I picked this one up at the library because of the title. I mean, who wouldn't? And it was a super fun read that I whipped through in just a few days.
Priya is at home again after getting sick while studying pre-med at Stanford. The fallout from her Lyme disease leaves her weak and in constant pain and she feels like a failure for not being able to live out the dreams she worked so hard to achieve. Yet every day is such a struggle to get through, she can't imagine going back to that life.
The only bright spots in her life are her online pen-pal Brigid and the support group they form with other chronic illness sufferers. Here she can be honest about how she's feeling, how hard it is to get through each day and know the others will relate.
When Brigid suddenly vanishes from the group and won't respond to Priya's messages, she decides she needs to take matters into her own hands, steals the family car and drives to Brigid's house in the next state.
Where she finds something that might be a werewolf? And the werewolf might be Brigid?
As their friendship deepens and Brigid's condition worsens, both young women have to face up to the fact this might just be their new normal.
I really enjoyed this book. The idea that lycanthropy is a chronic illness kind of tickled me in the best possible way. All the characters felt very real in this book and even at their most preposterous, the challenges they faced were handled with conviction and flare.
But the best thing about it is the depiction of friendship and the lengths people will go to for their friends. Even if it does cause friction within your own family. And then, to boot, it's also great fun. Especially when photographers catch sight of Brigid in her werewolf form and internet rumors start to spiral...
So I'd recommend this one. It's fun and silly, but has a lot to say about chronic illnesses and the way people suffering from them can be treated. Especially when it's not something easily visible to others.
But don't just listen to me. Here's the blurb:
Teen Wolf meets Emergency Contact in this sharply observed, hilarious, and heartwarming debut young adult novel about friendship, chronic illness, and . . . werewolves.
Priya worked hard to pursue her premed dreams at Stanford, but the fallout from undiagnosed Lyme disease sends her back to her childhood home in New Jersey during her sophomore year—and leaves her wondering if she’ll ever be able to return to the way things were.
Thankfully she has her online pen pal, Brigid, and the rest of the members of “oof ouch my bones,” a virtual support group that meets on Discord to crack jokes and vent about their own chronic illnesses.
When Brigid suddenly goes offline, Priya does something out of character: she steals the family car and drives to Pennsylvania to check on Brigid. Priya isn’t sure what to expect, but it isn’t the horrifying creature that's shut in the basement.
With Brigid nowhere to be found, Priya begins to puzzle together an impossible but obvious truth: the creature might be a werewolf—and the werewolf might be Brigid. As Brigid's unique condition worsens, their friendship will be deepened and challenged in unexpected ways, forcing them to reckon with their own ideas of what it means to be normal.
No comments:
Post a Comment