Spoiler-free
Recently I’ve been chatting to indie horror author - Keelan Berry, who kindly sent me a copy of the first book he wrote - Bite - in exchange for an honest review. He also has numerous short stories available to read over on his website for free which I have been slowly reading through now and again! So, you should definitely check that out. But for now, let’s talk about Bite!
The Premise
Bite is your typical high school werewolf story set in the fictional British town of Southumberland, where a lot of Berry’s works take place. (I see you Stephen King.) We follow a 15 year old boy, Kevin Baxter, who is creepily obsessed with this girl called Laura and I mean it when I say obsessed… this guy has no chill! Of course, this wouldn’t be a werewolf story without the wolves, so after Kevin encounters a mysterious black wolf one night in the unsettling Wald Forest, he begins to harbour a new found secret. A secret that begins to take control…
Begin to fear,
For it is near,
The moon will rise above,
And the boy will cry wolf.
The Review
I have such a soft spot for this supernatural coming of age genre in general so this was a lot of fun to read and boy did I fly through it. These sorta stories tend to be through an American lens and it’s so refreshing to have a British take on it. This fictional town of Southumberland feels very familiar to me. In fact, I couldn’t help but imagine a lot of these scenes within the high school I attended as they felt very similar. I’m looking forward to seeing more from this town of Southumberland and for it to maybe take on being a character all in itself over the course of subsequent novels.
The majority of Bite is from the perspective of Kevin, who I’m gonna say it… Sucks! He thinks everything is about him and he gives off serial killer energy with his incessant crushing on Laura, who literally has zero personality by the way. It’s wild! This is literally what happened in school though. It was always the more uninteresting people that became the most popular/liked. While I didn’t like Kevin as a person, I did like him as a character to follow. Unlikeable characters are always interesting to me, especially when their limits are unknown. This is the case for Mr Kevin Baxter. He is only 15 years old and believes his entire world will end if he doesn’t get with Laura. Combine that with the emotional changes of growing up and the physical changes of something much more sinister and we’re in for one hell of a ride.
Keelan Berry manages to capture the all encompassing nature of teenage crushes perfectly. It seems ridiculous to read now and makes me want to roll my eyes, but when you are just a kid, it can genuinely feel like everything will come crashing down if you don’t ‘get the girl’. Despite this, a lot of this book revolved around the school drama of it all and was somewhat light on the Horror elements. Listening to these teenagers incessantly whine did get a bit tedious, but it builds up well for a satisfying pay off.
Along with Kevin’s POV, there are short extracts from his best friend - Aiden, who has written a book about the events that transpire in the novel. These sections are short and sweet but are very effective in building up the tension and alluding to the horrors that await. Oftentimes, it felt like an introduction to the coming chapter, which helped create the atmosphere of foreboding dread to perpetuate in the background of all this teenage gossip. Not gonna lie, these snippets always made me hyped to continue reading, and I think were a big part as to why I flew through it so quickly.
Along with Aiden, we also have sections from a werewolf doctor who explains a lot of the mythical lore of werewolves and the science behind the transformations. This was a clever way to inform the reader more about what was happening to Kevin, but if you are familiar with any werewolf story there is nothing particularly new or innovative with these werewolves. It’s very much the classic take on the monster. This isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, but if like me you enjoy these high school supernatural dramas then you’re bound to have a good time here too!
The writing style is very easy to read, if not a little cumbersome at times. Berry has informed me that he wrote this novel at the age of 18 and that does show at times. This book will definitely appeal to all the younger emos out there, who will probably relate to Kevin a little too much… Nevertheless, it is an impressive book to have written at such a young age and has even inspired me to go back to my own writing. Maybe, I will finally finish writing that last chapter for the book I wrote at 18… So for that, thank you Mr Berry! (Or curse you, if I end up pulling my hair out and having a horrible time).
Anyway, back to the book. Bite has a lot to offer. It’s nothing new in the genre and yet, given the British setting, it still managed to feel fresh to me. Kevin was a horrible person, yet he still remained interesting to read about. The teenage drama was a little irksome, yet it still managed to build up to a great climax and conclusion. I had such a great time reading this and it shows great promise of Keelan Berry as an Author, given his young age when he wrote this. I’m very much intrigued to see how his style has changed over time. Luckily for me, I don’t have to wait all that long, as this was written around 10 years ago now! If you are a younger reader or simply in the mood for something quick and fun, yet still not afraid to get dark, then I think this would be a perfect fit for your current mood! I hope you enjoy it! (Then come back and read my ranty spoiler chat about all the annoying teenagers in this book).
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑- 3 stars
Spoiler Chat
Right, there’s so much stupid kid drama in this and yes, I am going to break it all down and talk about it in detail as if it is the most important thing in the world right now. It’s been a good week or so since I have finished the book, which is way longer than I normally leave it to write my reviews, but life got in the way. Luckily I did make a lot of incoherent notes as I was reading, so this spoiler chat will roughly be in linear order.
Kevin is so obsessed with Laura it’s honestly gross. It’s as if he sees her as just a prize to be won. I just want to shake him and tell him to give it a rest… Laura literally owes him nothing yet he still feels entitled to her? Why? Just because you comforted her that one time? Please…
Laura will be mine! He screamed in Joy.
The way that he lashed out at Laura when he found out about her and Jack getting together was WILD! A little part of me did feel bad for him though because he is only 15 and this really does feel like it’s the be all and end all in his eyes, but still… Get a grip. I will say that I thought the way that Jack handled the situation was quite nice. He even texted Kevin to make sure he was okay. He comes across like a smug prick, but you can tell it’s just a front with the lads and he actually does care about Kevin… At least, that’s what I thought at this point…
Kevin is a narcissist and thinks everything is about him.
It wasn’t long before Ella and Elliot got together too. I think it happened in the week holiday after that dreaded P.E lesson. This infuriated Kevin even more; neither of them would be his friend or even talk to him because of what he’d done to Laura., and yet it was because of him that Elliot and Ella were together.
Kevin… Just shut up. This isn’t even about you! This is the type of behaviour that I’m talking about when I say this very much felt like a serial killer origin story. And you know what? I was kinda right, but more on that later… Either way, Kevin is the final boss of angry white boy. Can you get more cliché?
On Tuesday night the questions had become so annoying that Kevin had punched his bedroom wall.
I enjoyed the scene with Kevin and his dad sitting in the pub chatting about the whole Laura situation. It was quite touching to see that Kevin has a supportive family and that he’s close enough to his parents to just hang out with them and to have these more personable chats. I find that typically in middlegrade/YA stories the parents take a back seat, or are simply dead. Kevin’s parents seem to harness a big impact on his life and it was just nice to see this support network in practice. God knows Kevin needs it … Good on his Dad for taking the piss out of him too because kids need to feel embarrassed sometimes. Especially Kevin.
Trexham - The First Interlude was really fun! And same can be said for the later second interlude. I loved having all these scattered scenes of various scenarios. It’s quite a clever way to montage a passing of time, whilst also allowing us to gain further insights into characters outside of Kevin, especially Jack. It’s interesting how he is self aware of the fact that Laura and him are ‘just friends who kiss’ and are only really together because of how Kevin had initially tested them (Aka throwing a hissy fit). This just goes to show the sheer contrast in attitudes between the laidback Jack and the obsessive/possessive Kevin. No wonder it’s Jack who’s getting all the girls… It’s hard to root for Kevin at his point. Also, I don’t think there’s any harm in the kind of relationship that Jack and Laura seemingly have, especially in school. It doesn’t need to go anywhere or become anything serious. It’s not like they’re going to get married and honestly, it would be depressing if they did.
A big part of any supernatural teen drama is the ‘coming out’ scene. Unfortunately, I feel like we really glossed over Kevin telling Aiden he was a werewolf. One second Aiden didn’t know and the next he did and that was just… that. It’s fine, but I think this would have been a good time to really expand on their connection and build upon their bond, as opposed to simply being a necessary scene to advance the plot.
Another big part of werewolf stories is the plan of action on every full moon. What are the steps that you take to prevent harm and injury to others, especially ones you love? Unfortunately, I felt like this aspect was also glossed over. For example, when Kevin almost forgets that it’s a full moon and goes into a panic, I was so confused. Maybe I missed something, but I don’t understand what his process even is. It’s my understanding that he doesn’t tend to do much anyway other than lock himself in his room and maybe punch a wall… So there was all this panic and it didn’t make sense to me.
There are many perspective shifts in the novel and whilst sometimes it was highly effective (with Aiden and the doctor) other times it was confusing. When Jack, Elliot and co were following Kevin into the forest it was fairly ambiguous whose perspective we were following, Eventually, I deduced that it must be Jack but it was annoying to have to figure out and made me disconnect from the narrative. The perspective of the wolf, Thrasher, was really cool and I appreciate that we got it, but the execution was off. His voice felt way too human and I wish his intentions could have been inferred rather than us simply being told exactly how he thought and felt.
So Kevin beats Jack in the sports day race and, I’m not gonna lie, this was quite exciting. The way the perspectives kept shifting from the spectators to Kevin himself was handled really well and again took me right back to sports day at school. I found myself way more invested in this stupid school race than I had any right to be.
Laura and Kevin get together… URGH! Right, I get that it’s because of his whole ‘werewolf allure’ thing going on but it’s just…
Laura has NO personality, it’s honestly insane! And yet everyone is obsessed with her? Obviously this does reflect life as this shit happens all the time and I just don’t get it! Again, this makes Laura feel like she’s just a prize to be won. Kevin wins the race and what’s his trophy? Laura. It makes me uncomfortable. Anyway, Jack is pissed about this despite being level headed and understanding up until this point. It seems out of character from him but whatever, kids are unpredictable and I guess it’s more of a personal grudge against Kevin as opposed to being anything about Laura at all. Once again, she’s just the pretty trophy the boys are competing for. It’s not even about her and more about them two comparing dick sizes.
Kevin’s dad giving him the engagement ring to give to Laura at prom was so ridiculous that I had to laugh. Why on EARTH would he give his teenage son his engagement ring to give to his new girlfriend after winning a sports day race? And to give to her on Prom… How embarrassing. Christ, even Kevin’s dad is obsessed with Laura at this point. WTF is going on!
Another big part of these supernatural teen dramas is the prom. I LOVE a prom gone wrong. The prom scene in Carrie is one of my favourite film scenes of all time.
Not to mention Jawbreaker (the best film in all existence).
So, having this moment to end the book was EPIC. The showdown between Kevin and Jack in their werewolf forms was so much fun and much better than the previous action sequences between Kevin and the black wolf. Obviously, Jack’s reveal wasn’t really a reveal as it was made abundantly clear from the get go that he was a wolf. I’m not sure if this twist was meant to be a surprise or not, but if so, it was a very strange decision to lead with such strong evidence only to softly hint at the fact after we already knew. As soon as we saw Jack didn’t run away from the wolves in the forest way back in the beginning, that was the Author telling the reader that Jack also had a connection to the wolves and was most likely a werewolf. After this we get much more subtle hints of him being a werewolf such as matching Kevin's strength and speed, but why still softly hint at him being a werewolf when you have already provided hard evidence that he is already? It was bizarre but I loved the reveal anyway because it just meant we got this monster prom moment that I lived for.
So that epilogue was badass. Laura runs off into the woods wearing that stupid diamond ring (don’t get me started again), thinking that maybe Kevin will propose to her. Okay, I will get started. Honestly, I can’t even blame her at this point for being so ridiculous because literally everyone is obsessed with her for no reason, so of course she’s going to be delusional. I guess it’s not even delusion because Kevin probably would propose to her. Heck, it’s basically been greenlit by his dad already. Anyway, I can not stress enough how satisfying it was to have Laura crunched to bits by Kevin! Nom and gone! It crossed my mind that this could happen and I had hoped for it, but I honestly didn’t think that Berry would take it there and I’m over the full moon that he did. Phenomenal way to end this book and I put it down on such a giddy high. I was worried that it would turn into the whole - Love breaks through to the monster - trope, but nope. CRUNCH! Bye Bitch! Love Kevin for that. I guess it was a serial killer origin story after all…
I feel like I've ranted about fictional teenage drama enough now. I really enjoyed my time spent reading this. Through all the eyerolling school gossip and Kevin’s unsettling obsession, there are sprinklings of great promise throughout this book. Most notably the structural elements of both the snippets of Aiden’s book and the rapid fire scenes in the interludes and also that final monster film style showdown.
I'd like to thank Keelan for sending me this book to review and I look forward to reading more of his work and also I appreciate how he has also inspired me to get back to my own writing.
Thanks for reading - Ang <3
Comments