Review: Howling at the Moon by Karen MacInerney (Tales of an Urban Werewolf #1)

Howling at the Moon (Tales of an Urban Werewolf #1)
Karen MacInerney
Published: Feb. 26, 2008 (Ballantine Books)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: purchased  

Reviewed by: Jenn

Rating (out of 5): 2 stars

I love a good werewolf story. I love when an author gives me characters that I can sink my teeth into, so when Howling at the Moon popped up on my Kindle, I was excited to dig in. I wish I could say that I loved this book, but it was a difficult read for me. Not because the plot was bad, but because the main character just didn’t do it for me.

Sophie Garou is not your typical werewolf, she’s a half breed—something that she has managed to keep secret from the rest of the world by drinking a special tea made of Wolfsbane, that helps control her furry nature. She also believes that she is the only other werewolf in Austin, Texas. That is until she sniffs out a full-blood Lycanthrope named Tom, and that is where her obsession to learn more about the other wolves begins.

Sophie is also an auditor with a liking for high-end fashion, a hot boyfriend, Heath, and a mother who is a witch. When her mother is accused of murder by a deadly potion, Sophie, with the help of her super-hot best friend, who also happens to be dating the super-hot pureblood werewolf that Sophie has a thing for, she begins on a series of off-the-wall adventures to prove her mother’s innocence and find the real killer.

I had some problems with Howling at the Moon. First, Sophie. She’s just not that likeable. She lies to everyone, and I mean everyone. I get that she wants to keep the hairy part of her life hidden from her friends, but at some point you just want to shake her. She spends a lot of her time telling us about her expensive clothes and purses, and the other part of her time salivating over the pureblood werewolf, even though she never stops mentioning how hot her actual boyfriend is. And shaving her legs—seriously, she shaves her legs all the time. I think she could be a good character if she were fleshed out more and we were to see something beside the on-the-surface Sophie, the less shallow and vapid Sophie, and more about what lies beneath.

Second. The writing. There was a lot of repetitive information in the book. Things that are told to the reader over and over and over again, like we forgot within a few pages and needed a reminder, so much so that I almost stopped reading.

I will end this review on a positive note though, there were some very funny moments in the story and some really good lines that made me laugh out loud. Sophie finds herself in some really odd situation because of her wolfy nature, and they added a good amount of humor to a book that was difficult for me to read.

Sexual content: sensual scenes