#Review: Wolfbound by Jane Bailey
A 2 Star read
This
is a story of two halves: the one in which a pack of werewolves feature
prominently and the other where a young woman’s anxieties about her lack of
attractiveness to the opposite sex are foremost. The protagonist, Eileen, has always felt
there’s something other about herself. She’s battled long and hard to push this
side of her nature aside. I was engaged.
When the plot brought her and Zachariah together I got the sense he was
going to either bring her otherness to the fore or help her rid herself of it
completely. The opening chapters of the book are solid in their descriptions and
the writing style easy to read.
However,
this is where the plot unravels. Once a failed attempt at understanding Eileen’s
true nature is described, the story loses its way and lingers far too long on her
anxieties. The link between her relationship with Zachariah and who she truly
is, is lost. Furthermore, I was very troubled by descriptions of the domestic
abuse situation being described. I hoped the author was planning on extricating
her character from this and wondered how she would achieve this. It was done
clumsily. Two characters were added to further the plot and their inclusion felt
forced. The attention given to the opening of this tale was missing further
down the line and the ending felt rushed and cobbled together.
There
was another disappointment in this reading. Initially I was very excited by the
first few pages as it is set in Salford University, Manchester and environs
nearby. As a Salford alumni I felt I was about to recapture a bit of my youth. But
there is very little description of the campus, no mention of the Irwell or any
of the iconic buildings. There is no real sense of place. The story could be in
any university anywhere in the world. This can lend universality to the story
but for me the lack of place was significant. Why bother mentioning the story
is set in Salford if there is going to be very little sense of it during the
story? I also feel the author missed a trick as it would have been the ideal
opportunity to utilise sensual description so crucial to any writing which
involves animal-human transformation.
Unfortunately,
a disappointing read.
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