Once a month in Tremorglade adults turn into werewolves as the result of a virus that has existed for 25 years. The young people become caretakers until they are old enough to ‘Turn’. Sel Archer and his friends accept this situation as ordinary, until a drone appears and a werewolf escapes. Who – or what is watching Sel and his friends Elena, Pedro and Ingrid as they begin to ask questions about their lives and the virus?
What I loved about this concept was how it was so close to the Covid-19 pandemic and yet so far. Certainly young people haven’t dealt with adults turning into werewolves but they have dealt with being the ones who are mainly immune from the virus. They have watched a virus spread across the world and they have watched scientists and politicians giving out information on television. S.J. Willis has asked some fabulous ‘what if?’ questions and crafted a story that explores how young people might feel in such a situation.
The main characters are all relatable in different ways – Sel’s family doesn’t have much money, Ingrid lives in a care home, Elena cares for her brother during confinement nights and Pedro swears that music helps him to cope with the totally not normal situation. Showing that young people with varied issues that might affect their mental wellbeing to some extent allows real life children to open up consider how they felt during the Covid-19 Pandemic
While the werewolf adults stuck in their safety cages add a dash of horror it is the question of who might be the true monsters that left me trembling as I turned the pages. This is a popular theme at the moment but it has mainly been explored in YA fiction and in crossover series such as Wednesday. Bite Risk targets reluctant readers who are transitioning or are in the lower years of secondary school. It is short, snappy and packed with action. The twist in the story will take your breath away regardless of age. I hope to see more stories aimed at this age-group by S.J. Willis.
- Bite Risk is available now from Simon and Schuster UK LTD. RRP. £7.99. (Sent for review)
