 Title: Wolf at the Door
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In spite of all of the negative reviews that Wolf at the Door has been receiving I opted to give it a go. It is about werewolves after all! I should have listened to those who took the plunge before me. I really struggled with this book. The characters are annoying, the story is so simple that it’s dull and the leading man couldn’t be further from being sexy than an earthworm is. I hate writing negative reviews. I really, really tried to look on the bright side but it was like grasping at straws. Wolf at the Door didn’t have any redeeming qualities and in the future I’m definitely going to hesitate reading another one of MaryJanice Davidson’s novels.
Edward a.k.a. the male protagonist was one of the most irritating personalities that I’ve ever encountered in fiction. I wanted to strangle him at every turn. He’s extremely hyper, overly feminine and obviously has never heard the expression “silence is golden”. Edward never lets anyone else get a word in edgewise. Often times he’s expressing his frustration regarding a lack of information when his entourage is filing in the blanks and he doesn’t even realize that they’ve just told him the answer. He just keeps babbling for another 15 minutes before the light bulb goes on and then instead of shutting up he just takes off on another rant about something completely unrelated. Thinking back on it, I’d compare him to an un-medicated child with severe A.D.D. Wolf at the Door is shelved as Paranormal Romance but there’s not even a smoking hero hot in it. Instead we get Edward the Star Wars loving accountant. I don’t have anything against geeks. In fact, often times I’m drawn to them more than their athletic peers so I’m not biased. I was actually rooting for him to meet an untimely demise and preferably sooner rather than later. He would have made a nice snack for the Vampire Queen. This small tweak could have potentially made the book half decent!
The first 50 pages or so are a mess. I contemplated giving up right there and then. However, the only thing that I hate more than writing a negative review is giving a book a DNF (did not finish). So I did a couple of shots of tequila (no, not really but I was tempted) and pushed on. It does get marginally better. The beginning was a little too schizo for my liking but eventually the story does level out and there’s some semblance of a plot line. Although, as I mentioned earlier, the story line itself leaves something to be desired. I can sum up the whole book in two sentences: “An audit goes terribly wrong, two accounts bone and everyone’s on crack. The end.” There was very little werewolf action either. A character shifts once. That’s it. Sure, a few references are made to the pack and scents but overall I didn’t find that the wolfish aspect added anything to the novel. Same deal with the vampires. Other than being informed that certain characters are indeed undead they don’t actually do anything that’s vamp-like. They’re up and about during the day, we don’t witness them drinking anything other than fruit smoothies, etc. Davidson’s preternaturals are the most unparanormal characters that I’ve ever encountered. Which kinda of defeats the purpose in my opinion.
On the flip side, I find that negative reviews are very easy to write. I end up so mad at the book and the author for wasting my time that I need to vent. Therefor, I’m going to stop here before I say something really nasty and regret it later. I’ve heard good things about MaryJanice Davidson’s Queen Betsy series and I may yet give it a try. As for her Wyndham Werewolves: never again.
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About the Blogger
I review Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance books with a focus all things werewolf. Based out of Ottawa, Canada
Owner, designer and main blogger behind Rabid Reads. Avid book reader, snowboard bunny, video gamer and Supernatural fan. I love all things paranormal, werewolves especially. Oh, and I’m Canadian, eh!
Sorry you didn’t enjoy the book. I’ve read/listened to all of the Betsy books. I’m done with that series. It starts out good but gets boring and seems to be the same plot over and over. You can give it a try but you might want to skip it. I’m glad I got it from the library. I just think it has fallen into what so many other series has, it’s too long. Should have ended a couple of books ago.
I can see why you hesitated to answer my message. And now I know why this book was in the ultra-bargain bin of B&N. Ah, well, I’ll give Dead and Loving It a go to see if it’s better, but it will have a lot to make up for. Thank you for your honest review, Carmel, and I don’t like giving negative reviews either.
@Jennifer@The Book Nympho – I’ve heard good things about her other series but after this one…
@DJL – Haha sorry DJL! I’ll DM you now. 🙂
I read Dead and Loving it. It was a quick fun read.
@Jennifer@The Book Nympho – Noted, thanks! Love the mac-halo BTW! 🙂
Thanks for the review. I’ve been off Mary Janice Davidson’s books for awhile and this review reminded me why. The Queen Betsy series starts off good but it loses steam. I think the early ones are fun enough to give them at try, but be prepared to quit the series before you read them all.