Our super-cool protagonist returns home to stay with her pregnant twin sister, when homecoming and incipient romance shenanigans are interrupted by a Our super-cool protagonist returns home to stay with her pregnant twin sister, when homecoming and incipient romance shenanigans are interrupted by a werewolf attack. The smash cut to werewolf is appreciated, the ultra-short paragraphs and confessional tone have momentum, I did get through this. But this is a contemporary romance at its heart and, as such, not for me. The werewolf is a big part, and interestingly gross at times, but it's primarily thematic and it's repetitively thematic (transforming to a werewolf parallels various female losses of bodily autonomy), the rest of the plot is unexceptional, and it ends as conventionally as it can: werewolf problem? found a workaround. promiscuity? not once you get a boyfriend! social & body dysphoria during pregnancy? don't worry the baby will fix all that. Just read Tokuda-Hall's Squad, which has similar but more complex themes, a constrained length, and much sharper teeth. ...more
3.5 stars, rounded up because of the art. A very Halloweeny read, with the familiar list of cliché monsters and a vibrant nighttime color palette. Thi3.5 stars, rounded up because of the art. A very Halloweeny read, with the familiar list of cliché monsters and a vibrant nighttime color palette. This is very fun, very tight & polished, verging on overwritten (both narrative and art). So it lacks the larger-than-itself weirdness and liminality that makes a picture book really memorable - ironic, as it's about an overactive imagination - but I like it fine....more
On one hand, exactly what I would expect from "Mean Girls but sapphic werewolves"; on the other: it's Mean Girls, but sapphic werewolves, and I'm hereOn one hand, exactly what I would expect from "Mean Girls but sapphic werewolves"; on the other: it's Mean Girls, but sapphic werewolves, and I'm here for that. In striking a tonal balance, horror-but-fun, and cleaving to a single-volume length, this of course raises issues it never resolves, and those are so much less palatable and more interesting than the werewolves = hunger = anger = teen girl experience metaphor we get, which is resonant but broad; I wish fewer pages were stolen by the sweet but simple resolution. But taken within its limitations, this is delightful. Solid art, even if I don't love the wolves, fun reading experience, well constrained....more
Move to Florida; fear there's a werewolf in the swamp nearby. This is pretty fun. The atmosphere is consistent and strong, 100% and always about swampMove to Florida; fear there's a werewolf in the swamp nearby. This is pretty fun. The atmosphere is consistent and strong, 100% and always about swamp and werewolf. Every chapter ending in a cliffhanger makes for constant fake-outs that undermine the actual scares, but it's also so tropey that it's difficult to fault it, and at this length it doesn't overstay its welcome. My only real complaint is the elder sister character, who has no personality beyond what will most conveniently build social tension into the plot. As far as I remember, I didn't grow up with this, but it feels like what I expect from Goosebumps: atmospheric, totally committed to the bit, but definitely silly. ...more
With Elena gone, her friends carry on--but a vision from Elena warns Bonnie that a new danger has come to town. Book 3 was great, so I regret that I dWith Elena gone, her friends carry on--but a vision from Elena warns Bonnie that a new danger has come to town. Book 3 was great, so I regret that I didn't really like this one. There are good elements: the wonderland-nightmare imagery of the vision, Bonnie's character arc, some more great vampire scenes (particularly the homoerotic moment between Damon and Matt). But, as with the previous book, I don't care about the antagonist. This series tends to offer strong character arcs, great vampires, and disappointingly predictable YA plots; this installment is particularly heavy on the last....more
Homo homini lupus, indeed. This begins as a black humor bildungsroman following a boy whose fevered dreams may mean he is in fact becoming a murderousHomo homini lupus, indeed. This begins as a black humor bildungsroman following a boy whose fevered dreams may mean he is in fact becoming a murderous wolf, then expands into something larger and more bitter, a contemplation of humanity's persistent awfulness in the form of war. The werewolf is simultaneously emblematic and inconsequential: man is a wolf to man, and against that can one wolfman's dozen murders truly matter? It's a great thesis--which doesn't really improve the text's weaker elements, like the concept of inherited evil/nature vs. nurture, a touchy subject unsatisfactorily explored, or the fact that the intricacies of the Franco-Prussian war don't make for great reading; but these flaws are balanced by powerful, id-grabbing elements, particularly insights into the werewolf's self-concept and his intense, violent romance. A fascinating read, especially for werewolf fanatics, although its takeaways on the trope now feel a little on the nose. 3.5 stars, rounded up....more
Beautifully illustrated, with hazy, almost abstract watercolors picked out by pastel detailing in improbable muted rainbows of fur and leaves. The panBeautifully illustrated, with hazy, almost abstract watercolors picked out by pastel detailing in improbable muted rainbows of fur and leaves. The panels which divide the pages add back narrative progression and build effective vignettes. I love red riding hood, and was familiar with the content of similar East Asian tales, but reading one as a story rather than summary is a different experience and I'm glad for it. If iconic imagery is absent, that's also true of pre-17th century antecedents to the European version, and the dialog between daughter(s) and wolf-grandmother and the wily problem-solving is familiar--and centralized, to engaging effect.
This also has a fantastic dedication--"To all the wolves of the world for lending their good name as a tangible symbol of our darkness" (over a figure legible both as wolf and human)--which, I confess, I may love most of all. ...more
A nonfiction overview that attributes werewolves not to magical transformation but to insanity and violence which convinces individuals that they've bA nonfiction overview that attributes werewolves not to magical transformation but to insanity and violence which convinces individuals that they've become beasts and/or is so monstrous that it's described in inhuman terms. It holds together as an argument but not especially well as a book. I wish it asked why wolves in particular reoccur as a symbol of the dehumanized man; it shows its age in arguments such as "obviously, they weren't transforming--they were just possessed, but the prevalence of baptisms has since solved that problem"; the second half covers infamous or interesting murders, notably multiple chapters on Gilles de Rais, and while these cases are suitably monstrous they aren't, as far as I know or the text acknowledges, attributed to or framed in the language of werewolves.
But these issues don't impede the text's baseline readability. It's approachable, short, engaging. The breadth of research is impressive given that this was published in 1865. And insofar as it's one of the classic werewolf texts, its holds up--not for being especially good, but for being satisfying: the obvious, diverse love of the subject matter from ancient Norse mythology to contemporary folklore; the reasonable skepticism that wraps back around to a macabre and borderline-unjustified (in context, that is) fascination with monstrous acts. It feels right, regardless of objective quality....more
Don't let the book & chapter titles fool you, because this is more pulpy than evocative and the writing is sometimes just bad, like the comical (albeiDon't let the book & chapter titles fool you, because this is more pulpy than evocative and the writing is sometimes just bad, like the comical (albeit sympathetic--they are great words!) overuse of "taut" and "consternation." But kudos that the cliché "naked lady with sabertooth tiger" covers actually reflects a scene in the book, and what fails to be good can still be interesting: This develops werewolf/shapeshifter science fantasy lore rooted in quantum physics and genetics, and while it's never convincing and the genetic elements are as problematic as you'd expect, it's wildly unique. Obviously it didn't go on to become a standard element of the werewolf trope, but the way it reflects (and perhaps instigates) the trope's relationship with internal logic and scientific explanation is engaging. The unreliable narrator-cum-sympathetic antagonist is less successful because the modern reader, equipped with genre knowledge, is forever a step ahead; perhaps in 1948, it felt fresh. ...more
The adventures of a werewolf, her new werewolf girlfriend, and their group of magical friends. I'll be the first to admit that I'm burned out on TumblThe adventures of a werewolf, her new werewolf girlfriend, and their group of magical friends. I'll be the first to admit that I'm burned out on Tumblr-aesthetic diversity-bingo feel-good comics, and this is very much of that style. But what gets me is the slapstick humor and antagonistic characters in the background. Conflict can be productive (even clichés like bad communication in romantic relationships) and it could be used to balance the tone, but these acts of petty violence and verbal abuse are treated more like comic relief and it's wildly discordant. The rest of this is fine: a charmingly creative and diverse cast, some successful emotional moments, less successful attempts to complicate the narrative structure. If well-intended cloying fluff is a bonus, maybe this works; I found it too sweet and too petty, and won't continue. ...more
I was slow to invest in this, despite the excessively evocative descriptions of the barren German forest, because it's so external: an observation of I was slow to invest in this, despite the excessively evocative descriptions of the barren German forest, because it's so external: an observation of the werewolf as a dreamlike illness; distant, impersonal. But the outside view allows for the werewolf to be Othered, something less than human but more than animal, interacting with humans in a unique way:
It is a very strange feeling to be hunting down a fellow-creature; for, after all, that unhappy woman was of our own kind and nature; endowed like ourselves with an immortal soul to be saved, she felt, and thought, and reflected like ourselves. It is true that a strange perversion of human nature had brought her near to the nature of the wolf, and that some great mystery overshadowed her being. No doubt a wandering life had obliterated the moral sense in her, and even almost effaced the human character; but still nothing in the world can give one man a right to exercise over another the dominion of the man over the brute.
And yet a burning ardour hurried us on in pursuit; my blood was at fever heat; I was determined to stand at no obstacle in laying hold of this extraordinary being. A wolf-hunt or a boar-hunt would not have excited me near so much.
This is an early werewolf story, and I love that these early examples can feel fresh, exploring aspects that haven't become central to a trope with defined, repetitious elements. But however interesting, I still didn't enjoy this, and it holds no candle to Clemence Housman's The Were-Wolf, also early werewolf fiction, also engaging a relatively unexplored element of the trope, but distinctly more captivating....more