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lyndacclark's review
4.0
Fantastically atmospheric and extremely realistic (yes, I know it's a werewolf book, but you know what I mean!) I was a little disappointed by the ending, but I think this is purely because the quality is so consistently high and inventive throughout the ending just fell a little flat. Don't let that put you off though - it's an excellent read. Great to see a British horror writer embracing his Britishness rather than trying to copy successful American authors.
upbeatmetaphor's review
5.0
I stuck this book in my "Surprises" shelf because it really gripped me much more than I was expecting. Seriously. I read it on my brother's wedding holiday, so it wasn't like I had other things to do.
The title is a little silly on first impression, but the book really delivers. There's a certain depth to the prose that really gets inside character heads without being too muddied and introspective. It's thoughts and feelings, not naval-gazing.
A living, believable city (Manchester, I'd recognise it anywhere) and friendship group is wonderfully created, and the supernatural sits alongside the mundane in a way that at no point is cliche or too fantastical, but also never feels too commonplace.
Some of the characters are quite loathsome and irritable, but at no point are their actions or motivations out of line with how they’re presented. I hated them for who they were, not for how they’d been written.
The book really represents the fantastic hot-blooded feeling of “running with the wolf” that is essential to this genre/narrative. Seriously, this book gripped me way more than I was expecting- I read it hip-deep in Mediterranean swimming pools with an outside temperature permanently over 30°C, but I was still drawn into the dark and bleak world of rural northern England, terrified of the darkness inside and the darkness just around the corner.
Nick
xx
The title is a little silly on first impression, but the book really delivers. There's a certain depth to the prose that really gets inside character heads without being too muddied and introspective. It's thoughts and feelings, not naval-gazing.
A living, believable city (Manchester, I'd recognise it anywhere) and friendship group is wonderfully created, and the supernatural sits alongside the mundane in a way that at no point is cliche or too fantastical, but also never feels too commonplace.
Some of the characters are quite loathsome and irritable, but at no point are their actions or motivations out of line with how they’re presented. I hated them for who they were, not for how they’d been written.
The book really represents the fantastic hot-blooded feeling of “running with the wolf” that is essential to this genre/narrative. Seriously, this book gripped me way more than I was expecting- I read it hip-deep in Mediterranean swimming pools with an outside temperature permanently over 30°C, but I was still drawn into the dark and bleak world of rural northern England, terrified of the darkness inside and the darkness just around the corner.
Nick
xx
caitsidhe's review
4.0
This is such a weird book. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, beyond an instinctive liking. The fractured language, the way the world is presented - everthing just works for me.I'm not so sure it'd work for many other people though - after years and years of avid reading, much in the fantasy and horror genres, my tastes have become very specific. I guess that when you've read many thousands of books in your lifetime (I estimate around 10k plus from the age of 13) that you start craving books that at least try to do something interesting with language and plot, even if they don't entirely succeed. This tries, and I think it succeeds.
si0bhan's review
3.0
This is one of those books that I was unsure as to whether or not I was to buy it, only to decide upon reading it that I should never had questioned picking it up in the first place. Once you get started you are truly hooked to the story, being pulled in, as you’re left unwilling to put it down for any extended period of time.
To begin with there isn’t much real contact with the supernatural world, merely hints of something unnatural being out there, yet once you get around halfway through it hits you in the face and suddenly all the supernatural action is hitting you at once. Filled with a wide range of great characters, you’re soon curious as to what exactly is going to happen next. Moreover, I will admit, the ending came as quite a shock. It did not end anything at all like I was expecting – in fact, it couldn’t have been much further away from what I was expecting – and for that I loved it even more. The unexpected it always loved and such is the case throughout this book.
Honestly, if you’re even debating picking up the book just go for it: you’ll soon be lost in the story.
To begin with there isn’t much real contact with the supernatural world, merely hints of something unnatural being out there, yet once you get around halfway through it hits you in the face and suddenly all the supernatural action is hitting you at once. Filled with a wide range of great characters, you’re soon curious as to what exactly is going to happen next. Moreover, I will admit, the ending came as quite a shock. It did not end anything at all like I was expecting – in fact, it couldn’t have been much further away from what I was expecting – and for that I loved it even more. The unexpected it always loved and such is the case throughout this book.
Honestly, if you’re even debating picking up the book just go for it: you’ll soon be lost in the story.
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