Review: Not your Ordinary Wolf Girl by Emily Pohl Weary

Title: Not your Ordinary Wolf Girl
Author: Emily-Pohl Weary
Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy
Series: N/A

Paperback, 223 pages

Publication: September 24, 2013 by Amazon Children's Publishing

Source: Arc from publicist 

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Sometimes Living in the Big Apple Really Bites!

Eighteen-year-old rock star Sam Lee isn't like other girls. She's the super-talented bass player and songwriter for an all-girl indie band and an incurable loner. Then one night after a concert in Central Park, she's attacked by a wild dog.

Suddenly, this long-time vegetarian is craving meat--the bloodier, the better. Sam finds herself with an unbelievable secret and no one she trusts to share it. And so begin the endless lies to cover up the hairy truth...

When a new girl gang appears in the city--with claws and paws--Sam suspects there's a connection to her own inner beast. Trapped in a tug-of-war between her animal and human selves, forced to choose between the guy who sparked her carnal appetite and the one who makes her feel like a normal teenage girl, Sam has to unravel the mysteries of the werewolf world before her bandmates, her mother, and the media catch up to her.

I LOVE werewolves/shifter types of books, and when I first heard about NOT YOUR ORDINARY WOLF GIRL…I knew this book would be right up my alley! The story is narrated by Sam Lee, a lead guitarist and lyricist for an all girl band, The Cream Puffs (cute band name right?!). On the way home after one of her shows, she is attacked by two vicious ‘dogs’ in the park but thankfully it was a minor flesh wound. The next day she starts to notice changes, especially her appetite like cravings for meat when she’s a vegetarian! Sam always been a lone wolf figuratively speaking but now she’s literally turning into a wolf, and part of a pack whether she wants to be or not.  

I really liked Sam; she isn’t your typical eighteen-year-old or rock star. Sam doesn’t care about the fame or being in the limelight. She’s happy to let her other two band mates take center stage, while she rocks out in the background. Sam is pretty shy, quiet, and cares about keeping her life as private as she can. It’s refreshing to see she isn’t like the norm cookie cutter rock star type. I also enjoyed seeing Sam’s reaction leading up to finding out she’s a werewolf…which surprisingly took a bit longer than I expected. It didn’t click for Sam that something was terribly wrong when she was eating meat nonstop instead she had to see herself partially transformed to come to the realization that she’s not human anymore. She handles the whole werewolf dilemma pretty well, and even though she still adjusting; she finds time to help other ‘mutant girls’ dealing with the same problem.

There is a love triangle in this book, which I’m not a fan of. To make matters worse the two love interests’ interactions with Sam felt passive. Their supposed feelings for one another don’t feel real or genuine and I found myself having a hard time connecting and believing it. Plus for the first time ever in love-triangles, I find myself disliking both male leads. Everything happens too quickly, with the events only spanning a couple of days. Bouncing off the subject of connection, I also had a difficult time connecting with the secondary characters. They felt one-dimensional and nothing but background props. The main characters are pretty much just Sam and the two love interest. Supporting characters are important to me in a story, so I hope I get to learn more about Sam’s band mates ,her family, and  her new pack (if there is a sequel).  

Overall, NOT YOUR ORDINARY WOLF GIRL is a fun-cute read. There were a few minor flaws but that’s understandable with it being a first book (in what I hope is a start to a new series). This book has a lot of potential to be a great series, especially with how it ended. I want to find out what happens to Sam, Owen, which guy she’ll pick and the mutant girls (sequel please)! If you’re looking for something light and not too serious, then this is the book for you. I recommend this to all paranormal fans…and if you love weres/shifters like me…definitely give this book a try!