Title: The New Kid
Author: Eileen Wilks
Series: World of the Lupi #0.1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Animagus, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Eileen Wilks Online
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: He was a heterosexual misfit.

This short story takes places in Rule’s past, specifically January 10, 1976 during his Sophomore year of high school in a small town near Clanhome. It’s a fun look into a time when Rule wasn’t Lu Nuncio yet and was just learning how to integrate with humans.

Sixteen-year-old Rule is everything I imagined him to be and more in this great short story. Wilks leaves a comment at the top of the tale that suggests it be read after a few of the novels, get to know Rule before flashing back to his past. And honestly, it is a great suggestion. I have just read this short story after reading the first four books, and although it made his actions a little more predictable, it also made the story all the more enjoyable and the nuances of the characters a little more potent.

I love any story that investigates the cultural norms that we take for granted and turn them onto their head. The cliques that often categorise are of course prevalent in a story about a sixteen-year-old. But, it is the way in which Rule views them that provides a different kind of insight. His willingness to do what is right and break free of the clicks is also such an incredibly attractive quality. That, although from the novels, I already knew he possessed, made me fall for him a little more.

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Image source: Eileen Wilks