Review: Claire De Lune, by Christine Johnson

Claire De Lune, by Christine Johnson
Publish Date: May 18, 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 336
Overall Rating: 4/5

Torn between two destinies?

Claire is having the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: she's a werewolf.

As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever?.

Claire De Lune pulled me in from the first page. This book completely skipped any werewolf cliches, and it truly felt like a world all its own. The werewolf concept in this novel, and the difference between that and society's perceptions, was fascinating.

The characters were well developed and I liked Claire a lot. She was strong willed, and accepted her fate rather quickly. Matthew, the love interest, was about as perfect as they come.

Unfortunately the story started to fall flat for me about midway through. I didn't feel as though anything was really happening, so it went slow for a while.. I had actually considered giving up and moving onto another book, but I decided to go ahead and push through it, hoping it would get better. I'm glad I did, because once the story picked back up, I was pulled into it again.

The ending was tied up rather nicely. I was actually kind of surprised at the ending, because most paranormal novels these days have a cliffhanger. They rarely feel so--complete, in just the one book.  I'm wondering where the sequel will take us, because I believe there is one in the works.

Overall, I enjoyed Claire De Lune most of the time, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys paranormal YA.

Cover: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Pace: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Ending: 4/5

Writing Style: 4/5