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A review by gillianw
The Worst Werewolf by Jacqueline Rohrbach
3.0
https://justlovereviews.com/2017/02/13/worst-werewolf-jacqueline-rohrbach/#more-18645
2.5/5 stars
There are two things you should know before you read this book. 1 – this is not a romance, not in any way, shape or form, and 2 – the blurb is extremely misleading.
Now, I can accept the first point because I happen to love UF (Urban Fantasy) books. To me, UF and werewolves always seem to be a more natural fit than Romance and werewolves, because I like my shifters to have a real sense of danger. The less trustworthy they are around the humans, the more I like them. The second point, though, that’s a little tougher to swallow. The blurb is the thing that draws you in and helps you decide if this is the book for you. If the blurb only reflects the first 25% of the story, you might feel like you’re not getting what was promised. You might even feel misled.
I felt misled.
The Worst Werewolf is not the story in the blurb. It’s not the story of Tovin and Garvey, two ill-fated lovers in a dangerous time. Tovin and Garvey are barely an afterthought. In fact, they spend the majority of this book apart from each other. You can see why I felt like the blurb was akin to false advertising.
So, what is this book about? It’s actually comprised of several interconnected storylines, complicated werewolf pack politics, a large cast of characters (most of whom were introduced in the first 9% of the book) and whole lot of world building. In other words, there is A LOT of stuff going on in this book that wasn’t even hinted at in the blurb.
I felt like every time I turned a page, a new person or event was being introduced. And yeah, I get that the first book in any UF series always seems a wee bit bogged down in detail, but you can’t overwhelm the reader either. Reading this book felt like getting A Game of Thrones worth of characters and political intrigue condensed into 150 pages. I had to start taking notes to write down character names, pack names and their connection to one another, otherwise nothing would have made sense.
To be honest, it was sheer stubbornness that kept me reading this book because I felt like bailing several times before I finally got to the end. But just when I thought I was getting a handle on things, the book went and confused me all over again, introducing some sort of portal protected by werewolves on one side, humans on the other and some very creepy vampires locked in between.
And after all that, it had to end on a cliffhanger.
Reader, I nearly screamed.
Look, this book isn’t terrible. In fact, there are some interesting storylines at play. I just feel like it should either have been longer, giving more time for the story to play out, or pared down and allowed to spread out over several installments. But as it is, well, you shouldn’t have to create a spreadsheet for yourself to keep up with the characters and how they relate to one another. Some people might find working in an Excel a fun way to spend the evening. Me? Not so much.
If you love UF novels and if you love complicated storylines and a cast of interestingly named characters, then, by all means, give this one a shot. At least you can consider yourself armed with the knowledge that you are not getting the book noted in the summary.
But for the love of all that is holy, won’t someone please fix that blurb??!
I received an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.
2.5/5 stars
There are two things you should know before you read this book. 1 – this is not a romance, not in any way, shape or form, and 2 – the blurb is extremely misleading.
Now, I can accept the first point because I happen to love UF (Urban Fantasy) books. To me, UF and werewolves always seem to be a more natural fit than Romance and werewolves, because I like my shifters to have a real sense of danger. The less trustworthy they are around the humans, the more I like them. The second point, though, that’s a little tougher to swallow. The blurb is the thing that draws you in and helps you decide if this is the book for you. If the blurb only reflects the first 25% of the story, you might feel like you’re not getting what was promised. You might even feel misled.
I felt misled.
The Worst Werewolf is not the story in the blurb. It’s not the story of Tovin and Garvey, two ill-fated lovers in a dangerous time. Tovin and Garvey are barely an afterthought. In fact, they spend the majority of this book apart from each other. You can see why I felt like the blurb was akin to false advertising.
So, what is this book about? It’s actually comprised of several interconnected storylines, complicated werewolf pack politics, a large cast of characters (most of whom were introduced in the first 9% of the book) and whole lot of world building. In other words, there is A LOT of stuff going on in this book that wasn’t even hinted at in the blurb.
I felt like every time I turned a page, a new person or event was being introduced. And yeah, I get that the first book in any UF series always seems a wee bit bogged down in detail, but you can’t overwhelm the reader either. Reading this book felt like getting A Game of Thrones worth of characters and political intrigue condensed into 150 pages. I had to start taking notes to write down character names, pack names and their connection to one another, otherwise nothing would have made sense.
To be honest, it was sheer stubbornness that kept me reading this book because I felt like bailing several times before I finally got to the end. But just when I thought I was getting a handle on things, the book went and confused me all over again, introducing some sort of portal protected by werewolves on one side, humans on the other and some very creepy vampires locked in between.
And after all that, it had to end on a cliffhanger.
Reader, I nearly screamed.
Look, this book isn’t terrible. In fact, there are some interesting storylines at play. I just feel like it should either have been longer, giving more time for the story to play out, or pared down and allowed to spread out over several installments. But as it is, well, you shouldn’t have to create a spreadsheet for yourself to keep up with the characters and how they relate to one another. Some people might find working in an Excel a fun way to spend the evening. Me? Not so much.
If you love UF novels and if you love complicated storylines and a cast of interestingly named characters, then, by all means, give this one a shot. At least you can consider yourself armed with the knowledge that you are not getting the book noted in the summary.
But for the love of all that is holy, won’t someone please fix that blurb??!
I received an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.