Lonely Werewolf Girl [Paperback]

Martin Millar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 2008

While teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is being pursued through the streets of London by murderous hunters, her sister, the Werewolf Enchantress, is busy designing clothes for the Fire Queen. Meanwhile, in the Scottish Highlands, the MacRinnalch Clan is plotting and feuding after the head of the clan suddenly dies intestate. As the court intrigue threatens to blow up into all-out civil war, the competing factions determine that Kalix is the swing vote necessary to assume leadership of the clan. Unfortunately, Kalix isn’t really into clan politics — laudanum’s more her thing. Even more unfortunately, Kalix is the reason the head of the clan ended up dead, which is why she’s now on the lam in London. . . This expansive tale of werewolves in the modern world — friendly werewolves, fashionista werewolves, troubled teenage werewolves, cross-dressing werewolves, werewolves of every sort — is hard-edged, hilarious, and utterly believable.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Complex family and social conflicts clutter the pages of this scattershot romp from World Fantasy Award–winner Millar (The Good Fairies of New York). Kalix MacRinnalch, a poorly socialized, laudanum-addicted teenage werewolf, has violently assaulted her father, thereby adding outcast to her list of defining traits. Suddenly and inexplicably supported by two preternaturally patient new friends, Daniel and Moonglow, the young werewolf skulks around London and struggles with anxiety and eating disorders while scores of subplots merrily explode around her. As Kalix's relatives bicker and backstab to establish a new leader, a cast of thousands shoehorns its way into the narrative, stealing story space for a sorcerous fashion designer with spy problems, werewolf twins with a terrible punk band that can't get a gig and a romantically mercenary transvestite. Overly reliant on luck and coincidence and populated by unsympathetic characters with unconvincing motives, Millar's urban fantasy epic swiftly dissolves into a tragedy of contrived errors. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* The MacRinnalch clan of Scottish werewolves is at war with itself. Attacked by his 17-year-old daughter, Kalix, the thane has succumbed, leaving the succession in question. Neither eldest son Sarapen nor younger, cross-dressing scion Markus have enough votes in the werewolves’ Great Council to become thane, and the late thane’s mother offers her vote to whomever brings her Kalix’s heart. Kalix, despondent over losing her lover to exile, is on the verge of suicide before either bounty hunters or the secret society that hunts werewolves finds her. After she’s rescued by college students Moonglow and Daniel, things take a curious turn to, among other things, her sister Thrix, a werewolf enchantress and couturier for fashion-obsessed fire-elemental warrior queen Malveria. This complex romp features scores of characters, multiple races, enchanting fashion trappings, business, family dynamics, music, sex, enduring love, romance, business, eating disorders, drug addiction, back-alley fights, epic battles, politics, and, most prominently, the contrary nature of werewolves, not to mention 236 (!) chapters. And it’s so compelling you don’t want to it end. The grungy, gory, glorious world that World Fantasy Award winner Millar has created is unforgettable. --Diana Tixier Herald

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press (April 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979663660
• ISBN-13: 978-0979663666
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #526,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Writing, Bad Editing, September 29, 2008

By 

Una (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Werewolf Girl (Paperback)

This is one of the best books I've read this year. It's also the book with the worst editing I have ever seen.

The plot is wild and funny. The daughter of a werewolf Thane is being hunted by both her family (she tried to kill her father and quite nearly succeeded) and a guild of werewolf hunters. Worse, she battles her anxiety. Lonely Werewolf Girl has many, many characters. Sometimes it's difficult to keep track of them all. I enjoyed this book on many levels. I didn't finish this book quickly, not because it wasn't good, but the short chapters which jumped from character and place and did all sorts of funny acrobats which taxed my poor concentration. This was a good thing. I dragged the pleasure on for three days as opposed to finishing it in one swallow.

Millar, being at least as talented as Gaiman and Pratchett, would do himself well to find another editor. Or maybe the editor would do him or herself well by hiring a high school student to proof read the final draft before sending it to print. Obviously no human read the final draft, and any reasonably literary high schooler could do better than Microsoft Word at spelling and grammar. The sloppy editing did this writing wrong.

Regardless, I give this book a five. Reviews are generally seen as a reflection of the writer and not the editor. The writing was excellent.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars *chomp*, February 8, 2009

By 

Serena Witzke (Chapel Hill) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lonely Werewolf Girl (Paperback)

This is such a bizarre book. I kind of expected to hate it for all its silly quirkiness. After a few chapters, though, I was completely drawn in. The characterization is great, and there are so many oddball players in this supernatural drama. I made a family tree on my bookmark as a cheat sheet for all the crazy pack politics. Every hero and villain is equally screwed up and flawed, which made some of them more lovable. If you enjoyed Kelly Armstrong's Broken or Annette Curtis Klause's Blood and Chocolate, or even the movie American Werewolf in Paris, this crazy, goofy, drugged out, and comically violent book is for you.

The plot basically follows the various factions of this completely dysfunctional werewolf clan as they bandy for power, prestige, or the right to just be left alone by the other members of their family. The werewolf king is dead, the brothers fight to succeed. Everyone in the 'royal' family gets a vote, and one of the brothers is making certain they make the right choice...or die. The 'lonely werewolf girl', Kalix, is an exile from her family (and on its hit list) who wanders the streets of London until she hooks up with some dippy hippies with their own group dynamic and soap opera politics. Kalix is a misanthropic, strung-out, semi-literate, petulant, and perpetually angry werewolf...who happens to look like a waif-y, blow-your-mind, hobo-core, indie-model type. Her constant displays of attitude are more endearing than obnoxious, but occasionally you wish the constant battles she gets into would knock a little sense into her.

The books meanders from subplot to subplot with no real urgency, but the fun is in the journey, not the destination...which is a good thing, because not all of the plots are actually tied up by the end. But by the time you get there, you'll have had such a good time, I doubt you'll care. When I finished, I was tempted to flip right back to the beginning and chase the enjoyment of reading it again.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Political Machinations of Werewolves--An Inspired Comic Riff About The Beast In All Of Us, September 20, 2010

By 

K. Harris "Film aficionado" (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lonely Werewolf Girl (Paperback)

Earlier this year, someone gave me Martin Millar's "Curse of the Wolf Girl" to read. I must admit that I had never heard of Martin Millar and that I was not particularly intrigued. When I found out that it was a sequel, that further complicated matters. As a completist, I felt compelled to check out the first volume before getting into "Curse." That book is "Lonely Werewolf Girl" and, in truth, it did seem a bit removed from something I might choose for myself. But what a surprise! "Lonely Werewolf Girl" is one of the most compulsively readable books I've encountered in quite some time. Chronicling a royal Scottish werewolf clan, Millar's massive entertainment is utterly delightful.

From the Scottish Highlands, to the taverns of modern London, to excursions into alternate realms--"Lonely Werewolf Girl" is an epic story of one family in crisis. When the head of the MacRinnalch clan dies, it is assumed that his oldest male heir will ascend to the throne. But with the Queen backing the second son, the family and their subjects are ripped apart in a blood-soaked battle for power. While Kalix, the ostensible lead and a family outcast, wanders the streets of London in drug induced oblivion--the rest of the family is gearing for War. Set as a comic and supernatural "The Lion in Winter," "Lonely Werewolf Girl" does an impressive job juggling an enormous, but distinctive, cast of characters. Millar's riff on werewolves living among us is sublime with surprising subplots involving cross-dressing, rock bands, fashion design and enough bungled romantic and sexual dalliances to fuel several novels! Oh, yeah, and there are plenty of attacks as well.

Millar's novel is an irresistible comic masterpiece. It is so absurdly funny, but not "jokey" or condescending, and that is why it is so special. With terrific character development and dialogue, "Lonely Werewolf Girl" succeeds beyond expectations due to Millar's respect for the story. Each and every character is drawn in full brush strokes. I enjoyed the satiric edge and, at the same time, was thoroughly engrossed in the happenings of the MacRinnalch clan. There, I said it! I actually cared about what happened to these wolves, humans and other supernatural beings. As the disparate members of the family come together for the ultimate showdown, it is as riveting and exciting as anything you might encounter. The fact that a comic novel manages to capture this tension without losing its slyness is very impressive. Now I can't wait to take on "Curse of the Werewolf Girl!" A surprisingly enthusiastic recommendation.