Laurie S. (LaurieS) reviewed Women Who Run With the Werewolves: Tales of Blood, Lust and Metamorphosis on + 504 more book reviews
I've read many raves about Charlee Jacob's work but was a little unimpressed with Permafrost. An institutionalized woman with bipolar dreams of running under the light of a full moon as a werewolf. It was decently written but too brief and I saw the ending coming as soon as the author described the doc's eyes.
Many elements of Boobs by Suzy McKee Charnas reminded me a lot of the movie "Ginger Snaps". Have you all seen that one? If not, you must. I'm curious which came first, the movie or the book but I'm too lazy to look it up. I enjoyed this story a lot. It brought up body issues, bullying and made me thankful I'm long past over all of that stuff!
Moon Running by Jody Brewer was a unique take on the whole "I despise being a beast" thing usually found in these types of collections.
A Model of Transformation by Renee Charles was a bit of uninteresting froth about a beautiful young woman's transformation to stunner to super model with a twist, of course. I found the "erotic" bits to be very clinical and detached. The story would've been the same without them. They seemed as if they were added after the fact or as if the author were uncomfortable with writing the scenes. As a result they were anything but erotic.
The Final Truth by Steve Eller This story starts out like a teenage boy's wet dream and ends like a bad version of a Tales From the Crypt episode. A workaholic city boy decides to get away from it all and rents a cabin in a secluded area. Immediately appears a beautiful woman who jumps his bones. He decides to give up his previous life and play house with the were-woman. But as with most wild things she's unpredictable and her actions in the end weren't adequately explained enough for me to buy into it.
The Wife's Story by Ursula LeGuin I liked this one a lot. It was short, melancholy and precise with an emotional impact behind the words.
Teamwork by Paul Allen I love dogs but I didn't like this story featuring a guide dog and her new owner Gretchen. The reason? Gretchen was not a sympathetic character.
Sisters of the Weird by Thomas S. Roche This one about bar chicks who howl at the moon just didn't thrill me. There wasn't enough meat (sorry) to the story to grab me.
The Change by Barbara Ferrenz I liked this one about a woman experiencing personality changes and a lust for blood. Her doc insists her changes are due to menopause, she believes he screwed up her head after prescribing her a drug. His solution is to write up a prescription for something else. I enjoyed the whole distrusting the medical industry bits in this story.
The Hound of God by Tom Piccirelli I enjoyed this one quite a bit but wanted it to be longer. The heroine of the story, Tangera, was a fascinating character with an interesting life story that was only briefly touched upon in this short story. I have some of this author's work and will have to see if he ever expanded on this one.
Visitation by Pamela Jensen This was a sad story about an older woman abandoned by her children who apparently gave up her best years, her dreams and even resisted her own nature in order to raise them.
A Wilder Truth by Mari Hersh Tudor Shunned by her wolf family because she's different a young woman is forced to enter into a strange new world. An okay story but not as original as some in this collection.
Breaking the Circle by Michael W. Lucas This is yet another story about an adolescent werewolf who is shunned by her family and trying to cope. This theme seems to be a common one in this collection but this one was one of the better ones as it really gets into the head of the protagonist.
Wilding by Melanie Tem was a bit confusing and hard to follow for me. I have the book in my TBR so will read that and see if it makes more sense.
I think I missed taking notes on one or two stories and my memory is so bad I can't remember enough about them to post a comment.
This was a decent collection but I'm still a bit confounded as to why it was classified as horror/erotica on the back cover. Only a very small handful of the tales fit in either category.
Many elements of Boobs by Suzy McKee Charnas reminded me a lot of the movie "Ginger Snaps". Have you all seen that one? If not, you must. I'm curious which came first, the movie or the book but I'm too lazy to look it up. I enjoyed this story a lot. It brought up body issues, bullying and made me thankful I'm long past over all of that stuff!
Moon Running by Jody Brewer was a unique take on the whole "I despise being a beast" thing usually found in these types of collections.
A Model of Transformation by Renee Charles was a bit of uninteresting froth about a beautiful young woman's transformation to stunner to super model with a twist, of course. I found the "erotic" bits to be very clinical and detached. The story would've been the same without them. They seemed as if they were added after the fact or as if the author were uncomfortable with writing the scenes. As a result they were anything but erotic.
The Final Truth by Steve Eller This story starts out like a teenage boy's wet dream and ends like a bad version of a Tales From the Crypt episode. A workaholic city boy decides to get away from it all and rents a cabin in a secluded area. Immediately appears a beautiful woman who jumps his bones. He decides to give up his previous life and play house with the were-woman. But as with most wild things she's unpredictable and her actions in the end weren't adequately explained enough for me to buy into it.
The Wife's Story by Ursula LeGuin I liked this one a lot. It was short, melancholy and precise with an emotional impact behind the words.
Teamwork by Paul Allen I love dogs but I didn't like this story featuring a guide dog and her new owner Gretchen. The reason? Gretchen was not a sympathetic character.
Sisters of the Weird by Thomas S. Roche This one about bar chicks who howl at the moon just didn't thrill me. There wasn't enough meat (sorry) to the story to grab me.
The Change by Barbara Ferrenz I liked this one about a woman experiencing personality changes and a lust for blood. Her doc insists her changes are due to menopause, she believes he screwed up her head after prescribing her a drug. His solution is to write up a prescription for something else. I enjoyed the whole distrusting the medical industry bits in this story.
The Hound of God by Tom Piccirelli I enjoyed this one quite a bit but wanted it to be longer. The heroine of the story, Tangera, was a fascinating character with an interesting life story that was only briefly touched upon in this short story. I have some of this author's work and will have to see if he ever expanded on this one.
Visitation by Pamela Jensen This was a sad story about an older woman abandoned by her children who apparently gave up her best years, her dreams and even resisted her own nature in order to raise them.
A Wilder Truth by Mari Hersh Tudor Shunned by her wolf family because she's different a young woman is forced to enter into a strange new world. An okay story but not as original as some in this collection.
Breaking the Circle by Michael W. Lucas This is yet another story about an adolescent werewolf who is shunned by her family and trying to cope. This theme seems to be a common one in this collection but this one was one of the better ones as it really gets into the head of the protagonist.
Wilding by Melanie Tem was a bit confusing and hard to follow for me. I have the book in my TBR so will read that and see if it makes more sense.
I think I missed taking notes on one or two stories and my memory is so bad I can't remember enough about them to post a comment.
This was a decent collection but I'm still a bit confounded as to why it was classified as horror/erotica on the back cover. Only a very small handful of the tales fit in either category.
