Customer Reviews

The Better to Hold You

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been a fan of this writer's work as Alisa Kwitney, and this novel -- her first paranormal -- is in her signature style of wild wit and imagination. She understands the intricacies of being human, and completely persuades you of what it is like to be animal.

A very intelligent, well-crafted tale. The heroine of this novel is
unhappily married, and an offbeat hero enters her life. There's a
reason this book is touted by star author Neil Gaiman: Sheckley
is sardonically funny enough to appeal to straight science-fiction
and fantasy fans. If you appreciate sharply executed prose and
idiosyncratic characters and are willing to wait for desire to build,
then this book really pays off.

I really enjoyed discovering the hero's appeal along with the heroine,
and the wait made their coming together all the sexier.

In the Better To Hold You we meet repressed Abra as she deals with the husband who is going through a different kind of change of life, one in which her skills as a veternary intern may just come in handy. For the vast majority of the story Abra is the pathetic victim and her husband, Hunter, is selfish and not at all likeable as he pursues the call of the wild - uprooting their Manhattan lives to live closer to the magic of nature which will enhance the lycanthrope virus he carries and allow him to not be just more wolfish but to actually gain the ability to shift. Along the way Abra meets the shamanish Red, who has his own sort of animal attraction, and as her husband pulls away from her Abra finds herself more and more drawn to Red.

The Better To Hold You is incredibly meandering, the first three fourths of the book explores Abra's angst as she tries to keep her husband and save her marriage, even through Hunter's neglect and poor treatment of her. The book does finally have some moments near the end, as Abra connects with Red and she also starts to shed her inner doormat and her relationship with Hunter comes down to a violent confrontation. But it's a long time comming, and up to that point so much of the story is in Abra's head and is only marginally interesting. In the last few chapters all the setup finally pays off and the climatic confrontation was a suprising reward for having stuck with it to finish the book. Abra's story continues in Moonburn, but since the ending here represents such a big change for Abra it hard to guess what the future has in store for Abra and who she will be in her new life.

This is a novel by someone with a graphic novel background. As such, TBTHY does not follow conventional paranormal romance lines. The protagonist is stuck in a pretty realistic emotional trap with an abusive husband, and there are strong gothic elements to the story.

This novel is *very* much like Ang Lee's Hulk, actually. It's pretty ambitious, and not always successful in that ambition, but it carries it off better than that movie did. However, if you've seen that movie, you'll recognize many of the themes in the novel as being similar (same slowly developing plot too). If you forgave The Hulk's flaws, or if you like adultish graphics novels from Vertigo, you are pretty likely to enjoy this novel. The prose, I find, is excellent for a novel in this genre.

One last note: Alisa Sheckley is obviously scientifically literate. The sciency babble related to why werewolves exist was not idiotic (beyond the whole werewolves exist-hey that violates the 2nd Law of Thermo!).

I knew I liked Alisa Kwitney's work, and knew she'd worked with some of my heroes, so writing as Sheckley I had high hopes.

I read mostly genre fiction books, and what Sheckley does so very well is craft a sentence that I can't imagine someone else writing. She's erudite without being distancing, titillating while not over-sharing, and her writing hits a dazzling palette of colors, emotions and images. Her ability with language is thrilling and her use of certain genre and creature conventions is unique and just plain cool.

This is a dark fantasy/paranormal romance in a class of its own. Definately a keeper and I can't wait to see what's next.

Wow, this book really takes hold of you. Alisa Sheckley is a real treasure. I can't wait for the sequel!

Abra Barrow is a 29 year old veterinarian living in Manhattan and when her husband comes back from a research trip to Romania and starts acting odd, to say the least, their marriage starts to slowly unravel. Hunter, her husband, had just spent three months researching werewolves and when he came back, he was different - ride, cagey, but also very passionate. Abra is scared for her marriage and decides to move with him into his family's ancestral home in North side.

She meets Red Mallin, an animal removal operator and he seems to know what's going on with her husband. Well, turns out he's infected with the lycanthropy, which explains his wolfy behavior. The changes start to appear as dead animals start showing up around the house and his behavior gets more aggressive.

Red seems to have ulterior motives for hanging around, coupled with Hunter's crazy behavior, Abra's job being on the rocks and dealing with her nut of a mother, she's a little stressed and moving to a town with a bunch of wacky residents certainly did not help.

The Better to Hold You is not your typical werewolf story. I was conflicted, more than half of the story is Abra dealing with her jerk of a husband who I really didn't like, I kept hoping she would leave him for Red. It was definitely a love triangle going on here. The paranormal elements in the story are very demure. I can understand considering Abra wasn't in the know concerning werewolves and the virus for more of the story, but the paranormal here didn't seem like the focus in the story to me. The story's more about Abra and her marital troubles than anything and I wasn't expecting that, which is why I was so conflicted. While some parts seemed so slow to me, and with the paranormal bit being kind of absent, I did enjoy The Better To Hold You.

I found this to be a unique read within the genre.

Abra is a distinctive female lead, she's the dowdy, doormat type, which I actually liked quite a bit. Hunter, the husband, is a total brute, but Sheckley keeps him just appealing enough you could understand why she would stay married to him. Red is a likeable love interest and I found the mundane aspects of a marriage unraveling to be captivating in a genre like this where that is so seldom the case.

Now my issues with the book would be the lack of depth and the pace. The town setting of Northside feels under developed to me, Sheckley is setting up a Sunnydale type situation but it has not reached it. If Hunter's family had this house there, and he grew up there presumably, wouldn't he know about the supernatural aspects of the town?

A lot of time is spent with her as a veterinary assistant and with her teacher Mad Mal, and his mysterious knowledge of lyncanthropy, but it never goes anywhere. The pseudo-science would be more interesting if it was carried thru in more depth and made sense, everyone is just a little too casual about the potential that shapeshifter's exist, and it seems odd coming from a scientific community.

But it also seemed like there was not enough time in the book to cover all of it:the human relationships of the book were fighting with the horror/fantasy elements instead of blending together.

Overall it was well written and I liked it, I think she could carve a niche out for herself in the genre once she irons out the kinks of blending the fantastical, the science fiction, and the romance more coherently.

The sequel Moon Burn, adds more craziness to the town and has Abra more in control of her wolf, as well as adding some interesting and unexpected developments revolving around her love life. I like that she incorporates native american, jewish, and european folklore together, but sadly my hope that it would be coherent went the opposite and got a little more convoluted.

The story of a young vet finding her way in life who manages to discover a wholly new existence along the way. Intriguing, funny, sexy and riveting this tale is my favorite by this author...so far. I just ordered Moonburn!

This isn't an easy book, which is to say it asks more of the reader than noting the distinction between good and evil, and black and white; all the characters are well-drawn, acting like real people. Abra, while confused by her husband's behavior, isn't a doormat. She is trying to keep her marriage intact while her husband is, literally, turning into an animal. Abra's growing fascination with Red is also well-done, turning an initial interest into an all-out romance. It felt more like a paranormal women's fiction, fraught with those same WF issues, than a traditional paranormal romance. At the end of the book, I felt as though Abra's choices, while not always perfect, made sense given her own context. Really intriguing and made me want to read more of Abra's story.