Book Review: "This Is Not a Werewolf Story" by Sandra Evans

I’m writing this after just finishing the book, so every thought in my head is a little all over the place, but we’ll see how we organize the review as we go.

So Sandra Evans’ “This Is Not a Werewolf Story” is about a boy named Raul dealing with a lot of stuff all at once. No spoilers, but he has lots of different responsibilities around his boarding school, lies about his father picking him up from school for the weekends, takes the elementary schoolers fishing on Friday afternoons before everyone goes home, tries to get his crush Mary Anne to notice him and think of him as a heroic kind of boy, feels like he has no friends until the new kid (Vincent) arrives, and he’s dealing with all of this at the same time as getting bullied by his P.E. teacher Mr. Tuffman. Oh, and he has strong opinions about what constitutes a werewolf vs someone who can turn into a wolf. To find out why, pick the book up at either your local library or your local bookstore!

There’s a lot going on in “This Is Not a Werewolf Story.” In the real world, Sandra Evans has a PhD. in French literature, and she claims that the inspiration for the story comes from her favorite twelfth-century werewolf story, “Bisclavret” by Marie de France. There’s also spirit animals as a phrase used to describe the people who can turn into animals. Sandra Evans grew up in the state of Washington, which is also where the story takes place. The only thing I personally know about spirit animals is that it’s a Native American concept. I do not know if it functions as it does in the book. I don’t have enough of an educational background in Native American culture to have an informed opinion about it. But the story does have similarities to the very twelfth-century werewolf stories she specializes in, which do feature people becoming wolves in the same fashion as the characters who do change form.

It’s an engaging read. Raul’s voice as the main character was very strong, and the story unfolds itself well. The pacing is good, the characterization is great, and the werewolf lore was fun. Running into a topic that I know little about and being unsure if it’s being used correctly made me feel uncomfortable, but then I had to do introspection as to whether or not that discomfort is warranted. It’s probably me thing instead of an actual problem. It should not be required for the reader to heavily research a topic in order to enjoy a story. It was a well-told story. Sandra Evans is a great writer. I do recommend people read it because of those reasons. You can decide for yourself on the spirit animal angle or write me off as being too sensitive or whatever.

I did almost cry, though. The last five chapters really got to me. No spoilers, though! Now, go have fun reading.