Reviews with content warning for Death - Mongrels

Mongrels is a coming of age story about a boy who lives with his aunt and uncle on the fringes of society. They are outcasts that are barely getting by and constantly on the move. The chapters of the book are vignettes of his life that are not always told in order. There will be a chapter when he is eleven and the next will be when he is fifteen and the next will go back to when he is nine. They also switch from first person to third person between chapters. Despite the confusion this could cause, it worked. All of the chapters and the stories they told fit together and the order makes sense for the story. While this is a story about werewolves, it is much more than that. It is a coming of age story about a boy trying to figure out his place in the world. It has a much more literary feel than other werewolf books I have read. I think that anyone that likes werewolf stories should include this in their reading plans, but that those that like more realism in their books may enjoy it too.

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anishinaabekwereads's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Let's talk about werewolves that make me want to cry. I'm pretty sure it's a feat unique to Stephen Graham Jones. I don't really do "monster" stories. I never much cared about vampires, never read many werewolf stories. I've never actually watched many werewolf flicks either. This might be why I put off reading Mongrels for so long. I was scared of the potential ambivalence. I shouldn't have been, of course, because SGJ pretty much always delivers for me. And like usual, I was holding back tears by the end.

It's hard to describe this book. It's "horror," but so much more. It's a story about a boy coming of age, about realizing the truth(s) of being a "mixedblood" child raised by (were)wolves. This story is about craving and longing and danger and thrill. It's about stories and survival. And mostly it's about unconditional love and growing up.

This book is bone and blood deep. I had to read it slowly because I dreamed too vividly while reading. As pretty much all of his work has content warnings, be aware of gore, violence, and animal and human death. If you're interested but have been waiting, don't wait any longer. Read this one now.

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bookishcori's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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pogue's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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minttangle's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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imrereads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I don't know whether to call this a horror novel, a coming of age, a story about family, a werewolf story... It's all of that, and more. I love the take on werewolves in this story, and how the lore is slowly being revealed. There are really intriguing characters, people with very skewed morals. It took me a bit to get into the story, but once I did I loved it. There's this alternating of first and third person chapters in a nonlinear timeline that's sown so well together.

This isn't a traditional horror story - if it even is horror. It's quite slow paced, and it follows an unnamed narrator as he grows up and comes of age, waiting to "wolf out" in his dysfunctional werewolf family without knowing for certain that he has the gene.

I recommend this book, but be vary of the warnings!

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catsy2022's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Rating: B

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones is a coming-of-age story about a boy living with his grandfather, aunt and uncle, who are werewolves. They skip between a few southern US states as the main character tries to survive with his family who are extremely poor due to their hidden nature and inability to stay in one place. It goes through the motions of his childhood as his family raise him to be a werewolf with the knowledge that maybe he isn't like them and desperately hoping for it to be so.

I found the story to be lacking but the world-building was really interesting. It was cool to see how the werewolves survive and grow in this version of our planet and how they're affected by the transformation. I think this was a really gripping story, which, unfortunately didn't really speak to me. I don't regret reading it, it was very easy to power through; it only took me two nights.

I would consider reading the other books by this author.

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