Genre: YA Supernatural Romance
Rating (Out of 5): ~2 (actually, probably less)
Publisher: HarperTeen (Katherine Tegen Books)
Spoilers?: Yes. Majorly.
Beware of a kiss under the full moon. It will change your life forever.
Celeste
Parker is used to hearing scary stories about werewolves--Legend's Run
is famous for them. She's used to everything in the small town until
Brandon Maddox moves to Legend's Run and Celeste finds herself
immediately drawn to the handsome new student. But when, after an
unnerving visit with a psychic, she encounters a pack of wolves and
gorgeous, enigmatic Brandon, she must discover whether his
transformation is more than legend or just a trick of the shadows in the
moonlight.
Her best friends may never forgive her if she gives
up her perfect boyfriend, Nash, for Brandon, who's from the wrong side
of town. But she can't deny her attraction or the strong pull he has on
her. Brandon may be Celeste's hero, or he may be the most dangerous
creature she could encounter in the woods of Legend's Run.
Psychic
predictions, generations-old secrets, a town divided, and the
possibility of falling in love with a hot and heroic werewolf are the
perfect formula for what happens . . . once in a full moon.
Review:
I’ve had this book
sitting on my shelf since it came out, as at that time I was quite a big fan of
Schreiber’s
Vampire Kisses series,
but I think maybe I’m a bit too old for it now. For Schreiber’s type of
storytelling in general, really. But even taking that into consideration, I
still had a lot of problems with this book (and the
Vampire Kisses book that I read right before this one, but that
will be getting its own review).
This series is very
different from Schreiber’s vampire one, which I am glad for, but not
particularly in a good way.
Once in a
Full Moon is about Celeste, who is dating a boy named Nash (whose name, I’m
sorry, I keep relating to the Nash from the
Soul Screamers series, but that Nash is much better), but really only to keep
her friends happy, since she is totally not in love with him. But, really, she
doesn’t see why she’s not, because he’s so hot, you guys. Instead, though,
there’s Brandon, the new boy in her small town, who’s caught her attention, and
saves her, and gives her all these tingly feelings upon first sight. And he’s
such a nice guy, plus he’s totally hot, too. The only problem is that he’s from
the wrong side of town, and her friends would never accept it, because, you
guys, he’s from the
Westside of town.
But
she doesn’t care about that, no,
of course not, it’s just everyone else that cares. Totally.
I don’t like
Celeste. She’s supposedly very practical and nice and doesn’t care for the
Eastside/Westside rivalry, but I didn’t really believe that. I didn't believe her. I believe that she’s
nice, because we are actually shown some nice things she does, even if they
aren’t all that backed up with selfless feelings. But we’re told, about, three
times that she practical and pragmatic, but are never really shown that it’s
part of her personality. And if she really didn’t care about the rivalry thing,
then why does she bring it up all the
time? And why doesn’t she ever show us that she doesn’t care? She only ever
says she doesn’t, but then never tries to show her friends that she likes the
people on the other side, or hang out with them or anything. She sticks up for Brandon a couple of times, weakly,
but won’t tell them that she likes him. And she is so superficial. Every time
she describes the boys, and why she likes them, and why she should like Nash,
it’s about their looks. They’re both so hot, and sexy, and they have chiseled
abs, and Nash is on some sports team and everyone likes him. Nash is confident,
and Brandon is nice; that’s pretty much the only personality descriptions we get
about them, ever, which tells us nothing, really.
And her friends. My
god, was I annoyed with them. They’re supposedly there for her, and yet are
constantly pushing her toward Nash, who is a jerk. They don’t care that she
doesn’t like them, but tell her that she’s happier around him and that she
should just forgive him already. Nash is just a pissy jerk who needs to get
over himself.
I didn’t mind
Brandon, but I didn’t really have any strong feelings for him, either. He likes
Celeste for some reason, and he worries about her safety, but he’s not
controlling about it. He deals with the whole Eastside/Westside thing rather
well, even though he has reason to be more upset about it.
Everyone at Celeste’s
school only care about what side of town they’re from and how they look. And
Celeste and her friends go to meet the town psychic, and the psychic is pretty
much a huge despicable fake; that’s all I have to say about her. And, again,
Nash is just a huge jerk that only cares about what everyone else thinks.
Another of my big
problems with this, is the writing. It’s easy to get through, but it’s not very
pretty, or scenic, or nice, and it's repetitive. It’s constantly telling the reader everything
instead of showing them. Like telling us that someone is frustrated or is saying
something 'seductively', but not showing us how we should know that. And the
kissing scenes are just pathetic in detail.
And pretty much
everything about the book is childish. The town rivalry is dumb, Celeste’s
thoughts on everything is superficial and not at all mature, how everyone has to be in love and falls into it so easily is childish, and the way the
Brandon gets bitten and turned into a wolf is stupid and not believable at all.
There’s barely any mythological work here at all.
I can say that I
was expecting him to already be a werewolf, so that was a nice surprise, but I
don’t see how being bitten by a real wolf and then getting kissed under the
full moon is supposed to change you into a werewolf, and one that stands on two
feet and can talk and is just a bit more hairy than normal, at that. Plus, why does he
change on the nights when the moon looks full? It’s not full, that's a different
thing. And why isn’t he dangerous, at all? And why couldn’t he remember any of
it until he got kissed again? None of it makes any sense to me.
The whole love thing is in both series, I believe. The fact that, as soon as you're dating someone, and sometimes even when you're not, that you're in love. Her friends are in love with their boyfriends, no matter how long they've been together, because they look happy. And Celeste is bothered by the fact that she's not in love with Nash, but is falling in love with Brandon. Because falling in love happens so easy and fast, right? It's an immediate thing, and it's such an important part in your life. Right?
Also, it bothers me that this is such an immature, childish book, and yet words like 'sexy' are used constantly. That's a bit of an unsettling contrast right there. And it's a tiny bit sexist, too. Like how Celeste points out that Nash is a bit cowardly, among other things. I probably wouldn't have noticed this too much, but I read
a review (a very good review, with a low rating) that mentioned it, so I paid more attention, and it is there.
It’s safe to say
that I am probably not going to be reading the next book. I just had too many
problems with this one, and while I am mildly curious to see what happens, I
don’t plan on buying the next book. Or borrowing it.
