Melanie Tem (1949–2015)

Flashes of brilliance are overwhelmed by a wandering plot and too much repeated existential musing by pretty much everyone. I kept getting the impression that Tem had a really good story about familial angst and abuse that, for whatever reason, she forced into a werewolf trope that detracted from the psychologically and sociologically profound topics she was dealing with. I kept thinking, “now just pull out the werewolf bit here.”

There’s also an unnecessary flashback final chapter that tells us all this stuff we don’t need to know.… (more)

A weird sort of vampire novel written from the perspective of a 12 year old girl. As such, the prose is very spare and juvenile and there just aren't a lot of strong metaphors or similes. This is always an issue for me when the protagonist is a child and the narration is from the child's perspective. When this is handled as a flashback or memory from an adult, the author has more latitude in the prose.

At first you think the bad guy is a child peeper and diddler (and of course a murderer) but he ends up as something equally sinister but much different. A body violation is still a body violation. If pedophilia is not to your fictional taste then this is probably not for you.

A decent read that I just had trouble getting into for the reasons above. Tem also did not get me to feel the sense of dread and suspense for Lucy's fate. Tem makes all the brats pretty unlikeable and although we get into Lucy's head, and understand her turmoil, I just didn't care what happened in the end.

Three solid stars, no more.… (more)