~ Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish author.

I confess to being an ardent fan of the genre of fiction in which female werewolves  figure prominently.   Whether she be a young adolescent or very much an adult woman who suddenly finds her life turned upside-down one moonlit night with the sudden growth of fur, claws, and fangs --- all the while her body transforming into that of a powerful, quadriped beast --- she has to learn to adjust to living what has become, in effect, a "double life."    Or else succumb to any of the new hazards common to any werewolf.

This particular novel came in the mail for me today.    It's summarized as follows:

"Eighteen-year-old rock star Sam Lee isn't like other girls. She's the super-talented bass player and songwriter for an all-girl indie band and an incurable loner. Then one night after a concert in Central Park, she's attacked by a wild dog. 

"Suddenly, this long-time vegetarian is craving meat--the bloodier, the better. Sam finds herself with an unbelievable secret and no one she trusts to share it. And so begin the endless lies to cover up the hairy truth... 

"When a new girl gang appears in the city--with claws and paws--Sam suspects there's a connection to her own inner beast. Trapped in a tug-of-war between her animal and human selves, forced to choose between the guy who sparked her carnal appetite and the one who makes her feel like a normal teenage girl, Sam has to unravel the mysteries of the werewolf world before her bandmates, her mother, and the media catch up to her."

I first became aware of this book when several people I follow on Booklikes added it to their “planning to read” lists. The cover was gorgeous and caught my eye. While I was checking out Mindtouch, I saw Earthrise again and realized they were by the same author. I bought both of them at the same time.

This book had a much stronger start than Mindtouch, and I appreciated that it had more of an actual plot. There is something addictive about Hogarth's writing, and it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll be reading more of her works. That said, I did feel that Earthrise was a slightly less enjoyable read than Mindtouch.

My biggest problem with the book was Reese, who was very, very prickly. She had reason to be. She grew up on Mars and was part of a family that followed the tradition of having only girls and reproducing via artificial insemination. Her family would have preferred her to stay with them, take care of her mother in her old age, and then have a baby who would eventually take care of her. Instead, she disappointed them all by going off and captaining a merchant ship. We only see her family once in the book, but they make it clear that they're not an accepting bunch. As a result, I think Reese expects rejection more than she realizes, and so she puts up walls around herself. Thick, spiked walls.

I put up with her prickliness in the beginning because I wanted to see what caused it. Also, it was clear that she was more prickly with newcomers, like Hirianthial, than long-time crew members. Maybe she'd open up more as she got to know Hirianthial, or at least stop kicking at him so much. She did make a bit of an effort to learn more about Eldritch (although reading romance novels featuring Eldritch didn't seem to be the best way to go about it), and I loved it when she defended Hirianthial from undeserved emotional abuse after tragedy befell a patient in his care.

However, in the last 10% of the book, Reese behaved in ways so boneheaded that I actually cheered when her crew members bit her head off for it. She absolutely deserved it. Yes, she was in a tense, dangerous, stressful situation, but so was everyone else, and she was the only one acting like an idiot. Despite a whole book's worth of evidence that Hirianthial was stubbornly honorable and more capable than stereotypes about Eldritch might lead one to believe, she continued to insult him by implying that he might read her mind on purpose and by complaining that he was constantly in need of rescue. She had so little trust in Hirianthial, even that late in the book, that she refused to listen while he tried to quietly lead them all safely through enemy territory. My head almost exploded.

While I appreciated that she later apologized to Hirianthial for what she said and did, her apology came a little late and might not even have happened had a crew member not asked her to treat him less like dirt. I really hope that, in the next book, Reese's behavior towards Hirianthial improves. I'm not sure if Reese and Hirianthial are going to be a romantic couple, but, if that's where things are going, they're off to a really crappy start.

Unlike Reese, Hirianthial did soften and warm up as the book progressed. I can't remember how old Jahir, the Eldritch in Mindtouch, was, but Hirianthial felt much older, more wearied and worn down by his years. Even his physical condition made him seem older –  he had arthritis in several of his joints. He was a doctor, and his greatest concern was saving others' lives, even if he ground himself down in the process. Being with the crew of the Earthrise brought him a little more back to himself, I think. One of my favorite parts of the book involved the crew members getting together to make him a thank you gift, which they then (minus Reese) braided into his hair.

This book had more action and less alien culture info than Mindtouch, although there were still some nice tidbits. For example, a brand new (to me) being called a Flitzbe was introduced. Also, a sizable portion of the book took place on Harat-Sharii, the home world of the polygamous (polygynous?) Harat-Shar. The way their medical industry worked was both fascinating and horrifying. I learned a little more about Harat-Shar family groups, but I ended up with more questions than I started with. Irine and Sascha's relationship, for instance, had me doing a triple-take – like Reese, I wasn't quite comfortable with their complete lack of issues with sibling sexual intimacy, and I couldn't help but wonder what sorts of taboos the Harat-Shar had, if any.

The action portions of the book were good and reminded me a bit of Joss Whedon's Firefly at times. Like Mal, Reese was perpetually short on funds and occasionally did things she wasn't entirely comfortable doing, because otherwise there was no money to keep going. At least once in this book, that bit her in the butt in a major way. Because she and her crew were primarily merchants, not fighters, they tried to talk their way out of trouble when they could. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. They could, and did, run away from trouble when possible. One of my favorite early scenes involved the use of crates of berries as accidental weapons, because the Earthrise was not equipped with real ones.

All in all, this was a decent book that I would have liked a good deal more if Reese's behavior hadn't been so bad so close to the end. The storyline was fairly interesting, I liked most of the characters, and it was nice to find out a little more about the overall universe that Mindtouch had introduced me to. Some parts of the book could have been tightened up a bit, while others might have benefited from a bit more detail. For example, I would have liked to have seen and learned more about Reese's life and family on Mars, and, while the portion that took place on Harat-Sharii was interesting, I suspect it could have been shortened without hurting the story.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

I was pleasantly surprised while reading Nor Your Ordinary Wolf Girl by Emily Pohl-Weary.  What I was expecting was just another werewolf story but with an older female lead.  Yes, it is another werewolf story, but it was better than what I had hoped for!  The voice that was given to main character, Sam Lee, is one that keeps the reader’s attention.

Not your Ordinary Wolf Girl by Emily Pohl-Weary is a story about rising rock star Sam Lee who unfortunately gets bitten by a werewolf.  She in turn begins to turn into a werewolf, herself.  Not only does she have to start getting used to these changes happening to her, but she must also deal with a crazy werewolf, Owen, who has decided to stake his claim on her.  Thank goodness for his totally sexy brother, Marlon.  Marlon has taken it upon himself to watch out for Sam as she goes through her transformation, and to protect her from his crazed bro.

But Sam’s transformation is doing a huge number on her career, as well as to her friendship and potential relationship.  The hunger for food is overwhelming, and the thought of taking a bite out of those closest to her scares the crap out of her.  Who could have bitten her and why?  Does the appearance of an insane all girl gang have anything to do with this?  And what part does Sam have to play in all this craziness…

What I really loved about this book was how Sam’s transformation is described.  Her thoughts and feelings come to life as she tries to deal with her new reality.  We see her anger and pain, and we witness how she deals with everything.

And I was torn between which boy I wanted to see Sam with.  Of course, Marlon is bad boy sexy.  But I loved that deep down he is sweet and romantic and thoughtful.  And I loved the protectiveness he had with Sam.  Harris, at times, would be sweet as well, but with a few drinks he turns into something that I really didn’t care for.  And I felt that Mr. Obvious was so quick to want to jump into bed with Sam, mere moments after a break up with his long time girlfriend.

I loved Sam’s friends/band mates, Jules and Malika, although Jules was questionable at times.  But Malika was a friend through and through, one that I would proud to have.  In fact, I loved the way in which all the characters were introduced and written.  Everything flowed so well together, that this ended up being a really quick read.  The pages flew by quickly and the end came fast.

Fans of reads involving werewolves will fall in love with Not Your Ordinary Wolf Girl by Emily Pohl-Weary.  A little bit of rock, and whole lotta fur.