cuppa_curiositea's review
4.0
**3.5**
I really enjoyed the story! It follows Syrenthia, a pretty stereotypical friendless nerd in high school. When a few students are finally nice to her she's a bit skeptical about their intentions, but she can't resist accepting them as friends when she finds out a couple of them are just as intrigued by the occult as she is. There is a legend in this town about a place in the woods where people go missing, and just like classic horror-genre teenagers, they make plans to camp out there! As expected, they get attacked, and only a couple of them survive. The primary protagonist, Syrenthia, gets pretty battered from the attack and begins her transformation into a werewolf.
First of all, I was really happy with the attention and time given to the actual transformation process. I don't have a lot of werewolf-story background, but I feel like life-changing transformations like this are often sped through to get to the post-transformation action, so it was really nice to see the process get fleshed out! The relationship dynamics are complicated and intriguing throughout each stage of the story, and the characters feel very real.
My major issue was the writing. It seemed like it was trying too hard to sound "writerly," so it was really hard to distinguish a unique style or natural flow of the micro-level writing. A lot of it felt forced (the writing itself, not the actual story) and didn't match the voice expected from the teenagers' perspectives at all.
I really enjoyed the story! It follows Syrenthia, a pretty stereotypical friendless nerd in high school. When a few students are finally nice to her she's a bit skeptical about their intentions, but she can't resist accepting them as friends when she finds out a couple of them are just as intrigued by the occult as she is. There is a legend in this town about a place in the woods where people go missing, and just like classic horror-genre teenagers, they make plans to camp out there! As expected, they get attacked, and only a couple of them survive. The primary protagonist, Syrenthia, gets pretty battered from the attack and begins her transformation into a werewolf.
First of all, I was really happy with the attention and time given to the actual transformation process. I don't have a lot of werewolf-story background, but I feel like life-changing transformations like this are often sped through to get to the post-transformation action, so it was really nice to see the process get fleshed out! The relationship dynamics are complicated and intriguing throughout each stage of the story, and the characters feel very real.
My major issue was the writing. It seemed like it was trying too hard to sound "writerly," so it was really hard to distinguish a unique style or natural flow of the micro-level writing. A lot of it felt forced (the writing itself, not the actual story) and didn't match the voice expected from the teenagers' perspectives at all.
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