Saturday, January 8, 2011

Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson

 Rating: 97/100 
(I changed the rating scale)
Torn between two destinies?
Claire is having the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: she's a werewolf.
As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever?.

  Christine Johnson’s debut novel, Claire de Lune has got it all: great characters, romance, action, great writing, and a twisting plot. It’s a very character-driven story, but contains enough action to keep readers interested and the pacing even. At times I thought the story moved a little slow, but I was never bored while reading it. The slowness was due to the story and its characters being set up, but once the basics were established, it moved faster.
The characters are extremely likeable, especially Claire and Matthew. Their relationship is so honest and believable, which is something I say a lot, but they are definitely high on my list of favorite fictional characters. I also really like the fact that Claire is the paranormal one in the relationship. Claire’s best friend, Emily, is sent away temporarily, but Johnson continued to include her in the story instead of using her absence as a convenient excuse to remove her entirely from the plot to make the story easier to tell.
Johnson’s writing is descriptive and engaging. The way she describes transforming into a wolf is beautiful, especially the portion about their body temperatures (that will make sense once you read it). Each character has a distinct voice and I thoroughly enjoyed the portions written from the perspective of the rogue wolf and I wish there were more of them!
Besides Claire and Matthew’s relationship, I love the werewolf mythology Johnson has created. By having the werewolves be only females, the story conveys a positive message that females are strong individuals, which is something some readers feel is lacking in the YA paranormal-romance genre.
Overall, Claire de Lune is a fantastic read and I can honestly say it deserves all the rave reviews it’s been receiving. Christine Johnson  has written a novel that will captivate readers with its characters, romance, and writing. Please do not hesitate to read Claire de Lune and if you’d like more information on the book and its author, please visit the following websites:
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