Title: The Wolf at the Door
Author: Charlie Adhara
Publisher: Carina Press
Genre: Romance, Paranormal
Stars: ★★★
TWs/CWs: genre typical violence, racialized bigotry, dubious consent, parental death (in the past)
Before I tear into this book, please know that I ended up liking it enough that I will be reading the rest of the series. A lot of the issues are dealt with by the end of this book.
Let’s start with what I liked!
I liked the detective plot. I’m a huge fan of detective/fbi romances and the enemies to lovers trope in that type of setting, and this book did deliver on that. I really liked Park, who was a really nice foil to Cooper’s assholery. The eventual push and pull chemistry between them was pretty great, and once Cooper gets over himself and they start joking and flirting around, it was pretty cute. And despite my dislike of shifter books, I enjoyed the worldbuilding well enough.
So, now let’s get into my issues.
This book blatantly uses the old interracial buddy cop formula, except instead of the person of color, it’s werewolves now. Cooper, who starts as the wolf-racist, distrusts werewolves not only because he was attacked by one, but also because he’s been brainwashed by the unchecked bigotry of his original BSI partner. He’s wary of Park, and treats him like shit for not an insignificant part of the book, eventually learning that not all wolves are dangerous, and that he can trust Park.
Right, let’s unpack that. Because this book puts people of color on the same danger level as werewolves. Not consciously, mind you, but it does.
Cooper openly distrusts his werewolf partner, and his inner narration is so full of racial microagressions, that it was really hard to read at times. Except since its suddenly werewolves instead of humans, he’s allowed to make this leap:
“No, wolves weren’t innately bad. Not any more or less than humans. But they all did have instantaneous access to lethal claws and teeth. They all did have intensely strict rules of dominance and hierarchies. And most tended to identify as belonging outside of society and society’s rules. Was it really unjust profiling to be wary of a guy who carried lethal concealed weapons on him at all times, had issues with authority and identified as a proud outsider? Hell no. It was just common fucking sense.”
Am I seriously the only one who thinks this is fucked up??? People of color have been opressed because of the color of their skin, not because they have superpowers and can kill easily!!! You can’t use the same kind of language that has been historically used against poc and then justify it by saying the fear is valid because werewolves areactually dangerous. It just can’t work that way!! This is the main reason why the “fantasy creatures as allegory for racism” never work for me.
Which brings me to my next point. Cooper and his original partner are just so. Damn. Bigoted. And after finishing the book, A) I know why and B) I know Cooper gets better. I do know that. But that doesn’t change the fact I had to read through all that thinly veiled racial bigotry. It’s awful and I hated having to go through that. And I really hated being in Cooper’s head for a long time. I even debated putting the book down, that’s how uncomfortable it made me feel.
Related to this, this scene made me furious:
“So he must be guilty?” Park asked, voice equally low. “Clearly you’ve never been in the position of being assumed guilty before proven innocent because of who you are.”
That hurt. Cooper had to swallow the retort You don’t know anything about my life. It hadn’t exactly been a picnic being out as a gay man in the bureau or even growing up Jewish in a small fishing town of Maryland. But though he’d been through some shit, so far in his life he’d never had to doubt the law would come down on his side if it really went to hell.
Because here, we have a gay jewish man, who’s father is the small town sheriff, admitting he never had to worry about the law being on his side, compared to the werewolf, and here I almost threw my kindle against the wall because really???? A gay jewish man never had to worry about law enforcement????? Really????????? Did I seriously read that with my own two eyeballs in the year 2019 (published 2018)?????? I can’t believe this. Wow.
And finally. This issue is a huge pet peeve of mine, but the first time Cooper and Oliver have sex, Cooper is drunk. He’s drunk, he knows he’s drunk, Oliver knows he’s drunk, and he still fucks him anyway. It’s even said in the book that if he wasn’t drunk, he probably wouldn’t go through with it, which I’m assuming was supposed to show that Cooper needs alcohol to let his walls down or something, but made me feel just gross.
So, as you can see, I had a <i>lot</i> of issues with the book. But by the end of the book, Cooper stopped being so gooddamn awful, their relationship dynamics were really nice, and I really did enjoy the detective plot. Let’s hope the rest are better.
Book me up! 