Customer Reviews

The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I pre-ordered this book back in November, 2010, immedietly after reading The Reformed Vampire Support Group. And when it finally came I was ecstatic! Good werewolf stories are so hard to come by without them being either shape-shifters or totally obsessed with packs or mating, and when I heard that a story like this was coming my way I couldn't get to the first page fast enough.

The first thing I loved was Toby's personality. It fit his age, yet gave him that 'Main Character' feel along with it. He is only thirteen, and actually ACTS his age rather than these other books that portray their teens and children as if they'd experienced everything and more. He loved make-shift bombs and bottle-rockets and playing pranks on the neighbors like any normal thirteen year old would. He was loveable, all the way up to being kidnapped, then he reacted the way a normal kid would: Panic and wanting to call his mother. Which, really, is kind of whimpish, but really what thirteen year old isn't? When you're thirteen, you don't adapt and then adjust to stay calm. You lose your mind and beg for a way out. And the way Toby handled everything fit just right.

What I didn't really like was the lack of explanation for the werewolf condition. We learn that the hair grows faster, your reflexes and sense of smell is heightened, and that you Change once a month. But what exactly happens during the Change? Do they feel pain during the transformation? Do they really experience it, or completely block out every second once it starts? Toby in his ending monologue only suggests that he's done it, and doesn't explain the experience, leaving us to wonder how it goes. Neither of the books explain the transformation very well, and I long to have my transformation- the kind with snapping bones and blood curdling screams as every cell in their body morphs, not the instant switch between man and wolf. I bought this book hoping to catch a glimpse of what it was like for these people to become the beasts that lurked inside, but only heard mentions that it happens and nothing more. That disappointed me, but this book still kept me latched on even though. The dialogue was witty and funny, the characters were brilliantly portrayed, and everything felt so natural you would actually guess that it wasn't really Fiction and was truly the re-telling of a young man's struggle.

I loved this book, despite its hastened ending that leaves so much open, and would recommend it to just about everyone I know as a great summer read.

Definitely not the werewolves your used to reading about..

The story starts with Toby waking up in a dingo pen with no clue of how he got there. When he discovers he is a werewolf, Toby goes into full denial mode as does his mother (she thinks he is on drugs!).

Toby is kidnapped and taken to a sort of werewolf "fight club" complex where he is rescued and helped by vampires. A little strange, but it works.

Toby starts out as a typical 13-yr old boy. Easily succumbing to peer pressure and doing dangerous things. As the story matures so does Toby.

Toby's mother's lack of trust in him; wrapped with her denial was a bit hard to stomach at times.

I enjoyed the first ¾ of this book The last ¼ seem a little rushed. All in all it was a good read and one I will recommend to middle school readers.

This was a very different take on werewolves. Toby wakes up in a dingo pen and has no memory of how he got there. When he was first approached by Father Ramon Alvarez and Reuben Schneider and told he was a werewolf, his first reaction was disbelief and denial. He wallows in denial. His mother is convinced that he was doing drugs or something like that or that he has a medical condition like epilepsy. She is in even deeper denial than Toby.

But when he is kidnapped and taken to the same fighting complex that Reuben escaped from, he has to believe that he is a werewolf. Of course, he still has to convince his mother that not only is he a werewolf but that he is being helped, rescued and supported by vampires. That's a lot for one mother to believe.

At first I didn't care much for Toby. I thought he was a rather careless 13-year-old who was too easily led by his friend Fergus into doing thoughtless things. But I never doubted that he loved and respected his mother. As the story continued, Toby did mature and change. It took lots of very scary and dangerous activities to do it though.

I was also unhappy with Toby's mother. I think she carried her denial too far into the story. Her lack of trust in Toby was also a little grating. Her continual searching for a more rational explanation was probably very realistic though. And her love and support did work out in the end.

I think that this would appeal to adventure loving middle graders who want to read about a different kind of werewolf. Twilight fans wouldn't recognize these werewolves and vampires though.

This started off as a brilliant novel. A young boy awakens in a dingo pen at Featherdale Wildife Park in the Western suburbs of Sydney. He is completely naked and can't remember how he got there or what he did at all the night before. Of course the media are having a field day with this. Since he's done drugs in the past and one of his two best friends is from the wrong crowd, its understandable that his mother and even initially himself think he was there due to taking something he shouldn't have. However medical tests clear him of the drugs they tested for, they also however clear him of any other medical hypothesis. However a note appears on his hospital bed from a priest who claims he knows exactly what Tobias (Toby) suffers from. He says he also have another boy named Rueben who Toby can meet that suffers from the same genetic problem. Neither Toby or his mum of course want a thing to do with this guy or the boy who describes his symptoms to that of a werewolf. However Toby's friends convince him that it would be fun to get the nutcase that is Rueben on tape claiming that fake tracks they created themselves were made by Toby in werewolf mode the night of the dingo pen incident. Reuben also warns Toby that there are those who like to kidnap werewolves and make them fight each other for money. It soon becomes apparent that if Toby can't be convinced himself that he is a werewolf and also convince his mother so that he can be locked in a secure place, then the next full moon when he transforms he will likely kill his mother amongst other people.

Admittedly I had recently read The Werewolf's Guide to Life: A Manual for the Newly Bitten by Bob Powers before this so I had a greater understanding of the predicament and outcome that would come if Toby didn't secure himself for the duration of the moons. I'm not sure I would have been as into this story if I hadn't read that but since I had I was really into the plot. However disappointingly the book leaves this could be high tension pages of will his mother and friends believe Toby is a werewolf before it's too late and decides to change plot at right angles. The new direction was an okay read that at the end became, a Jinks obvious trying to promote a previous book she'd written called Vampire Support Group platform, by linking that book's characters into an unsatisfactory and weakly written ending. Such a shame, this could have been a really great book.

I brought this book thinking it would have lots of werewolf drama in it. Sadly i was mistaken, it talked about werewolves but there were zero transformations in it. Also there was so much stuff happening in the end it just got really silly in the end. I think the first third of the book was good, it built up the plot nicely but it just did not do anything for me sorry. Other people may have different opinions this is only mine.

Tobias Vandeveld is in a bit of a bind. He's woken up in the hospital with no idea how he got there or what happened the night before. His mother is furious, the doctors are confused, and the police are involved. Apparently he spent the night in a dingo pen.....naked. Now his friends find this to be the best story of the year (they don't know about the naked part), but Toby and his family are getting concerned. They have been visited by a priest and a rather surly looking man, who claim that the reason for Toby's strange night is because he's a werewolf. Toby's mother flips out, what good mother wouldn't, and tells them both to leave before she calls the police. Of course no one really believes that Toby is a werewolf. But then the story continues and for once, Toby's mother is proven wrong.

Toby is your typical almost delinquent young teenager. He hangs out with the local boys and occasionally gets into trouble, but for the most part he's not too bad. But this whole werewolf thing really throws him for a loop. As much as he doesn't want to believe it, it all starts to make sense. His life takes a turn for the worse, when Toby is abducted by werewolf hunters and held in a secure underground cell. His friendships are tested and his mother is highly upset when it all comes out in the end.

The story was a great read with a "realistic" twist. If you were a werewolf in real life, there's a good chance this is how you would have to life. I enjoyed that part very much, it wasn't too fantastical. The story is told from Toby's point of view which has its pros and cons. It's great getting inside his had and watching the pieces fall into place, but at the same time I felt like I was missing out on a lot of the other characters. They just seemed a little flat to me.

3/5

THE ABUSED WEREWOLF RESCUE GROUP is the second read of its kind for me and I have to admit it was a notch (even if only a small notch, a notch none the less) above its predecessor, THE REFORMED VAMPIRE SUPORT GROUP. Weather the mild betterment is truly due to an improvement in writing or has more to do with the fact that the werewolves were just far less depressing then the weak and sorely pathetic vampires, is a tough call to make.

Most of the original cast returns as secondary characters along with some new ones including a new protagonist; this time (if not obvious from the title) the lead role revolves around a young werewolf instead of a vampire. And so we meet Toby, a 13 year old Australian who is forced to come to terms with the fact that werewolves are real and he happens to be one. Not that he accepts this easily or without overwhelming amounts of evidence, but it hard to deny his... ahem, change in species once bad guys kidnap him for the sole purpose of caging and forcing him to fight other werewolves to the death. And thus the rescue antics begin.

Although not a huge improvement over the first book, the intended humor is much better received coming from the mischievous and newly "wered" teen boy's POV, him having far less baggage then Nina, the gothy half-starved 52 year old teen vamp girl of book 1. But to be perfectly honest, I think my enjoyment of this read was greatly influenced by the novelty within the format of which I "read" it. You see, I actually read (in paperback) REFORMED VAMPIRE SUPORT GROUP and I audio booked this one and the added novelty of the narrator's Australian accent just might have played a role in holding my attention. All in all it's a decent little quirky paranormal series that is really geared for the teen and tween crowd, but if you're over the age of 17 and are still considering giving this book a look, I highly recommend checking it out in audio format which is well narrated by Grant Cartwright. (3.5 stars)

I'm not quite sure where to begin with this review. When The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group starts, Toby wakes in the hospital with no recollection of how he ended up in a dingo pen. Shortly thereafter, a young man and a priest show up at his home and inform him that he is a werewolf. Of course, Toby and his mother are convinced the two men are crazy and send them away. While he is still in denial, Toby is kidnapped by smugglers who run a "werewolf fighting ring". While trying for rescue, Toby and his new group of friends must overcome hurdle after hurdle. All the while, Toby is trying to get a grip on his newfound condition.

The book did get off to a mysterious start. Why and how does Toby end up in a dingo pen? And why can't he remember the events leading up to that? The mystery and action continues steadily throught Abused Werewolf, building up to an intense climax during the rescue. To be honest, the rescue efforts go on and on, a little too long. It seemed like everytime the rescue seemed to be finished, another obstacle popped up. I really just wanted to say "Enough!" and get on with it. After the constant action for numerous pages, the ending left me underwhelmed. The ending of the book revealed a premise behind the story, one I did not care for at all. It just felt too neat, or like a cliche`.

I did like the main character, Toby. Jinks did a fantastic job of writing a teen boy, something I think would be extremely difficult. Not once did I find myself incredulous towards the dialogue. I think Abused Werewolf would likely do well with YA boys.

I am always up for a new supernatural book adventure and just as frequently disappointed by the results. Many of the newer ones seem just lazy attempts by authors and book publishers to plug into this hot-selling genre with no real attempt to make a meaningful experience for the reader.

Not so with this novel by Catherine Jinks! From the very first chapter, the action and adventure started zipping right along, pulling me with it. The main character Toby wakes one morning to find himself in a dingo pen at a local zoo. Toby has no idea how he got there and is disturbed to discover he doesn't really remember much from the night before. He also can't explain weird scratches and marks on his body. His mother is frantic and starts taking him to doctors who eventually diagnose some type of epilepsy. The local police aren't buying it and are sure Toby was up to mischief and probably criminal proceedings. As it that wasn't enough to worry your average 13-year old, a priest shows up telling Toby he has a rare and dangerous disease.

Toby doesn't know what to do but is intrigued enough to investigate further. What he finds in an abused werewolf support group-werewolves, like himself, who just want to be treated equally and fairly, without the prejudice and abuse that has so haunted their kind. And, oh yeah, there is the matter of the kidnapping and werewolf-fighting that Toby is being forced into!

What I absolutely loved about this book was how different it is from all the other paranormal books out there. First, what an absolutely incredible concept! To see werewolves as creatures needing understanding rather than how they are usually portrayed was a stroke of genius. How refreshing to see a new idea. And it was hilarious! There was as much humor in the book as terror and adventure. The authors first book was The Reformed Vampire Support Group and there were a few of these pathetic creatures mixed in. Just enough to force me to go out and buy that one as well.

I admit it. This one hooked me! It has everything a paranormal junkie would love plus a good dose of originality and creativity. I guarantee you won't have read anything like this. Wickedly funny, nail-biting adventure and a politically correct satire of paranormality. What's not to love?

My only complaint? Now I have to wait for the next installment (which I'm just guessing might be about the perspective of zombies).

Jinks has a great spin on the paranormal. So often books have them portrayed as suave, sexy, and cool. This one looks at what life would REALLY be like. The lives of real werewolves would be hard ones. They'd be exploited by some if their existence were known, their families and friends would be in danger once a month, etc. I love her spin on the subject. Toby, the young werewolf lead in the book, is a really funny guy. The other characters are all just that, characters, and make the story a lot of fun. The only real problems I had with the plot were how his mother ends up dealing with his 'wolfiness' and that several of the 'good' adults in the book seem to get the kids into mortal danger more often than not. That's sort of my beef with the "Harry Potter" novels and "The Wizard of Oz," too. Especially in a YA novel, I think it's pretty bad for a book to show adults who know what's going on as not protecting children and the adults who DO try to protect children as inept and/or stupid. Seeing as that seems to be a pretty standard device nowadays, so I'm not going to hold it against her too much.


Disclosure: I received a copy for review from NetGalley.