Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson

Virgil Knox was attacked by a monster.

Of course, no one in Merritt believes him. Not even after he stumbled into the busy town center, bleeding, battered, and bruised, for everyone to see. He’d been drinking, they said. He was hanging out where he wasn’t supposed to, they said. It must’ve been a bear, or a badger, or a gator—definitely no monster.

Virgil doesn’t think it was any of those things. He’s positive it was a monster. But being the new kid in a town where everybody knows everybody is hard enough as it is without being the kid who’s afraid of monsters, so he tries to keep a low profile.

Except he knows the monster is still out there. And if he isn’t careful, Virgil’s afraid it’ll come back to finish him off, or worse—that he’ll become one himself.

Finished howl by Shaun David Hutcherson at 4:50 this morning. It's a solid book. The writing does its job. It's good for people who don't like overly descriptive, beautiful writing. The characters are decently fleshed out, especially Virgil- our lead, Tripp ( actual name Buckley), and Astrid less so. I like the inclusion of high school theater. I didn't understand lycanthropy as a metaphor for sexual assault fully. Hurt people, hurt people?. Go into this book knowing that the horror part is used to illustrate trauma and dealing with emotions surrounding it. It's not a slasher, reading reviews some people thought that. But I'm not going nitpicking into it because Hutcherson has used his own experiences as inspiration and it's a personal book for him. I wished the writing was lusher. I still enjoyed the experience. It's a 4 for me

Merged review:

Finished howl by Shaun David Hutcherson at 4:50 this morning. It's a solid book. The writing does its job. It's good for people who don't like overly descriptive, beautiful writing. The characters are decently fleshed out, especially Virgil- our lead, Tripp ( actual name Buckley), and Astrid less so. I like the inclusion of high school theater. I didn't understand lycanthropy as a metaphor for sexual assault fully. Hurt people, hurt people?. Go into this book knowing that the horror part is used to illustrate trauma and dealing with emotions surrounding it. It's not a slasher, reading reviews some people thought that. But I'm not going nitpicking into it because Hutcherson has used his own experiences as inspiration and it's a personal book for him. I wished the writing was lusher. I still enjoyed the experience. It's a 4 for me

Esse livro foi uma jornada. Acompanhar um garoto traumatizado obrigado a mudar de cidade e deixar a vida pra trás, se agarrando a tudo que pode e perdendo uma coisa de cada vez, e tudo parece só piorar, com um monstro à espreita. E na especialidade do Shaun, talvez os monstros sejam os traumas que fizemos pelo caminho.

“But I could still help him. I could tell him that I understood what he was going through. I could tell him that he wasn't to blame for what they did to him. I could tell him that trauma has gravity that will constantly try to tug you backward, but that if you keep moving forward, eventually its hold will weaken. Not completely, there remained moments when a noise triggered those memories. But I didn't have to be there alone.”

Merged review:

Esse livro foi uma jornada. Acompanhar um garoto traumatizado obrigado a mudar de cidade e deixar a vida pra trás, se agarrando a tudo que pode e perdendo uma coisa de cada vez, e tudo parece só piorar, com um monstro à espreita. E na especialidade do Shaun, talvez os monstros sejam os traumas que fizemos pelo caminho.

“But I could still help him. I could tell him that I understood what he was going through. I could tell him that he wasn't to blame for what they did to him. I could tell him that trauma has gravity that will constantly try to tug you backward, but that if you keep moving forward, eventually its hold will weaken. Not completely, there remained moments when a noise triggered those memories. But I didn't have to be there alone.”