Full Moon Rising by J.A.J. Hutchisson & J.L. Hutchisson

Full Moon Rising

Author:  J.A.J. Hutchisson & J.L. Hutchisson
Publisher:  Self-Published
Pages: 352
Release Date: August 29th, 2013

Source: Received from the author in exchange for an honest review.

After receiving a terrifying prophecy, Constin Sal Tamind, an Elder Priest in the Heartfield Church, gathers his daughter and those close to him in an attempt to outrun destiny. From the moment he decides to run, trouble seems to follow him, starting with the army at his city's gates.

As they desperately flee from the werewolf destined to protect his daughter, Olesa Tamind, who will one day save the known world, their resolve will be tested, their faith will be challenged, and their freedom will be in jeopardy.

During the journey, they will come across an unexpected companion and in the end, fight a danger worse than what they had originally fled from.

Werewolf books can be a hit or a miss in the current market; it's really hard for me to say where this story fell for me. While some areas read cleanly and seemed interesting, I felt the story needed some context editing before it appeal to a lot of readers. Some dialog felt flat, some scenes had repetitive words, and other small things stood out along the way, which can be common with self-published work. The biggest thing that kept me from really enjoying this work, however, was that it fell into the rather typical mythology. Overall, there wasn't enough that felt unique to this story that engaged me as a reader.

With fantasy, I really like seeing something new, but the werewolves in this book were just your pretty typical, turn into a wolf-man at a full moon werewolves. It's hard to get past the sort of "same old" vibe that gives off. The characters felt a bit predictable, and Olesa was really impossible for me to believe as a character. You know when a character is just way too perfect and innocent yet mature for their age and holds the fate of the whole world etc. etc? I am just not a fan of that sort of story.

I don't want to say this was poorly written, because there are elements that will appeal to some readers. I'm probably just not one of them. The structure wasn't terrible, just some of the elements of the story turned me off. About half-way through I was pushing myself to keep going because I didn't feel like there was enough I was interested in. I just felt...bored. Maybe it was just the characters that felt a little cookie cutter to me. Priests who can't trust a guy because he's a monster, little innocent girl that is constantly in danger and needs saving, elves who think they're better than everyone... In the end, I just got stuck at "meh". 

I appreciate that the author gave me a chance to read their work, and other readers may take away something different. This just fell into the "not my cup of tea" category for me personally.