Emma Richler

Be My Wolff is a rambling, eternal dialog between a sister and an adopted brother who adore and love each other. The dialog, which takes up most of the novel and does not seem to let up at times, is a bit of a sinking, hold you breath, keep holding, and pray for resurfacing. There is a lot packed in, from fun facts about wolves to Russian folklore to boxing, which I enjoyed; however, after a while some of it seemed repetitive for not real purpose. None of it seemed to really move the story along. In the end, I am not sure whether the story or the plot moved much, whether the characters developed at all, though this is not to say that things did not happen (an apt double negative, if you please.)

When the writing was not too concerned with too-precious dialog, there were moments of great clarity with exquisite detail and fresh prose.

The audio version had Lucy Rayner reading, and I wasn't too thrilled with her voice choices or very slow, articulated, and somewhat cold rendering of the story. I found myself wishing that I actually had the book to read in my own head instead.

All in all, I think Be My Wolff is a good fit for lovers of romantic fiction and for those who like to know a lot about what each character is thinking and feeling at all times.

Thanks to LibraryThing and the publisher for a copy of the audio CD version of the book for my honest review.… (more)

I was very excited to receive this as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. It sounded very interesting - a different kind of love story, one that seemed almost a little taboo. However listening to it as an audio book, it was very hard to stick with. I can't tell if it was that it didn't seem to have an actual storyline or if it was the narrator who didn't convey the emotions of the characters properly. I would definitely be interested in reading a paper version of this, as it might make it easier to follow/become interested in.… (more)