Werewolves are cool - finally

-

Curse of the Wolf Girl - Martin Millar
2010, Piatkus, 534 pages
I have read Millar’s other works and I loved ‘The Good Fairies of New York’ and the first in the wolf girl series ‘Lonely Werewolf Girl’. Both of those works are dazzling and some of the best urban fantasy reading I have ever done. The follow up to ‘Lonely Werewolf Girl’ is somewhat of a disappointment.
Picking up from the first novel we see Kalix the teenage werewolf trying to make a normal life, she is attending school and trying to get along with everyone. A series of events bring back into conflict with the clan and with the guild who hunt werewolves. That is about as basic as I can make the story because it is anything but that. The world Millar has created is dense, believable and a wonderfully created. The characters lift off the page and are flawed to perfection. The dialogue is sharp, witty and you are continually engaged in the story. Why was I disappointed with the story?

For me, there just seemed to be an awful amount of set-up and it became repetitious. I do not know how many times I had to read Kalix whinge about not wanting to go to College, how many times Vex went on about gold stars, how much more I could take of Malveria going on about fashion and Daniel pining over Moonglow. I needed some action or a character to change direction and it was not happening for the first two-thirds of the novel. Do not get me wrong it was not a slog but I wanted things to happen and they were taking an awful long time to come about.
Millar is one of my favourite authors as he takes a unique view in the worlds he creates. This is a good read and highly enjoyable but for me just a little disappointing in that I was hoping for more. That is not the author’s fault but my expectations are too blame.  If you want to be far removed from the paranormal fantasy romance genre then this is the world to step into. It is brilliant.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Been some time

-
Image
Well being ill did not stop the reading but did stop all the posting. I managed to keep my goodreads reviews going but could barely find the energy to update here.  A list of what I made my way through is here . I did finish 72 books and my favourite was Helen Garner's 'Everywhere I look'. I did think 'The Girl on the Train' was a bit over hyped and I am not sure why it received so much attention.  So this year I am planning on making my way through 60 books. I am aiming to be more adventurous and look to read authors from outside my comfort zone.  There is a second hand book store near my parents and they certainly sell some stuff cheap. I managed to pick up some classic Australian reads for $1 and 'All the light we cannot see' by Anthony Doerr for $4 and the first book I have read for 2017.  This book really surprised me, really surprised me. I had put reading this book off for some time as to be honest I was really not ready for another World W...
Read more

Paranormal murder done by a master of the genre

-
Image
Into the Thinnest of Air (Ishmael Jones #5) by Simon R. Green Expected publication: March 1st 2018 by Severn House Publishers I have long been a fan of the works of Simon R Green having first stumbled across Blue Moon Rising in the late 90s. As a fantasy novel it was something completely different with some risqué humour and really interesting characters. Over the years whenever I have seen any of Green’s works on the book shelves in Australia I have grabbed them. So I was really excited when offered the opportunity to read Green’s latest work. Two investigators Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny are attending the re-opening of Tyrone Castle and are hoping for a nice normal weekend. However, when you are staying at a castle that has a history of being a smugglers den and scene for a mass poisoning things quickly go astray. As something sinister is abducting the guests the question is supernatural or human at work. Green never fails to create characters that are imperfect, funny...
Read more

Piles of Reading

-
Image
Been a tough couple of months and while the reading has continued the blogging has not. So this will be a massive catch up. For 2017 I read 60 books and for 2018 I am aiming for 55. City of Crows - Chris Womersley Set in France in 1673, the plague is sweeping across the populace. Charlotte has suffered the loss of her husband and three children. She is determined to protect her Nicolas and they seek sanctuary in Lyon. on their journey they are attacked, with Charlotte left to die and her son taken by slavers. She summons a man to assist recover her son and they travel to Paris. There is witchcraft involved and plain old self-serving individuals who make things difficult. I have to admit that it is difficult to find the words to convey my thoughts on this book. I enjoyed the rich details, the layers of French society and culture that is revealed. The characters are well crafted and carry their own emotional baggage. I was really immersed in the pages. Yet the ending left me beref...
Read more