Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

I don't know how I always start a Shaun David Hutchinson book thinking I won't break, because I always break, he has the talent to break me in a million pieces that are still somehow held together by hope maybe? love? By something. It's the same with Howl, a metaphor for assault, victim and self blame, gaslighting, homophobia, abuse and trauma. Not as easy read because it shouldn't be easy. Maybe it'll open someone's eyes, makes you see when, without you knowing, you ignored and pretended, when maybe your voice could've being of comfort, of help. It's a very strong book and it's important. Raw and frustrating, it makes you want to scream hoping someone will hear you.

This was my first Shaun David Hutchinson, and I wonder if that effected how I felt about this book. There was nothing wrong with this book, but I also just didn't love it. The book has a powerful message about the cycle of abuse, but I found that the metaphor was really bogged down by being a metaphor instead of just address it outright. I get that speculative fiction is SDH's thing, but this was almost not speculative enough that then it felt a little lackluster.

I'm having a hard time nailing down my exact feelings for this book. I can see what Hutchinson is going for. We're dealing a lot with metaphors and kinds of trauma. There's a lot of careful skirting of details. This lends an air of universality but can also make it difficult to follow the plot. There are solid conclusions without a "happily ever after" resolution. It's worth reading if you can persist through a somewhat meandering plot.

This a very hard story to read. It has a lot of triggers in it a few are gaslighting, homophobia, and sexual assault language in it.. Howl about Virgil and gay teen who moves from settle to a small town in Florida. Virgil get a attack and let just say they town turns against him and basically bully him. I Don't want to say to much because of spoilers but i will say this is a story that need to be told.

It seems like most early readers of this book liked it a LOT better than I did.

There was a point in the not so distant past when I think the YA market needed stories like this. The weaving of LGBTQ+ issues and mental health issues into a fantasy plot felt really important for a while.

It’s no less important now, but it’s a lot less rare, which means we can be a lot pickier about whether we’re actually getting a well-written story or not. And while Hutchinson handles the themes he chose to address well, the plot itself isn’t great.

The idea behind it is one that certainly seems like a good bet. But between the needless grossness, endless local yokel goings-on, and the nonsensical, goofy denouement, I was pretty uninterested by the end of the book.

Perhaps this is a target audience issue (I’m an adult woman, not a male or male-identifying teenager), but I still think the story was a letdown.

I absolutely loved this book! it definitely wasn't what I expected but nonetheless i adored it.

Pacing throughout the novel was great and I was hooked from the start. The plot had a deeper meaning and that was super interesting to read about. How the mental illness and trauma was written was very well done. This book also includes an interesting cast especially the main character. The horror elements were also super cool.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Shaun David Hutchinson is a prolific young adult author who always creates layered, emotional, and quirky stories, and HOWL is no exception. The story kicks off with a bang with our main character, Virgil, arriving in town with his clothes and his back torn to shreds with claw marks and a story about a monster in the sprawl. But no one believes him. Throughout the story, Virgil deals with losing his connections to his old life in Seattle and a difficult transition to life in Merritt, Florida. His newness, his queerness, and his traumatic attack story make him an outcast, and he isn't sure who he can trust. His life is full of morally gray characters, who are described vividly and depicted believably. Hutchinson is masterful at showing how the people who love Virgil sometimes treat him poorly, or in a way he perceives as poorly, while those he has no reason to trust treat him kindly. Meanwhile, Virgil's internal struggle with his traumas, both those grounded in reality and those with a supernatural bent, is realistic and handled with care. That being the case, the story has moments of redundancy that might make it a less enjoyable read for some, while others will find it powerful and relatable. Readers of Hutchinson's work will find some similar themes and situations to previous works, most notably his memoir BRAVE FACE.

This is classic Shaun David Hutchinson -- stifling Florida town, a main character wrestling with trauma, a pervasive feeling of uncertainty and looming dread, and laced with hopeful undertones provided by a few stalwart friends and allies. I ended up reading this book in a frantic afternoon because I was terribly worried about Virgil and also extremely angry with all the adults who were supposed to care for him but really did a horrible job of it. Also, as with some of Hutchinson's other novels, I found myself drawn in by the mystery of the small town and its insular community. Are there werewolves in the sprawl? Why is everyone so mean? Just what on earth is the deal with some of these guys?! It kept me guessing and hooked until the end!

The core of the story is Virgil and how the trauma of his attack continues to wreak havoc on his life. He feels unsafe, even in his own bed, and no matter how he tries to cope, he can't escape from what happened. It doesn't help that his classmates have made him a target of bullying, and that his dad, grandparents, and the police all blame him for his attack. Every accusation hurled at victims of sexual assault are levied at Virgil, and it's made worse by the people who try to tell him it's not so bad or that he should shake it off and get on with his life. It's not a pleasant read by any means but it's an important one.

The book isn't all bad feelings and angst; I really enjoyed the friends Virgil makes and how they stand by him no matter what. I also liked the gradual shift in his family's views and how they treat Virgil. And there's a fun part of the plot involving high school theater! Overall this book has way less monster content than I expected but it delivers an intense and riveting story about trauma and healing.

It's been a long time since I read an entire book in one day. But this one? I couldn't put it down. Not only was the story well-written and heartfelt, but it was interesting. Confusing. Unsettling. I spent the majority of my time wondering what in the WORLD was going on, and it definitely kept me on my toes.

All the paranormal and supernatural aspects aside, this story tackled some heavy topics through the use of metaphor, which is not what I expected. I wanted to scream with Virgil, I wanted to cry with him, I wanted to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be okay. It was so easy to really FEEL with him, and I found myself setting the book down more than once to take a breath.

This book had me hooked from the first page, and I honestly enjoyed every second of it. If you like mystery, paranormal creatures, and moments that will leave you REELING, I highly recommend this one! ***Make sure to read the trigger warnings at the beginning before diving in.***

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever read a book where you totally know what’s going to happen, but you keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and are thoroughly enthralled while waiting? This is that book. Obviously with a title like Howl, and getting attacked in the sprawl in chapter 1 leads to a “predictable” story. But this was anything but. I was intrigued by Virgil’s journey of self discovery, confused as all get out about monsters and non monsters, and couldn’t put it down once I started. I loved this book and can’t wait to share it with my students!

Wow. Wow. Wow.

This was not what I was expecting, and I say that in the best way possible. It's horror, but more so in the way that it uses what the reader knows the werewolf attack is an allegory for as a tool to terrify them.

It's a werewolf story in the vein of Ginger Snaps, one that smartly uses something monstrous as an example of something that happens in real life. Much like Ginger Snaps used lycanthropy as a metaphor for girls transitioning into womanhood, Howl uses it as a metaphor for sexual assault.

I'm a big fan of stories like this, the aforementioned Ginger Snaps and Jennifer's Body among them.

It can be tough to read at times, because the words used are something everyone has heard before. The person who was attacked was asking for it, they shouldn't have been where they were, they shouldn't have been drinking, it's because of what they were wearing. It's all real, even when the werewolves aren't.

The characters are brilliant and terribly infuriating, and when it came to the antagonists they didn't always come with a set of claws and a hairy face.

My one complaint is that the book was maybe a bit too long, it could have trimmed a chapter or two off and not really lost much but that's just me nitpicking.

Give it a read if it's something you can handle, you won't regret it.

I absolutely could not put this down. I think it’s the quickest I’ve ever read a book before. I devoured page after page, trying to piece together the night of Virgil’s attack based on his jumbled memories and bizarre dreams that were part flashback and part nightmare. I found myself bouncing back and forth between theories. Is there a monster lurking in Merritt, or did something else happen to Virgil and his mind created another version of events to cope?

This book is part horror and part mystery, but mostly it’s about trauma.

Virgil spends the entirety of the novel spiraling in the wake of his attack, completely terrified and almost painfully alone. The town took the worst thing that’s ever happened to him and turned it into a cruel joke. Turned him into a joke. He was harassed, gaslit and revictimized at every turn, both by complete strangers and by his own family, and it was so heartbreaking and infuriating to witness I wanted to scream. I’ve never wanted to crawl through a screen and throttle fictional characters so badly in my life.

It was a gut-punch of a read, but it’s a powerful, necessary story about the importance of believing and supporting survivors. It’s one that’s going to stick with me for a while. Virgil is going to stick with me. It would have been so easy for him to completely shut down after what happened to him, to turn angry and bitter, but he didn’t. He somehow still managed to let people in and trust them, and to show compassion and empathy toward people who didn’t deserve it and who certainly didn’t do the same for him.

I will absolutely be recommending this book to everyone.

I quickly requested this book because I loved Shaun David Hutchinson's book We Are the Ants. While I did love We Are the Ants more than this one for personal experience reasons, this one was really good too!
It starts out with an absolute bang, Virgil has been attacked and crawls bloody and battered to the ice cream shop where he gets help. This is his first impression in a new town, unfortunately. His experience does not get better. He claims to have been attacked by a monster (no, not a bear or gator) and no one believes him. He gets bullied and harassed by peers as well as guilt tripped by his dad and grandparents because his hospital bill was so expensive. And to make matters worse, his boyfriend and best friend from back home are becoming more and more distant.
I liked Virgil, but he was just super passive about literally everything and that kind of bothered me. He just wanted to keep his head down and become friends with people who were obviously not people to be friends with, Jarritt and Finn. My absolute favorite characters were Virgil's cousin Astrid and the actual good friend he makes, Tripp. Astrid is literally the only "different" person in Marritt and she sticks up for herself and for Virgil. Tripp is just a good guy. He's funny and loyal and every time Virgil blew off Tripp for Jarritt I was so mad because it's so obvious Tripp is such a better friend. I also loved Virgil's drama teacher Mr. Hiliker. He was very supportive of Virgil's love of acting and even recommended a therapist for him.
This book is almost trippy. We never really get the full account of Virgil's encounter with the monster because he doesn't completely remember himself despite only having one drink. We just get snippets here and there. So we are left wondering the entire book, did an actual monster attack him, or is he blocking out what really happened by imagining this horrific "monster?"
This attack gave Virgil PTSD and extreme anxiety. He had to sleep in his closet, he jumped when anyone touched him. He was constantly triggered by little every day things that happened throughout the whole book. The mental illness in this book was not shunned (except by certain older characters typically), therapy was welcomed, with both a one on one therapist as well as group therapy. This book was set in a town set in it's old ways where anything to do with mental health is NOT OK. It was hard for Virgil coming from Seattle where mental health and being gay is totally accepted going to Merritt where he is an anomaly and it was really nice to see the characters who did accept him for who he was and did want to help him get better and not just take what happened to him and shut it away in the back of his mind.

Virgil never wanted to move to Merritt. Away from his boyfriend, friends, and everything he knows, after his parents divorce. And now, Virgil has been attacked by a monster. Of course, no one in Merritt believes that's what actually happened. It must have been some kind of animal. Not a monster. Monsters don't exist in Merritt, or anywhere.

However, Virgil knows the truth. It was a monster who attacked him. A monster that's still out there. And in order for him to have peace of mind, he has to find it. But it just adds to Virgil's status as the new kid, an outsider. If he doesn't find the monster soon, he might just become one himself.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this to review! Shaun David Hutchinson is a favorite YA author of mine, and I think he's getting back to what everyone likes hime for! That kind of weird, surreal, is this really happening kind of fiction. The kind of book you can't always put into a genre.

What this book has going for it is it's strong analogy throughout. While it is a bit on the nose at times, using Virgil's monster attack as a symbol of sexual assault works really well. Specifically, interweaving Virigil's memories from the attack throughout, in bold print. These mimic intrusive thoughts, and flashbacks one might have if they have PTSD. The overall structure of the story, the attack, and the way people around him react is just spot on for the main comparison in the story. There also isn't a lot of YA that focuses on the sexual assault issue for boys, or in a queer context, and that definitely needs discussion, too.

Like in other Hutchinson books, there is also positive discussion about mental health. Including a positive representation of therapy. I always appreciate the way that Hutchinson approaches these topics, and it's important for teens to see this kind of representation in books. In a way, the werewolf/monster comparison works for this, too. It just works well on so many levels, especially for this story.

My only complaint is at times, the plot itself is slightly repetitive and maybe the book didn't have to be quite this long. However, this doesn't completely take away from the strong writing and characters.

All in all, I'm glad Hutchinson has gone back in this kind of direction. If the We Are the Ants era is a favorite of yours, you'll most likely love this, too!

4.5 stars

When Virgil is attacked by a monster, and found crawling into town from an area known as The Sprawl, he is roundly ridiculed and targeted by people who claim he is making up stories. His own grandparents don't want him talking about what happened to him and his father is almost never around. Being the new kid in town is hard enough without also being ostracized for being different, but will Virgil give in to the trauma and pain or will he come out the other side a stronger person? Or, is it possible he will become a monster like what attacked him?

This book is definitely a bit mature, content wise, for the majority of my seventh graders, but I will definitely recommend this to former students who are now older. I am a huge fan of anything Shaun David Hutchinson writes-his stories are always honest, gritty, and real. Howl is no different!

Be forewarned – this is a visceral, gut-wrenching read, but you won’t be able to put it down. I finished this novel in less than a day.

Virgil’s parents are going through a tough divorce, and he’s ripped away from his boyfriend and best friend when his father relocates them across the country to his hometown. It’s a very backwards and unwelcoming small town. To make things worse, after Virgil’s attacked by a monster, no one believes him – including his own father and grandparents – even though he has over sixty stitches to show for it. Kids at school bully him and play pranks on him. No one listens or pays attention to his silent cries for help. He suffers from terrifying nightmares, sleeps in his closet, doesn’t eat, and flinches when touched. It’s implied what happened to him was his fault, and he should suck it up and box up his feelings. My heart broke for him.

Luckily, he has two supportive people in his life – his cousin Astrid and Tripp, a friend he makes at school. Both are standout characters, and Tripp’s humor brings some lighter moments to the story. At his previous school, Virgil was in the drama club and has a talent for acting. Becoming someone else on stage brings him joy, and his new drama teacher goes above and beyond to provide a safe space for him in class and on the stage. He also connects Virgil with an out-of-town therapist since the only local one is the homophobic pastor.

Howl is a powerful story that will stick with you long after reading. The author does an incredible job of writing about trauma and the stigma associated with it. It’s relatable on so many levels and will resonate with readers in different ways. Although a tough read at times, it’s absolutely worth it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

“And it didn’t have to be this way! All you had to do was listen! All you had to do was pretend to care!”

This was a powerful story about believing and supporting survivors, and finding the people that will stand by you even as your worst fears are coming true.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by this author (though I've been meaning to read his titles for a while) and I loved it. While on the surface, it seems simple. Boy moves to a small town, after his parents' divorce and is attacked by a monster... there is a lot more to it.
Sure, there was little bit that was predictable, but the book was overall so well written and enjoyable an predictability is easily overlooked in the entirely of the story.
Will definitely be moving his other titles up in my TBR list!

Howl is insatiably readable and entertaining -- an ideal book for the young/middle grades monster hunter, and a great book to fashion into the classroom and/or school library.