"Benighted," Kit Whitfield

I am a faithful reader of Kit Whitfield's blog, and actually gave a copy of this book to a friend under its British title as I thought she'd have a laugh if not enjoy the book itself (the British title is "Bareback" - immature of me, I know). So I was devoutly hoping that when I read the book itself, it wouldn't be horrifically bad and I would still be able to read the blog.

I wasn't disappointed - "Benighted" is actual dark fantasy. Not dark as in "wow, sometimes a main character dies and also there is titillating rape," more like dark as in there is no automatic perfect happy ending. The protagonist, Lola, lives in a world in which it's normal to be a werewolf. She is one of the few people who doesn't transform each month under the full moon, and is therefore condemned to an untouchable existence as part of a government organization that rounds up misbehaving "lunes" during that time of the month. Lola is a sort of public defender for these miscreants, who are tried in a special court descended from the Inquisitors. It's a traditional crime/romance story (girl solves mystery, girl meets unsuitable boy, gritty things occur) but thankfully Lola isn't a "special girl" in any way - she behaves like an unhappy woman. Which is understandable, as "barebacks" are really, really limited in their opportunities. In fact, aside from a bit of overwriting, my one big problem with the book is that it's revealed that Lola has a "big secret" of a kind near the end - this is supposedly the reason she's depressed - as if being cut off from her family and their comfortable lifestyle, undergoing a childhood of continual abuse, and being stuck in a life-endangering job isn't enough!