Beasts of Abigaile Vol. 1by Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 4 Nina moves to the country of Ruberia, where she has a run-in with a lugu (wolf-human), becomes one, and is taken to the penitentiary "academy" known as Abigaile, where luga learn how to be slaves to humans. Her strong-willed attitude causes problems.I had been eyeing this for a while, hoping for a kind of werewolf romance story with a school setting (I missed the word "penitentiary" on the back cover). Well, it's not. It could possibly gain a romance angle, but the likely candidate is the "bad guy", of course. If I think about it logically, he's actually a potential hero (along with Nina), as he's a strong alpha fighting the system. It's his own strong-willed attitude that rubs everyone the wrong way, but it's clearly understandable in a place like Abigaile. As of right now, I don't like him at all, but I understand him. But ... he does physically assault Nina (I'm so glad she bit him in response!) and then force himself on Nina (with a kiss) to "mark" her as his. Thankfully, by the end of this volume, where he tries to bully her and sexually pressure / threaten her, Nina calls his bluff on the threat and forces a kiss on him instead of being cowed, followed by her saying she won't let him control her! Of course, she is swooning at bit at him too, but I'll take what I can get. Let's not pretend this is anything more than a story about people enslaving those they see as lesser and exploitable (who are partially animals, which only makes it easier to treat them as such). We are seeing it through the eyes of a girl who had troubles in life and didn't know how privileged she was till she lost her freedom and her humanity in one fell swoop. There is some hope that Nina will bring about change to this system -- an uprising or rebellion that ends with everyone getting along as equals -- but the romantization of it is a turn-off, and the "pretty Japanese high school" look, complete with uniforms and "classes", undermines the seriousness of it. The guards / "teachers" are sadists who will even beat children. I appreciate how this series uses alphas and family groups, which is realistic for wolves in captivity. Tensions run high, and it keeps them divided, making it near-impossible to coordinate gaining their freedom. Some alphas, the "student council", have perfected being regal lapdogs, which sends really weird mixed signals in a setting like this -- pretty and regal means we should like them, but they are fully committed to being the perfect slave rather than fighting the system .... On the upside, Nina ends up with a family group of drag queen and / or trans luga, who are some of the most open-minded, kind, and likable luga we've met. They're not perfect, but they are a breath of fresh air in this pit of pent-up testosterone. I love that they're fashionistas too. I also love Poe, a goth-y artist omega, and how Nina bonds with him. Her values are human, which disrupts things here, but we readers can see she's obviously doing the best / right thing. In the end, as much as I wanted to like this series, it just kept rubbing me the wrong way. There are plenty of other series out there with pretty humanoid characters with animal ears and tails that aren't as toxic as this. Written: January 5, 2020
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