Okay, so I really enjoyed the plot and the characters.
I love Teen Wolf, so when this was pitched as TW x Emergency Contact (a book I’d like to read) I was like perfect, I’ll accept it for review.

However, upon researching I realised this book has problematic features. So I’ll discuss those first:

The main character is a disabled Tamil/Indian American.
– The author is neither of those. So this is not an own voices novel, despite the cover and blurb kind of hinting towards that.

I cannot speak for the Tamil/Indian American community, as that is not my place. But it is clearly culture appropriation. It really wasn’t necessary to the story. The author is white and it would’ve totally been fine to have a white character? I’m not sure of the author’s though process on this. I don’t know why they felt the need to take a culture they are not familiar with and write about it. Those elements of the book were scarce, so why not leave it out although?

The side character is a werewolf, which is on the cover, above the main character. This has been noted as racist by some own voices reviewers. They said having a werewolf above an Indian is racist as it perpetuates the idea of the ‘hairy brown person’.
I wanted to clarify – the werewolf is not the main character who is also on the cover. It’s side character. The cover does kind of hint that the main character might be a werewolf but she’s not, it’s her friend and that’s her friend on the cover. Obviously, again it’s not my place to say whether or not it’s racist, but I feel like there’s some context missing from some of the comments I’ve seen. A lot of the own voices reviewers have not read the full book and are going off the cover and synopsis alone. (I believe, correct me if I’m wrong)

Chronic illness side – I can actually speak from personal experience on this one.
Although the author isn’t chronically ill (I think) – the rep isn’t too bad. I think the novel does a decent job as representing what life can be like with chronic illness, particularly the loneliness. The group chat that is made in the story for people with chronic illnesses to connect was actually lovely to read.

As for the story itself,
I really enjoyed it. I thought it was fun and engaging. I liked the characters and the character interactions. I love werewolves and I thought it was a really interesting take to make it like a chronic illness, having negative effects on the body etc. It was a cool idea.

I liked the main character, Priya. I found her character to be relatable in some ways and I enjoyed reading from her perspective.
I loved her friend Brigid – what a cool character. She was just great, funny, one of the best parts of the novel.

Spencer – Amazing side character. I really liked his introduction and sort of being forced into the werewolf stuff. It was nice to see the friendship bloom between him, Priya and Brigid.

Overall, the book is good – it’s a shame it’s tainted by problematic elements.

I recommend you check out the reviews over on Goodreads where more own voices reviewers have left their thoughts.

Aspects of this book were very well done however I was disappointed to find out about the inaccuracies about the minority characters. I am constantly looking for books to recommend for minority patrons and, unfortunately, I don't think I can add this one to my list of recommendations.

I absolutely adored this funny, compassionate story of chronic illness and -- yes -- werewolves! The author captures the experiences and emotions of people dealing with chronic illnesses to a T -- the physical impact, the effect of feeling like your life has been upended permanently, the sense that no one who hasn't been through it can understand.

At the same time, it's a funny, quirky celebration of friendship, with terrific characters, a great plot, and laugh-out-loud texts and dialogues. A terrific read!

I was provided with an eARC of this book in exchange for a fair review.

A really good read that shed a lot of light on chronic illnesses and what its like for those who deal with them. The author touches on a wide array of chronic illnesses, and brings levity to the topic by including a lycanthrope in the mix. Despite this clearly fantastical element, the book was firmly rooted in real life, in the best way. I will definitely be looking for more books by this author.

I actually liked the story of this book. I ended up listening to the audiobook version instead but figured I can comment here on the story.

I thought it was a thoughtful look at chronic illness and all the things that go with it that people who do not have chronic illness don't see or think about. The lycanthropy comparison was an interesting take and I enjoyed the fantasy of it. More than anything though, I enjoyed the deep friendship that the main character and her friend experience and how it grows and evolves over time. There was no love story in this and I appreciated the friendship aspect.

As someone with chronic illness, I loved the premise of this book. That is what drew me to this title. I really enjoyed the story and all the friendships in the book.

I loved the frank discussions the discord had about chronic illness. It was so refreshing to see the realities being portrayed instead of it being a “I had this but I got better!” Story.

Also: I loved how the book took lycanthropy and made it a chronic illness. Most books about werewolves, they are the bad guy and no one seems to care about how they suffer. This was kind of an interesting POV that I liked reading.

This unique 21st century werewolf tale is laugh-out-loud funny and also suspenseful, with a dose of body horror. Many of the pages are chat transcripts or text messages, so they fly by. The internet speak is realistic and funny, and the way it captures finding people who "get it" online is great -- I think it will feel very relatable to teens who've dealt with illness or disability, and/or who have spent a lot of their time online.

I have seen concern about the non-own voices depiction of the poc protagonist, which I am not in a position to comment on. I definitely defer to poc reviewers on that one,.

I loved this book!

As a first novel, this was particularly impressive from Kirsten O'Neal and I can't wait to see what she does next. I loved the combination of 'real' and supernatural illnesses in this book and thought the sensitive topics were particularly well-handled.

The characters were well-developed and likeable, the plot was fast-paced and engaging... all round this was a success. As a teacher of middle-grade readers, I can't wait to recommend this book to them.

I've read Own Voices reviews of this book and theirs are the ones that matter in this case. I feel as though sensitivity reading was omitted and instead they focused on stereotypes as an attempt to read as "Indian".

This book is about a group of chronically ill teenagers who find out one of them is hiding being a werewolf and how they deal with that.

I have read the reviews of readers of colour, making me aware that this writer is not Desi, like her main character, and that the book perpetuates harmful stereotypes in an already underrepresented community. It is for this reason and the way the narrative was broken up into chat forms without being clear enough when it was switching, and underdeveloped characters in general that I just refuse to give this book any kind of promotion.

Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses is a book that is full of heart. It makes you think, it makes you laugh and it's just a pleasure to read.

I think what I really appreciated about this book was that the characters were so relatable and real. Priya feels grateful to her family and yet stifled by them at the same time. She mourns her old life and has bouts of understanding that this is her new normal, but simultaneously believes that she’ll recover.

Brigid wants to live alone and refuses to tell her parents she is suffering and yet is furious with her grandmother for her silence.

The discord group have good days and bad days and they joke about their illnesses as well as being frustrated by them. Their litany of things people say hit me hard as I could relate.

“You don’t look sick”, “Have you tried exercise?”, “What about essential oils?”, “What do you have to be depressed about?”, “Other people have it worse.”

The main message of the book seemed to be that it is ok not to be ok and you should try and gather people around you who understand and support you.

Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses is just an okay book - pretty simple and predictable, which isn't always a bad thing. Unfortunately it takes so long to get going —the problem needing solving (Brigid's werewolf-ness getting worse) isn't introduced until the book is more than halfway through, and it isn't officially revealed that Brigid is a werewolf until about 40% through (though the reader could've guessed it much earlier). The first half of the book is just Priya existing with a chronic illness and talking to her online friends, and it felt like an explanation of chronic illnesses and disabilities rather than a story. As the mother of a disabled person, she and I were excited to read a book with a chronically ill protagonist, but the book feels like it's telling me about chronic illness instead of a plot. Yes, a book with "chronic illness" in the title is going to come with some explaining, but the amount of time spent on nothing but that chronic illness was frustrating after a while.

The other issue is a bit of a toss-up: since so much of the book is contained in social media (which does make sense for a character unable to leave the house much), the book feels very ingrained in NOW, and risks becoming outdated very quickly, since technology changes so quickly, plus alienating anyone not already invested in online culture. The book is pretty solid and we enjoyed it, but a lot of the first half of the book could've been cut out. Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to preview #LycanthropyandOtherChronicIllnesses

At first I was excited to read this book because I also have chronic illness. But I wasn't happy to learn that the white author wrote about a Tamil character. I can't comment on whether she got it right or not, but the whole appropriation bothered me the whole time I was reading. The cover is also racist, so that's a big red flag. I did enjoy the Lyme disease references. The chat group was often hard to follow with such small writing. I also don't know how I feel about lycanthropy being likened to chronic illness. At times Bridget's story almost seemed to be framed as a joke.

I will not be reviewing this book, as it was requested before knowing that the author was white, and that they wrote harmful and incorrect misconceptions about the Desi and Tamil experience.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I'm aware that other reviewers have raised issues around the fact that this book is written by a white author but from a POC perspective - I'm white so I can't comment on that, though if there are errors or perpetuating stereotypes then that should be addressed.

However, I'm going to review this book from my perspective, which is that of a young person living with chronic illness. I have arthritis and am also currently dealing with long Covid, so good days are worth celebrating. And this book made me feel seen. I didn't realise how much I needed this book until I was reading it.

It's pretty rare to see chronic illness portrayed in literature (outside of the 'step outside the bubble and you'll die' and cancer tropes), and I felt it was done very accurately, though I don't know enough about all of the conditions to completely judge. I also felt the characterisation was strong and I loved the celebration of internet friendship and found family. I also really enjoyed the werewolf aspect and laughed and cried lots throughout the novel. I've already sent a copy to one of my friends who is suffering too. Brb, just going to set up my own support group...

A group of people bond over the internet in a group chat for people with chronic illnesses. When Priya and Brigid realize they live close together, they meet in person. Brigid’s illness spirals out of control and Priya sets about trying to help her.
Opinion
The more I read this book, the more I liked it. Priya has Lyme disease, something that I got when I was younger. Reading about what she went through made me thankful I caught mine early on. Brigids disease is the main focus but the relationships are the stars of this book. Learning to trust others when you have the cards stacked against you is hard.
Many thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

While I really enjoyed the novel, I was unaware of the problematic issues related to the voice of the main character. I feel that these issues must be addressed before I can confidently recommend this to someone.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
Lycanthropy and Other Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal was not at all what I was expecting.
Priya was studying as a pre-med student when illness her sophomore year took her out and turned her life upside down. Lymes disease.
She moves back with her family while she learns how to manage her new normal and connects with a support group of people online who also have various other chronic illnesses, as well as her best online friend Brigid. Priya and Brigid discover that they actually live pretty close to each other the more they talk while Priya is taking time for herself.
When one day Brigid disappears offline and doesn’t appear virtually at the appointed meeting for the support group Priya decides she is going to check on her friend. What she doesn’t expect is to find a big dog in the basement that tries to eat her.
Or is it a dog?
Priya makes the startling discovery that Brigid is actually a werewolf and her conditions are worsening as time goes. She keeps changing more and more and it’s putting her in a dangerous position. Priya finds herself in the tough place of best friend, but also wanting to be a healer, the doctor she wanted to be, which challenges their friendship.
Can these two keep it together and see each other through the hurdles of their particular illnesses?
***
This book will make you laugh and cry. I would be doing both at once sometimes. Especially in the group conversations of the support group, the book is very real about how difficult life with illness is, especially for some of them that have the “invisible disease” something that no one else can physically see but is ruining that person’s life nonetheless. It’s the ups and downs of life, but life with illness that some days just takes away the will to live and how having people who just listen to you can be enough.
I loved Priya’s relationship with her family, you get the very one sided view of how Priya sees her presence on her family, she feels like a burden and hates she went from the really awesome pre-med student to someone with fog in her brain who is dependent on her family and is sure they are disappointed with her, until she actually talks to them and gets more, discussion is so important.
I loved the support group and the love all these strangers had for one another because they may not suffer the same things or in the same way but they understood each other in a way that was so important to each of them.
Most importantly I adored Priya and Brigid, they had such an important relationship, there is one scene near the end where Brigid and Priya had just had a huge fight and Brigid wanted Priya to go but Priya refused to leave until she was sure Brigid was okay despite how mad she was also, because friendship is being mad and still caring about that person nonetheless. Brigid was more spontaneous than Priya and helped bring her out of her shell a bit and Priya brought Brigid a little more caution and stability and they were just such a wonderful friendship. I loved them.
This book was beautiful in its friendship, support and reality and I feel it might be one of the most important books I’ve read this year.
***
#LycanthropyandOtherChronicIllnesses #NetGalley

An enjoyable read that definitely grew on me more the more I read - the early 'group chat' sections were a little hard to follow at first, and slightly off-putting, but I liked the dynamics of the character relationships as they developed. This book could lead to some really interesting and important discussions around chronic illness, which is a really positive thing - and there were definitely some laugh out loud moments, especially those involving Spencer! Overall, a fun - and delightfully different - read that I'd recommend to YA readers.