Written by Stephen Graham Jones, Mongrels follows a boy, who is supposedly unnamed. BUT I SWEAR, I HEARD HIM REFERRED TO BY A NAME AT SOME POINT. Okay, done. Darren and Libby, the boy’s aunt and uncle, take him across the Southern half of the US after his grandfather dies.
Yes, this is about werewolves. Yes, this is told in a very unique and engaging way. Yes, I enjoyed both the writing style, story telling, and the plot of this novel.
However, the ending bothered me to no end. I think because Libby and Darren both had sort of cop out endings. That’s because the ending doesn’t feel like an ending.
Alright, a little more organized now.
The writing jumps the story back and forth over the course of this boys life, back and forth, back and forth, and is written in more of a journal format. I enjoyed what the audio book brought to the table in that when the character started referring to himself in the third person a different narrator took over. It made a clear distinction that it was different.
The werewolves in this novel were also rather wonderful in their take. It was a curse, and they were running. Yes, the ending puts a twist on everything that happened to this family, but that also made it that much more interesting.
I was not a fan of the final love interest, but that could just be me.
THIS IS NOT FOR CHILDREN. Okay. I don’t know about even high schoolers, this has some… um…. interesting things. How the werewolves came into existence… yeah… not for children.
If you are looking for another werewolf book with a different spin on it, give this a try. If you want action with no real romance, give this a try. If you want something written in a different style than is common now, give this a try.
