Six Moon Summer

Rylie absolutely did not want to go to camp for the summer. She was a city girl, she liked art and museums and her friends – IN THE CITY. Even if her parents were in the middle of a divorce why shouldn’t she get to stay home?
When you’re not 16 yet the parents make your choices, even if they aren’t the best. Spending her first week playing sick, staying away from her shrewish roomies and writing in her diary doesn’t prepare Rylie for what happens to her the night she tries to run away. Nothing would have.
Meeting a boy named Seth does wonders for Rylie’s mood but, like her; Seth is much more than he seems. Her roomies settle down after one girl-fight between Rylie and the head shrew named Amber. The mood at the camp is one of show more fun, marshmallows and cocoa. And something in the night that hunts humans.
S. M. Reine has pegged teenage angst just right. Rylie is an outsider, picked last and nothing can change that. The campers are done well, too – rich girls and boys playing their summer away. A well-written tale with a splendid plot that my niece will love, if she can get it away from me! show less

I have to be honest here…I expected Six Moon Summer to be just the same ol’, same ol’. Not at all! In fact I love this book. I was totally flipped around and I didn’t know what to expect by the end. I enjoyed it so much!

Rylie is a teenage girl sent away for the summer because her parents are going through a messy divorce. She put on a stronger front that what she was actually feeling. I can definitely relate to that, I think most of us can. Rylie was the perfect heroine. She grew stronger with each moon and transformation and although her feelings overwhelmed her she was able to make the right choices.

I enjoyed ‘becoming a werewolf’ with Rylie. It was a completely different and creative paranormal experience. I have never show more read a story about someone who wasn’t destined to be a ‘monster’ from the start or whatnot. I loved that the point was how Rylie was coping with turning into a werewolf!

Super cute Seth knows a lot about the Legends of Gray Mountain and Rylie takes his help with her transformations. I liked Seth and feel he was a great supporting character. I loved that there was light romance—well more like interest—between the two characters. It was more about the legends and action, which was awesome for a change! Except it turns out to be different from what anyone would expect and it broke my heart!

SM Reine’s writing is simplistic with just the right amount of detail and feeling. I loved the writing. It’s the best when I dive into a book and love everything about it right off the bat. I was impressed by the writing and that Reine was able to describe each transformation without the repetitiveness.

Please pick up Six Moon Summer! Its such an awesome read and a perfect summer book at that! It has everything a great book should have and I loved it. show less

Rylie didn’t want to go to camp. She’s a city lover at heart and she doesn’t want anything to do with her and the great outdoors. Especially not when her parents are just getting rid of her so they can arrange their divorce

But even she didn’t imagine of the threats of nature would be being bitten by a werewolf.

Now she is slowly transforming, her appetites, her anger – and that’s without the moon rising. She has 3 months to find a way to stop it, or she’ll be a monster for life.

I am torn. On the one hand I have to applaud how very human Rylie is – and not just Rylie, everyone. She’s a teenaged girl going through some terrible times with her family and has been dumped in summer camp, basically to get rid of her while her show more parents try to sort through their lives. In addition to resenting being kicked off to the middle of nowhere, Rylie is an urbanite. She doesn’t like the countryside, not even a little.

Rylie is not a happy young woman. On top of that she’s also turning into a werewolf which comes with its own set of complications and problems

And it shows – she’s a surly teenager who is kind of surly. This generally leaves me jumping between two stances: irritated with Rylie because she’s not perfect, she’s angry and she doesn’t always act perfectly because of it. Or angry with the people around Rylie for the somtimes unfair way they treat her, because they’re also not perfect and they’re generally trying (especially the camp counsellor).

I have to say that neither stances nor the story makes me especially particularly like her but that’s not a criticism on the character. She is a very real character, a very human character and, like many people who are going through a difficult time, she’s not especially likeable. And that’s fine – she’s is a very good character with interesting points and character growth. And it’s her very normal humanity that makes her slow transition into becoming a werewolf and all that means all the more powerful and meaningful.

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I was really worried right from the start of Six Moon Summer. Rylie is staying at a three month long summer camp where she has no friends and has no interest in making any. In general I hate boarding school stories because of how much drama and cattiness they breed; summer camp has the same feel as a boarding school. There's enough angst in real life, I don't have much interest in reading about it in depth. That said, the story started off with me worrying and finding it angsty in another way. I didn't know Rylie well enough to like her but I felt intense pity for her in the beginning. Rylie's parents are in the midst of a divorce and my impression is they want her at camp to keep her out of the way not to spare her any of the show more ugliness.

Rylie considered the words with a frown. Camp could be interesting, I guess. Maybe if I see it as a learning thing instead of a punishment for the divorce...?

At about a quarter of the way into Six Moon Summer, I still had no idea how I felt about the book up to that point. Rylie was... unlikable. I originally felt sorry for her and I understood where her anger and hostility came from (her situation and the oncoming werewolfism). However, she was just as drama seeking and petty as the other campers that she hated. She was constantly nasty and feeling sorry for herself yet they were situations she'd gotten herself into. I found myself enjoying the idea of the book a lot but it wasn't going to be enough as the story continued.

Why had Rylie, of all people, been bitten? She was going to become a wolf at the end of summer, and she hadn't done anything to deserve it.

He nodded. “The library is in the back room. Kids aren't allowed.”
"No wonder, if they've got stuff on werewolves,” Rylie muttered. “How do we get in?”

I did a whole lot of my own suspension of disbelief in Six Moon Summer but was too farfetched. I love paranormal/fantasy so the werewolf aspect wasn't my issue. I had a problem with the counselors having secret werewolf books, Seth being the one to guide her and always showing up at exactly the right moment/knowing everything (some of the Seth stuff eventually gets explained but it doesn't change the fact that it was 100% ridiculous and unbelievable until you get to that point and Rylie eats it up), Rylie's constant rule breaking and general obnoxiousness not getting her kicked out or some sort of real punishment until far down the line... I couldn't immerse myself into a novel when I don't find anything believable.

I was not a fan of how werewolves were tackled in this book. I like books where werewolves are the dark heroes typically, but them being evil is okay too. In Six Moon Summer they aren't really either... they're rabid animals. This is very much a personal preference thing. Reading a different take on werewolves was refreshing and interesting but it wasn't something that I enjoyed.

Rylie was horribly whiny, constantly feeling sorry for herself when she was the cause of her problems, and frankly she wasn't a nice person. I don't see how any of her 'friends' liked her. She claims Cassidy was a close enough friend to risk getting into trouble by sneaking her out yet all I saw was her avoid Cassidy in a mean way and use her.

“That’s not fair!” Rylie complained. She never got to see Seth unless something was wrong. She wanted one chance to have fun before the summer ended. Her chin quivered as she tried not to cry. “Everyone else gets to go!”
*She stole the counselors' car which resulted in privileges being taken away*

I actually liked the ending despite its bittersweet quality. I will probably give the next book in the series a try before I decide whether to continue on or give up.

This review was a little harsher than I intended it to be. I definitely didn't hate the book but Rylie pressed every button I have and apparently I had a lot to say about that. I would recommend Six Moon Summer to readers who like lots of action and can forgive a whiny heroine. Reine kept the book fast paced with very few quiet moments.

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For more reviews from me, please visit Bitten Books show less

Six Moon Summer was not the fast paced, intense driven book I normally go for but surprisingly I really enjoyed it. Rylie was exiled to summer camp by her parents so they could finalize their divorce without her being around. Rylie hated being forced to go to camp she tried any and everything to be sent home, but no such luck. After dealing with taunts from her bunks mates, things go from bad to worse, Rylie was attacked by an animal in the woods. She later learned that she was going to become a werewolf by the mysterious Seth.

The story was told by third party narration and I thing the way it was done made it a less intense read but still interesting. Overall I enjoyed this book very much.

Cover/Title: Honestly, it wasn't either the cover or the title that drew me in this time. I have enjoyed several books by this author before that I just knew I had to read this one also.

Characters: I liked Rylie even though she was a bit of a troublemaker at the beginning. I was not a huge fan of Seth. He really should have told her the truth earlier.

Plot: I loved how the story played out. She had a choice to make and it wasn't an easy one.

Overall: This was a good intro into the series. I already have book 2 and I definitely plan to read more of this series.

Six Moon Summer was not the fast paced, intense driven book I normally go for but surprisingly I really enjoyed it. Rylie was exiled to summer camp by her parents so they could finalize their divorce without her being around. Rylie hated being forced to go to camp she tried any and everything to be sent home, but no such luck. After dealing with taunts from her bunks mates, things go from bad to worse, Rylie was attacked by an animal in the woods. She later learned that she was going to become a werewolf by the mysterious Seth.

The story was told by third party narration and I thing the way it was done made it a less intense read but still interesting. Overall I enjoyed this book very much.