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motherhorror 's review for:
Mongrels
by Stephen Graham Jones
“Always feed a wolf his fill," the old woman quotes out loud, "lest you wake with your throat in his jaws.”
Until very recently, I always thought that lycanthropy was a made up condition. Human beings don't really turn into human-wolf hybrids under a full moon--ripping through their clothes and feasting on hapless prey. But I just finished Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones a few days ago, a buddy read with my pal Mindi and now I'm pretty sure Dr. Jones is an actual werewolf and he wrote this "fictional" handbook of sorts so that horror fans could be believers.
*raising my hand* I'm a believer!
This book has hundreds of reviews so I'm not feeling like I'm going to add anything new to the fray but I want to impress upon anyone who maybe hasn't read this book (I'm the last one to finish, aren't I?) that this is hands down the best novel about werewolves on the market.
Jones has built so much realism into lycanthropy lore that Mongrels could be the gold standard on which all others could be compared.
And just to make the package even more delicious, there's a sweet coming-of-age tale in these pages told in a fashion that I have already come to love about SGJ. If you've read his novella, MAPPING THE INTERIOR, you'll know what I mean. If you haven't, I'll say that the 10 year old protagonist in MONGRELS reads like the true-to-life narrative of a real child finding his identity in this world and in the context of his family--a "den of werewolves". My favorite aspect of this story was the thread of change/transformation woven through all the lessons and vignettes.
Will he or won't he? Is he or isn't he? These are the questions between the lines and it was a fantastic way for SGJ to keep his reader invested until the final pages. The ending was exactly what I wanted. As the story wound down to its conclusion, it was infused with emotion and a lingering sense of longing for the story to continue. I could have read about this family for a long time. This stems from everything that SGJ is busy doing in the subtext--because even though this book has its lighter moments and some laugh-out-loud surprises, the weight of the underlying themes were ever present and tugging at my heart strings.
Boys want to belong. They want to have a tribe. They want to feel important, loved for who they are and they want to have a place in this world. To be noticed--and not for being different in a negative way--they want to be different in a way that people celebrate.
This book made my heart explode, honestly.
I'll never see werewolves the same again.
Or French Fries and Pantyhose.
Until very recently, I always thought that lycanthropy was a made up condition. Human beings don't really turn into human-wolf hybrids under a full moon--ripping through their clothes and feasting on hapless prey. But I just finished Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones a few days ago, a buddy read with my pal Mindi and now I'm pretty sure Dr. Jones is an actual werewolf and he wrote this "fictional" handbook of sorts so that horror fans could be believers.
*raising my hand* I'm a believer!
This book has hundreds of reviews so I'm not feeling like I'm going to add anything new to the fray but I want to impress upon anyone who maybe hasn't read this book (I'm the last one to finish, aren't I?) that this is hands down the best novel about werewolves on the market.
Jones has built so much realism into lycanthropy lore that Mongrels could be the gold standard on which all others could be compared.
And just to make the package even more delicious, there's a sweet coming-of-age tale in these pages told in a fashion that I have already come to love about SGJ. If you've read his novella, MAPPING THE INTERIOR, you'll know what I mean. If you haven't, I'll say that the 10 year old protagonist in MONGRELS reads like the true-to-life narrative of a real child finding his identity in this world and in the context of his family--a "den of werewolves". My favorite aspect of this story was the thread of change/transformation woven through all the lessons and vignettes.
Will he or won't he? Is he or isn't he? These are the questions between the lines and it was a fantastic way for SGJ to keep his reader invested until the final pages. The ending was exactly what I wanted. As the story wound down to its conclusion, it was infused with emotion and a lingering sense of longing for the story to continue. I could have read about this family for a long time. This stems from everything that SGJ is busy doing in the subtext--because even though this book has its lighter moments and some laugh-out-loud surprises, the weight of the underlying themes were ever present and tugging at my heart strings.
Boys want to belong. They want to have a tribe. They want to feel important, loved for who they are and they want to have a place in this world. To be noticed--and not for being different in a negative way--they want to be different in a way that people celebrate.
This book made my heart explode, honestly.
I'll never see werewolves the same again.
Or French Fries and Pantyhose.