Charm & Strange in The Reader's Lounge

May 15, 2013 Emma rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, paranormal, fantasy, for-review, arc, from-publisher, ya, e-galley

3.5/4 Stars. Despite a disappointing ending, it was a very original werewolf book! One word, Different!

Full Review to Come

***
I'm a very anti-werewolf kind of girl so when I saw this book it definitely caught my eye. The book itself is split into 'Matter' and 'Antimatter' and intriguing idea based on the science of past events that forms the persona inside of someone and this is Win. At fist it was slightly disorientating going between two times when you don't quite know what happening until the 3.5/4 Stars. Despite a disappointing ending, it was a very original werewolf book! One word, Different!

Full Review to Come

***
I'm a very anti-werewolf kind of girl so when I saw this book it definitely caught my eye. The book itself is split into 'Matter' and 'Antimatter' and intriguing idea based on the science of past events that forms the persona inside of someone and this is Win. At fist it was slightly disorientating going between two times when you don't quite know what happening until the third chapter. The book as a whole is very short but just enough to get a very solid story about a character conflicted by his inner demons, more specifically a werewolf.

Stephanie tells two sides of one character.. Andrew and Win.
Matter: Win is a secluded lonely character, breached into his teenage years at a boarding school in Vermont after a tragic family accident...This is were it got interesting.
Anti-Matter: Andrew is 12 year old boy with a drunken father, non-existent mother, brother Keith and sister Siobhan. He doesn't care for either of them, he's very unsure, whiny kid with odd expectations of life. He begins his story with a very viscous attack at his tennis finals when he loses against him... he had no control just the adrenaline surging throughout his whole body. This event sparked the demons inside of his body. Andrew was an odd character to contend with. What was unexpected was that their was no need to connect with the character, it just weaved throughout his present character...Win.

Anti-Matter: Andrew was sent to a camp with his brother Keith, to stay with their grandparents. Alongside them their cousins which almost seemed strange. Keith was very charming to one of the cousins, but so Andrew is some disturbed. They all stayed together and Drew couldn't quite place why... Until his father came to the lake house... A bit of fatherly bonding... in more ways than one. He and his siblings have a reputation and a purpose to nature and the moon phases that causes the event that traumatizes his life. This itself is only half the story when you go back to the present, but its life that fuels his fear and his current persona.

Matter: Lex and Jordan, the secondary characters of this novel were the more constant and supportive throughout the whole book. They were Win's anchor and they were my anchor to the present. In essence the backwards and forwards between two times was repetitive but these characters balanced out that novel for me. The only thing that let the novel down a notch was the ending, it disappointed me as we didn't really what the outcome of Win's trauma would be. I was unresolved and slightly puzzled. I felt that, unfortunately, that each character didn't really end

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of this book. Is there going to be sequel to this book? I would like to think so so she could develop Wins character some more. I didn't know what to expect from Stephanie's work and I can say I will be indulging in many more of her novels to come. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 30, 2012 Emma rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, for-review, arc, from-publisher, ya

I...It was a very unexpected debut novel... I had some expectations but it completely blew me away especially for a werewolf book...which I'm not huge fan of.

Full Review to come!

***
I'm a very anti-werewolf kind of girl so when I saw this book it definitely caught my eye. The book itself is split into 'Matter' and 'Antimatter' and intriguing idea based on the science of past events that forms the persona inside of someone and this is Win. At fist it was slightly disorientating going between two I...It was a very unexpected debut novel... I had some expectations but it completely blew me away especially for a werewolf book...which I'm not huge fan of.

Full Review to come!

***
I'm a very anti-werewolf kind of girl so when I saw this book it definitely caught my eye. The book itself is split into 'Matter' and 'Antimatter' and intriguing idea based on the science of past events that forms the persona inside of someone and this is Win. At fist it was slightly disorientating going between two times when you don't quite know what happening until the third chapter. The book as a whole is very short but just enough to get a very solid story about a character conflicted by his inner demons, more specifically a werewolf.

Stephanie tells two sides of one character.. Andrew and Win.
Matter: Win is a secluded lonely character, breached into his teenage years at a boarding school in Vermont after a tragic family accident...This is were it got interesting.
Anti-Matter: Andrew is 12 year old boy with a drunken father, non-existent mother, brother Keith and sister Siobhan. He doesn't care for either of them, he's very unsure, whiny kid with odd expectations of life. He begins his story with a very viscous attack at his tennis finals when he loses against him... he had no control just the adrenaline surging throughout his whole body. This event sparked the demons inside of his body. Andrew was an odd character to contend with. What was unexpected was that their was no need to connect with the character, it just weaved throughout his present character...Win.

Anti-Matter: Andrew was sent to a camp with his brother Keith, to stay with their grandparents. Alongside them their cousins which almost seemed strange. Keith was very charming to one of the cousins, but so Andrew is some disturbed. They all stayed together and Drew couldn't quite place why... Until his father came to the lake house... A bit of fatherly bonding... in more ways than one. He and his siblings have a reputation and a purpose to nature and the moon phases that causes the event that traumatizes his life. This itself is only half the story when you go back to the present, but its life that fuels his fear and his current persona.

Matter: Lex and Jordan, the secondary characters of this novel were the more constant and supportive throughout the whole book. They were Win's anchor and they were my anchor to the present. In essence the backwards and forwards between two times was repetitive but these characters balanced out that novel for me. The only thing that let the novel down a notch was the ending, it disappointed me as we didn't really what the outcome of Win's trauma would be. I was unresolved and slightly puzzled. I felt that, unfortunately, that each character didn't really end

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of this book. Is there going to be sequel to this book? I would like to think so so she could develop Wins character some more. I didn't know what to expect from Stephanie's work and I can say I will be indulging in many more of her novels to come. ...more

Like · see review

Jun 25, 2013 Jasprit rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: out-2014, arc-galley, read-in-2014

Like

Jul 26, 2013 Pili marked it as to-read

Like

From the Bookshelf of The Reader's Lounge…

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

What Members Thought

The Reader's Lounge