Release Date: 28th December, 2010Publisher: Murdoch Books
Pages: 292pgs
The Story
Beware of a kiss under the full moon.
It will change your life forever.
Celeste Parker is used to heading scary stories about werewolves - Legend's Run is famous for them. She's used to everyething in the small town until the mysterious Brandon Maddox moves to Legend's Run. Despite already having the perfect boyfriend, Celeste finds herself immediately drawn to the handsome new student. After a chance encounter late one night with a pack of wolves, Celeste is rescued by gorgeous, enigmatic Brandon. Is Brandon's transformation a trick of shadows in the moonlight? Or is there more to the werewolf stories of Legend's Run?
The Review
Hmmmmm how should I put this? I absolutely loved Ellen Schreiber's series Vampire Kisses and while they aren't your EPIC reads of the entire reading world, but they're cute and adorable ones that everyone will enjoy. When it came to Schreiber's new young adult series and when I found out this time she was going to be writing about werewolves, I immediately thought of a win-win type of book. Sadly though, I didn't enjoy this one . . . not one bit except that it was about werewolves. That's about it I'm afraid. I feel really bad for not enjoying ONCE IN A FULL MOON and I feel bad because I'm a fan of Schreiber's other series . . . but damn I'm really sorry to the author. Clearly this book wasn't for me.
The main problem of the book was the characters! I loved the setting of Legend's Run and the 'scary' werewolf stories being told throughout the events of the novel, but the characters were the real let down when it came to ONCE IN A FULL MOON. Celeste was the issue. When I read a book and cannot AT ALL connect with the main character, the story is pretty much going to fly by without a care. Same goes for the love interest - Brandon. I thought, "Oh cool there's a hot new boy and he'll totally be mysterious . . . " but he wasn't mysterious at all and I felt like I was watching a parody unfold, like it was Taylor Lautner without the abs. *insert pouty face* And there I thought the supporting cast were terrible. *sighs* The one pro that I would give Schreiber was her take on the werewolf myth. It was a little different than most werewolf takes in young adult fiction. Other than that, sadly for me, Celeste and Brandon fell in love too quickly, there were some one liners that were really cheesy, and everything else was too rushed for my own liking.
But here's the thing. ONCE IN A FULL MOON is definitely a book for you if you like quick-romances and especially if you're a younger reader. For those Vampire Kisses fans, this book maybe a little similiar in the romance aspects but it's very different - at least to me - from her other series. The writing is aimed more at a younger audience and maybe that's why I didn't enjoy the book as much as I wanted to, so if you can get passed the cliche lines and the lack of character development, then I say good luck to you!
The Rating
2/5 stars
I feel for you having to write this - books you love? So easy to gush about it. Books you don't? Damn they're hard to talk about. Not being able to connect with the characters is a HUGE problem that will usually ruin any book. And a Taylor Lautner without the abs is just... it's just... what's the point of it?? :P
ReplyDeleteSucks this book was a fail for you, but you justified your thoughts very well!
LOL. I know! It's so hard to write a review for books you really wanted to enjoy but didn't. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting Brodie!