A really weird but oddly touching book. The characters were easy to get to know, and the plot was fun to follow. There were a few things that were hard to deal with- like wouldn't this all have been picked up by large media and not just kept local?- and the formatting of the e-book was atrocious, but hopefully they'll fix that before the official release.

An absolute delight of a book. Pre-med student Priya has Lyme disease, dropping out to deal with her chronic illness at home with her family. She connects with Brigid via Tumblr, finding out she too suffers from an unknown chronic illness...which ends up being lycanthropy.

I’d thoroughly recommend it - it was enjoyable, emotional and funny.

With thanks to NetGalley and Quirk Books!

I was completely charmed by the premise of this book the moment I saw it, and luckily, the book itself is equally charming. The characters are genuine and lovable, the plot is unique, and it takes an unflinching look at how complicated our relationships with our own bodies can be. It is also, as a bonus, extremely funny.

Dealing with pertinent subjects like chronic illness, social isolation and ambition, there's a smidgen of humour and werewolves to balance the score in this young adult fiction debut novel. Priya is suffering from chronic pain after contracting Lyme disease. After having to drop out of her medicine course at Stanford, Priya adjusts to living with her family again and with the pain that has become part of her everyday life. Like many teens, she finds sanctum in an online community, namely Tumblr, and then joins an online support group for people with chronic illnesses.

The discord server set up by the teens who all suffer from chronic illness has a Robin Hood and his merry men jaunt to it, highlighting the supportive conversations and a network of friends you can gain all thanks to the internet. However the plot itself is a little clichéd, and a bit 'been-there-done-that', when it's revealed that Brigid (a friend of Priya's) who has always been a little bit vague about the exact nature of her chronic illness, is in fact a werewolf. A contemporary novel including a band of misfit teens who meet on Tumblr with a Teen Wolf style character arc would have had 14-year-old me's pulse racing, but now at 23, I felt this was a little lacklustre.

There are some nice moments of friendship and the support you can gain from people you don't know 'in person', but ultimately the overt use of gen z colloquialisms like gifs and popular culture references made me feel excluded from the narrative, and acted as a breaking of the fourth wall for me (and now I remember why I don’t read cheesy YA very often).

**Thanks to Netgalley and Quirk Books for the review copy

I loved this book. For starters, I enjoyed seeing how O'Neal showed readers what the world of someone with a chronic illness might look like in a straight forward, non-manipulative way. In some ways, this book is the opposite of all the tearjerkers made into movies a few years back. And then there's the whole, you know, werewolf thing. Simply put, I love a real-world story with one or two plainly fantastic elements, and this fit the bill better than most. If you want a plausibly implausible story of friendship, pick this up immediately.

Immediately after finishing this book, I pre-ordered 3 copies. One for myself, one from my partner, and one for my chronically ill friend who is still in the midst of her fight for a diagnosis...and now I've just thought of a fourth person who I could get a copy for...on that note; here's my review:

I need to start off this review selfishly, this book made me feel seen. I’ll be 35 next month, but this book about 20 somethings spoke to my in a way a book hasn’t done in a long time. Anyone who knows me and my partner knows how much online communities have always and still mean to us, that’s how we met. The relationship between Priya and Brigid reminds me of her and I to the point that as I was reading this book I got to chapter 15 and the first paragraph was so on point that I immediately had to screenshot the page and send it to her.

"Sometimes you just know when you click with someone, when you realize the two of you were meant to find your way to each other. When they say something a little stupid when they introduce themselves, or make a joke about an obscure interest you have, too, or ask you a question so thoughtful it tilts the axis of your world, just a little. Sometimes you just look at someone in the moment and think, yes, they’re going to be important to me. They’re going to change the shape my life takes. We’re going to mean something to each other."
Kristen O’Neal, 2021

The world needs more representation of queerplatonic relationships. I want to thank the author (which I did, I DM’d her on Twitter) for shouting out her platonic life partner in the acknowledgements because the more people see these terms being used and these healthy and loving relationships described the more normal they become. Just because you meet a friend online doesn’t make them less of a real friend. Online friendship are just as important as those you make offline, and they can be life changing and life saving, as seen in this book. Like one of the characters, I went through a dark period in my late teens and early 20s and it was my online friendships, especially my relationship with my partner, that got me through it. So if you’ve ever had a friendship like that you’ll love this book. And if you’ve never had the experience of a relationship like that, then you need to read this book so that you can understand how powerful that experience is.

This book also made me realise that my PCOS is a chronic illness…I had never thought of it in those terms before and none of the other women I know who have it have either, but of course it is. Now I’m annoyed that it’s taken me this long to come to terms with that because society hates talking about anything that has to do with women’s reproductive systems, which also gets brought up in this book! For that reason, because of how GOOD this book is at talking about chronic illnesses, everyone should read this book. You can tell that O’Neal spent a lot of time talking to people and learning and reading to present accurate, sympathetic and compassionately humane portrayals of people with chronic illnesses. If you or someone you love is dealing with a chronic illness, this book can help you. If you’re not, or you don’t know someone who is then you need to read this book in order to humanize those who are. You’d think the inclusion of lycanthropy in there would kick it out of reality and make it a joke, but it does the exact opposite, it’s a little shot of magical realism that makes everything about all of the chronic illnesses that much more real and visceral.

This book was exactly the vibe I needed to end 2020 with, overall hopeful and uplifting. There are no magical fixes or happy endings here, there is reality that life is hard, but that you can get through anything with the right people in your life. That’s a lesson we all need to learn in 2021.

I thought this was really clever and different! I don't have a chronic illness so I can't speak to the authenticity but it helped me understand what I, as an ally, do that's insensitive. I'm not certain the werewolf part is as strong, because O'Neal is basically creating her own system of it, but the idea alone was really really interesting.

This book is a real freakin' delight. DELIGHT. As someone who has been a teacher of teenagers for twenty years, I can sniff out bad teen dialogue from a mile away, and this just reads so authentic. The voice of this novel is so funny and real. The lack of capitalization in the messaging is real. The dialogue sparkles with silly and real humor. And the premise? Super bizarre, but I love how the author just goes for it. I love Brigid and Priya together, and the idea that a friend takes a road trip just to check on her friend. I also admire the way this book talks about chronic and long-term illness. It's not all doom and gloom, but it does affect the main characters. It's a great book to recommend to those who need some empathy for others who suffer. You just can't help loving it. Highly recommend.

What a fun and funny, creative and charming, totally unique read. Talk about a wonderful spin on the "sick girl" genre! Humor and warmth permeate this YA/emerging adult novel about two friends who find one another online, and who both belong to a online support group of young adults with chronic illnesses. Anyone who has felt betrayed by their body can relate to at least some of their struggles, and the experience of chronic illnesses is handled gently yet accurately. Somehow, exactly the right amount of time is spent on discovering the shock of lycanthropy - enough to be believable ("how can this be real?!"), yet not so much to drag you down or add drama. Despite its subject matter, this book remains angst-free AND gimmick-free. Instead, it is an uplifting story that emphasizes friendship and support, while never turning sappy or trite. Perfect balance of heart, humor and quirkiness in this excellent debut novel!

While I hate to make one more thing about the pandemic, I also think that the fact that these characters make such valuable connections with one another online may ring especially true in these pandemic times. I expect that many of us can now relate to the joy of seeing someone's face in a video chat, while being kept home by illness (or fear of it).

Many thanks to #NetGalley and Quirk Books for an advance copy of this title. I will absolutely be talking this book up like crazy!

I got this book unexpectedly in exchange for an honest review! I wasn't really sure what my expectations were when I received it, but I typically like YA Fantasy. This is Contemporary YA Fantasy and though the genre isn't my cup of tea, this is a pretty great book! It's a great read and I recommend it.

WHAT AN ORIGINAL IDEA! I really liked this, and not just because it takes place close by and a visit to the Mutter Museum happens ;)

This story centers around the ideas of being an outsider, not having control over your own body, how to survive in the face of debilitating chronic illness, and what a difference true love and support can make in quality of life. There are so many deep, raw issues at play while also deploying elements of magical realism in a very effective way. A few plot points could have been developed more, like the relationship between a character and her grandmother, but overall this is a well-executed, fast-paced and reflective young adult novel.

This was a precious book. I think that Kristen O'Neal's first book was a hit. It was so much fun. Priya was a wonderful character, and the overall premise is so unique.

I received an ARC through NetGalley from Quirk Books for this YA contemporary fantasy. Priya is diagnosed with chronic Lyme’s disease. She has to leave medical school and move back home. Through social media she finds a virtual support group for people with chronic illnesses. In the group she meets her new best friend who lives nearby, but what Brigid isn’t telling her support group is that she has lycanthropy. As Brigid is faced with challenge after challenge, their relationship blooms and their friends support continues to not waiver.

This was a very satisfying and heartwarming read, made very interesting by the fantasy elements infused with very real emotions over chronic illness. The chat dialogues, test messages and narrative story intertwined well and were realistically written. The story moved forward naturally and kept me invested in each character no matter how minor. A very well executed YA book that is readable and has a message. Highly recommended!

I couldn't make it through the galley edition bc the typeface was too weird on my kindle and so the onine conversations were too difficult to follow. BUT the book is a delight so far, and I can think of five students off the top of my head that will really enjoy it, so I'll definitely be picking up some classroom copies AND reading the ending!

O'Neal crafts a heartwarming and funny story about two girls - Priya coping with chronic Lyme Disease, and Brigid who initially keeps her diagnosis vague - who become friends and join an online forum for people suffering from chronic illness.

The twist is that (not a spoiler, due to the title!) Brigid is a werewolf who is in desperate need of help as her transformations become increasingly frequent and unpredictable.

O'Neal's debut offers an original and uplifting way to approach themes such as illness, isolation, friendship and what constitutes normal. Fast paced fun.

I'm so glad I came upon this. It isn't a title I would normally pick up, and it turned out to be a great, fun read. Priya is a lovely narrator and I enjoyed her online friends. Their banter felt true to life. I love the deep attachment in the main friendship even as they spend so much time talking through screens. I think older generations joke that young people are always on our phones, but are ignorant to the fact that that's how a lot of people stay connected to the ones they love but can't be near from day to day. And when you are younger, friendship is quite intensive, as demonstrated nicely here. I haven't seen many werewolves in YA recently, so that was refreshing and fun to read. Even more engaging was its relation to chronic illness, and the representation of various chronic illnesses throuhgout the book. I'll be happy to pass this along to readers.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for giving me an advanced copy of this book.

There is a lot to enjoy about this book. The first thing that really struck me was the depth and detail about the characters. Priya, the protagonist, is believable and very relatable to, even though she is a 19 year old med student from America. It is written as a first person narrator, so we get many insights into her, the struggles she faces with her diagnosis of Lyme disease and the potential conflict with her parents and younger siblings. In fact the whole of Priya’s family is as well characterized and it is like reading about a real family. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Priya and her brother, the usual conflict between a brother and sister who have to share limited resources but also have a hidden depth of love between them. The relationship between Priya and Brigid, again, was believable and very enjoyable. Brigid is such a lively, hair-brained character she is totally convincing.

As a person with a chronic illness, I felt the attitude to this was just right. The characters who have a chronic illness know what they are talking about and it was like finding a group chat in real life. The use of technology here was very successful – these are convincingly young people talking about things they have to deal with in modern teenage jargon! It made this book feel very modern, and completely of its time.

So, I know what lycanthropy means so I knew all a long that we were going to meet a werewolf – and I think it took too long to get there. And really I think that is where this book falls down: using the idea of being a werewolf as a chronic illness. The link seems so spurious. The message of this book is so confusing – is it that you can conquer a chronic illness, or learn to adapt, or that you might turn into a werewolf? Chronic illnesses are real and debilitating and not comparable to a magical legend. The brutal reality of illness and finding your place in the world as a teenager whilst living with a chronic illness seems so disconnected from the world of werewolves. This is clearly magical realism but the realism is too real to allow for the level of magic. Priya herself wonders if this is magical and in the end decides it’s a choice between the magical and the medical… but it’s not as it is not possible to be a werewolf!

I did enjoy this book but the difficulty of suspending your disbelief when it is so unbelievable made this book drag a bit, especially when it is in comparison with such deeply believable elements. The climax is particularly confusing as we are not really given an answer to why Priya’s decision is the right one. Why would turning into a werewolf be of help to anyone’s body? This is the question that is posed at the end but not answered.

Clearly, I am not this book’s target audience, but I am someone who reads YA books to inform myself about what my students would be reading or would enjoy. I think there will be students I can recommend it to, students who will enjoy the technology and the relationship between Priya and Brigid, but for me there are a lot of ideas and issues that are unresolved here and it has left me slightly disappointed.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library wishlist and recommended it to students.

What a brilliant, unique take on a difficult subject. I learned so much from this book, not only about various chronic illnesses but also about coping with life when it gets hard. I loved Priya and Brigid, and as a chronic illness sufferer myself, though not as extreme as these cases, I could definitely empathise. This book is fascinating and heartwarming as well as exciting and there were some edge-of-your-seat moments which I didn’t expect! Really well researched and written. Just fantastic.

This was a highly enjoyable read. While, yes, there’s a werewolf... it very much reads as a contemporary piece. While that’s not usually my jam, I was completely invested in the story.
The protagonist, Priya, is dealing with the fall out of a nasty case of Lyme disease. She ends up joining an online support group with her virtual (at least in the beginning) friend, Brigid... who is dealing with lycanthropy.
As someone who was in a support group in college, I have to say the author really nailed the dynamic. Half silly and absurd, half extremely vulnerable confessions. This isn’t something I have seen addressed before, and I very much appreciated it. It also was an interesting way to break up the prose- although the text of links and attachments was a bit distracting (but only because I tried a couple to see if they actually worked😄).

It managed to be both a fun and thoughtful read- very well done.