Blood and Chocolate

There are a lot of people who like this book very much.

I am not one of them.

First, the basics of the book:

The main character is Vivian, a female werewolf. Their family had been driven from one place and moved to another. There are five male werewolves that form a sort of pack. The main theme of the book is how Vivian falls for a human boy, and the werewolves won't accept her having anything to do with a 'meat-boy.'

There's also a werewolf named Gabriel who wants to take over leadership of the pack and wants Vivian for himself, a prospect which does not seem to sit well with her.

Until later, when she does a 180 degree turn around and falls for him after her human boyfriend had been frightened by her. You can see this coming almost as soon as it starts; the human boy doesn't stand a chance, and the brave front Vivian puts on against Gabriel crumbles all too easily in the end.

Makes for predictable, uninspiring reading.

Now for the problems:

I think the book has major philosophical problems, supporting what is almost a neo-Nazi approach to superiority. The book makes it absolutely clear that the werewolves consider humans to be their inferiors, even referring to the main human boy character as a 'meat-boy.' Over and over again one the major characters, other than Vivian, keep noting how humans simply are not as good as them, and that Vivian should be seeing someone of 'her kind' rather than a human boy.

In other words, keep the race purified. Sound familiar? Try Adolph Hitler.

Another thing is the werewolves inability to see the major flaw in their own prejudicial logic. They consider themselves to be better than human beings. If they were so much better, though, then why is it they are always having to hide themselves from humans? They are outnumbered, yes, but shouldn't their 'superiority' to humans make up for some of that?

Also, there is there disregard for human law. Whether or not they like it, they live in a land that has a series of laws that deal with hurting people and murdering them. The werewolves, though, seem to think that they can kill humans and simply run away when the heat is on them.

Their 'superiority' obviously doesn't refer to their moral standards, it seems. To me, their attitude destroys any sympathy I may have felt for them, and Vivian's own attitude and caving in to Gabriel at the end makes even her a less-than-likable character.

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