This book was introduced to me as a middle grade about a young girl and her weird monster-ish family. In my opinion tough, it is so much more. This story has one main plot-line, which is the story of Eleanor who tries to understand where she comes from and, ultimately, where she will go. Her family of monster-ish people (most of them can transform into beasts (wolves for example) or, in the case of her mother, have bizarre bodies) is the center of the text, every action and minor plot-lines revolves around them, which is one of the high-point of the book. Eleanor's sister, brother, father, mother, grandfather and grandmother (I'll come back to this specific character in a bit) are vividly written, if a little similar to each others (most of them are defined by their beastly nature, so they kind of blend together a little). The character of the grandmother is the other high-point of the novel (this is definitely a very character-driven novel). She is a form of evil that is pretty nuanced for a middle grade. Plus, as a literary device, she allows the narration to diverge into multiple perspectives. Overall, a great story, well written if a little predictable when it comes to the ending.