Saturday 8 October 2011

Book Review - Nocturne

Title: Nocturne
Author: Christine Johnson
Series: Claire DeLune (Book 2)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: 4 Aug 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0857071842

Synopsis
Claire couldn't be happier as it seems like her life is finally settling down. She's been fully initiated into her family's pack of female werewolves, her best friend Emily is back in town, and the gorgeous Matthew Engle is now her boyfriend. But when a new girl comes to town and threatens to break up Claire's friendship and relationship, everything starts to unravel. Not only is the new girl trying to steal her best friend and boyfriend, but it seems that she may know more about Claire than she's letting on. Knowing Claire's secret breaks all the rules of the pack, and the consequences may be more than Claire can handle... 


My Review
I read book 1 back in March and really liked it, I saw this one come in the library as a new book and I just had to grab it. 
Claire is hoping life will settle down now, she is more comfortable in her werewolf skin, her boyfriend knows all about her and is gardien to the pack as well as being totally in love with her and the pack is stronger than ever. But things are never so simple.
If anything life is harder than anything. There is a new girl at school, Amy, everyone loves her but Claire feels a bit pushed out. She's losing touch with her best friend and being replaced by Amy, she is expected to learn new powers as a werewolf and there are still people sniffing around the mystery of werewolves. Claire must work hard to appear normal whilst growing into her fur more each day.
Claire seemed much more mature in this book and had a very good sense of right and wrong, she came across strong and confident, except when facing her mum. I didn't get it, her mum practically ignored her or shouted at her, or told her she wasn't doing well enough, yet she never stood up to her. She just stayed quiet. I really wanted her to stand up for herself.
I loved the wolf scenes. They are so well written, it feels like you're there in the moment, with the forest around you in the breeze with the smell of wolf fur and fire. So magical.
I think Matthew is a rock, he puts up with so much rubbish and tension and never once gets cross or over-reacts, he does shut down a little bit and it may seem he is drifting from Claire a bit, but he is still willing to be there for her no matter what. Gotta love him!
I would say I didn't find this book as exciting as the first. In book 1 there was a real sense of danger and a mystery, this one seemed to be trying very hard to come up with a threat.
Amy is sweet, kind and so open, I couldn't agree with the whole 'hidden agenda' idea. She didn't seem deep enough, so pinning the fate of the werewolves on whether or not Claire is friends with her just seemed silly and a bit irrational. It sort of seemed like the book was saying - 'be nice to someone and be accused of destroying secrets and ruining lives.' Not a good message really.
So overall I was torn with this book, the werewolf scenes were great and I liked the magic, but the human aspect seemed to fail a bit.
It was still quite a quick read and I am slightly curious for more. I'll see where it goes.


My Rating
I would give this book 7/10, not quite completely believable but had magical moments.

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