Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Review: Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson

Tags: YA, paranormal, werewolves, killer, romance

Summary

Claire’s sixteenth year was supposed to be her best yet, as her long-time crush Matthew finally starts talking to her. But then her photographer mother drops the horrifying news: Claire is going to turn into a werewolf and join the local all-female werewolf group.

The last thing Claire wants to be right now is a werewolf, especially with Matthew’s internationally known anti-werewolf father and a lone werewolf, a seule, terrorizing the community by ruthlessly killing people. Does Claire’s romance with Matthew stand a chance?

Review

CLAIRE DE LUNE, Christine Johnson’s debut novel, is a good but not standout addition to werewolf lit. The simple way that this twist on werewolf lore is presented will make it a quick and satisfying read to ardent werewolf lovers, though it will have a tougher time winning the hearts of others.

In CLAIRE DE LUNE, Christine Johnson introduces us to a different type of paranormal world, in which only females can be werewolves. It’s not a feminist book, per se, but the dynamic that this sets up allows Claire to grow into a strong and self-reliant girl/werewolf. Here, it’s the girl protecting the boy, not the usual way around.

Having a girl be the strength in a relationship would be a great story, but the book unfortunately never fully lives up to its potential. Outside of Claire, I found the characters difficult to get to know, most of them only fitting “roles” expected to appear in a paranormal romance: the tensions among the werewolf group members, the love interest’s villainous father, the head-butting mother, etc. I never found myself fully immersed in Claire’s family dynamics, with her mother’s Type A “bad parent” personality and their rather inconsequential au pair (who’s more a red herring than a useful character, perhaps?). And all of Matthew’s father’s supposedly malevolent machinations and campaign against werewolves remained in the distant background and never fully took on immediacy.

I guess I’m just sort of extra cynical when it comes to paranormal romances nowadays: it’s going to take a lot to make something stand out for me. CLAIRE DE LUNE never reaches that point for me, but I have no doubt that it will find its audience as scores of werewolf lovers prowl the shelves for something equally supernatural and romantic after watching Twilight for the twenty-eighth time.

Similar Authors
Kimberly Derting
Bree Despain

Writing: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5


Cover discussion: 3 out of 5 - I wasn't initially a fan--everything just felt too...bland for a werewolf story, but it's growing on me. It's a little whimsical, which I'm not sure how well it fits the story, but I like.

Simon Pulse / May 18, 2010 / Hardcover /336pp. / $16.99

ARC received from publisher.

5 comments:

  1. great review...alot of people have gave it a 5 out of 5 so its nice to hear something a little different

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  2. Since I'm not a werewolf/paranormal lover I probably won't be picking this book up. I enjoyed your review, though!

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  3. Lovely review. ^^ I simply must get my hands on this book.

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  4. Hey thanks for the honest review. I'm not much of a ww fan myself. I'll push this one a bit down in the tbr pile. Thanks.

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  5. I'm really crossed if I want to read this or not. Heard so many mixed review, and I keep stopping myself from picking it up.
    Glad to hear your honest opinion, sorry that it didn't turn out to it's potential.

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Hello! I'm so excited to read what you have to say. Due to high amounts of spam, I'm forced to disabled anonymous comments for the time being. Sorry for any inconvenience this causes, and I hope you can understand and still appreciate the content here!

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