Lonely Werewolf Girl

by Martin Millar

book data

539 ratings, 3.88 average rating, 159 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		32%
4		37%
3		19%
2		7%
1		3%

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published

June 7th 2007 by Meadow & Black

details

Paperback, 520 pages

isbn

0955498406 (isbn13: 9780955498404)

description

While teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is being pursued through the streets of London by murderous hunters, her sister, the Werewolf Enchantress, is…more

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Dec 04, 2007

WADO rated it:

Read in January, 2008

I really need to reread this, because I wanted to takes some notes while I was going through it, possibly make a paper or something out of it, because these are these are the kinds of books I like to keep my critical teeth sharp on. Anytime you have characters who most people would think unlikely to be interested in fashion, that is typically where you will find me writing critical analysis.

So fashion-obsessed fire elementals practically pull the harbrace handbook off the shelf while...more

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Apr 06, 2008

Deana rated it:

bookshelves: urban-fantasy

Read in April, 2008

Neil Gaiman loves this guy. Need I say more?

Perhaps not but I will anyway. I must admit that when I walked into Elliot Bay I was drawn initially to the cover of the book and then I realized it was an author I'd previously enjoyed.

I loved Millar's "The Good Fairies of New York" for its irreverent take on the fair folk. "Lonely Werewolf Girl" doesn't disappoint. It was good balm for my psyche after getting sucked into the world of "Twilight."...more

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May 31, 2008

Jennifer Wardrip rated it:

(review of isbn 0979663660)

bookshelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Candace Cunard for TeensReadToo.com

The first thing that hit me about this book was the richness of backstory and the sheer size of the cast of characters.

Although the plot centers around the titular lonely teen werewolf, Kalix MacRinnalch, she lives in a rich world populated with numerous other characters whose actions interfere with or drive important developments in the story. Fifteen-year-old Kalix is the youngest daughter of the Thane of the MacRinnalch C...more Reviewed by Candace Cunard for TeensReadToo.com

The first thing that hit me about this book was the richness of backstory and the sheer size of the cast of characters.

Although the plot centers around the titular lonely teen werewolf, Kalix MacRinnalch, she lives in a rich world populated with numerous other characters whose actions interfere with or drive important developments in the story. Fifteen-year-old Kalix is the youngest daughter of the Thane of the MacRinnalch Clan of werewolves. She's strong and she knows it, and she doesn't get along well with others--she escapes from the clan stronghold in Scotland and makes her way to London after almost killing her father in a fight. Addicted to laudanum and in poor shape, she is set upon by members of her own Clan who think she should pay for what she did to her father. Her older sister and London-based fashion designer, Thrix, helps her as best she can, but when Kalix sells the protective amulet Thrix gave her, she's easily discovered by other werewolves trying to hunt her down.

Kalix's attempts to escape the members of her clan who are trying to kill her lands her squarely in the path of Daniel, a normal university student in London who's never thought about anything like werewolves before. He and his roommate, Moonglow, do their best to protect Kalix and convince her that there are things worth living for, but outside forces intervene and place Kalix directly in the middle of MacRinnalch Clan politics.

This sprawling narrative can be unwieldy at times, and the large numbers of characters and situations initially may seem disjointed, but when the plots begin to intertwine and work together, the many different storylines coalesce into a whole that is better than the sum of its parts.

The beginning of the novel works to set up all of the information necessary for the reader to understand the world that Kalix and her friends and enemies move in, preparing the reader for the meatier middle scenes. The occasional rapid-fire scene shifts and point of view shifts were initially difficult, but these problems ironed themselves out as the ook progressed.

I was really impressed by the different characters portrayed throughout. Kalix is by no means the only one with depth; some of the other werewolves, paranormal creatures, and humans that she runs into are equally well-drawn, with their little quirks and amusing habits. Thrix, Kalix's older sister, is the werewolf enchantress, and yet she enjoys designing clothing, some of which appeals to buyers from alternate dimensions. Malveria, one of these customers, begins as what appears to be a comic character but ends up having a real impact on the plot later on. The politics of the MacRinnalch Clan are carried out by a large array of characters, each with their own distinct motivations and machinations.

LONELY WEREWOLF GIRL is not a simple read, but the complexity is part of the pleasure of reading this book.
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May 28, 2008

Tammy rated it:

(review of isbn 0979663660)

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: Neil Gaiman fans

I picked up this book after seeing a bit of praise from Neil Gaiman about the author.

The story focuses on Kalix, an addict, a teenager, and an outcast, hunted member of werewolf royalty. First and foremost, Kalix is a teenager. She's emo; she cuts (although this is not a major theme in the book, it does occur for those wishing to avoid anything triggery). She whines and complains.

She also can't read or write particularly well, wishes Joan Jett was her mother, and thinks S...more

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Jun 19, 2008

Sean rated it:

(review of isbn 0979663660)

bookshelves: fantasy, non-us

Read in June, 2008

I've never read any Millar before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Neil Gaiman gives him the highest praise, but then he also praised Jody Scott, whose I, Vampire left me almost completely cold. But not to worry! Lonely Werewolf Girl is brilliant, disjointed, hilarious, convoluted and whimsical. The characters are all a little crazy, the overlapping love triangles are somewhat labyrinthine and the family relations are dysfunctional, but it all makes for a very good read, the kind that kept me u...more

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Jun 19, 2008

Nathan rated it:

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Nathan by: Neil Gaiman
recommends it for: Kurt Vonnegut

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

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Mar 06, 2008

Adrian rated it:

Read in March, 2008

Great fun, and very compulsive reading - raced through this :)
I love his stories, because they are very familiar - lots about London, and students, and bands playing gigs - but they also manage to include all sorts of strange stuff (werewolves for instance) that seem to fit in so well with the rest of it I can almost believe that I've met werewolves too.

However, one thing irked me about this book - it seems as though proof reading consisted largely of running a computer spell c...more

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Jul 21, 2008

Laura rated it:

(review of isbn 0979663660)

bookshelves: books-i-own, english, fantasy

Owns a copy — Read in May, 2008

recommended to Laura by: Neil Gaiman
recommends it for: anyone

This is an odd book. None of the characters are truly likable (for any character, pick two or more of the following: crazy, violent, criminal, pathetic, annoying, stupid, or heartless). And yet they and their story captivated me.

Lonely Werewolf Girl is also well-written from a literary standpoint. Characters are hardly described at all; all the characterization stems from other sources (action or dialogue). An incredible number of characters and plot threads are woven together in ...more

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Jul 23, 2008

Erika rated it:

bookshelves: thefantastic

Read in August, 2008

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The idea was entertaining and I liked the pacing and off beat feel of it. BUT I got really annoyed with the whole Thrix/fashionista sub-plot mostly because I didn't give a damn and got really bored with the constant repetition of Malveria or whatever her name was throwing the exact same fit over and over again. Also, the constant reiteration of how thin all the main females were got pretty old. I understand that in some contexts it was some form of mockery, but come...more

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Aug 15, 2009

Megan rated it:

bookshelves: not-mine-library, urban-fantasy, werewolves

Read in August, 2009

The thing is, this was actually a good story ~ I liked the ideas, the history, and some of the characters. Had this story been written better and perhaps organized a little differenlty, it could have easily been a captivating series of two or three books. But the writing was awful!!! Really, really, awful. It's a shame.

Before starting Lonely Werewolf Girl, I read a few reviews on Goodreads and found it curious that so many people said this book read like a first draft, or that it nee...more The thing is, this was actually a good story ~ I liked the ideas, the history, and some of the characters. Had this story been written better and perhaps organized a little differenlty, it could have easily been a captivating series of two or three books. But the writing was awful!!! Really, really, awful. It's a shame.

Before starting Lonely Werewolf Girl, I read a few reviews on Goodreads and found it curious that so many people said this book read like a first draft, or that it needed a better editor. I mean, how can you tell? But the more I read, the more I understood. As many people have pointed out, this book is insanely redundant. So much time is wasted describing scenes, emotions, actions that have already described. Towards the end, I skimmed much more than I actually read.

In addition to the poor writing,the pacing was off. Many of the chapters are incredibly short (only a page or two) and end on a cliffhanger. At first it did inspire me to read on... but after 500+ really long pages that technique grew old fast. The more engrossed the reader becomes in a story, the author should reward the reader with longer passages, right? Instead, even at the climax of the story the reader is forced to suffer action that jumps back and forth between multiple story lines and points of view. Bad, bad, bad. Really bad.

As many others have mentioned, the characters are not likeable or even easy to sympathize with. In the hands of a better writer, this wouldn't be as much of an issue. But to read a poorly written book with unlikeable characters ~ I just feel like I was cheated twice. We don't know anyone's true motivation for feelings, thoughts, or actions. All of the characters are very two dimensional. There is very little growth or self-reflection; the bad guys remain bad guys throughout and the good guys always make the right choices. We always know what each character feels because Millar tells us what that character is feeling. Which is a pet peeve of mine. Shouldn't a talented writer be able to let the reader know how the character is feeling though that character's thoughts, words and actions? If Kalix wears old, torn black clothes, starves herself, cuts herself, and takes enough drugs/alcohol to pass out every time she is stressed... do I really need Millar to mention how depressed and hopeless she feels? No. And I really don't need him to tell me over and over again.

It took me about 3 weeks to get through this mess. Most books I finish in a few days at most. Ugh. Millar may be endorsed my Neil Gaiman, but I will never waste time on any crap he spews ever again. (less)

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Jul 05, 2009

Kali Olson added it

bookshelves: fantasy, ghosts-or-monsters, humor

Read in July, 2009

Kalix is a lonely werewolf girl. She’s seventeen and angst-filled, not to mention drug-addicted, antisocial, and lovesick. She’s attacked her father, the Thane of the powerful MacRinnalch werewolf clan, and is on the lam in London. And no one is going to leave her alone. Her brothers Sarapen and Markus are fighting each other for the throne but they both want Kalix dead, her sister Thrix is too busy designing a fashion wardrobe for the Fire Queen Malveria to be bothered with her little s...more

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Jun 09, 2009

Ana rated it:

(review of isbn 0979663660)

bookshelves: reading

Read in June, 2009

Unexpectedly, this got off to a shaky start for me. I had assumed I'd simply fall in and enjoy. Neil Gaiman has enthusiastic blurbs on it; a good friend had recommended The Good Fairies of New York. But somehow, the exposition and introduction of the major characters struck me as eye-rollingly clunky. (Like why, if Kalix can barely read, is she so determined to keep a journal? And why do we have to try to read more than one of her clumsy attempts to write?) Luckily, the story gained momentum, an...more

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May 13, 2008

Tashie rated it:

Read in May, 2008

This was a meh kind of read. I was expecting more when I got it. I don't think it was intended to be a book for a young adults but that was how the writing came off some of the time. The character development was interesting but the dialogue kind of made you cringe at times. In a who-the-hell-says-that? kind of way. And the ending was not kind exactly what I was expecting so that was refreshing. A good read by the pool with an en duble margarita.

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Jul 27, 2009

Steampunked rated it:

Read in July, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 22, 2010

Alex rated it:

(review of isbn 0979663660)

The MacRinnalch clan of Scottish werewolves is in uproar after the thane's daughter, Kalix, attacks and mortally wounds her father, leaving the succession in question. Kalix defects to London, on the run and hiding in the city's slums from her brothers and the rest of the clan. She is anxious, alone, and despondent over the loss of her lover who has also been exiled from the clan. The plot is unpredictable, and at times a little insane, as Kalix interacts with a host of colorful characters in...more

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Jan 13, 2009

Lilah rated it:

Read in January, 2009

Melancholy metalheads who talk forever about their favorite bands to everyone else's indifference, good-hearted goths falling prey to their own strongly romantic streaks, adorable punk klutzes, bloodstained battle queens ferociously determined to win the fashion wars, I was pretty much doomed to love this book.

I am generally not a fan of unadorned prose, but the minimalist style serves the fantastical characters very, very well as they navigate the human concepts of street cred, TV p...more

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Mar 18, 2009

Rachel rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy, fantasy-urban, ya

Read in January, 2009

The absolute best thing about this book is how utterly prosaic it is, and I mean that in the very best of ways. You would think that a war of succession between the werewolves of London (well, Scotland, but a lot of it takes place in London, and Warren Zevon is The Man), a histrionic queen from the elemental plane of fire and her rebellious niece, and a couple of hapless university students who get caught in the middle, you wouldn't really expect that the majority of the drama and suspense in w...more

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Mar 17, 2009

Kate rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy, senior-high, supernatural

Read in April, 2009

Kalix is on the run. Once a proud member of the MacRinalchs, the ruling family of Scottish werewolves, she was cast out of the clan when she attacked her father, the Thane. Now, Kalix is living in London, dying of malnutrition and addicted to laudanum. She is alone, not even her family will have anything to do with her, in fact they are out to kill her for revenge.

Unexpectedly, Kalix is rescued from one of her brothers by a couple of humans, Daniel and Moonglow who take the lonely...more

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Mar 29, 2008

Ren Leaflight rated it:

Read in March, 2008

I found the prose style a little off-putting on this one. It felt stiff despite the hip, humorous, werewolf subject matter due to the author's writing style. The characters were fun and I did warm to the story after a while, but this is definitely a one-time read for me.

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Sep 02, 2009

Meave rated it:

Read in September, 2009

I really wanted to love this book. I liked it a whole lot, but definitely did not love it. The writing combines real clunking lines like this, on page 61: "Even the airline stewardesses, used to dealing with the most awkward of customers, didn't feel entirely comfortable in his presence." with really clever pieces of dialog, e.g. page 428: "'You think I am lacking in empathy?'
"'If you go around saying things like it is not something with which I can easily empathise [si...more I really wanted to love this book. I liked it a whole lot, but definitely did not love it. The writing combines real clunking lines like this, on page 61: "Even the airline stewardesses, used to dealing with the most awkward of customers, didn't feel entirely comfortable in his presence." with really clever pieces of dialog, e.g. page 428: "'You think I am lacking in empathy?'
"'If you go around saying things like it is not something with which I can easily empathise [sic:] then it's probably a sign that you can't.'"

The contrast between TOTALLY AWKWARD and TOTALLY HILARIOUS threw me off quite a few times.

It's true, Malveria is the best character to come along in ages, I think partly because she's so open to new things, and partly because she's so frank. She's amazing, I loved her. The rest of them, though, weren't nearly so endearing. Maybe Moonglow, also because of her honesty.

Also the author seems to have this fixation with all the ladies being "skinny," not just "slender" or "thin" but SKINNY, and that is quite off-putting. Are we supposed to fetishize the anorexic girl, or the anorexic look, or what? That I could've lived without for sure. Go ahead, make all of your characters not just SKINNY but obsessed with being and remaining SKINNY, that's your prerogative, guy; do please remember that SKINNINESS itself isn't a personality trait, and you know anorexia's BAD NEWS, right?

The plot is compelling though, and I didn't want to stop reading it, so there's that. It's worth the time. Without all the ridiculous descriptive sentences like that nonsense about "airline stewardesses" (published 2007, mind), it'll make a pretty great movie. That's kind of faint praise but there's not much else to say without giving away the plot. I guess, it's a really good story, but ultimately disappointing in the way women are supposed to make up the majority of the main characters but still wind up acting more often than not in reaction to men's actions. It was good, but it could've been better. Still I'm glad to have read it.(less)

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