What a great surprise! I saw that this was about a werewolf (someone with lycanthropy), "friendship and the hairy side of chronic illness" and thought I was in for something campy and ridiculous. Instead, I found a spot-on, sensitive but funny (and yes, sometimes a little ridiculous) tale of contemporary friendship, online support groups, and the daily physical, administrative, and emotional struggles faced by those with chronic illness.

After severe Lyme disease crashes Priya's premed plans in the middle of her sophomore year, she moves back home, thankful for but mortified by the support she needs from her parents and younger siblings. When an informal online support group for people with chronic illnesses forms, she and her online friend, Brigid, both join. They find an emotionally intelligent, funny, diverse, and caring bunch of mostly high school and college kids (with the "mom" of the group being 26). With the help of the chat group and each other, they begin to fill some of their dark, lonely corners. Until Brigid suddenly goes silent, and Priya, impulsively deciding to check on her "in real life," finds something darker and more dangerous than she was expecting. It's all fun and games (and joint pain and meds) until an actual werewolf enters the chat.

I loved how authentically these online relationships were portrayed — as meaningful and important in their own right but also as bridges to significant in-person relationships. I also thought the escalation of the tension felt genuine and well paced, rooted in a sort of recognizable life cycle of frustration and emotional anguish that can go hand in hand with chronic illness (and early adulthood). Using a werewolf is an ingenious way to explore some of the darker aspects of dealing with chronic illness, including some of the desperate, self-destructive thoughts and actions it can bring on. The diversity of ethnicities, genders, sexualities, pronouns, and illnesses was excellent, but it did take me quite a while to sort out everyone in the chat group. It's been a minute since I participated in 10-person chats, but I'm not unfamiliar with them, so novices might struggle a bit more. Then again, I'm an old GenXer, so a YA reader might have no issues with it at all. But do YA readers even know about Tumblr and Discord? Hmm...

Social media platforms and chat issues aside, this was a funny, well-written, paranormal friendship tale with quirky characters and unexpected authenticity and emotional depth. And excellent representation.

Content notes: character contemplating suicide (discussing it within the context of the support group); discussions about pain, cognitive issues, social stigmas and misunderstandings, accommodation issues, burdensome bureaucracy, and emotional issues related to illnesses, including Lyme disease, EDS, fibromyalgia, cerebral palsy, endometriosis, celiac disease, and of course lycanthropy; reckless physical behavior and reckless use of herbs and supplements; mention of marijuana; BB gun and dart gun; ER and ICU visits; estranged grandparent; a feral cat is eaten (off scene but confirmed/reacted to in dialogue); mild body horror

This was extremely contemporary (a group of Tumblr friends start a discord server to talk about and support each other through their aches, pains and feelings - one of them is a werewolf) and absolutely lovely. Lycanthropy and chronic illness wasn't an intersection I knew I wanted, until now, but it's perfect. Would love to see this made into a film or a series.

Who doesn't appreciate witty banter? But when it is pages on end of a message thread, it is hard to get the substance that supports the wit. Perhaps it is a generational thing, but the novel didn't offer enough fluidity in the narration. Liked the characters a lot, just found it tough to read.

Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses was a breath of fresh air when it comes to main characters and their usual able bodiedness within YA fiction. The main character suffers from chronic lyme disease and joins an online group with other sufferers of chronic illness while also befriending one of her online friends who originally tells her about the group, in real life. I love the support and love that these individuals share with each other and it is great to see that represented in fiction where often, it's the negative side of technology or the bullying, trolling, etc, that take center focus of the story. Though I guessed at Priya, the main character's, friend's chronic illness before it was revealed due to the title, I enjoyed how it was portrayed and along with the daily sufferings that the other characters experience due to their chronic illnesses, it was interesting to see how the author imagines lycanthropy as a chronic illness and how that character can relate to the others. I will definitely recommend this book to my students, but especially to those who suffer from chronic illnesses so that they can know that they're not alone and hopefully, they can find their own supportive community like Priya did.

This is an enjoyable YA/FA novel with an engaging narrator in Priya, a 19-year-old pre-med student taking some time off from school after contracting Lyme disease. The author makes a valiant effort at the diversity of her cast of characters, which sometimes feels strained. Still, the friendships are charming, including Priya's new best friend, Brigid, the hot animal control guy, Spencer, and Priya's online support group. The varied voices are believable and engaging, and the book is a good read with a lot of depth around living with chronic illness. The depiction of the lycanthrope is interesting, and also begs a feminist critique, that I won't get into to avoid spoilers.

This book was amazing!! I absolutely loved it. Sensitive and serious topics were handled so very well and provided insights about chronic illness that resonated with me and others that expanded my perspective. There were so many times I had to put this book down because I was laughing so hard. This book was emotional and captivating, and I only recommend reading it when you have enough time to sit down and read it properly (or else you'll find yourself clearing your schedule at the last minute to stay up late reading it like I did!). The characters were all well developed, and whilst portrayed a variety of experiences, cultures and identities were not caricatures. This has easily become one of my favourite books, especially as it juxtaposes funny light-hearted moments with emotional and realistic portrayals of chronic illness.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses.

Do you know what Lycanthropy is? I didn't either, and I didn't bother to look before reading, something that I recommend, because dang, it catches you by surprise.

What I liked: I loved the little tidbits of info that the characters brought up, things I'd never heard of before, like luminescent blood that glowed during war. I liked addressing chronic illness in young people, I think it would speak to many young people who suffer from constant pain. I thought the friendships and dialogues were quirky and cute, and I enjoyed all of the ways people found each other.

I also like that the author combined two very different topics into a coherent novel that actually worked. I don't think just anyone could get away with it.

What I didn't like: my biggest complaint is the length, just too long for what it was. It also got a big redundant, very similar things happened multiple times, which added to the length.

Thanks to Quirk Books for giving me a free digital galley of this book in exchange for feedback.

I loved this book!

I picked it up on the strength of its cover and title, which is always risky, isn't it? But so rewarding when it pays off, like right now. I've never heard of Kristen O'Neal, and googling tells me that this is her first novel. I am prepared to preorder her second novel with no further information.

"Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses" is the story of Priya, who has recently contracted chronic Lyme disease. Priya is learning to live with weakness and pain that look like they might be a permanent part of her life now. She's rethinking her future. Priya joins Oof Ouch My Bones, an online support group for people with chronic illnesses. She meets good and helpful friends there, who can sympathize and give useful advice and help one another. It's exactly what she needs.

One of those friends is Brigid, who is a little bit vague about the exact nature of her chronic illness, but still a good friend to Priya. And what IS Brigid's chronic illness? It would be a spoiler to tell you, if it weren't the first word of the title: Brigid is a werewolf.

This book is so warm and fun to read and full of heart, and I'd enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who lives with chronic illness or who likes their horror character-driven and full of heart.

Gentle reader warning: Like many werewolf novels, this one does include a bad thing happening to an animal. But it isn't vividly described, and it isn't an animal you are emotionally attached to. You're probably okay to read this book.

As this was an EARC from netgalley this won’t effect my star rating but the formatting of this book made it really hard to get into. The book is split between prose and online chat. The online chat parts are confusing to work out the speaker. This is an alright book that is explained by the title. The book had a mixed tone as it was clearly trying to highlight chronic Illness but then was also about werewolf’s. quick, young YA read.