I loved the psychological horror, vivid imagery, and challenges the main character faced. What dulled it for me was the lengthy, hard-to-visualize action scenes and overly chatty Big Bad villain moments.  

 

Energy: Secretive. Thoughtful. Enduring. 

 

🐕 Howls The action scenes were dense and lasted a long time with so many moving parts it was hard to keep track of who was where and who was still alive, what was happening. Dialogue in the final battle scenes was a little cheesy and cliché with the villain taunting and explaining everything in the middle of high-stake chaos. I pictured them yelling over the noise of destruction, which just felt cartoonish (to be fair, I’m not a big action-adventure scene reader, so that may have been part of it).

 

🐩 Tail Wags Intense, vivid imagery that kinda scared me sometimes. Effortlessly formed scenes in my mind. Painful but all too real exploration of good kids being crushed by the intense pressure of parents’ expectations. 

 

Scene: 🇨🇦 Set in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Perspective: Our 16-year-old main character loves playing piano, but their parents’ view it only as an ‘in’ to a good University. They also can see ghouls, thought it’s never been a problem before…unit now. 

Timeline: 2020s. 🍂 ❄️Fall and winter. 

🔥 Fuel: Prose. World-building and spiritual system. Intrigue. High stakes emotional investment. Quests and journeys. What are the macabre things our main character is seeing? Can they hurt her? Why has her little sister changed so much? Will she be able to save her? 

📖 Cred: Fantastical folklore realism

 

Bus 22. Alleyway. Tiger tattoo. Half-empty mall. Bubble tea. Playing piano. Talisman. Snowflakes. Darkness. 

 

Content Heads-Up: Pandemic (very brief mentions; change in parental employment). Vomit. Racism (discrimination; memories). Hierarchical/strict upbringing. Murder (on page). Blood. Fire (structure). Body horror (injuries, attacks).

 

Rep: Canadian. Second generation Taiwanese. Cis. Hetero. Queer. Bi, questioning. Lesbian. Pale and ambiguous skin tones. 

 

📚 Format: Library Hardcover