A review by demonxore
Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
SGJ always knocks it out of the park, but Mongrels was especially resonant for me. The "home" environment the adolescent narrator grows up in is very similar to mine, although my family were not werewolves but a different type of monster. "Home" was an endless string of trailers, motel rooms, couches of acquaintances, the backseats of whatever jalopies we happened upon. I stopped counting the school systems I'd been through at number 13. The adults in my life were uneducated, dead-ended, irresponsible, and overall hopeless. They had no knowledge of how to get out of the lives they'd dug themselves into, so they dug their heels in ever deeper.
This book brought up a lot of old feelings and experiences, but not in a bad way. It's good knowing someone out there has gone through this and can articulate it (extremely well, in the case of SGJ) to others who can't connect as well with their upbringing. I hope there are more authors who keep telling the stories of mongrels, inspiring urchins like me to break the mold.
This book brought up a lot of old feelings and experiences, but not in a bad way. It's good knowing someone out there has gone through this and can articulate it (extremely well, in the case of SGJ) to others who can't connect as well with their upbringing. I hope there are more authors who keep telling the stories of mongrels, inspiring urchins like me to break the mold.