Don't judge a book by its blurb. This is a verse novel written about werewolf gangs in LA. It follows several characters, all affected by the history of these gangs and who are currently getting wound up in multiple revenge plots. It also involves a love story with a human. I know - I almost didn't read it either. I picked it up because I got it mixed up with another author and the cover seemed neat. I would have put it back, but the positive review by Gregory Maguire (of Wicked fame) in the front cover convinced me to give it a shot.
I can't say that I really loved the book - but I was definitely fascinated. It was an interesting book, rather than one you read for entertainment. I'd long ago given up on the gimmicks of verse novels, but this one found a way to separate itself from those. The author is clearly a talented poet, and often has interesting imagery in his lines. Though he occasionally slips into the old gimmicks of sub-par teenage verse novels, overall he has found his own way of using poetry and plot together to make a hybrid creation. I think this is a step in the right direction to finding a modern form for successful verse novels and I wonder if it's a way for poetry to return in popularity and sophistication. I read Macbeth alongside it and found the comparison fascinating - it would be neat to see if a (good) modern form of poetic storytelling will develop.
The story itself is gritty and gruesome and very adult. The poetic nature brings a focus to the emotional elements of the story and it's a bit of a challenge to read in comparison to other novels, because of the need to interpret the poetry much of the time. Still, the plot itself is clear and straightforward and satisfying. Most of the interest in the plot is in the way the story is told rather than the actual story, but there's a lot of interesting themes and tones and moods threading through it that gives one a lot to think about about various aspects of life.
