caedocyon's review against another edition
4.0
This has the distinction of being the first e-book I've ever bought. (Yes, despite the fact that I've had a kindle for over a year---Project Gutenberg, miscellaneous free ebooks, fanfic, and internet articles for the win!) The moment I saw "lesbian separatist werewolf hunters," I knew I HAD to have it.
The characters and writing were clunky in places, but not too bad. The best part is Moon's particular version of werewolf mythology, though! Much as I like Bitten and Stolen (which are my other go-to werewolf novels), their premise---that women are inherently unsuited to being werewolves---still pisses me off whenever I think about it. That's the dumbest damn thing I have ever heard; the only reason I can imagine Kelly Armstrong did it that way is that tired old stereotype about men being 'natural' and 'tough' and 'wild' and women being 'artificial' and 'weak' and 'civilizing.'
Well, Moon's book (and may it be the first of many) makes up for that disappointment. She uses the "drinking from a wolf's paw" myth! And her explanation of why women are better at being werewolves than men doesn't stop at biology. It's glorious. It's perfect. I won't spoil it for you. Just go read about lesbian separatist werewolf hunters, ok? You know you want to.
The characters and writing were clunky in places, but not too bad. The best part is Moon's particular version of werewolf mythology, though! Much as I like Bitten and Stolen (which are my other go-to werewolf novels), their premise---that women are inherently unsuited to being werewolves---still pisses me off whenever I think about it. That's the dumbest damn thing I have ever heard; the only reason I can imagine Kelly Armstrong did it that way is that tired old stereotype about men being 'natural' and 'tough' and 'wild' and women being 'artificial' and 'weak' and 'civilizing.'
Well, Moon's book (and may it be the first of many) makes up for that disappointment. She uses the "drinking from a wolf's paw" myth! And her explanation of why women are better at being werewolves than men doesn't stop at biology. It's glorious. It's perfect. I won't spoil it for you. Just go read about lesbian separatist werewolf hunters, ok? You know you want to.
kriona's review
2.0
A decent book - lots of sexy time, lots of non-sexy intimacy, the pace felt good. The secrets were well-revealed (none of it felt fake or forced), consent is well modeled (anything less than a "yes" is a "no"), the main character learns to speak for herself.
Reasons why I'm not going to read further books:
1) The book handles sexual assault extremely poorly. It's very bad. The person who was assaulted said something along the lines of, "the rape itself wasn't that bad". What the fuck. Nobody who has been sexually assaulted has ever said those words. The main character later defends the rapist and argues that he shouldn't be killed because he's innocent (of being a werewolf). This made me want to throw the book across the room.
2) There was a strong undercurrent of #notallmen. A group of women hunt male werewolves because male werewolves are murdering people, but a central point of the book is that this is bad because not all male werewolves are murdering people. The group of women is painted as extremist man-haters who go as far to frame male werewolves in order to justify their actions. Because the group of women are the only feminists in the book, it feels like the book is saying "feminism is bad". There are hints that the leader of the group is a TERF, but it it is never explicitly called out, so instead of making an actual bad guy (TERFs) the bad guy, it comes across as feminists being bad.
Reasons why I'm not going to read further books:
1) The book handles sexual assault extremely poorly. It's very bad. The person who was assaulted said something along the lines of, "the rape itself wasn't that bad". What the fuck. Nobody who has been sexually assaulted has ever said those words. The main character later defends the rapist and argues that he shouldn't be killed because he's innocent (of being a werewolf). This made me want to throw the book across the room.
2) There was a strong undercurrent of #notallmen. A group of women hunt male werewolves because male werewolves are murdering people, but a central point of the book is that this is bad because not all male werewolves are murdering people. The group of women is painted as extremist man-haters who go as far to frame male werewolves in order to justify their actions. Because the group of women are the only feminists in the book, it feels like the book is saying "feminism is bad". There are hints that the leader of the group is a TERF, but it it is never explicitly called out, so instead of making an actual bad guy (TERFs) the bad guy, it comes across as feminists being bad.
plumeriade's review
1.0
if you're going to write something that I've been waiting AGES for (like LESBIAN WEREWOLVES) it should be required to be good. this book is not.
there's a critique in one of the reviews that Lexie is a typical heroine who has things happen to her instead of making things happen - or having any sort of strong personality. that's 100% true. in addition, we're supposed to be AGAINST the scary radical lesbians killing rapists and murderers (there's an awful cheesy paragraph that says "it's as if they, by beating the male into submission, could unravel the karmic bindings that ensnarled so many women, each blow seeking to even the score" and Lexie is seriously like "omg how could you kill him, he's only a horrible rapist, not a werewolf!" at one point -- we get it, you're the good type of feminist lesbian who still loves men). yeah, I don't think so. I'd like to read a book with them as the protagonists instead.
lastly, there's just a bunch of small annoyances. Lexie, during only her second time having sex with a woman and presumably anyone, GETS FISTED. WHAT? then there's all the ridiculous descriptions of skin color: "birch," "walnut heartwood" (to describe a black woman, who also has "sturdy hips"), "incense" (to describe an Indian woman... that's not racist at all), and perhaps the best of all, "arid fields." she spends three paragraphs describing a woman's eyes. OH AND all the speeches about how labels are for soup cans. come on.
there's a critique in one of the reviews that Lexie is a typical heroine who has things happen to her instead of making things happen - or having any sort of strong personality. that's 100% true. in addition, we're supposed to be AGAINST the scary radical lesbians killing rapists and murderers (there's an awful cheesy paragraph that says "it's as if they, by beating the male into submission, could unravel the karmic bindings that ensnarled so many women, each blow seeking to even the score" and Lexie is seriously like "omg how could you kill him, he's only a horrible rapist, not a werewolf!" at one point -- we get it, you're the good type of feminist lesbian who still loves men). yeah, I don't think so. I'd like to read a book with them as the protagonists instead.
lastly, there's just a bunch of small annoyances. Lexie, during only her second time having sex with a woman and presumably anyone, GETS FISTED. WHAT? then there's all the ridiculous descriptions of skin color: "birch," "walnut heartwood" (to describe a black woman, who also has "sturdy hips"), "incense" (to describe an Indian woman... that's not racist at all), and perhaps the best of all, "arid fields." she spends three paragraphs describing a woman's eyes. OH AND all the speeches about how labels are for soup cans. come on.
legs_mcgee's review against another edition
2.0
Lesbian!! Werewolves!! You have no idea how excited I was for this book. To some friends, it was just about all I could talk about, because really. Queers and the supernatural, what more could a spooky queer want?
Unfortunately, 'lesbian werewolves' is a way better hook than the book ends up being.... There's a ton of problematic moments, going from kinda racist descriptions of POC to dealing with gender and sexuality as a whole in an icky way. At first I brushed it off, because it seems like a realistic way of dealing with gender and sexuality for someone from a small town who isn't surrounded by more progressive discussions of gender and sex but it just got even worse!
The protag really isn't a super likable character, overall, and most of it seems to stem from the fact that Moon is trying *so hard* to draw her audience in.
Shame, but it's the best I've seen out there about lesbian werewolves....
Unfortunately, 'lesbian werewolves' is a way better hook than the book ends up being.... There's a ton of problematic moments, going from kinda racist descriptions of POC to dealing with gender and sexuality as a whole in an icky way. At first I brushed it off, because it seems like a realistic way of dealing with gender and sexuality for someone from a small town who isn't surrounded by more progressive discussions of gender and sex but it just got even worse!
The protag really isn't a super likable character, overall, and most of it seems to stem from the fact that Moon is trying *so hard* to draw her audience in.
Shame, but it's the best I've seen out there about lesbian werewolves....
mothwing's review
3.0
2.5, really. Alexis "Lexie" encounters what, as I learned from US TV shows, many parents fear their daughters will encounter when going to college: women's studies, political lesbians, drug use, unprotected lesbian sex, sexual harassment, werewolves. Well, most of those items. After having taken care of her heart-broken single dad in the fantasy-heroine-home-maker-way after he was left disabled by a work accident, she does not go far to go to college. There, she discovers a group of radical feminists and becomes friends with them, faces her growing attraction to women, and discovers other secrets that she had not anticipated, like the fact that werewolves exist.
I enjoyed a lot of the werewolf lore the novel offers. While the way it was presented (flash-backing info-dump) did nothing for me, there were several cool ideas in there.
However, I really did not enjoy the way this book portrays feminism. The option the book presents here are both not very sane: militant, man-hating political lesbians and women-hating, murderous, rapist jocks. Even though it makes clear at the beginning that feminism means equality of the sexes, this notion is quickly questioned since the staunchest supporters of feminism "the Pack", turn out to be militant criminals and hypocrites.
Lexie tries to stay neutral because "not all men" and "few individual jerks". She never at any point thinks that a LOT of individual jerks are needed to arrive at the rape statistics her college seems to have and that all it needs is also the silent condoning of those few who aren't individual jerks (like people telling the person who grabbed her and told her not to become a lesbian) to knock it off, stat. She seems perfectly content with the situation as it is and only ever seems mildly bummed out at things - when she is attacked, when others are attacked, the only thing that get strong emotions out of her is murder. Which she gets over only pages later, however.
The romance, as ever, did nothing for me and doesn't seem healthy, though it's unheard of these days for a heroine to actually have a conversation with another person before they are tethered to them for life. Still, there are lesbian werewolves in this book! What's not to love.
I enjoyed a lot of the werewolf lore the novel offers. While the way it was presented (flash-backing info-dump) did nothing for me, there were several cool ideas in there
Spoiler
(hermaphroditic shape shifters able to choose their human appearance at will? Yes!)However, I really did not enjoy the way this book portrays feminism. The option the book presents here are both not very sane: militant, man-hating political lesbians and women-hating, murderous, rapist jocks
Spoiler
-some-of-whom-are-werewolves.Spoiler
, killing the men they do kill "because they are werewolves = non-human monsters", being werewolves themselves. Murderous vigilantism is nothing I condone, but it's strange to me that our Switzerland heroine or anybody ever ponders what their alternatives could be, since the system clearly leaves them to get raped and murdered and do nothing. Surely, at some point violent counter-actions are only to be anticipated?Lexie tries to stay neutral because "not all men" and "few individual jerks". She never at any point thinks that a LOT of individual jerks are needed to arrive at the rape statistics her college seems to have and that all it needs is also the silent condoning of those few who aren't individual jerks (like people telling the person who grabbed her and told her not to become a lesbian) to knock it off, stat. She seems perfectly content with the situation as it is and only ever seems mildly bummed out at things - when she is attacked, when others are attacked, the only thing that get strong emotions out of her is murder. Which she gets over only pages later, however.
The romance, as ever, did nothing for me and doesn't seem healthy, though it's unheard of these days for a heroine to actually have a conversation with another person before they are tethered to them for life. Still, there are lesbian werewolves in this book! What's not to love.
carolined314's review against another edition
2.0
This is a book full of lesbian gloriousness, with some amazing cliches. I recommend it.
amandable's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this. Feminist polyamorous lesbian werewolves sounds like my jam. But even I got sick of being bludgeoned over the head with clumsy feminist dogma. There were so many moments of, "No one actually talks like that."
A little while into the book, I wondered if I was accidentally reading Twilight, because the main character has almost no distinguishing characteristics and yet, everyone just loves and adores her immediately. In another review, I saw her described as "the kind of protagonist who has things happen to her, rather than causing things to happen." I agree, and though that is somewhat ameliorated in the ending, that just means that the decisions she makes feel out-of-character rather than like a sign of growth.
This book is full of great ideas that are poorly executed.
A little while into the book, I wondered if I was accidentally reading Twilight, because the main character has almost no distinguishing characteristics and yet, everyone just loves and adores her immediately. In another review, I saw her described as "the kind of protagonist who has things happen to her, rather than causing things to happen." I agree, and though that is somewhat ameliorated in the ending, that just means that the decisions she makes feel out-of-character rather than like a sign of growth.
This book is full of great ideas that are poorly executed.
firesoulbird's review
1.0
Urgh, I wish I'd started that worse than Twilight tag, because this book needs it. Seriously, I feel like a worse person for having read this. "Lesbian werewolves! That sounds awesome!" No. This book was clearly written by some reddit trash, because the "villains" are the types of feminists that they think actually exist. I'm surprised there was no bra burning scene, because that is exactly how cliche it was. I bet Moon goes on rants about "SJWs." Plus, Lexie is such an idiot. We are told constantly that she isn't, but her actions do not support that.
Oh, and this book needed an editor. Badly. At any rate, if there are good lesbian werewolf books out there, I'd like to know.
Spoiler
So I'm on team Blythe, because I really can't see the problem with killing rapists. They deserve it! But she's the bad guy, while Archer is totally ok, never mind she killed Lexie's mother, and some rando guy who didn't deserve it.Oh, and this book needed an editor. Badly. At any rate, if there are good lesbian werewolf books out there, I'd like to know.