What I’ve Been Reading

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison

Subtitled “A Werewolf Novel,” I realized that I hadn’t read any werewolf stories that I could remember. This is my first book of Rachel Harrison’s that I’ve read, though she has some pretty good bona fides, according to her author bio on the back cover.

If you want to read the story without spoilers, now is your chance. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. You’ve been warned.

Rory, short for Aurora, has moved back to her hometown to support her sister, who is six months pregnant and estranged from the baby’s father. She runs into Ian, the boy who had a crush on her in high school, now a very good looking man, but she’s not looking to tie herself to this town, looking forward to moving back to her New York life of high powered career and hot single life. But then she’s attacked by a werewolf.

Yeah, that’s the first chapter.

The brutality of the attack was shocking for a first chapter, but immediately invested me in Rory’s story. Because when she wakes up in the hospital the next morning, her doctor another high school friend, she’s shocked to realize that she only has minor scrapes and bruises, which soon disappear. She replays the incident in her mind, trying to reconcile her memory of being eviscerated with the reality of being whole, with only what appears to be road rash that weeps a strange silvery fluid on her side.

Harrison does a great job of taking the reader on a journey of acceptance along with Rory. We, of course, have the benefit of knowing we’re reading a horror story. Rory has no idea. So when the word ‘werewolf’ first occurs to her, she dismisses it as preposterous. But as a month elapses, Rory begins to doubt her grasp of reality, so–just as a precaution–she takes herself out of town on the night of the full moon, fully expecting to feel silly when nothing happens.

Nothing doesn’t happen.

Absent of a central and ever-present conflict, the story is more slice of life about how Rory navigates her life through the transformation of becoming a werewolf, what that means for her and what that means for her relationships.

The parallel of the identical twin sisters going through upheaval of physical changes, one as a werewolf and one who is pregnant, gives the story more depth than if Rory was going through the story in isolation. Scarlett has the best line in the story, when she’s telling Rory her reaction to learning she’s pregnant (I’m paraphrasing): Once I stopped dwelling on what my life wasn’t going to be, I realized what my life could be.

Though it may seem mundane, the most important relationship in the story is between Rory and Ian, which I guess makes the story (shudder) paranormal romance. The story starts and ends with Ian and Rory together. Not exactly what I expected, but still made for a satisfying story and ending.

I continue to think that first person isn’t strong enough to carry 300+ pages of story on its own. I really enjoyed Rory as a character. Even so, there were several times when the “I went… I looked… I felt…” kind of narration was repetitive and tiresome. I’d like to think it’s a compliment to say that there are interesting characters that I’d like to see more of and an interesting story that I’d like to experience through more perspectives.

Nevertheless, this is Rory’s story and she is a strongly written, complete character that carried the story well. Funny and brilliantly sarcastic, it’s easy to see why Ian is so smitten.

As a guy, I consciously try to read beyond my race and gender to try to understand others through their stories. This one contained a lot of stuff that sucks about being a woman. I’m not sure if the story triggered a depressive episode, or if it just happened to coincide. But if you’re a regular reader here, you know that I was reading this story, then took a break to read some Calvin and Hobbes. Maybe it’s a compliment to say that I was affected deeply enough by the story to say I had to put it down for some time. I met Jack Ketchum once and said something similar to him about The Girl Next Door and he said it was the best compliment he’d ever received. But there are very few stories that affected me in this way.

Take that however you like.