Author Topic: Bitza Wolf Book Reviews  (Read 2794 times)

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Offline Timberwuff

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Bitza Wolf Book Reviews
« on: February 25, 2015, 03:18:00 pm »
Hello and welcome everyone!

I recently discovered the surprisingly wonderful world of werewolf books lately and figured I'd spread the word about them and other furry-related books and stories I read! A good book is hard to find, and with the vitriol over the twilight series, I didn't believe good werewolf books existed. Thankfully I found a couple of books that really changed my mind, and I hope to encourage others to enjoy reading by recommending them!

Without anything else of value to say, here's the first review!
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Offline Timberwuff

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Re: Bitza Wolf Book Reviews
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2015, 03:30:24 pm »
The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice

The Wolf Gift chronicles the life-changing experience of a relatively young story writer for the local paper. Ruben is hired to write story about an ancient and beautiful mansion set deep in the Californian woods that needs to be sold, only to end up falling in love with it. The disaster strikes that night as burglars break in and murdering the owner of the mansion. As Ruben fears for his life, some monstrous creature shreds the burglars and leaves Ruben wounded with a deep bite.

Ruben barely survived, but is befuddling the medical staff at the hospital. He's recovering incredibly fast and his blood is full of all sorts of strange hormones. Slowly Ruben becomes stir crazy as he hears voices from the downtown city, people about to be murdered, raped, beaten, or robbed. The voices call to him, and call to his beast within.

Is this a curse or a gift? Ruben loves the raw power of his new form, the feel of his fur and fangs, but this is not normal. His family is worried about him as he hides away to keep his wolf-form a secret. His relationship with his girlfriend falls apart. Why was he forced to be left alone in this new world as a werewolf? Are there others like him out there? He needs someone to help him navigate this new life.



This book was overall a good read. It generally progressed quickly, although I definitely jumped ahead a few times because it was taking too long to hit the transformation scene. I really enjoyed the take on being a werewolf in modern society, especially since the main character really embraced it. This book was definitely written for werewolf lovers out there.

The transformation was absolutely wonderfully written. The author really got into the feel of it all and it was very satisfying to read as a big fan of transformation. This continued for the entire book, even as Ruben becomes much more adept at transforming. The book also used quite a few medical terms to make the werewolf condition feel more believable, although that comes from me as a reader with no medical education.

I also enjoyed the distinct change in psychology Ruben went through, learning to enjoy both being a wolf, and being a human. Learning about the lust of roaming the forest and hunting live game.

That said, I was disappointed with the strength of the super powers the werewolf had. Super regeneration, super sight, super hearing. All of these super-powers take a story from being something we wanna-be-werewolves want to believe in, into glaring fantasy. Of course creatures can't magically recover from bullet wounds without a scratch. However, it did bring in the interesting concept of super-morals where werewolves can smell humans with evil intent. This is the driving force for most of the story.

Ruben develops a new romance with a strange woman he meets who lives in the middle of the forest. She actually meets him first in his werewolf form, and unlike every typical human response, she welcomed him to her home. This brings a whole new dimension to the story, about a couple learning to handle one being a werewolf, and about what kind of person would welcome a werewolf as a lover? Obviously us fuzzies here probably wouldn't mind a werewolf mate, but it speaks of the interesting past this character brings.

Perhaps most importantly, this female role brings up the topic we're all thinking when reading the story. Wouldn't we all want to be a werewolf too?

Now, no story is perfect, and I found this secondary female role to be playing into the typical female stereotypes. She's too weak and frequently referred to as fragile, but it does fit her back-story.

To end the review, and perhaps a small spoiler-warning, Ruben gets a little too frenzied fighting off homophobic murderers one night and accidentally creates the first gay werewolf. It's a little icing I enjoyed on the fine pastry that is this book.


Readability: Moderate. 500 pages, slow at times but a very good story.
Overall: 3.5 Paws out of 5.
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Offline Kobuk

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Re: Bitza Wolf Book Reviews
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2015, 04:50:22 pm »
Quote
The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice

I'll have to look into this at the bookstore at the mall tomorrow. ;) There's a second book in the series too, you know. ;)

I like werewolf books too, but have never had the time to buy much or read any. One that I did buy and read long ago is called "Wolf's Trap" by W.D. Gagliani.

Offline Timberwuff

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Re: Bitza Wolf Book Reviews
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2015, 06:27:29 pm »
Quote
There's a second book in the series too, you know.

I like werewolf books too, but have never had the time to buy much or read any. One that I did buy and read long ago is called "Wolf's Trap" by W.D. Gagliani.


Yes! There's actually about 10 pages of the new book at the end of this one, but I'm not amped to read it any time soon. I have a few other books on the list, including the sequel to another werewolf book I enjoyed much more than this one!

I'll be sure to keep that book in mind when I'm out hunting for new ones!
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Offline Kobuk

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Re: Bitza Wolf Book Reviews
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2015, 10:41:09 pm »
Have you found/read any other wolf/werewolf books recently? Any that you'd recommend?

Offline Timberwuff

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Re: Bitza Wolf Book Reviews
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2015, 11:21:51 pm »
Yes! Unfortunately I've been too busy with school and other interests to write a proper review.

Wolfbreed by S.A. Swann

Everyone knows to not judge a book by its cover, and this one gets that treatment. Its cover makes it feel like the story is a Twilight knockoff, but it's the best werewolf book I've read to date.

Wolfbreed chronicles the story of two people, an orphaned young man named Udolf who lost his arm and a young woman named Lilly who's a trained werewolf used only for mass murdering in the name of the lord. It takes place in the medieval ages with castles and swords.

Now what's so captivating is that Lilly was born a werewolf and was tortured into submission to only obey her human masters. Early on, she manages to escape to freedom, but barely alive. Thankfully she's found by Udolf in the forest who takes her in. As far as Udolf's family knows, she's just a lost human in need of help. As they care and nurse Lilly back to life, Lilly begins to learn what it means to be loved and cared for.

What is this new life like? Is it okay for her to be treated like a human? Or is she destined to always be a blood thirsty monster?
And for Udolf, who finds himself attracted to this young woman, seems to remember her. And his memory is tied to his missing arm, and a dark bloody night that his home village was destroyed in. But what does this innocent human woman have to do with his haunted past?



This book definitely require a few trigger warnings. It has a rape scene and mildly graphic descriptions of torture. But it feels in good taste if that's possible. It builds in favor of the characters, even when it's hard to stomach.

Perhaps what I love the most relates to my personal therian-side. Feeling like a wolf, but getting treated like a human. Getting to figure out and learn what it means to be both a wolf and a human.

Of course what everyone can relate to here is rooting for the werewolf. This story is all about a werewolf protagonist which is awesome. Even better is that this super-human werewolf (with regenerative powers and super-strength) has big personal flaws like any human should. She's a real character with a terrible, troubled past. You're rooting for her to save the humans, but you're also rooting for her to heal from her past.

The story features several heart-stopping scenes where you have to keep reading. The ending brings me to tears just to remember it. I was extremely satisfied with the ending, but you will not be able to set this book down when it reaches the story's climax.

The only possible critique I'd desire as a reader would be some form of transformation for the human into another werewolf, but that's specific to my tastes. The book can also be hard to read at times when it jumps around from one timeline to another, but the entire story is so worth it.

Readability: Moderate. Only 383 pages, but emotionally tough scenes and jumping timelines.
Overall: 5 Paws out of 5
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