Hair in all the Wrong Places by Andrew Buckley

[Jax14]

This is a super natural fantasy (or is it?) novel aimed at the upper middle grade but as an adult I enjoyed it just as much!

A loser. That's how Colin Strauss sees himself. It's how his grandmother sees him. It's how his school friends see him. So surely it must be true? A lanky 13 yr-old whose parents don't want him to live with them, whose grandmother doesn't have the time of day for him, and who only has one friend at school, Jeremy. After being beaten up for the zillionth time at school, Colin decides to steal his grandfather's car and drive to his parents. On the way something crazy happens. He is involved in a car crash and hits a wolf. A very big wolf that bites him. Suddenly strange things start happening to Colin. His eyesight gets better, his muscles grow quickly and he becomes very fast. The problem is that he also blacks out and is hungry. ALL. THE. TIME. During one of his blackouts a student is killed. Is he somehow involved? Why is the town of Elkwood so secretive? What is Colin becoming? And does Becca really like him?

What a wonderful story! I loved the warning in the beginning about the werewolf gene being in everyone and that it just needs to be triggered. That's why this might not be a work of fiction but an actual account! It's a slightly different take on the werewolf turn; we get to see it from a youngster's point of view and parallels the changes that adolescents go through in life. Colin is a great character and I felt for him as he was constantly bullied until he really comes into his own. I'm interested to find out more about Jeremy and his detachment from life in general. What is his secret? The blossoming love with Becca is so typical of that age. Does she? Doesn't she? Can I kiss her? Will I be rejected? The story and characters are brought together well and I'm keen to see if there will be a follow up to this (please Mr Buckley). The town of Elkwood seems like a mysterious place to visit. If only the rain would let up! Imagine if there was someone who could help us with that...

The story flowed effortlessly and was an absolute pleasure to read. A lot of humour helped to deal with Colin's troubles and I literally laughed out loud at the line where Colin yanks the kitchen door off its hinges and half a mile later remembers to drop it! A new take on an old theme which I highly recommend.

Thanks to the author for an ARC.

[stoppoppingtheP]

Thanks for the review, although it doesn't seem to be my type of book.