The Frenzy [Hardcover]

Francesca Lia Block (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 28, 2010

Love is a werewolf, influenced by the moon and terror, and always about to change.

Liv has a secret.

Something happened to her when she was thirteen. Something that changed everything. Liv knows she doesn’t belong anymore—not in her own skin, not in her family . . . not anywhere. The only time she truly feels like herself is when she’s with her boyfriend, Corey, and in the woods that surround her town.

But in the woods, a mysterious woman watches Liv. In the woods, a pack of wild boys lurks. In the woods, Liv learns about the curse that will haunt her forever. The curse that caused the frenzy four years ago. And that may cause it again, all too soon.

While Corey and Liv’s love binds them together, Liv’s dark secret threatens to tear them apart as she struggles to understand who—or what—she really is. And by the light of the full moon, the most dangerous secrets bare their claws. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up–Liv went through more than mere pubescent changes on her 13th birthday, and as time goes on, she only feels like her true self when she is in the woods. While struggling to determine what really happened to her that fateful night, Liv, now 17, also grapples with being estranged from her parents, dating a boy they would not approve of, and keeping her best friend's secrets. Once she learns the truth–that she is a werewolf–Liv must determine where she really fits. Does she belong with her pack or can she make things work with the guy she loves? While many of the werewolf traits are reminiscent of Stephenie Meyer's “Twilight” series (Little, Brown), the similarities end there. Block's focus is not so much on the fact that Liv is a werewolf, but rather on how she deals with this information and how it impacts those she cares about. There are issues of friendship, difficulties with parents, questions about a love relationship, and even an underlying mystery about a string of serial murders that take place in Liv's beloved woods. Block does a nice job of weaving all these elements into a solid story that makes a quick but engaging read for fans of supernatural fiction. Reluctant readers will enjoy this story as well because of its pacing and manageable chapters.–Gina Bowling, South Gibson County High School, Medina, TN. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

Red-haired Olivia doesn’t look like her parents and is locked in typical teen struggles with their values. But things aren’t normal otherwise. Liv’s hair is embarrassingly rich on every part of her body—even her toes—and her police-chief dad hasn’t been able to solve the brutal murders of four hunters in the local woods. Readers will figure out that Liv is a werewolf several chapters before she does, and Block’s spin on modern werewolf lore includes a dose of small-minded, small-town meanness that Liv—with a black boyfriend, a gay best friend who commits suicide, and a mom who is fashion sensitive and emotionally shallow—must deal with. From another writer, this would be passing fare for the magical-creature hungry, but missing here are Block’s insouciant and pithy dialogue, her usual stellar balancing of scene and action, and other hallmarks that readers adore in—and expect from—her writing. Werewolf fans will accept this, as will those who consume anything by a favorite author, but this is a mere a gateway to Block’s more creative titles. Grades 9-12. --Francisca Goldsmith

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen; 1 edition (September 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061926663
• ISBN-13: 978-0061926662
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #508,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Francesca Lia Block, recipient of the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award. has been publishing novels, short stories, essays, memoirs and poetry since 1989. Her work has been translated into many languages. Ms. Block lives in Los Angeles where she teaches writing workshops that are also available online.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Anything but what the title suggests September 30, 2010

By anne-marie

Format:Hardcover

The cover is beautiful, it has movement, and interest, all the things the story lacks in abundance.

A quick summary. Liv is a 17 year old werewolf. Who's in denial. She's weird and awkward, but Liv finds a place to belong with Pace her best friend and Corey her boyfriend. Liv lives a lie hiding who and what she is from everyone even herself. Her mom is the perfect former beauty queen huntress, to Liv's abnormal freakish physical qualities and vegetarian tendencies. Liv doesn't want to face what she is, or trust her boyfriend to still love her if he knew she was different. But a mysterious family of werewolves has been keeping an eye on her for years. With their appearance she will have to confront her fears.

With the substance in this book I find it hard to even write this review. I don't know where to begin. Ugh, I finished this story thinking, Can I get my Money Back? It seems like Block wanted to take these commonly used ideas and story lines and do something different. But it came off under planned and patchy and just failed. I suppose I have to mention that this book is really short, maybe too short. The story could have used more development, there's barely any backstory to a lot of the threads. The conclusions felt limp. They did make sense, but I don't feel Block elaborated enough on anything, especially Pace's romance, or end. The story line about the werewolf family and Victor was like an after thought, hardly worth mentioning, but could have become a great love triangle. I also found the romance in this book weak. We enter the story when everything great about a romance has already happened, not that it mattered the way they came together was pretty anti climatic anyway. Liv had already made up her mind, she had known and been with Corey for years, so there was no wooing, no falling in love or challenge from another beau. It was really a little bit of angst, apprehension, then a lot of sex. The whole book seemed more like an outline or summary for a book in the process of being written. I found the Frenzy anything but what the title suggests. It was flat and depressing.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A puzzling disappointment October 14, 2010

By J. Prather TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I will add my voice to the other reviewers here who were disappointed in the latest effort from a favorite author. Ms. Block is well known for her stylish, innovative tales of romance and the paranormal. I considered her book Pretty Dead to be an outstanding achievement. This one is a puzzle to me in that it seems so poorly written and plotted that I wound up feeling very annoyed. Her attempts to create dramatic tension fell flat, and her characters were largely undeveloped with little attention paid to the main romantic relationship. The primary story arc which consisted of a young girl coming to terms with her werewolf nature was so clumsily portrayed and cliche ridden as to become laughable at points. There was potential for an intriguing side story involving her best friend Pace, but in the end things were merely alluded to and not explored. The author's obvious desire to use the best friend relationship to introduce more tension in our young character's life just failed miserably because we never got to know him or care about his mysterious secret lover.

There is very little dialogue here, which is strange as that is something this author is very good at. The plot is muddled and the book just has the feeling of being entirely underdeveloped and rushed. It almost has the feel of a book designed for reluctant high school readers, and if it had been less muddled then it might have had some success with that market. As is, it just seems a mess. There's not enough action for horror fans, and the romance does not seem to be nearly strong enough for hardcore romance fans. I must note that I am not in this books target group which I would estimate to be teens age 15 and up. I would hope that teen paranormal romance fans would pass this one by in favor of the many other fine offerings available. Search out this author's other works for teens and pass this one by. Not a recommend.

5.0 out of 5 stars The frenzy April 26, 2013

By Mizzjonez

Format:Kindle Edition

It was beautiful in only the way she can write. I love werewolf stories and this is one more to add to the list