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Jun 05, 2008

Jamie rated it:

This book supposes a world where more than 99% of the population are lycanthropes, who transform into wild, unthinking beasts for a single night every month. The tiny minority of non-lycanthropes are drafted into an organization that polices the rest of the population. The "nons" spend that night hunting down those who violate the law by not locking themselves safely away. The protagonist is a "non", and the book is not so much about werewolves as it is about her life expe More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 11, 2008

Juushika rated it:

Benighted takes place in a world not unlike our own, except for one fundamental difference: over 99% of the population are lycanthropes, and the remaining minority work with the Department for the Ongoing Regulation of Lycanthropic Activity, capturing and prosecuting lunes that break full-moon curfews. Lola Galley is a DORLA veteran, but the events of two bad moon nights leads her to investigate a new type of lycanthrope crime: lycos capable of thought in wolf form and murder in human form. Beni More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 05, 2009

Ladiibbug rated it:

Did Not Finish - Quit at page 130

90% of the population are werewolves, the other 10% are non's. The law requires werewolves to lock themselves inside on full moons to avoid prowling, maiming and murdering while under the moon influence.

The non's are required to belong to DORLA (Dept. for the Ongoing Regulation of Lycanthorpic Activities). DORLA teams in vans hunt on full moon nights to catch and jail those werewolves who are out. The "dogcatching" is extreme More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Apr 06, 2011

Emma rated it:

Benighted is a hard book to review: for starters, it's almost impossible to explain without spoilers. It includes lycanthropes (werewolves), but no magic and few action scenes, and delves deeper into moral and psychological issues than any urban fantasy I've ever read. It portrays a dystopia of sorts, but the point still seems to be the story, not some political message. There's a murder mystery or two involved, before the plot veers off in a direction you've probably never seen in a simple myst More...

0 comments like

Mar 21, 2011

Alexapeterson rated it:

This is actually closer to 2 and 1/2 stars . . .
This book turns the traditionally fantasy plot-line on its head, creating a world in which 99% of the world's population are lycanthropes, while the small one percent without the gene to change during the full moon are derisively called "barebacks". Members of this one percent are forced to join DORLA, an organization charged with policing the streets during full moons and convicting those lycanthropes who are found wandering (rathe More...

1 comment like

Jan 07, 2011

Sara J rated it:

You could call BENIGHTED (BAREBACK in the UK) a crime novel that explores society's prejudices, or you could call it a fantasy novel with a mystery to be solved. Or you could call it a damned fine novel whose full-human protagonist just happens to live in a place where turning into a wolf at full moon is the norm, and she's the oddball.

I'm not a fan of werewolf fiction - but this isn't. It just happens to be set in a world where most people turn into, well, werewolves, and those who do More...

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Aug 04, 2010

Michael rated it:

An interesting premise let down by poor writing/world building decisions. It's a world where most of the population is made up of werewolves. Those who aren't are conscripted into an agency (DORLA) who watches over the lycanthropic population on the nights they change over.

But why does this agency exist? There are references in the book to show that the werewolves are able to pack together without slaughtering each other while they're in their turned state. So if 99.4% of the popula More...

1 comment like

Aug 07, 2009

Chris rated it:

Let's be honest, the urban/paranormal fantasy sub-genre is glutted at this point in time. Like all genres, UF has varying degrees or classes of writers (or books). You have books that are quick, fun reads, kinda guilty pleasures or "B" movies; such as the Kitty Norville books. You have books whose authors believe they are making some type of message, but really aren't; a "B" movie with pretensions. You have books that can rise above the "B" level with a little m More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 14, 2011

MG rated it:

Benighted is not a book to start with false expectations. If you are looking for a story which focuses on the fantasy elements and worldbuilding, or a supernatural drama, this is not the book for you. Benighted is depressing as all get out, and that needs to be understood going in.

Its protagonist and narrator is Lola Galley, a "bareback" in a world filled with lycanthropes. "Barebacks" (a derogatory term for non-lycanthropes), or nons, are conscripted at a young a More...

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Feb 18, 2009

Fuzzy rated it:

Benighted has two great things going for it. It's a novel with a Big Idea: it's set in a world much like ours, only 99% of people were werewolves, and when they're wolves they're pure unthinking predators. The small percentage of people who are born with the birth defect that they don't transform are conscripted into a government agency who have to take care of lawbreaking 'lunes' on full moon nights. Kit Whitfield does a great job of world-building and exploring the details of how such a societ More...

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Mar 13, 2010

Sofia rated it:

Oh. I don't quite know what to call this genre, but in my head I have a few books sorted in as "Matter-of-fact"-fantasy. The books in this genre all have fantasy or sci-fi thematics, but they don't go on and on about it. Like in "Benighted", it's just the way it is. There are no long and dreary explanations about HOW and WHY 99,6% of the population are werewolves, they just are. I recently read Audrey Niffenegger's "The timetravellers wife", which also goes into thi More...

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Aug 05, 2011

Jen rated it:

Loved this book about werewolves. Bit dark as it should be for this topic.

First-time novelist Kit Whitfield tells of a parallel world of werewolves, where non-wolf humans are treated like second-class citizens. Lola is a 'bareback' lawyer and dogcatcher conscripted, following a dismal childhood, into an agency that enforces a full moon curfew on potentially dangerous wolves. Most are harmless, but there are more dangerous wolf citizens, like those 'lunes' who have monthly hunting par More...

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Mar 21, 2010

Amy rated it:

I ended up liking this book a lot, I picked it up thinking it was just another urban fiction novel but it wasn't it was about predjudice. This story takes place in a alternate reality where humans are the minority and werewolves are the majority. The main charater is a bareback a derogatory term the werewolves use for humans. She is acused of murdering werewolves in this very predjuice society and has to fight for her innocence. I recommend this book to all my friends who don't like fantasy More...

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Jun 27, 2009

Clarice rated it:

So, when I picked this book up from the library, it was a spontaneous choice and I completely thought it would be kind of cracktastic. Well... I was completely and wonderfully wrong. The set up is pretty decent - a world of werewolves where being non-were was a birth defect/disability, and the nons ran a government agency to help deal with weres who caused trouble and were a minority treated as a lower caste of people. The set up was good, the story was pretty well thought out, and a lot of the More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 22, 2011

Colleen rated it:

This was an unexpected treat. I was unsure about taking on another paranormal read, but this is really more of a complete AU to our own reality. In this version, werewolves make up the majority of the population and the 'normals' aka 'barebacks' are the minority. This doesn't end up light and fluffly and isn't a feel good read with the ending all nicely wrapped up and the good guys saving the day. Who is the real monster? What does it mean to be human? Even if you don't normally read this genre, More...

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Jan 09, 2011

faeriemyst rated it:

I've spent the last three weeks reading Benighted off and on. I have a hard time describing how I feel about this book - in one respect I feel that it is well-written and very lifelike, even if it deals with lycanthropes, but in another, I feel that the story is flawed. I think that it was hard to stick with it because the tone is so depressing and dreary that I needed breaks.

Lola (or May) is a sympathetic character, but that does not, in any way, mean you'll like her, but I couldn't More...

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Feb 08, 2010

Kelly rated it:

99% of the population are werewolves, and for the very few that are born as 'barebacks', they are considered to have a disability, and are looked down upon by the rest of society. Being 'bareback' means that on a full moon night, they stay human and do not change into wolves, and so they have no choice by to join DORLA and hunt down rogue wolves who do not lock down, but instead roam outside illegally. When a friend of Lolas is mauled on a full-moon night by a rogue wolf and then later killed, s More...

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Jun 06, 2009

Jade rated it:

Bareback Jade Farrar
Kit Whitfield
©2006
In the book Bareback the world is very similar to earth, except for one thing. Most of the population is Lyco (werewolves), who become horrible beasts underneath the full moon. And the other very small percentage of the population are called barebacks who are regular humans. The main character in this story is 28-year-old Lola Galley. In this world there are rules about the werewolves transformed roaming outside More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 06, 2008

Kate rated it:

In a world where werewolves - or lycos as they are called in this debut novel - are the norm and barebacks or ‘nons’ (in other words people that do not turn at the full moon) are considered disabled or crippled, born with a birth defect that means they come out headfirst and different, Lola May is a social outcast. As a non, she is forced to work as a dog-catcher for DORLA, the organisation responsible for policing the activity of lunes (lycos during full moon) for the two days of the month th More...

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Oct 31, 2008

Dannii (lilbob1980) rated it:

Bareback is an interesting book that in most Urban Fantasy worlds the supernaturals are the minority not the majority. Lola May, the main character, is a human or "bareback" working for a company DORLA, which is the only place barebacks can work, and trying to stay alive and fight her demons forced upon her in this world run by werewolves / lycos.

The lycos are locked up every full moon, either by choice or by DORLA and anyone caught prowling is captured and locked up. Thi More...

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Jul 10, 2008

Gouty added it

First let me preface this with two things:
1. I am not a big fan of fantasy (there is some I like, a lot I don't).
2. I like my detectives more along the lines of Sam Spade, or Jack Reacher.
that being said I still really did not like this book. It was not so much a matter of genre, but the fact that while fantasy don't have to be believable they should not have plot holes that one can drive a truck through. As for the main detective she is a trully unlikable character. There are More...

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Jul 26, 2007

Ascexis rated it:

Urban fantasy, where werewolves are substantially in the majority, and those born without the lycanthropic twist in their dna are known, derisively, as barebacks.

Whitfield takes a fab inversion of a uual idea, and does wonderful things with it. The Barebacks are drafted at 18 into governement agencies for the control of weres at full moon. A world with a self-imposed curfew and lockup for all were-wolves, it would have been tempting to take the pov of one of the many other charac More...

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Mar 20, 2008

Courtney rated it:

Extremely interesting twist on the werewolf tale. In Lola's world, 99.6% of all people are born lycanthropes. The remaining .4% are not and are conscripted into DORLA, the Department for the Ongoing Regulation of Lycanthropic Activity, basically from birth. These "barebacks" must police the lunes when they change once a month, ensuring that they are not roaming about hurting people.

This book delves into some heavy themes, and I found this to be a compelling way to read a More...

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Jul 26, 2011

Ian added it

I liked the underlying premise of this book, but thought the use of it and the quality of the writing was disappointing. In particular, too much tedious and repetitive angst expounded at length. Nothing wrong with some internal reflection and a crisis of conscience, but in this case sparer writing and less of it would have been more effective. I think this one will be straight onto eBay!

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Mar 04, 2009

Liz rated it:

Whitfield has created a vivid and disturbing alternate world that will draw you in and tear your heart in two. Her imaginative premise: Werewolves are normal. It's the unlucky few, the freaks born "bareback," who aren't. This is the story of one of them. It's well worth a read -- Whitfield is a great writer, and a frequent (and always insightful) commenter at slacktivist.typepad.com.

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Nov 08, 2010

Marisella rated it:

An incredible story, well written, great and believable characters. First book I've read by this author, am going to have to go find more. Set in a world like ours, except that lycanthropes are the norm, and the non-lycanthropes (barebacks) are vilified and hated. There is a great mystery plot in here, woven with the new world facts, and a beautiful and humbling love story.

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Jul 30, 2009

Willow rated it:

Never finished reading it. Not because it wasn't well written, but because it wasn't the book I wanted. I expected a parnormal mystery/fantasy. This is very much noir. The werewolves and werewolf culture is incidental.

I may try to read it again sometime with a different mindset. But it was very much like expecting pizza and getting mashed potatoes.

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Apr 28, 2011

Sergio rated it:

Interessante "giallo coi licantropi", in un mondo dove gli uomini-lupo sono la maggioranza, mentre a minoranza degli umani che non mutano sono obbligati a svolgere mansioni di polizia durante le notti di luna piena, trattati e detestati come esseri deformi . Una "senzapelo" molto introversa e dal carattere particolarmente "ruvido" si trova costretta ad indagare sull'omicidio di un suo collega, trovandosi coinvolta (ovviamente) in qualcosa di più grande di lei, mentr More...

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May 19, 2009

Christina rated it:

Thought-provoking. What if most of the human population went werewolf every month, regularly becoming bloodthirsty, untamable, and then not remembering it in the morning? What if the minority who didn't make this transformation were treated as second-class citizens every day, except for full moon nights, when it becomes their responsibility to be sure that the monsters are properly confined? How do you carry out that responsibility when you meet with non-cooperation all the time? And how much do More...

1 comment like

Aug 11, 2011

Anne rated it:

I liked the idea of a world where the majority of people are werewolves, but to my disappointment the story wasn't so good. I'm not so fond of Whitfield's way of writing - and the first half of the book was a bit boring, it took a long while until things started to get somewhat interesting.

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