Not one of Block's best, but not a bad girly werewolf story. ( )

While this isn't my favorite Francesca Lia block book, I found this to be a compelling read. Werewolves aren't my favorite fantastic creature, but I really enjoyed reading about this one. More than a werewolf story, the novel is about fighting the beast within and seeking balance in life. ( )

I had to pick up this book because I love Francesca Lia Block and werewolf fiction, so really there was just no choice. That being said while I did like this book I was surprised to find that I didn't like as much as I thought I would. When Liv was thirteen years old her mother came home with the pelt of a wolf and Liv just about lost it. She ends up going to see a psychiatrist and getting medicated but inside she knows she is truly different and that even with the medication she may not be able to control herself. The only time she feels safe and happy is with her best friend Pace and her boyfriend Corey. Pace is gay and him and Liv pretend to be dating to keep each other safe from their families reactions and attitudes (Corey is black and Liv knows her mother would absolutely flip). Sometimes this makes Corey jealous, but mostly him and Liv are definitely in love and accept each other for who they are. Then Liv sees a woman watching her in the woods and goes to ask Joe a man who owns a prosthetics shop in town about (she has always been drawn to him and isn't sure why, according to her parents she should stay away from him but she feels comfortable around him so she hides her time with him as well). Joe takes her to meet the woman and Liv learns about herself and her sons and meets the womans family. She feels like she could belong here but they ask her for something that is just much mroe then she can give. Liv spends a lot of time in limbo trying to figure out what to do while all the different story lines start to come to a head. The thing that drives me crazy is that Pace commits suicide and it's hinted that the reason is because Micheal was a ghost. I wanted to know more about that story line, and it killed me that we didn't get it. He was such a great character and I just felt like I wanted to know what happened. The very end of the story feels very much like the end of the movie version of Blood & Chocolate (very different from the book). Towards the end I kind of feel like Liv's limbo affects the way the story is told too much, to the point where the reader just starts to feel a little bit puzzled about where everything could possibly be going. ( )

I had to pick up this book because I love Francesca Lia Block and werewolf fiction, so really there was just no choice. That being said while I did like this book I was surprised to find that I didn't like as much as I thought I would. When Liv was thirteen years old her mother came home with the pelt of a wolf and Liv just about lost it. She ends up going to see a psychiatrist and getting medicated but inside she knows she is truly different and that even with the medication she may not be able to control herself. The only time she feels safe and happy is with her best friend Pace and her boyfriend Corey. Pace is gay and him and Liv pretend to be dating to keep each other safe from their families reactions and attitudes (Corey is black and Liv knows her mother would absolutely flip). Sometimes this makes Corey jealous, but mostly him and Liv are definitely in love and accept each other for who they are. Then Liv sees a woman watching her in the woods and goes to ask Joe a man who owns a prosthetics shop in town about (she has always been drawn to him and isn't sure why, according to her parents she should stay away from him but she feels comfortable around him so she hides her time with him as well). Joe takes her to meet the woman and Liv learns about herself and her sons and meets the womans family. She feels like she could belong here but they ask her for something that is just much mroe then she can give. Liv spends a lot of time in limbo trying to figure out what to do while all the different story lines start to come to a head. The thing that drives me crazy is that Pace commits suicide and it's hinted that the reason is because Micheal was a ghost. I wanted to know more about that story line, and it killed me that we didn't get it. He was such a great character and I just felt like I wanted to know what happened. The very end of the story feels very much like the end of the movie version of Blood & Chocolate (very different from the book). Towards the end I kind of feel like Liv's limbo affects the way the story is told too much, to the point where the reader just starts to feel a little bit puzzled about where everything could possibly be going. ( )

I had to pick up this book because I love Francesca Lia Block and werewolf fiction, so really there was just no choice. That being said while I did like this book I was surprised to find that I didn't like as much as I thought I would. When Liv was thirteen years old her mother came home with the pelt of a wolf and Liv just about lost it. She ends up going to see a psychiatrist and getting medicated but inside she knows she is truly different and that even with the medication she may not be able to control herself. The only time she feels safe and happy is with her best friend Pace and her boyfriend Corey. Pace is gay and him and Liv pretend to be dating to keep each other safe from their families reactions and attitudes (Corey is black and Liv knows her mother would absolutely flip). Sometimes this makes Corey jealous, but mostly him and Liv are definitely in love and accept each other for who they are. Then Liv sees a woman watching her in the woods and goes to ask Joe a man who owns a prosthetics shop in town about (she has always been drawn to him and isn't sure why, according to her parents she should stay away from him but she feels comfortable around him so she hides her time with him as well). Joe takes her to meet the woman and Liv learns about herself and her sons and meets the womans family. She feels like she could belong here but they ask her for something that is just much mroe then she can give. Liv spends a lot of time in limbo trying to figure out what to do while all the different story lines start to come to a head. The thing that drives me crazy is that Pace commits suicide and it's hinted that the reason is because Micheal was a ghost. I wanted to know more about that story line, and it killed me that we didn't get it. He was such a great character and I just felt like I wanted to know what happened. The very end of the story feels very much like the end of the movie version of Blood & Chocolate (very different from the book). Towards the end I kind of feel like Liv's limbo affects the way the story is told too much, to the point where the reader just starts to feel a little bit puzzled about where everything could possibly be going. ( )