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crowinator 's review for:
The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group
by Catherine Jinks
I love Catherine Jinks because she created Pagan, one of the best characters ever and the reason I learned that I can actually enjoy historical fiction when it's well-written, and I've mostly enjoyed her Genius series, too, but I found this book ultimately frustrating. I thought her new paranormal series was supposed to be an unusual take on the common YA vampire/werewolf myths and at least a little funny, but I found most of the characters annoying (especially the ones that recur from the first book, which is the majority of them), and only Toby and his mother get any personality or character development (though I will say, that I did like Toby and his mom a great deal, and I liked the role his mom played in the story).
The narrative was overly talky and repetitive (I can't even count the times Toby says things like, "I should tell you, by the way . . . " and "I'd better explain . . . " and "Before I go any farther, I should mention . . . " and so on). Little happens in the story for the first 200 pages except that two strangers stalk Toby, telling him he's a werewolf and he should allow them to lock him up on the full moon, which eventually wins him over for reasons I can't fathom. (Given that NOBODY turns into a werewolf in the book until the very end, and then when Toby finally becomes one, it's for about three sentences, off-page, no less, I can't figure out why he lets go of his skepticism as early as he does, though at least he does hold on to it for long enough to not look totally stupid.) Like Toby's mother, I would want some more proof that my son is a dangerous werewolf than having a pair of complete strangers sit in my living room and tell me about it. Like, actual proof. And given that they never present any proof, I would do as she did, and kick them out and threaten to call the police.
Basically, Toby's mom is the most awesome part of this book. She is the only character in the book who reacts like a real person would in the situations she finds herself and her son in, without appearing dense, negligent, or willfully blind. She is actually quite a great mom character for a supernatural book, supportive and realistic, and I wish we'd see more parents like her in this genre.
Enough action happens in the latter half that the book should be exciting, and it definitely had its moments, like when Toby's love for Jackass-style stunts and delinquent pranks helped him escape his captors. Some of that stuff was ingenious and true to the character. But mostly, I found myself skimming over whenever characters would talk to each other, and that's never good, especially since many scenes are dialogue-heavy. One character in particular had the most atrociously written dialect, and the others were all blank and kind of depressing. They over-processed everything, which could have been a funny send-up of group meetings but was actually kind of boring to read. The most interesting idea -- the underground werewolf fighting ring -- never goes anywhere, and that was a major disappointment, because it would have added some actual werewolf action to this novel. Mostly, other characters hint darkly about their past fighting in the werewolf ring (without going in to too much detail) to explain why they're so angsty, but the tension kind of fizzles when you realize that Toby is never going to experience this for even a second. The latter half of the book is actually him trying to stop the others from taking revenge on their red-neck captors.
Maybe I would have liked this more if I'd read the companion novel first, or maybe my sense of humor is impaired (always possible!), but this didn't live up to my expectations as a smart parody of teen paranormal lit or even as a standard action-filled genre offering.
The narrative was overly talky and repetitive (I can't even count the times Toby says things like, "I should tell you, by the way . . . " and "I'd better explain . . . " and "Before I go any farther, I should mention . . . " and so on). Little happens in the story for the first 200 pages except that two strangers stalk Toby, telling him he's a werewolf and he should allow them to lock him up on the full moon, which eventually wins him over for reasons I can't fathom. (Given that NOBODY turns into a werewolf in the book until the very end, and then when Toby finally becomes one, it's for about three sentences, off-page, no less, I can't figure out why he lets go of his skepticism as early as he does, though at least he does hold on to it for long enough to not look totally stupid.) Like Toby's mother, I would want some more proof that my son is a dangerous werewolf than having a pair of complete strangers sit in my living room and tell me about it. Like, actual proof. And given that they never present any proof, I would do as she did, and kick them out and threaten to call the police.
Basically, Toby's mom is the most awesome part of this book. She is the only character in the book who reacts like a real person would in the situations she finds herself and her son in, without appearing dense, negligent, or willfully blind. She is actually quite a great mom character for a supernatural book, supportive and realistic, and I wish we'd see more parents like her in this genre.
Enough action happens in the latter half that the book should be exciting, and it definitely had its moments, like when Toby's love for Jackass-style stunts and delinquent pranks helped him escape his captors. Some of that stuff was ingenious and true to the character. But mostly, I found myself skimming over whenever characters would talk to each other, and that's never good, especially since many scenes are dialogue-heavy. One character in particular had the most atrociously written dialect, and the others were all blank and kind of depressing. They over-processed everything, which could have been a funny send-up of group meetings but was actually kind of boring to read. The most interesting idea -- the underground werewolf fighting ring -- never goes anywhere, and that was a major disappointment, because it would have added some actual werewolf action to this novel. Mostly, other characters hint darkly about their past fighting in the werewolf ring (without going in to too much detail) to explain why they're so angsty, but the tension kind of fizzles when you realize that Toby is never going to experience this for even a second. The latter half of the book is actually him trying to stop the others from taking revenge on their red-neck captors.
Maybe I would have liked this more if I'd read the companion novel first, or maybe my sense of humor is impaired (always possible!), but this didn't live up to my expectations as a smart parody of teen paranormal lit or even as a standard action-filled genre offering.