octopus_farmer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
2.5
gonna be honest, not sure why i read this one. Pretty fair urban fantasy mystery, but not a series i’ll continue with. if youve read a werewolf book, you know the appeals and problems. read with all-dressed chips and gas station pizza
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Gore
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment
sflory910's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A good, quick read! A little cliched, but still enjoyable. I’m excited to read the next in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Gun violence
polter6eist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, and Child abuse
dreamerfreak's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Death
Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, and Sexual assault
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Mercy is half Native American, and a walker, she transforms into a coyote and was partly raised by a werewolf pack. This puts her in an odd position relative to the werewolves, as she’s somewhat entangled in their hierarchy but isn’t trying to be part of it.
As the first book in the series, MOON CALLED establishes the presence of various supernatural factions such as werewolves, vampires, witches, fey, and Native American people like Mercy. It focuses on the current precarious position in which the werewolves find themselves; many of the lesser fae came out in a controlled manner several years ago, but the werewolves are an open secret in military circles. This sets up those groups and some of the relationships between them, including between Adam’s pack and the Marrok’s pack in the mountains. It also establishes Mercy’s history with Sam and her current position relative to Adam (living nearby and taking joy in simple pleasures, like annoying him with the car in her yard).
The plot revolves around a strange werewolf who shows up in town and then is attacked in Mercy’s presence, setting off a string of conflicts which involve kidnappings and an elaborate plan. It has some twists and turns but is pretty easy to follow. The meeting with the vampires has always felt a bit out of place in this story, but it’s serving to set up some things that’ll come into play later on. It’s a solid story with a lot of ground to cover, and it does it well. MOON CALLED is a great start to the series.
As the first book in the series, MOON CALLED establishes the presence of various supernatural factions such as werewolves, vampires, witches, fey, and Native American people like Mercy. It focuses on the current precarious position in which the werewolves find themselves; many of the lesser fae came out in a controlled manner several years ago, but the werewolves are an open secret in military circles. This sets up those groups and some of the relationships between them, including between Adam’s pack and the Marrok’s pack in the mountains. It also establishes Mercy’s history with Sam and her current position relative to Adam (living nearby and taking joy in simple pleasures, like annoying him with the car in her yard).
The plot revolves around a strange werewolf who shows up in town and then is attacked in Mercy’s presence, setting off a string of conflicts which involve kidnappings and an elaborate plan. It has some twists and turns but is pretty easy to follow. The meeting with the vampires has always felt a bit out of place in this story, but it’s serving to set up some things that’ll come into play later on. It’s a solid story with a lot of ground to cover, and it does it well. MOON CALLED is a great start to the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Sexism, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Rape, Child death, Death of parent, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Vomit, War, and Suicide
misterwisp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The strong points are that it's a fast paced read and has a well written main character. The setting is straightforward urban fantasy where supernatural creatures are real and in the modern world etc. This version of that has the supernatural world only being partially publicly known. Only one type of creature is known openly in regular human society but others are not.
The big focus is on werewolves and their society. There is much ado about pack dominance structure that felt like it took itself too seriously and came across a bit dated and boring. There is all this stuff about how the Alpha can't show weakness around his pack and there are all sorts of hierarchy dynamics that play out. Only the men can be alphas and so on. The main character is outside of all of this and has to navigate through it, so I think it's maybe meant to be an analogy for regular real world society, but it felt a bit too cliche to really be something to like reading about. The main character is fun but all the werewolf ones seemed kind of obnoxious and I didn't understand what Mercy Thompson saw in them. In real life the whole idea of an "alpha" wolf leading others through dominance is being debunked, so maybe I brought that into the book more than I should have.
The ending felt a bit convoluted and too easy.
It was good to read and I think well written in terms of the main character and world. I think one's enjoyment depends on how much you're willing to tolerate stereotypes of "alpha" men. Despite the cringey parts I was left somewhat still wanting to try the sequel which I think shows the writing has strong points.
The big focus is on werewolves and their society. There is much ado about pack dominance structure that felt like it took itself too seriously and came across a bit dated and boring. There is all this stuff about how the Alpha can't show weakness around his pack and there are all sorts of hierarchy dynamics that play out. Only the men can be alphas and so on. The main character is outside of all of this and has to navigate through it, so I think it's maybe meant to be an analogy for regular real world society, but it felt a bit too cliche to really be something to like reading about. The main character is fun but all the werewolf ones seemed kind of obnoxious and I didn't understand what Mercy Thompson saw in them. In real life the whole idea of an "alpha" wolf leading others through dominance is being debunked, so maybe I brought that into the book more than I should have.
The ending felt a bit convoluted and too easy.
It was good to read and I think well written in terms of the main character and world. I think one's enjoyment depends on how much you're willing to tolerate stereotypes of "alpha" men. Despite the cringey parts I was left somewhat still wanting to try the sequel which I think shows the writing has strong points.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, and Gun violence
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Miscarriage
Spoiler
it is mentioned in passing about minor side characters having experienced miscarriages in the pastbrennaa's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
As much as I enjoy the story, the prevalent Christianity and cultural appropriation of Indigenous cultures and beliefs means I won't be spending any more money on this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Confinement, Blood, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Suicide, and Colonisation
Minor: Animal death, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault
matthewclan's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Gun violence and Kidnapping
house_of_hannah's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is a book that I definitely would not have picked up normally. I dislike the cover, and the summary leaves a lot to be desired. However, I've been interested lately in trying out the Urban Fantasy genre as, besides Moon Called, I think I only read one book in this genre this year. Several Booktubers I follow have given this series some major praise, so I figured I'd give it a try and see for myself. In the end I'd rate this a high 3, because I do think it's above average, but a low 4.
To start off the pace of this story is slower than you would expect. Only a few days pass by in the entire book, but it feels like weeks. I did find it a bit difficult to stay invested in the book, so I did take a break from reading this for a few weeks to read some shorter stories. However, once I hit about the 60% mark of the book I couldn't put it down.
I do really enjoy the way that the Werewolves and Vampires are portrayed. Or at least for the most part. Their history and way of life is interesting, but the whole, "omg, there's two males in the same space as a woman, they are going to fight over her!!" shtick got old really fast. Essentially every male Mercy encounters wants to "make her theirs", so there's a lot of metaphorical dick swinging as everyone clambers over each other to get to her.
The mystery itself I found intriguing, and was a clever way to introduce part of the world the story takes place in. This is what I was invested in during the last half of the book, but unfortunately the climax is a little lacking. I found myself thinking, "wait, that's it?" and re-reading a few paragraphs to make sure I understood it right.
Overall, there is quite a bit of tension, action (the non-sexual kind), lore, and mystery in this novel. I did enjoy it more than I was expecting I would, but it's not without it's flaws. I am unsure if I will continue with the series, but if I do it will be a few months before I pick up the second book.
To start off the pace of this story is slower than you would expect. Only a few days pass by in the entire book, but it feels like weeks. I did find it a bit difficult to stay invested in the book, so I did take a break from reading this for a few weeks to read some shorter stories. However, once I hit about the 60% mark of the book I couldn't put it down.
I do really enjoy the way that the Werewolves and Vampires are portrayed. Or at least for the most part. Their history and way of life is interesting, but the whole, "omg, there's two males in the same space as a woman, they are going to fight over her!!" shtick got old really fast. Essentially every male Mercy encounters wants to "make her theirs", so there's a lot of metaphorical dick swinging as everyone clambers over each other to get to her.
The mystery itself I found intriguing, and was a clever way to introduce part of the world the story takes place in. This is what I was invested in during the last half of the book, but unfortunately the climax is a little lacking. I found myself thinking, "wait, that's it?" and re-reading a few paragraphs to make sure I understood it right.
Overall, there is quite a bit of tension, action (the non-sexual kind), lore, and mystery in this novel. I did enjoy it more than I was expecting I would, but it's not without it's flaws. I am unsure if I will continue with the series, but if I do it will be a few months before I pick up the second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Confinement, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexism
Minor: Cancer, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Toxic relationship
the_escapist's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Violence, Kidnapping, and Death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, and Homophobia