Read This Book…

Rory has a career, apartment, and fantastic life in New York City, but when her twin sister Scarlet calls and says she’s pregnant and alone, Rory leaves it all behind to be with her sister in their hometown until the birth. Returning to the place she gleefully left behind is a trip—but things get weird when Rory is in a car accident and winds up in the hospital after an animal attack. While she’s trying to recover and move past the bizarre event, she starts to notice changes in her body, and her wounds bleed silver. As the next full moon approaches, Rory starts to contemplate the impossible: Is she a werewolf now?

Out of all of Rachel Harrison’s books, this one might be my favorite because I absolutely adored the characters, and I found Rory to be a really relatable character, even if she doesn’t always make the best of choices. Her devotion to her twin is great, and I loved Rory and Scarlet’s banter and their steadfast but complex relationship. Rory may put on a free-wheeling front, but the reality is she’s afraid of romantic attachments, and while she’s devoted to her job and loves her sister, she doesn’t always find contentment in her life, and she’s got tons of issues with her mom. But her time in her hometown forces her to face these issues once and for all, including her anger about an incident of sexual harassment and assault when she was a young teen that no one fully believed in the moment. Rory’s transformation into a werewolf is an exploration of that anger and the helplessness women often feel about circumstances beyond their control, things that are done to them without their consent. But her story is far from sad. It’s a little dark, very funny, and pretty cathartic to read as Rory goes from reacting to taking control of her life and the unexpected changes she undergoes, and I was rooting for her all the way.

Bonus: The audiobook narrated by Kristen Sieh is excellent!