To Whom Shall I Look When I Am Lost? - The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey

Just the facts:

Overall: 4 stars

Addiction Level: I read it when I had spare time.

Believe-ability: I daydream about the created world and wonder how I fit in.

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***WARNING***

This is the second book in the Monstrumologist series. I have taken great care not to give away any spoilers, but there is some inherent risk in reading this review. My review for the first book in this series can be found here. Continue at your own risk.

     In this second volume of tales from the dark, Dr. Warthrop and Will Henry are again chasing after a mysterious and deadly monster. What makes this book different from the first ended up being what I most enjoyed and most disliked. What do I mean? Well, I’ll tell you.

     In The Curse of the Wendigo, Dr. Warthrop discovers that his well-meaning mentor, Dr. von Helrung, has decided to prove the existence of the Wendigo, a monster that Warthrop believes is a complete fable, to be regarded with the likes of vampires and werewolves. After all, Dr. Warthrop has devoted his entire life to the study of monstrumology and if he says they don’t exist, then they DON’T EXIST. (Sorry to ruin the fantasies of all the Twihards out there). In a turn of events, Dr. Warthrop learns that his former-BFF has undertaken the task of discovering this monster and returning the evidence to Dr. von Helrung. So, of course, it follows that Dr. Warthrop and Will Henry find themselves hot on the trail of this man and monster in an attempt to save the credibility of the entire monstrumology profession.

     Now, from the surface, it looks as if this book is much the same as the first, which it is (and which is great, since I loved the first). The Curse of the Wendigo is full of suspense and fright, which is one of the greatest things these books have to offer. If you’re looking for that alone, you can’t go wrong with choosing this series. However, there are some huge differences between the two books when you actually get into it. Actually, there wasn’t much that I actually disliked. But, I felt like the story was a slower pace than the first and I felt like the writing wasn’t quite as involved. Two things counted as a negative isn’t so bad, right?

     As far as what I loved, it can be summed up in one idea – character development. When I finished reading The Monstrumologist, I already loved Will Henry, but I was kind of on the fence about Dr. Warthrop. Now that I’ve finished The Curse of the Wendigo, I love Will Henry even more and I’m beginning to see what kind of a person Dr. Warthrop truly is. The Curse of the Wendigo reveals so much about Dr. Warthrop’s character that I find it hard to not want to like him. (In an honest effort to not reveal any spoilers, I won’t say much more about Dr. Warthrop, except that perhaps he deserves more credit than you might think?)

     Overall, a great book (4 stars) just not as great as the first. Onward to The Isle of Blood and whatever secrets it may hold!