Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Review: The Frenzy by Francesca Lia Block


Take your normal book about teenage werewolf coming out, pair it with a gay best friend coming out, a curse, an interracial love, and a new pack of werewolves in town, and you have the setting for The Frenzy.

This one was short and sweet, and I must admit, the larger themes of young adult-ness were an interesting twist to a story we already know and love, that of coming to terms with the fact that you are actually a werewolf.

Originality - 6. Our Main Character here, Liv, doesnt know what is happening, except her teeth seem to be getting sharper, fine red fuzz covers her body all the time ( even though her Stepford mom keeps waxing it off) and she has serious rage/kill issues. A nice twist on the everyday moon howling or werewolf books.

Absurdity - 3. Pretty low, all things considered. The more mainstream teenage issues that we face are compounded by the blossoming wolf half but that doesnt overpower them. So even though she is turing into a werewolf, its just not that absurd ( NOTE- this may mean that I am losing my mind when I find this premise totally acceptable).

Level of Paranormal Romance - 2 - Again pretty low. The only paranormal thing ( beyond the previously mentioned red body fuzz) is that Liv's BF knows she is a wolf and is totally ok with it. Again, just going with the flow here.

Level of Harry Potter-ness - 1 - Lowest. This book just appears NORMAL in the world of young adult scifi/fantasy. Not that it is a bad thing, I found it quite refreshing and enjoyable.

Overall, I think that the audience for this one was for those dipping their toes in the scifi pool, just to see what it was like. And I think that this audience would be happily surprised. And the ending, there has GOT to be a sequel. Nothing says followup like watching your heroine ride off on the motorcycle of her racial diverse boyfriend with a silver hand replacing the one her mother shot off her wolf body...

1 comment:

  1. Crazy Camper, I was NOT interested in this book. I like your review better than the book!

    ReplyDelete

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