Never Cry Werewolf by Heather Davis

[description from amazon]

Moonlight can totally change your life.

And it all starts so simply.

You. Him.

The moon.

You're toast.

Okay, so maybe Shelby has made a few mistakes with boys lately (how was she supposed to know Wes had "borrowed" that Porsche?). But her stepmother totally overreacts when she catches Shelby in a post-curfew kiss with a hot senior: Suddenly Shelby's summer plans are on the shelf, and she's being packed off to brat camp. It's good-bye, prom dress; hello, hiking boots.

Things start looking up, though, when Shelby meets fellow camper (and son of a rock star) Austin Bridges III. But soon she realizes there's more to Austin than crush material—his family has a dark secret, and he wants Shelby's help guarding it. Shelby knows that she really shouldn't be getting tangled up with another bad boy . . . but who is she to turn her back on a guy in need, especially such a good-looking one? One thing's for sure: That pesky full moon is about to get her into trouble all over again.

Review:

If I was a little less tired of paranormal books, I may have liked this one a lot more. Then again, maybe not, because I had a lot of problems with this one anyway.

If you read the description of the book, you can pretty much figure out what Austin's "dark secret" is because of, you know, the title of the book. The book is only about 210 pages, and Austin's "dark secret" is not revealed until about 1/3 of the way through, which made reading the first third kind of boring since I was just waiting around for the Big Reveal so the plot could start moving along. But unfortunately, things didn't pick up too much after Austin's secret was revealed. It felt like there were more mini plots rather than one big plot- one problem would show up and be solved, and then another and another. Some of the mini plots were also awfully slow, which made the book dull in parts.

The characters were also not developed well; Shelby can pass as realistic, but only barely. She's is pretty cliche in the sense that she has a "wicked stepmother" and a "father who is so wrapped up in his new marriage that he changes completely." Her stepmom sends Shelby off to brat camp because she won't listen to Shelby's side of the story, and Shelby thinks it's SO NOT FAIR so she does bad things and doesn't care. As the novel goes on Shelby does move on from being the bratty stepdaughter because she shows how much she cares for Austin and how determined she is to help him. Speaking of her and Austin- I never really understood why they liked each other so much, but their romance was cute so I didn't really mind. Austin's werewolf situation was amusing, but I wish he would have been developed more. I'm not sure what his flaws are other than that he's a werewolf and has a crazy dad.

Despite all the problems I had, I didn't hate this book. I'm not even sure I disliked it. It's just meh. It's more one of those books you read when you want to read something that won't overload your brain. It's amusing and cute, but that's about it.

6/10

Never Cry Werewolf will be released September 1.

Links: Heather's website

HarperTeen/Hardcover (WTH IS WITH THESE 220 PAGE BOOKS BEING HARDCOVERS. I DO NOT LIKE.)/$16.99/Amazon/B&N/Borders/Indiebound