Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses

Written by Kristen O'Neal

Narrated by Soneela Nankani

Priya worked hard to pursue her dreams of going to Stanford to study medicine, but the fallout from undiagnosed Lyme disease sends her back to her childhood home in New Jersey during her sophomore year—and leaves her wondering if
she’ll ever be able to return to the way things were. Thankfully, she has her online pen pal, Brigid, and the rest of the members of “oof ouch my bones,” a virtual support group that meets on Discord to crack jokes and vent about their own chronic illnesses.

When Brigid suddenly goes offline, Priya does the unthinkable: she steals the family car and drives to Pennsylvania to check on her friend. Priya isn’t sure what to expect, but it isn’t the horrifying creature that’s shut in the basement. With
Brigid nowhere to be found, Priya begins to puzzle together an impossible but obvious truth: the creature might be a werewolf—and the werewolf might be Brigid. As Brigid’s unique condition worsens, their friendship will be deepened and
challenged in unexpected ways, forcing them to confront their ideas of what it means to be normal.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705022818

Reviews for Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses

[darthdeverell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kristen O’Neal’s Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses tells the story of Priya, a young woman living in New Jersey with her parents after the symptoms of Lyme disease became overwhelming and she needed to take a leave of absence from Stanford, where she was planning to become a doctor. In order to adjust to her new situation, she begins talking to other people with chronic illnesses on Tumblr and Discord, finding Brigid, who lives relatively nearby in New Jersey. After chatting for a while, Brigid suddenly disappears. Priya summons her will and drives to New Jersey, discovering that Brigid’s chronic illness is that she’s a werewolf. Now Priya and Brigid bond over this secret, trying to understand it and find ways to live with their respective chronic conditions.O’Neal ably balances events told in standard prose, text message, Tumblr post, and Discord chat. The way she develops these captures the reality of modern social lives, that occur in-person and via various devices as intermediaries for connection, especially among those who have something that unites them across distances. The way in which she develops the fantastical elements of werewolf lore fit in with the overall focus on illness, building through the course of her narrative so that the reader can understand how it works in this world as opposed to other werewolf stories. In further keeping with the focus on illness, O’Neal eschews much of the more fantastical elements, grounding the story in medicine and physiology. O’Neal’s characters’ humanity ties the whole story together, so that readers can empathize with what they’re going through, be it chronic illness or turning into a dire wolf once a month. As one of the characters says toward the end, “You celebrate. You mourn. And most of the time it’s about the same exact thing. It usually cuts two ways” (pg. 374). This ably captures the overall tone of O’Neal’s plot that works to the benefit of Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses.

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

O'Neal is genius for taking a classic horror creature and crafting a story of friendship, illness, and all types of healing.

[oceancat-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow. This might be a harder review than usual for me to write. I requested this book off of Netgalley because I liked the sound of it, I'm a fan of werewolves and also deal with chronic health issues myself. I was not prepared for just how relatable the book was going to be, and how much it was going to tell me things I needed to hear. I think its safe to say this is one of my favorite reads for 2022. Heck, it even got tumblr use right, and as someone still on that ridiculous website, I appreciated that too. Okay, I'm going to try and give it a proper review now.The book starts with Priya on medical leave from college, dealing with chronic Lyme disease. She's having a rough go of it, her family is caring and supportive but also don't know exactly what she needs, which is rough because she also doesn't know exactly what she needs. It seems her dream of becoming a doctor may not be able to happen and life is both physically and emotionally painful. But she does have support from her best friend, Brigid, who she knows through Tumblr, and who also has a chronic health issue. Brigid gets Priya to join a little support group created by another user and the group quickly becomes not just support but true friends. But when Brigid stops responding after posting a cryptic message, Priya is rightfully worried, and sets out on a road trip to make sure she's okay. Lycanthropy is in the title so I don't think it's a spoiler to say that what is wrong with Brigid is a chronic illness unlike any of the others. Yup, she's a werewolf. But changing is exhausting and painful, and most concerningly, she seems to be doing it more often. Priya, along with an animal control officer turned friend, Spencer, decide to help her, whether she wants the help or not.Okay I've established I love this book. Let's try for some specifics. I loved the characters, Priya and Brigid especially, but all the side characters too. The group chat feels like a real group chat, of sort of strangers turning into friends, and I loved all of them. Priya's family is awesome, and in my experience so realistic for how families can be when you're health is not good. Her parents try to be supportive by telling her she'll get better and they'll figure it out and she'll be back in school soon, but sometimes that's not the kind of message that is helpful. Sometimes you just need people to acknowledge that things aren't okay and that they're changed for good. I also love Spencer, thrown into everything without choice, but ending up a real friend as well. The pacing of the book was also very good, Priya's health does not always allow her to be active but those parts of the story never felt slow or bogged down. And the werewolf transformations where both satisfyingly horrifying, and also wow did I feel for Brigid. I can't think of anything else to say, I just loved this book and I recommend it wholeheartedly. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ebook in exchange for an honest review.