Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: Can Claire straddle her two lives, one as a teenage girl with a friends and boyfriend and as a werewolf with responsibilities to her pack?

Opening Sentence: Claire’s human form offered no protection from the chill in the moonlit clearing.

The Review:

As some of you may remember, I reviewed Claire de Lune, book 1 of this series a couple of weeks ago and I was left neutral but had high hopes for book 2. I’m sorry to say my hopes were dashed.

Nocturne builds upon our ties to book 1 but this story took way too long to develop. The plot goes off on numerous side roads instead of getting us to the point, which is how Claire deals with her identity as a werewolf becoming known by a human.

Meanwhile, I don’t think anyone will miss the HUGE markers that we are given as to the human who discovers Claire’s secret. It was like Ms. Johnson left neon lights on the secret guesser which was a true shame. There should have been a red herring or two in the hopes that the reader would guess wrong. But when words such as “paying so much attention to me” and “something suspicious in her voice” makes it hard to miss the obvious.

What should have been an oasis was Claire’s relationship with Matthew but it definitely wasn’t. His character becomes a cardboard representation of his self until the last 60 pages, which I was shocked at. I felt his character was so strong at the end of Claire de Lune and he came across as wimpy and self obsessed for the majority of the book.

Thankfully Emily’s character is less abrasive but that is softened with the addition of Amy to our merry troop. Amy is the typical blonde, All American girl that everyone loves. She finds her way into almost every scene with Emily and helps tone down all the things that annoyed me about Emily from the first book.

Lastly we have Marie, Claire’s mom and Alpha. She has moments where she shines as a mother and also as the Alpha but overall her character is not one that endears her to a reader’s heart. Her attitude about the Autumn Ball and other “human” activities started to really grate on my nerves by the end of the book.

The story doesn’t really get interesting until the last 60 pages and the rest of the story is ordinary. Additionally, this is a book that I nearly threw across the room during the last 60 pages while Claire is dealing with the repercussions of her secret becoming known. The overall impression of this book is give it a miss.

Notable Scene:

Hang out? A quiver passed through Claire. Why was Amy paying so much attention to her?

Claire gave her an apologetic shrug. “Maybe next time?”

If next time was in a million years and Claire wasn’t a werewolf.

So, actually, maybe never, but there was no good reason to be bitchy. She gave herself a mental shake. Amy was Emily’s friend. She was nice to people. She probably cried during ASPCA commercials.

“Definitely next time.” Amy grinned, looking like she’d won the lottery. “You two off to the after party?”

“We haven’t decided yet,” Matthew said.

FTC Advisory: Simon and Schuster provided me with a copy of Nocturne. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

ISBN: 9780857071842
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 355

Nocturne is the second book in the Claire De Lune series.
Claire couldn't be happier as it seems like her life is finally settling down. She's been fully initiated into her family's pack of female werewolves, her best friend Emily is back in town, and the gorgeous Matthew Engle is now her boyfriend.
But when a new girl comes to town and threatens to break up Claire's friendship and relationship, everything starts to unravel. Not only is the new girl trying to steal her best friend and boyfriend, but it seems that she may know more about Claire than she's letting on. Knowing Claire's secret breaks all the rules of the pack, and the consequences may be more than Claire can handle...

I really enjoyed reading Nocturne! My favourite characters were Claire and Victoria, Claire because of her ongoing struggle to balance being both human and a werewolf, and Victoria because she gives Claire much needed guidance about coping with life not only as a werewolf but, also as the Alpha's daughter. I really like the cover of Nocturne! It is inkeeping not only with the story within but also with the first book, Claire De Lune.

Available at Amazon.co.uk. ( )

I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed Claire de Lune. I read the second book "Nocture" in two days. I ended up liking it even better. "Nocturne" focuses more on Claire coming to terms with the fact that she is a werewolf. The first book had a huge mystery central to the plot. Claire was on a search to find out who was killing town residents while they were in their werewolf form. There is no such mystery here and that was a good thing. This book slows things down. It makes the characters the focus. This time around Claire is struggling with the secret life she must keep from her best friend Emily. There is a new girl at school named Amy who seems really nice but Claire resents her friendship with Emily. They seem to grow closer by the day as Emily and Claire seem to grow more distant from each other. I felt horrible for Emily. All she knows is that her best friend is starting to make excuses to be around her and she can't understand why. Amy is trying to make a real effort to befriend Claire but she is rebuked time and time again. Then there is Claire's boyfriend Matthew. Matthew found out about Claire in the previous novel and has been made into the pack's secret keeper. He is vowed to protect the pack's secrets even from his own father who is scientist trying to find a cure for lycanthropy. Now though, Matthew is acting distant from Claire. Is he second guessing his decision to protect the pack's identity or even his decision to date Claire?

"Nocturne" delves into these characters in such an entertaining way. I genuinely felt for each of the teenagers who were so impacted by Claire's secret. But Claire matures in this book. She was so taken off guard by discovering she was a werewolf that she became self centered. She acted like Emily's regular teenage life was so shallow and beneath her. It was nice to see her choose to balance the two sides of who she is. Yes, she is a werewolf, but she is still a teenage girl as well. The way she comes about realizing this was very exciting and it was a great way to finish off the book. Unfortunately the author doesn't have any more Claire books in the works but "Nocturne" really leaves Claire and friends in a nice place. I enjoyed both of these two books immensely and I can't wait to read further books by Christine Johnson. ( )

Clare adjusts to life as a werewolf as she also tries to struggle her human life. Her friendship with Emily is tested once Amy (the new girl)comes into the picture. Clare barely struggles to teach herself the basics of becoming a wolf, although she has trouble lighting the ceremonial fire she does have the uncanny ability to hear great distances.

I don't blame Matthew for freaking out a little about his girlfriend being a werewolf. It's not exactly normal is it? I also thought that Amy had ulterior motives, even though in the end she had good intentions. Her character seemed like she wanted Clare to reveal the fact that she was a werewolf.

The lies the Clare keep piling upon Emily start to strain their friendship and you can just feel the tension leap off the pages. I always wonder why girls seem to be jealous of one another by how one looks and acts. I guess that's how it ignites our own competitive rankings.

Matthew is such a supportive boyfriend being able to help Clare when she realizes that Amy may know her secret. Telling her he loves both her human and wolf side was too adorable and sweet. Boyfriends in fiction books are always so romantic and supportive, don't you think?

I enjoyed reading about Clare and her struggles, but I also loved the fact that she had a best friend whom she loved dearly and could not possibly lie to. ( )

I had some harsh words for Claire de Lune when I first read it. After a year, however, I look on it a little more highly. Yes, the author made some bad mistakes, and her general inexperience was obvious, but at least it was creative. It wasn't just trying to be another Twilight knockoff, and it wasn't just another batch of standard-issue lycanthropes, either. Johnson had some good ideas, and blended the werewolves with elements of a witch's coven and a predominantly-female cast to give the story a feminist bent. Nocturne is a substantial improvement from it's predecessor, with a deeper storyline and much-improved characterization and pacing. But unfortunately, it hasn't improved enough. Try as I might, I just couldn't get into it, and it leaves me with the sour, undercooked taste of wasted potential.

Read the full review at http://luplun.blogspot.com