Becoming Alpha (Alpha Girl, #1)
by Aileen Erin
My current "error: not enough brain" read. Parts of this are exactly my narrative kink: werewolves, secret magic schools, a teenage girl winning dominance pissing contests with adult male assholes*, etc. I love that Tessa, after some understandable freak-outs, takes a deep breath and resolves to work this out and get through it. I also liked that after (understandably) snapping at her friend, she feels bad about it and, instead of letting it fester, apologizes the next time she sees her. And the friend accepts her apology and they get on being friends. Let's hear it for maturity over manufactured YA drama!
There are also parts of this that are major narrative squick. Fated mates soulbond shit! Choosing a mate for hundreds of years of life at 18! Jealousy that leads to violence just shows the strength of their bond can't be denied! Tessa puts up a token feminist protest about all this, but when I got to the part where she and Dastien** acknowledge that Their Love Is Fated it's so gross and I had to put it down for a day.
There's also lots of creepy mind-invasion that goes on. But that one purposeful mind-invasion is ok because after Tessa recovers, she realizes the dude (who's immortal-but-looks-30) is Very Hot.
I know these are major narrative kinks for many people (especially women), and I understand that sometimes our fantasies aren't feminist, but I just can't with this shit. I am going to keep reading it, because there are parts I am enjoying, but I'm simultaneously mentally writing the AU where female werewolves AREN'T rare and where Dastien** gets exiled to Antartica and Tessa gets to hang with her roommate and make friends with boys who aren't obsessed with wooing her because that's the only way they'll ever get to have sex because APPARENTLY YOU GET PERMA-MARRIED AT 18 IN THIS WORLD. These werewolves are hella Catholic.
Update: Finished! It was pretty dumb. Definitely not improved by Tessa starting to call Dastien** "my man," as in "she tried to steal my man," in the last chapter. #Dastien4prison 2k17. 1.5 stars rounded down to 1.
- yes, she wins all the staredowns because she is a Super Special Mary Sue, but it's written in a satisfying way. The only adult male that she doesn't stare down until he rolls over and pees on himself is Dastien**. (The book would be a lot better if she did.)
** who is a textbook Huge Fucking Creep who is way older than her and is her teacher and is acknowledged in text to be a rapist by werewolf standards and is violently jealous towards other boys she talks to and punches trees when they disagree and is super useless whenever she tries to talk to him as if they are two mature beings and aaaa I hate him SO DEEPLY