Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Review: Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson

Title: Claire de Lune
Author: Christine Johnson
Available: Now
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Number of Pages: 336
Reading Level: Young Adult




4 out of 5 Stars










Description from Goodreads:


Claire is having the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: she's a werewolf.

As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever?.

My thoughts:

Claire is a normal teen girl trying to enjoy her Sweet Sixteen party. She’s a little bummed about her mom not buying her a car, and also wondering what is up with the strange itching on her hands and face. Then Matthew, the boy she secretly has a crush on, asks her out. She feels like all is right in the world, until her mom drops a serious bombshell on unsuspecting Claire. Not only is her mom a werewolf, but so is she. The insane itching is the first sign that her transformation is beginning. Now Claire is faced with changes no other teen girl can even begin to relate to. She also has a date with the son of the doctor who wants to hunt her kind.

I really enjoyed this book.  Claire is forced to reconcile her human feelings with her werewolf instincts. Not your typical coming of age story that’s for sure. The romance between Claire and Matthew was sweet. I liked that it was part of the story without overshadowing the growth of Claire’s character.  She managed to play the smitten teen without crossing the line to completely codependent. That seems to be a difficult feat for some of the characters in young adult novels recently. The mystery of the killer werewolf was a nice addition, that kept me guessing until the end. I enjoyed the author’s writing, and while this was slower paced it worked for the plot. This is definitely a series I plan to continue. 


Christine Johnson on the web:



*Received from Star Book Tours! Thanks!

6 comments:

  1. i really want to read this one, thanks for the awesome review!

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  2. I have this one on my Nook but haven't had time to read it yet so I only read as far as the rating but saved your review so I can compare later.

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  3. Great review. I recently read this and enjoyed it, although I thought Claire's character changed a bit too quickly from the naive sheltered teen to a risk taker. Ohterwise, I enjoyed the story.

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  4. Oooooooooooo I desperately want this one!

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  5. Great review, you got me excited to read this book. I love that there is a sweet romance in the book and that it's not overdone. :P

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  6. Thanks everyone :)

    @Jan, I just looked at the quick change as an instinct thing. She seemed to be getting more in touch with her she wolf as the story went along.

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