Has the title and cover captured your attention? It should do, as this often lighthearted and irreverent novel comes with deep and meaningful undertones. Werewolf Brian hides his lupine side by avoiding intimacy and partying hard until he is tracked down by an entrepreneurial werewolf who wants to form a pack. This smart story attacks with precision, spearing prejudice and encouraging friendship and a confident sense of self. The main character Brian caused frustration and snorts of laughter in wonderfully equal measure. The supporting cast are rather fabulous, and the feeling of inclusivity hugs the pages. Please please tell me there is more to come, the ending suggests there could be, and I’ll be queuing up for it. Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella is a funny, bold, and wonderfully wise novel that I am recommending as a Liz Pick of the Month.
Brian, an aimless slacker in his twenties, works double shifts at his waiter job, never cleans his apartment and gets black-out drunk with his restaurant comrades, Nik and Darby. He's been struggling to manage his transition to adulthood almost as much as his monthly transitions to a werewolf. Really, he is not great at the whole werewolf thing, and his recent murderous slip-ups have caught the attention of Tyler, a Millennial were-entrepreneur determined to explore exponential growth strategies in the mythological wellness market.
Tyler has got a plan and he wants Brian to be part of it, and weirdly his brand of self-help punditry actually encourages Brian to shape up and to stop accidently marking out bad tippers at the restaurant as potential monthly victims. But as Brian gets closer to Tyler's pack and drifts further away from Nik and Darby, he realises that Tyler's expansion plans are much more nefarious than a little lupine enlightenment...
Big-hearted, goofy, anarchic and funny, Bored Gay Werewolf is a smart take on the doomsday logic of late capitalism and the complicated meeting point of masculinity and sexuality. More than that, though, and like Scooby Doo with Grindr or Stranger Things with sex and ennui, it's a buddy novel about finding your pack, the power of friendship, and learning how to be comfortable in your own, shaggy werewolf pelt