lot of differences but the social structure is similar and one of the most interesting takes on the lore.
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Blew through this as it was a fast paced book, but overall thought it was OK. I didn't really sympathize with the main character.