Review Detail

Nessa Kurland struggles with her day-to-day, typical teen life. She worries about how she will pay for college and if the boy she likes will ever like her back. And then, she’s bitten by a strange wolf and her struggles reach an all time high when she begins to transform at the full moon.
While I ultimately enjoyed Nessa’s story, I couldn't help but wonder when it was going to start. There seemed to be a ton of filler story and too much “telling” with very little “showing” at certain points that slowed the overall pacing of the book.
With about a hundred pages left, it finally struck me that Weregirl is more of a mystery than a shifter story. I kept expecting the story to develop around the concept of how she became a werewolf and that Nessa would ultimately meet others like her. But that didn’t happen. The mystery surrounding the company, Dutch Chem took more precedence than I anticipated, while Nessa’s Were-ness took a backseat. For a book with a Werewolf on the cover, I would expect it would be the other way around.
Certain aspects of the story never really came to fruition. Nessa was bitten by a wolf, but never questioned how or why that transformed her into a werewolf. The reader is left to assume that the shenanigans going on with the Dutch Chem people somehow led to her altered state.
Overall, Weregirl is a great mystery. One—had I been sufficiently prepared for—I probably would have enjoyed more. (The book blurb does focus on the mystery, but the cover is misleading). The writing is good, but it leaves the impression that this book was written very quickly and developmental editing was done quickly. The result is a good 400 page book, rather than an excellent 250 page book.
The character development is very well done. Nessa, her family and friends are well rounded, each with their own interesting stories. The author did an excellent job illustrating Nessa’s growth into a more confident young woman, sure to inspire young readers. As a first in series, I look forward to the next book to see how Nessa’s story continues to unfold.
I would recommend Weregirl to younger teens and tweens, ages 12 to 15.