Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar (Book Review by Lorissa Shepstone)
Lonely Werewolf Girl
Martin Millar
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If you are a traditionalist werewolf lover, this may not quite be the book for you. Although the werewolves are portrayed as fierce fighters and vicious hunters, you may be put off with the amount of fashion-related escapades that go on and some of the drunken foolishness. It makes for a story with a great sense of humour, but if you are excepting hardcore werewolf action, this isn’t it. There is a lot of tearing of throats though, if that helps.
The story begins with Kalix MacRinnalch (the protagonist), a friendless, emotionally unstable, depressed and junkie werewolf girl fending for herself in London while her family eagerly hunts her following her attack on her father. She is also painfully thin and wildly beautiful (which you are reminded of a number of times). The story continues to unfold bringing in her various family members: Verasa, her ambitious and manipulating mother; Sarapen, her brutal eldest brother who is determined to kill her; Markus, her other brother who is open to the idea of just returning her to the family castle rather than killing her; Thrix, her fashion designing sister who is obsessed with her business and little else, and her other relations: Dominal, Beauty and Delicious. The werewolves have a penchant for whiskey and quick, rather violent, tempers. The family is by no means close-knit, and further strife is added when the Thaneship (the leadership) of the werewolves is up for grabs and a family feud starts a werewolf war.
There is no shortage of characters in this book, and the two human characters include: Daniel, a metal-loving shy guy who is in love with his roommate Moonglow, and Moonglow, a mothering, studious girl who apparently seems to be afraid of nothing - even werewolves. They become embroiled in the MacRinnalch family feud and find themselves living with Kalix, and having frequent visits from other werewolves and fire elementals (the next branch of characters).
Malveria is the Hiyasta Fire Queen from a different dimension. She is obsessed with fashion and prone to tears when something goes wrong with an outfit. Although powerful, she is more often than not seen having a crying fit over something rather fickle, which makes for a rather incongruous but amusing character. Thrix is her fashion designer and so Malveria too, finds herself involved in the werewold feud, and rather enjoying herself since she finds everything outside her realm entertaining.
The story is fast-paced and draws you in quickly. Admittedly, I found it difficult to not wonder what would happen next and swept through this book pretty rapidly. There is a large cast of characters (as mentioned) - perhaps too many - and most are fascinating enough to hold your attention. Every one of them is flawed (some more than others), and almost unlikable, but they are engaging. There are great moments of humour, love triangles, passion gone awry and plenty of action. Some of the repetitive prose got a little dull after awhile: notably being told how skinny Kalix is, and how beautiful all the werewolf women are (but perhaps I merely noticed this more due to my own insecurities).
Unfortunately, the most annoying, and jarring, aspect of this book had nothing to do with the story or characters themselves, but rather the lack of editing. Basic typos litter the entire book and I found myself getting rather annoyed. There was even one occurrence of “you’re” instead of “your” - a personal pet peeve. To any potential authors out there: please proof-read your manuscript, and then proof-read it again, and then ask 5 people to proof-read it.
I find it hard to recommend this book entirely, although I did enjoy reading it. It’s casual, almost a trashy-werewolf novel and I definitely enjoyed the humour. This may be intended for younger audiences as they may be a little more forgiving with some of the prose, and sadly, they may not even notice the typos.
Lorissa Shepstone: A South African web designer specialising in the publishing arena and photographer, Lorissa currently lives in England with her husband and their feline-brat. Her work has been featured in various publications, including PC Magazine, Digital Camera Shopper, Small Spiral Notebook, 28mm, U&I Magazine, unbound press, Kudos Magazine, The Crest Magazine and the book, Create Your Own Photoblog. She is the founder and Creative Director of All Things Girl.
