The Wolf Gift - Anne Rice

The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice

Like all teenage vampire enthusiasts I have read Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, and found it incredibly enjoyable. Can you imagine my excitement when I discovered (at the height of my werewolf mania, no less) that Anne Rice was beginning a new horror series based entirely around werewolves. 

I opened the book, unsure what to expect, and devoured the story like the werewolf Reuben devoured so many unsuspecting victims. 

Rice's new take on the werewolf myth was fascinating and very enjoyable to read. There were a few things I really did enjoy about this book, but the main two were the varied, interesting characters, and the brilliantly fun werewolf genesis story. The characterisation was done so artistically, even those who were absent for most of the story were changed the more we saw through Reuben's eyes and I developed a real attachment, and any werewolf will tell you that a good ol' fashioned wolf pack will have a character to cater to pretty much anyone, so I suffered no disappointment there! 

The werewolf genesis myth, much like her vampire genesis myth was amazingly original and exciting to read! I'm such a nerd about myths and folklore so I'm particularly partial to things like this, but either way, it was still very interesting. Rice found an excellent mix between science and religion for her werewolves with a great mixture of both religious and atheist werewolves to shed light on both sides. 

The one thing that Rice might have done better was the pace of the book. Granted, being forty chapters long it's difficult to keep an exciting pace and get in everything you feel necessary to the plot but, especially at the start, there was a lot of not-very-much-happening chapters. Of course by the end Rice had me entirely enthralled once again, biding her time perfectly, convincing me to buy the second book as soon as I possibly can, which I hope is very soon!

Enduring Love - Ian McEwan

Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

This intense tale woven by McEwan is a disturbing look into the true horrors of obsessive love. Put frankly, it terrified me. The story follows a man named Joe Rose, a scientific journalist, who lives with his wife quite happily, until one day a horrifying hot air balloon crash brings him across Jed Parry, a delusional young man who believes Joe was brought into his life by a higher power. As the book progresses Parry becomes more and more unpredictable and he unravels Joe's life, driving him to manic paranoia and forcing Joe away from his family. 

Though this book is incredibly haunting and frankly quite worrying, I read it in one day. McEwan's style immediately had me hooked, and I know that it is rare to find an opening chapter as thrilling and as gripping as the one presented in this book. This book offered a lot on insight to how the workings of the human psyche can be used to mould a plot, though it's used to the extreme, in that Parry's obsessive disposition is the entire plot, it was really well done, without demonising Parry too much. 

I usually find it difficult to get into many contemporary romances that aren't teen literature (I'm too scared to grow up, clearly) but I found this to be a great new take on love, or more specifically the dangers of love. Those who are a great lover of typical romance probably wouldn't get much of a kick out of it, but if you want to explore the typical Romeo and Juliet turned on its head, reshaped, and burned and have an un-see-able look at love rise from its ashes; I would highly recommend you read this book. 

It's difficult for me to think of a reason someone wouldn't love this book! There's no way I can praise it enough, and would widely encourage everyone I meet to read it. McEwan just makes this novel so interesting and so accessible that any lover of any book ever should read this. 

In short, this was the first of McEwan's work I've read, and I was not disappointed.