Wednesday 4 November 2015

BOOK REVIEW (87): Never Cry Werewolf (Never Cry Werewolf #1)

BOOK REVIEW:
Never Cry Werewolf


Totally planned to have this book review posted for Halloween...or even All Souls' Day, but life sorta caught up to me (that and EXTREME laziness).

So this was my Halloween YA read (last year it was Ghost House!) and my, what a read. I'm not a fear junkie and I love nothing more than combining my romance with just a bit of tension (of either paranormal or contemporary variety) . I wouldn't call this horror, because it isn't, but it definitely had the potential with a couple scary, in-the-woods-at-night moments.


What is Heather Davis' debut Never Cry Werewolf about?

It stars *ahem*troubled*cough* teen Shelby (whose last name has escaped me) and her journey to summer (rich) brat camp in the woods of Oregon (again, I don't remember the exact location). And she's all geared up for a crappy summer until she meets her camp crush, hero Austin Bridges III (<-- I will never try of writing/saying his name xD). But she can't have a crush, since the whole reason she's spending here summer vacay with rich brats are because she was caught in trouble with one too many boys/boyfriends.

And Austin is a whole lot of trouble from the get-go...but now he's confiding his dark, super weird secret with her? She's sure there's no way he's telling the truth about his family being a bunch of genetic werewolves.


Now let's sidetrack a bit...


Have any of you seen Nina Dobrev in action pre-TVD?




Have you heard of the 2008 direct-to-TV supernatural horror movie, Never Cry Werewolf?

Well although I liked the plot of Heather Davis' Never Cry Werewolf so much better, I thought that the title was almost irrelevant... I mean the title doesn't refer to Shelby. She's definitely not a blabber-mouth -- actually she's quite loyal, and I loved that about her, even if she wasn't always swept up by the hotness of Austin Bridges III.


Nina Dobrev's character in Never Cry Werewolf actually fits the whole "boy-who-cried-wolf" theme/moral.


BTW the movie and book are DO NOT REMOTELY have the same plot!
I just wanted to compare the titles because I have to admit it's what hooked me to pick up both.

There's only ONE character who might fit the bill in the Davis' Never Cry Werewolf, and that's closest character to an antagonist (and this antagonist is more of a nuisance, or an annoying threat -- no real threat is presented). Which is probably the only reason I docked off a half-star rating: there's really no threat...I mean there is, but it's more of a time constraint threat. Okay, I lied, I also found some of the interactions a bit childish and contrived.

However it was balanced by Shelby's well-plotted GMC. My heart ached for the poor girl, which was weird because from the beginning I anticipated she'd be annoying as hell for the next 200+ pages. It goes much deeper than the superficial boy-crazy teen image, but you'll have to go read the book to understand what I mean.

Other than that I got what I wanted from Shelby x Austin's story, and I'm looking forward to picking up the follow-up two novellas! If you're interested in a tame YA pnr, then I suggest you pick up Never Cry Werewolf.


My verdict:


✮.5

(4.5 stars)

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