By: Christine Johnson
Book Received from Simon Pulse for review
Synopsis (From Goodreads):
Torn between two destinies?
Claire is having the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: she's a werewolf.
As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever?
My Review: I want to start this review off on a good note. So, this book had a beautiful cover. It represented and captured the story beautifully. The dark tones of the cover mimic the dark tones of the book. The moon half-covered reflects Claire's uncertainty of who she is and where she belongs.
Claire was a very typical teenage girl. Her interests are in boys, friends, fitting in, and trying to have a relationship with her mother. Beyond that, she really doesn't care about much else. But, I think this makes her a character that many teenage girls would relate to. Her relationship with Matthew progresses very naturally and was written very well. Unfortunately, that is the only relationship that held any water with me.
I didn't like the concept of only women being werewolves. Mostly because it makes no biological sense. Ana from The Book Smugglers mentioned this in her review, and I have to agree. If you have only female werewolves, but yet you must mate with male humans to produce babies, eventually the "werewolf" gene would become so diluted that they would cease to exist. Let me illustrate this:
Werewolf female + Human male = Male human (miscarries) or female werewolf (now having 1/2 human genes from her father).
1/2 werewolf female + human male = male human (miscarries) or 1/4 female werewolf
See where I'm going with this? Eventually they would have so few werewolf genes left that you would just have a girl that has to shave more often during the full moon. The only way they could reproduce with purity is to clone themselves, and then they'd all look exactly alike. Not something that would work out so well if you were trying to stay on the down low.
Aside from the biological impossibility of an only female species, the cultural aspects really got under my skin. Again, I agree with Ana from Book Smugglers on this. Why in the world must you keep your daughters in the dark about their identity? In the world that Christine Johnson created, everyone knows that werewolves exist, so there just really isn't a lot to lose. Instead you drop a bombshell on their 16th birthday informing them that they can't date or have real relationships with humans. Oh, but don't worry, having a "pack" that you've never met before and can't relate to will make up for it. In a sort of bizarre way, this reminds me of mothers not talking to their daughters about puberty and all the changes that take place during adolescence so as not to "scare them." As if leaving them to figure it out themselves would be a much better alternative.
All that aside, this was a very quick read that younger teens who love werewolves will probably enjoy. The book moves along at a very good pace, and had some redeeming moments. (Specifically the relationship that develops between Claire and her mother).
My Rating:
Profanity: Mild
Sexualty: Mild; only kissing and general tension
Drugs and Alcohol: None
Violence: Mild
