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Tales of the Pack #2
Hungry Ghost
Strange is the new normal for college freshman Lexie Clarion. She could be writing papers and going to frat parties like a normal girl, but Lexie is no normal girl. She spends each full moon fighting against the beast that threatens to escape her body, and the rest of the time mooning over her alpha ex-girlfriend.
When Lexie discovers the eviscerated body of a fellow student, she knows the violent full-blood Rare wolves are back on the prowl. But with no proof, no plan, and no allies, Lexie and the Pack have to decide how to fight back. And they have to do so fast, before all the women of Milton become prey.
When Lexie discovers the eviscerated body of a fellow student, she knows the violent full-blood Rare wolves are back on the prowl. But with no proof, no plan, and no allies, Lexie and the Pack have to decide how to fight back. And they have to do so fast, before all the women of Milton become prey.
298 pages, Paperback
First published April 7, 2013
5 people are currently reading
509 people want to read
About the author
Allison Moon
10 books186 followersAllison is the author of the award winning, critically-acclaimed sex-ed book,Girl Sex 101, Getting It: A Guide to Hot, Healthy Hookups and Shame-Free Sex, and the sexual memoir, Bad Dyke. As a sex educator, Allison has presented her workshops to thousands of people around the US and Canada. www.GirlSex101.com
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 27, 2013
***ETA: As I've been letting my response to _Hungry Ghost_ settle in, I've been realizing that more than just enjoying the book, the experience of reading it has been deeply meaningful to me. I have this inner seventeen year old who is girlcrazy and wild (I've nicknamed her Baby Dyke) whom I try to make a little room for here and there. There's not a lot I can give her right now, given my other life choices, but reading Moon's work gives her a little room to breathe and exist at least in my head. And that means a lot to me. I don't think that it would be true if Moon hadn't poured your heart into her work and hadn't sweated blood on the keyboard to make it true and real.***
I just read _Hungry Ghost_, the sequel to the one I just reviewed about the lesbian werewolves. This book was not as fun as the first one, with fewer sex scenes and more sexual angst on the part of the protagonist. It was still a fun read--I think I read it in maybe three days?
The things that really worked in it:
- Moon gets real about the less talked about stuff in GLBTQ culture, like sex work and BDSM and conflicted feelings about transgender issues and feminist in-fighting about porn and stripping.
- She has a transgender character and does it well.
- There's a neat theme about transcending the either/or bimodal paradigm (sorry, there are actual feminst theory academic words for that teasing my brain, but I'm not dredging them up right now). She ties together some neat stuff from academia with transgender issues and the whole werewolf thing. Interesting ideas and fun literary play.
- There's a little more in there about the protag's relationship with her father, which I was glad to see.
- One pretty hot BDSM sex scene
The things that pissed me off because of my issues:
- Her protagonist is a poor student. Smart, but whiny and easily distracted and completely unappreciative about the opportunity for education. Having gone to school with a bunch of wealthy, privileged kids who partied and had fun while I financed my half of the tuition my scholarship didn't cover, it just kind of hits a nerve. I get that Moon is probably making the character annoying so that there can be dynamic character growth, which leads me to my second pet-peeve point.
- A lot of the character's struggle is explained to the reader and only shown in a really fuzzy, confused way. You know, the whole "Lexie felt like she would never be able to have conviction about anything" type of writing. Which seems pretty common in brain-candy type books and doesn't bother a lot of people. But it really ticks me off because I never let myself do that in my writing but I haven't yet mastered how to pull off showing character growth in a smooth and natural way. So I think I get pissy that someone else gets to write it the easy way and still gets to have people read her stuff and like it.
The things that I think are more objectively places where the book is weak:
- The protag's father is pretty two-dimensional. For someone so important to the protagonist and to her character arc, I think he deserves more depth.
- The pacing is choppy. The character growth is shown in sort of jagged spurts and all the plot and action sort of stop dead while that happens.
- Dammit, not enough sex scenes! Or should I say, too many abortive sex scenes that could be great but stop in the middle because of the character having issues. But like, since the character arc isn't smooth or compelling, it doesn't seem fair to have that ruin the sex scenes. I know I seem to be obsessing about the sex! But since this book is a brain-candy book to me (I mean that in the good sense!) I feel like it should have fun-to-read scenes. And, seriously, one of Moon's greatest strengths as a writer are her awesome sex scenes.
I see that I've sort of ended on a downer here. So I'm just going to re-state my overall take, which is that this book was enjoyable to read and does things right (like trans stuff) that you don't often see done well.
April 15, 2013
"Plus, Lesbian werewolf sex is kinda weird," she said with a laugh. "Too much fur. Long claws. It all just gets in the way." (from "Hungry Ghost," Chapter 4)
No other book in my reading journey--from Aristophenes's excellent "Lysistrata,"penned 2427 years ago, to "Enchanted," Nikki Jefford's awesome latest, published last week--has contained the sentence, "Plus, Lesbian werewolf sex is kinda weird." I'm sure I'd remember. (I have tons of Lesbian friends. If any of them start dating werewolves, at least I'll know how to advise them.)
If you haven't yet read "Lunatic Fringe," book one in Allison Moon's excellent "Tales of the Pack" series, I would recommend you do so before starting "Hungry Ghost," just to get you up to speed.
"The Pack" is a group of women who are friends, sometimes lovers, housemates, and werewolves. As a pack, they protect their area, finding werewolves who seek out and kill women, and exacting their revenge.
Lexie Clarion is the newest member of The Pack, and she's finding it difficult to fit in. She has a wolf inside her, and she has transformed before, but she doesn't do so at the full moon like her Pack sistren. This could be that Lexie has a very rare gift: she is a Peacespeaker, an entity with the ability to broker negotiations between conflicting tribes or packs. It's a rare gift from her mother's side, and her mother died before teaching her anything.
Plus, having had a rough break-up at the end of the last term, Lexie has neglected school stuff, like signing up for classes. One of the scanty few choices she ends up with is "Indiginous Linguistics." It's an odd course, but Lexie learns things in there that come in handy later.
She also sees things at a BDSM club that prove to be similarly useful. (How can I not adore a book that uses an S&M club as foreshadowing?)
More girls are dying around Milton College, and The Pack is angry. They are finally coalescing under their new Alpha, Renee. This time, the battle will be more ferocious, as they fight the ancient, powerful, full-blood werewolves known as the Rare wolves. And few who go up against the Rares live to tell the tale.
As much as I loved "Lunatic Fringe," I think I like "Hungry Ghost" even better. Maybe it's because I've figured out what Allison Moon does better than other writers of werewolf lore. She truly delves into the lupine mind that coexists inside each Pack-member, giving us a look at these creatures from the inside. The Pack only transform into wolves on the full moon, but that wolf-mind is always there, always working beneath the human mind.
Also, as new as she is to the werewolf world, Lexie is also a relative cub in the lesbian world. Until she lost her virginity last year, she hadn't really considered her sexuality much. She'd, er, satisfied her physical cravings, but there was no strong lust after either males or females. In the first book, she found that she was definitely into women. One thing I like about "Hungry Ghost" is that Lexie's biggest physical craving--despite her fun at the aforementioned club--was non-sexual, rather the supple, gentle back-scratching and hair-stroking the other pack members performed. Yeah, a toe-curling orgasm is a good thing, Lexie reasons, but after a shite day, it's nice just to have somebody to hold you.
We follow the Pack as they learn the tactics and skills they'll need to survive their forthcoming battle. Lexie has discovered something within herself that she teaches the Pack. When the time comes, the battle scene is one of the most exciting I've read in awhile. The Pack find the going tough, fighting hard for every victory, and suffering with every defeat. In the end, they find help from some unlikely allies.
With "Hungry Ghost," Allison Moon deftly avoids the many pitfalls second novels face. So often, the writer uses all of his or her creative ammunition in book one. By book two, we already know the main characters; we're already aware of our surroundings, and steeped in the series' mythology. So many second novels are comparably weak, because their characters don't wash well, and there's nothing new for them to do. They serve their purpose in book one, and they just get in the story's way in book two.
Not so in "Hungry Ghost." It's the exact opposite. In "Lunatic Fringe," Lexie was welcomed into the pack, but she remained an outsider, choosing her lover over the pack. In this book, she now lives in the house. Since the story is told from Lexie's point of view, we get to meet Renee, Hazel, Jenna, Mitch, and the rest, as if for the first time. The girls of the pack have changed, just as Lexie has. We are there as they learn one another's habits and oddities, and as a new type of sisterhood descends upon the Pack.
There are parts of "Hungry Ghost" that had me cracking up; others had me tearing-up. It is a beautiful emotional melange, as we follow Lexie and her friends preparing to face some of the most dangerous creatures on earth.
Best of all--notwithstanding studded outfits at the BDSM club--nobody freakin' sparkles.
No other book in my reading journey--from Aristophenes's excellent "Lysistrata,"penned 2427 years ago, to "Enchanted," Nikki Jefford's awesome latest, published last week--has contained the sentence, "Plus, Lesbian werewolf sex is kinda weird." I'm sure I'd remember. (I have tons of Lesbian friends. If any of them start dating werewolves, at least I'll know how to advise them.)
If you haven't yet read "Lunatic Fringe," book one in Allison Moon's excellent "Tales of the Pack" series, I would recommend you do so before starting "Hungry Ghost," just to get you up to speed.
"The Pack" is a group of women who are friends, sometimes lovers, housemates, and werewolves. As a pack, they protect their area, finding werewolves who seek out and kill women, and exacting their revenge.
Lexie Clarion is the newest member of The Pack, and she's finding it difficult to fit in. She has a wolf inside her, and she has transformed before, but she doesn't do so at the full moon like her Pack sistren. This could be that Lexie has a very rare gift: she is a Peacespeaker, an entity with the ability to broker negotiations between conflicting tribes or packs. It's a rare gift from her mother's side, and her mother died before teaching her anything.
Plus, having had a rough break-up at the end of the last term, Lexie has neglected school stuff, like signing up for classes. One of the scanty few choices she ends up with is "Indiginous Linguistics." It's an odd course, but Lexie learns things in there that come in handy later.
She also sees things at a BDSM club that prove to be similarly useful. (How can I not adore a book that uses an S&M club as foreshadowing?)
More girls are dying around Milton College, and The Pack is angry. They are finally coalescing under their new Alpha, Renee. This time, the battle will be more ferocious, as they fight the ancient, powerful, full-blood werewolves known as the Rare wolves. And few who go up against the Rares live to tell the tale.
As much as I loved "Lunatic Fringe," I think I like "Hungry Ghost" even better. Maybe it's because I've figured out what Allison Moon does better than other writers of werewolf lore. She truly delves into the lupine mind that coexists inside each Pack-member, giving us a look at these creatures from the inside. The Pack only transform into wolves on the full moon, but that wolf-mind is always there, always working beneath the human mind.
Also, as new as she is to the werewolf world, Lexie is also a relative cub in the lesbian world. Until she lost her virginity last year, she hadn't really considered her sexuality much. She'd, er, satisfied her physical cravings, but there was no strong lust after either males or females. In the first book, she found that she was definitely into women. One thing I like about "Hungry Ghost" is that Lexie's biggest physical craving--despite her fun at the aforementioned club--was non-sexual, rather the supple, gentle back-scratching and hair-stroking the other pack members performed. Yeah, a toe-curling orgasm is a good thing, Lexie reasons, but after a shite day, it's nice just to have somebody to hold you.
We follow the Pack as they learn the tactics and skills they'll need to survive their forthcoming battle. Lexie has discovered something within herself that she teaches the Pack. When the time comes, the battle scene is one of the most exciting I've read in awhile. The Pack find the going tough, fighting hard for every victory, and suffering with every defeat. In the end, they find help from some unlikely allies.
With "Hungry Ghost," Allison Moon deftly avoids the many pitfalls second novels face. So often, the writer uses all of his or her creative ammunition in book one. By book two, we already know the main characters; we're already aware of our surroundings, and steeped in the series' mythology. So many second novels are comparably weak, because their characters don't wash well, and there's nothing new for them to do. They serve their purpose in book one, and they just get in the story's way in book two.
Not so in "Hungry Ghost." It's the exact opposite. In "Lunatic Fringe," Lexie was welcomed into the pack, but she remained an outsider, choosing her lover over the pack. In this book, she now lives in the house. Since the story is told from Lexie's point of view, we get to meet Renee, Hazel, Jenna, Mitch, and the rest, as if for the first time. The girls of the pack have changed, just as Lexie has. We are there as they learn one another's habits and oddities, and as a new type of sisterhood descends upon the Pack.
There are parts of "Hungry Ghost" that had me cracking up; others had me tearing-up. It is a beautiful emotional melange, as we follow Lexie and her friends preparing to face some of the most dangerous creatures on earth.
Best of all--notwithstanding studded outfits at the BDSM club--nobody freakin' sparkles.
July 31, 2013
Lunatic Fringe was a novel I struggled with and I had to take a break for a few months to finish it. It focused to heavily on the relationship and there wasn't enough about the werewolves for me to enjoy. Despite this I picked up Hungry Ghost with some trepidation and haven't regretted that from page one.
The lore in this series is original and intriguing. The strong feminist voice is refreshing and something that I love so much about this series as it's so rare to find. The characters and their growth is so believable and satisfying that I want to read the rest of their story right now to see where they go from here.
But most of all this book has finally made me fall in love with Lexie. In Lunatic Fringe I found her frustrating and kept hoping that the next chapter would bring a fresh POV to give a change of pace. In Hungry Ghost I enjoyed seeing the story from her perspective and seeing her growth directly.
I wish there had been more character development of the three male werewolves and Lexie's dad, especially as without them the fight with the Rare's would have turned out quite differently. With such little appearance in the narrative I didn't feel emotionally invested and the moments that should have been so emotional and meaningful felt flat and out of place.
There were also characters that really played no role at all and could have been left out, such as Lexie's aunt whose impact on the story is so little she could have been replaced with a journal or proper father development.
Overall this is an enjoyable story that is well written, thought out and ultimately satisfying.
The lore in this series is original and intriguing. The strong feminist voice is refreshing and something that I love so much about this series as it's so rare to find. The characters and their growth is so believable and satisfying that I want to read the rest of their story right now to see where they go from here.
But most of all this book has finally made me fall in love with Lexie. In Lunatic Fringe I found her frustrating and kept hoping that the next chapter would bring a fresh POV to give a change of pace. In Hungry Ghost I enjoyed seeing the story from her perspective and seeing her growth directly.
I wish there had been more character development of the three male werewolves and Lexie's dad, especially as without them the fight with the Rare's would have turned out quite differently. With such little appearance in the narrative I didn't feel emotionally invested and the moments that should have been so emotional and meaningful felt flat and out of place.
There were also characters that really played no role at all and could have been left out, such as Lexie's aunt whose impact on the story is so little she could have been replaced with a journal or proper father development.
Overall this is an enjoyable story that is well written, thought out and ultimately satisfying.
August 3, 2013
Allison Moon's story-telling is the best! This is the sequel to Lunatic Fringe. Both books have satisfying endings,wondrous characters, plots, sub-plots, and writing. Her vocabulary wasn't at third grade level, nor were the internal lessons of differing sexuality too much info-dumping. AND Allison Moon has ME reading a book about werewolves, and loving it!
I would have loved to be able to read a book like this as a teen. Back then this information was hushed. Nowadays teens might feel they already know this stuff about sexual identity. But even if you know this, the story holds its own.
One of the things I found most surprising was that I wished I could experience this level of being a were/shapeshifter. I felt like running through the forest and living in a tree-house, Ms. Moon made it all come alive. Characters breathed, puked, had periods, bathroom scenes. Real life! It is about time!
Thank you, Allison, for letting me read your books at a discount. Though the ending was satisfying, I hope there is a book three. I love the series!
I would have loved to be able to read a book like this as a teen. Back then this information was hushed. Nowadays teens might feel they already know this stuff about sexual identity. But even if you know this, the story holds its own.
One of the things I found most surprising was that I wished I could experience this level of being a were/shapeshifter. I felt like running through the forest and living in a tree-house, Ms. Moon made it all come alive. Characters breathed, puked, had periods, bathroom scenes. Real life! It is about time!
Thank you, Allison, for letting me read your books at a discount. Though the ending was satisfying, I hope there is a book three. I love the series!
October 26, 2013
A delightful, page-turning sequel - Allison Moon's pack of queer werewolves continues to surprise and delight. In this book we learn more of the backstory of the characters and the world of the werewolves presented in Lunatic Fringe, and some of the characters are further developed. Like many an ensemble drama (Buffy, anyone?), I often wished that the supporting characters were better developed, the world more richly built and explained - and oh yes, the werewolf sex more frequent - but it's really hard to complain as the ever-thickening plot keeps you turning pages past your bedtime. Also, if you attended a small, progressive liberal arts college, you're in for some fun nostalgia and satire of those exciting, nurturing, navel-gazing years. I am so eager for the third installment that I would be cranky at Ms. Moon for turning to a different book first, if that book were not a comic called Girl Sex 101.
April 11, 2013
A wonderful second book by the talented Allison Moon. Only a short time has passed since the final events of Lunatic Fringe changed the life of the Pack forever. Now attacks are growing more frequent and Lexie and the Pack must discover why and how to stop it. Will they be able to race the waxing moon which provides strength to both sides and come out on top?
April 26, 2013
No Archer...!!
No F/F romance..!!
No F/F romance..!!
April 15, 2013
It's a decent sequel. Nice job.
October 13, 2014
*grinds teeth* I need more!
January 3, 2020
Enthralling
I couldn't put it down. I just wish Lexi and Acher had ended up together, but I suppose they still could. Leave them wanting more, right!
I couldn't put it down. I just wish Lexi and Acher had ended up together, but I suppose they still could. Leave them wanting more, right!
July 14, 2013
The battle is back on. The Morlocs are still killing and the town is not safe – especially not for women. After the battles of the last book, the pack is re-establishing itself around Renee as Alpha and ready to fight again – but how can they fight when they’re outnumbered and outmatched? Even beyond that, how do they exist as a pack – and as people – without Blythe’s oppressive hands demanding they conform?
And Lexie still needs to find her place – both in the pack and with herself. Unshifting, torn between her mother’s heritage and her werewolfness she can’t run with the pack. But as more and more of her mother’s past becomes clear, she finds a rift opening between her and her father. Then there’s Archer, missing and desperately missed and never far from Lexie’s thoughts.
There’s something about the world building here that doesn’t work for me. I just don’t quite get it. There’s a lot about the werewolves I don’t understand or rather don’t fully understand. I don’t get exactly what a Peacespeaker is, don’t understand what the knife is, don’t understand Lexie’s mother or her aunt. I don’t understand how it all affected Lexie’s werewolfness.
And it translates into the plot as well – I’m not entirely sure how much her dad knows or is involved in or even entirely what was achieved at the end of the book. I’m not entirely sure what the enemy actually is or what the many kinds of werewolves actually means or where they all came from.
I get the rough shape of how everything works – the plot, the world et al- but it is only a rough shape and it has gaps and assumptions and things just kind of hanging without me really knowing what is happening, why or what that truly means. I just ended up really uninvested in the story. I only have the vaguest idea of what was going on and I don’t especially care to know more, sadly, because I just haven’t been even slightly pulled in.
I do know how all the characters feel - and it’s certainly a very character driven book. We have a lot of conflict and interaction and resolve between a few characters – the character development is very solid for these few, but it’s also kind of repetitive. I think some of the time could have been better spent on the plot, especially since we had interactions like Lexie and Randy which I’m still not entirely sure what the point was. Or some are there for various lessons or making a point but still don’t add to the overall very weak story (like Duance for example). A lot of the book just feels like character interactions between Lexie and a random other strung together in a row interspaced with her angst. If we were going to focus on character interactions there are still other characters in the pack itself who are sorely in need of work – like Mitch (who can basically be summed up as “transman”).
One thing I like a lot is a lot of the problems Blythe brought in the last book have been addressed and challenged. There’s much less infodumping and Blythe’s whole super-orthodox-feminism-is-like-this-and-you’re-a-bad-feminist-if-you-don’t-obey-me has not only stopped but has been heavily called out as the ridiculous thing it is. It was really refreshing to see all of the pack expanding more into their own lives, pursuing their own tastes and rejecting the strictures that Blythe forced on them as her version of a very narrow view of feminism. Reading this really helps deal with a lot of the problems on feminism in the first book because it helps parse the good messages that were given and the arbitrary restrictions that Blythe imposed; rather than presenting them as one solid chunk.
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And Lexie still needs to find her place – both in the pack and with herself. Unshifting, torn between her mother’s heritage and her werewolfness she can’t run with the pack. But as more and more of her mother’s past becomes clear, she finds a rift opening between her and her father. Then there’s Archer, missing and desperately missed and never far from Lexie’s thoughts.
There’s something about the world building here that doesn’t work for me. I just don’t quite get it. There’s a lot about the werewolves I don’t understand or rather don’t fully understand. I don’t get exactly what a Peacespeaker is, don’t understand what the knife is, don’t understand Lexie’s mother or her aunt. I don’t understand how it all affected Lexie’s werewolfness.
And it translates into the plot as well – I’m not entirely sure how much her dad knows or is involved in or even entirely what was achieved at the end of the book. I’m not entirely sure what the enemy actually is or what the many kinds of werewolves actually means or where they all came from.
I get the rough shape of how everything works – the plot, the world et al- but it is only a rough shape and it has gaps and assumptions and things just kind of hanging without me really knowing what is happening, why or what that truly means. I just ended up really uninvested in the story. I only have the vaguest idea of what was going on and I don’t especially care to know more, sadly, because I just haven’t been even slightly pulled in.
I do know how all the characters feel - and it’s certainly a very character driven book. We have a lot of conflict and interaction and resolve between a few characters – the character development is very solid for these few, but it’s also kind of repetitive. I think some of the time could have been better spent on the plot, especially since we had interactions like Lexie and Randy which I’m still not entirely sure what the point was. Or some are there for various lessons or making a point but still don’t add to the overall very weak story (like Duance for example). A lot of the book just feels like character interactions between Lexie and a random other strung together in a row interspaced with her angst. If we were going to focus on character interactions there are still other characters in the pack itself who are sorely in need of work – like Mitch (who can basically be summed up as “transman”).
One thing I like a lot is a lot of the problems Blythe brought in the last book have been addressed and challenged. There’s much less infodumping and Blythe’s whole super-orthodox-feminism-is-like-this-and-you’re-a-bad-feminist-if-you-don’t-obey-me has not only stopped but has been heavily called out as the ridiculous thing it is. It was really refreshing to see all of the pack expanding more into their own lives, pursuing their own tastes and rejecting the strictures that Blythe forced on them as her version of a very narrow view of feminism. Reading this really helps deal with a lot of the problems on feminism in the first book because it helps parse the good messages that were given and the arbitrary restrictions that Blythe imposed; rather than presenting them as one solid chunk.
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November 21, 2022
i didn’t like this quite as much as lunatic fringe, probably mostly because of the lack of archer. but that’s just me being a whiney bitch, this is actually quite good. the pack is subjected to new, bigger outside pressures which causes cracks to form and also does a lot to reveal the underlying character of everyone in the group. their strengths and their weaknesses.
i think what i really like about this is that absolutely no one comes out looking perfect, but they aren’t written off entirely for this. much like sage explains about how lycanthropy works, it’s the interaction, the space between that creates strength & meaning. it’s hella dialectical, and i’m here for it.
one of the cracks that does form in the group relates to mitch’s place as a trans man, and although the book is clearly pretty solidly on his side, i do wish there had been a little bit more of a reckoning for some of the characters who are transphobic towards him? i think it’s perfectly fine to show characters who are trying their best being transphobic and then getting over it, it just never really felt like they definitively got over it? and i know that’s pretty true to life, but i really feel like these girls have it in them to overcome their prejudices here, and it would’ve been nice to see that eventually happen.
i really, really hope she’s planning on doing a third book at some point? but given how long it’s been, that’s probably too much to hope for? but yeah, i just really love lexie & her werewolf polycule/comrades, and i really want everything to work out for them.
—
check out my compilation review of all the gay werewolf shit i’ve been reading on my blog 24,000 miles to the moon! https://24000milestothemoon.blogspot....
i think what i really like about this is that absolutely no one comes out looking perfect, but they aren’t written off entirely for this. much like sage explains about how lycanthropy works, it’s the interaction, the space between that creates strength & meaning. it’s hella dialectical, and i’m here for it.
one of the cracks that does form in the group relates to mitch’s place as a trans man, and although the book is clearly pretty solidly on his side, i do wish there had been a little bit more of a reckoning for some of the characters who are transphobic towards him? i think it’s perfectly fine to show characters who are trying their best being transphobic and then getting over it, it just never really felt like they definitively got over it? and i know that’s pretty true to life, but i really feel like these girls have it in them to overcome their prejudices here, and it would’ve been nice to see that eventually happen.
i really, really hope she’s planning on doing a third book at some point? but given how long it’s been, that’s probably too much to hope for? but yeah, i just really love lexie & her werewolf polycule/comrades, and i really want everything to work out for them.
—
check out my compilation review of all the gay werewolf shit i’ve been reading on my blog 24,000 miles to the moon! https://24000milestothemoon.blogspot....
October 3, 2013
Book Info: Genre: Urban Fantasy/Werewolf
Reading Level: New Adult/Lesbian
Recommended for: Those looking for something a little different in werewolf stories
Trigger Warnings: killing, threats of rape
My Thoughts: This is another excellent story. Allison Moon really knows how to create characters and bring in lots of interesting ideas without being too heavy handed. In this book she brings out ideas of women's rights to control their own bodies, the exploration of one's sexuality, and the need to stand up for one's own power.
Lexi spends a lot of time musing over women and their power in this book, with thoughts like, “Tired of women in peril, tired of being reduced to her womb and what monsters and ideologues thought should be done with it.” The girls have to stand up against the Morlocs in this book. I think it's interesting how the two packs in this town are both primarily LGBT; the women of the Pack are mostly lesbians, although there are a couple with bisexual tendencies and one transsexual, while the other pack are all gay boys.
At any rate, if you've been looking for something different in the werewolf genre, definitely check out the Tales of the Pack series. I hope the author will continue to write these books, I'd love to learn more about the legends and lore of this world. Definitely recommended.
Series Information: Tales of the Pack series
Book 1: Lunatic Fringe, review linked here
Book 2: Hungry Ghost
Disclosure: I received an e-book edition from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis: Strange is the new normal for college freshman Lexie Clarion. She could be writing papers and going to frat parties like a normal girl, but Lexie is no normal girl. She spends each full moon fighting against the beast that threatens to escape her body, and the rest of the time mooning over her alpha ex-girlfriend.
When Lexie discovers the eviscerated body of a fellow student, she knows the violent full-blood Rare wolves are back on the prowl. But with no proof, no plan, and no allies, Lexie and the Pack have to decide how to fight back. And they have to do so fast, before all the women of Milton become prey.
Reading Level: New Adult/Lesbian
Recommended for: Those looking for something a little different in werewolf stories
Trigger Warnings: killing, threats of rape
My Thoughts: This is another excellent story. Allison Moon really knows how to create characters and bring in lots of interesting ideas without being too heavy handed. In this book she brings out ideas of women's rights to control their own bodies, the exploration of one's sexuality, and the need to stand up for one's own power.
Lexi spends a lot of time musing over women and their power in this book, with thoughts like, “Tired of women in peril, tired of being reduced to her womb and what monsters and ideologues thought should be done with it.” The girls have to stand up against the Morlocs in this book. I think it's interesting how the two packs in this town are both primarily LGBT; the women of the Pack are mostly lesbians, although there are a couple with bisexual tendencies and one transsexual, while the other pack are all gay boys.
At any rate, if you've been looking for something different in the werewolf genre, definitely check out the Tales of the Pack series. I hope the author will continue to write these books, I'd love to learn more about the legends and lore of this world. Definitely recommended.
Series Information: Tales of the Pack series
Book 1: Lunatic Fringe, review linked here
Book 2: Hungry Ghost
Disclosure: I received an e-book edition from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis: Strange is the new normal for college freshman Lexie Clarion. She could be writing papers and going to frat parties like a normal girl, but Lexie is no normal girl. She spends each full moon fighting against the beast that threatens to escape her body, and the rest of the time mooning over her alpha ex-girlfriend.
When Lexie discovers the eviscerated body of a fellow student, she knows the violent full-blood Rare wolves are back on the prowl. But with no proof, no plan, and no allies, Lexie and the Pack have to decide how to fight back. And they have to do so fast, before all the women of Milton become prey.
November 15, 2015
This is a solid followup for Allison Moon's novel, Tales of the Pack, which I adored. The characters continue their lives after the conclusion of the previous one, which brings in new social dynamics and the friction with their powers. It adds a nice touch of drama to the plot.
One of my favorite parts of the novel is how more of the supernatural world draws back. The first novel focused on a relatively focused area around the college while this one brings in more characters, each one with their own personalities and agendas.
There is a strong feminist theme throughout this novel. Some of my complaints from the first review were alleviated here, the message's presentation was toned down slightly but it was still strongly presented. I think this is a good thing, it presented a point of view that is missing in a great deal of supernatural stories.
I read the physical book. The typesetting was fairly well done and it is easy to read. The font is a bit narrow in some of the stems but it doesn't prevent ease of reading. The rest of the book is pretty solid, well-balanced, and overall nicely packaged.
Overall, I recommend the novel when paired with the previous one.
One of my favorite parts of the novel is how more of the supernatural world draws back. The first novel focused on a relatively focused area around the college while this one brings in more characters, each one with their own personalities and agendas.
There is a strong feminist theme throughout this novel. Some of my complaints from the first review were alleviated here, the message's presentation was toned down slightly but it was still strongly presented. I think this is a good thing, it presented a point of view that is missing in a great deal of supernatural stories.
I read the physical book. The typesetting was fairly well done and it is easy to read. The font is a bit narrow in some of the stems but it doesn't prevent ease of reading. The rest of the book is pretty solid, well-balanced, and overall nicely packaged.
Overall, I recommend the novel when paired with the previous one.
November 29, 2013
Lexie is a credibly bisexual character. Her lost female lover is absent, however, and her male lover is so idealized as to be hardly a person. At least she doesn’t go live happily ever after with him to the exclusion of her previous lesbian connections. There’s quite a lot of exploration about what it means to be lesbian, gay or bi, which I liked. I liked also that the emphasis is on the sisterhood of the female pack rather than on the romantic relationship emerging between the heroine and a male character.
The world-building just didn’t work for me in this book, and I found the writing clumsy at times. For example, I don’t remember any explanation of the difference between half-blood, full-blood and pure-blood shifters (werewolves). Maybe it got explained in the first volume of this series, of which this is the second. In that case, however, a recap would have been nice. I did like the descriptions of the shifts from woman to wolf and back, though, and the metaphorical significance of the strength of the "in-between" state.
The world-building just didn’t work for me in this book, and I found the writing clumsy at times. For example, I don’t remember any explanation of the difference between half-blood, full-blood and pure-blood shifters (werewolves). Maybe it got explained in the first volume of this series, of which this is the second. In that case, however, a recap would have been nice. I did like the descriptions of the shifts from woman to wolf and back, though, and the metaphorical significance of the strength of the "in-between" state.
May 26, 2013
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. This book was so hard for me to read. The way the author wrote was just making me not want to pay any attention. I wasn't a big fan of this book, however if you liked the first one this boo does have a really good story...if you can read it all.
March 4, 2015
Lesbian feminist werewolves. Is there anything else to say?
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