Review: I Was a Teenage Weredeer

I Was a Teenage Weredeer by C.T. Phipps
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I Was a Teenage Weredeer is the first of three books in The Bright Falls Mysteries Series. Like many of C. T. Phipps’ books, it’s set in the United States of Monsters urban fantasy universe (which you can read more about on the author’s blog).

When I was recommended I Was a Teenage Weredeer, I was promised snark. I’ve really enjoyed other books by C.T. Phipps like the Supervilliany Saga and Brightblade for their snarky protagonists, irreverent tone, pop culture references, and witty humor. So I asked Phipps to recommend my next book to read, citing what I had enjoyed about the previous books.

I think his exact words were, “Jane is my snarkiest” -- and he wasn’t lying. I was familiar with Jane from her guest appearances in a few of the books from the Supervilliany Saga, and I had really gotten to like her character. I was pretty mad when Gary sent her back to her own universe to keep her out of danger as he traveled to the center to fight Nazis riding dinosaurs. But that is literally a different story. So anyway, the point is I was looking forward to reading a Jane-centric story.

I Was a Teenage Weredeer has all the humor, puns, and references I’ve loved from other books, but it is written as a murder mystery. Jane (that’s Jane Doe ... the weredeer) finds herself playing amateur detective as she tries to track down a serial killer. Hijinks ensue. The plot is well thought out and engaging, the dialog is fun and entertaining, and I thoroughly enjoyed Jane’s inner monologues.

Special thanks to C.T. Phipps, who provided me with this book at my request.

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