Review: Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson

Tags: YA, paranormal, werewolves, killer, romance

Summary

Claire’s sixteenth year was supposed to be her best yet, as her long-time crush Matthew finally starts talking to her. But then her photographer mother drops the horrifying news: Claire is going to turn into a werewolf and join the local all-female werewolf group.

The last thing Claire wants to be right now is a werewolf, especially with Matthew’s internationally known anti-werewolf father and a lone werewolf, a seule, terrorizing the community by ruthlessly killing people. Does Claire’s romance with Matthew stand a chance?

Review

CLAIRE DE LUNE, Christine Johnson’s debut novel, is a good but not standout addition to werewolf lit. The simple way that this twist on werewolf lore is presented will make it a quick and satisfying read to ardent werewolf lovers, though it will have a tougher time winning the hearts of others.

In CLAIRE DE LUNE, Christine Johnson introduces us to a different type of paranormal world, in which only females can be werewolves. It’s not a feminist book, per se, but the dynamic that this sets up allows Claire to grow into a strong and self-reliant girl/werewolf. Here, it’s the girl protecting the boy, not the usual way around.

Having a girl be the strength in a relationship would be a great story, but the book unfortunately never fully lives up to its potential. Outside of Claire, I found the characters difficult to get to know, most of them only fitting “roles” expected to appear in a paranormal romance: the tensions among the werewolf group members, the love interest’s villainous father, the head-butting mother, etc. I never found myself fully immersed in Claire’s family dynamics, with her mother’s Type A “bad parent” personality and their rather inconsequential au pair (who’s more a red herring than a useful character, perhaps?). And all of Matthew’s father’s supposedly malevolent machinations and campaign against werewolves remained in the distant background and never fully took on immediacy.

I guess I’m just sort of extra cynical when it comes to paranormal romances nowadays: it’s going to take a lot to make something stand out for me. CLAIRE DE LUNE never reaches that point for me, but I have no doubt that it will find its audience as scores of werewolf lovers prowl the shelves for something equally supernatural and romantic after watching Twilight for the twenty-eighth time.

Similar Authors
Kimberly Derting
Bree Despain

Writing: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5


Cover discussion: 3 out of 5 - I wasn't initially a fan--everything just felt too...bland for a werewolf story, but it's growing on me. It's a little whimsical, which I'm not sure how well it fits the story, but I like.

Simon Pulse / May 18, 2010 / Hardcover /336pp. / $16.99

ARC received from publisher.

Awesomesauce Trailers

Wow. Thanks for the astounding response to my previous post! It's heartening to see that so many of us have noticed and want the same things in contemporary YA. And I know that authors are definitely taking note! Maybe those editors who purportedly recommend that their authors kill off parents or "beautify" their acned characters will think twice about their decision to perpetuate YA tropes that we readers note and are tired of.

On a far lighter note, I am going to share with you some cool trailers that some kind publicists have alerted me to. The first is one for Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready, a paranormal YA coming out from Simon Pulse on May 4--omigoodness that's a week from today!



I'm in the middle of reading this fabulously well-written book right now (would read more but it's dark now and this book is seriously creeping me out cuz I'm a wimp), and what can I say? Jeri is no adult urban fantasy author "dumbing down" her writing for the YA genre. The characters are three-dimensional and non-cliched, the world-building is full, the major plot conflict is steadily growing but the pace is not plodding, and I'm going to have to stop here because I don't want to expend all the phrases I want to use in my review. Needless to say, awesomesauce.

The next is for Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson, also coming out from Simon Pulse later in May:



I haven't started this book yet, but it came in the same shiny silver-foiled package as Shade, which by the transitive/proximity property must mean that it is awesome too, no? Also, the background music is so...well, would "rad" be an acceptable way of describing it?

The last is Part One of a series of teaser clips for the fifth book in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series, Spirit Bound. I love this series incredibly much, but I haven't read the fourth book yet, so I'm shielding myself from this teaser trailer and instead providing you a link to its Youtube page. Check it out! (I accidentally peaked, and the quote that came up was just...whoa. Brought back the VA magic for me.)

Now, morning, can you come so I can return to reading Shade without my fear of ghosts?