While Beast Behaving Badly was potentially hilarious and fun, it quickly shifted into an over-the-top chaotic story, with a hyperactive heroine very similar to the Energizer Bunny and a hero who is not nearly as badass as he’d like to be.

Bo Novikov is a half-lion, half-bear shapeshifter who plays professional shapeshifter hockey, which is like human hockey with extra gore. He has a reputation for being extra mean, willing to get into fights with everyone, and basically having a heart like the Grinch.

Blayne is a little wolfdog who does derby. The first time Bo laid eyes on her, she literally screamed in fear. By the perpetual glower on his face, she’s convinced he has a “cellar of death” where he keeps the bodies of the people he’s slaughtered. When he asks her out for coffee, she shoots him down fast. Except one day, she finds out she’s being demoted to second-string player for her derby championships because the team thinks she’s too nice and kind-hearted during a game. Angry, she’s determined to show them how tough she can be – by enlisting Bo’s help.

It turns out Blayne’s name has been sold to an underground fighting ring that buys shifters to fight to the death. Bo becomes determined to protect her, and brings to his tiny hometown in Maine, where she meets his bear family and friends…and things get kind of crazy.

For a bear who seems aggressive and dominant in the rink, Bo is actually rather passive and bland when pursuing Blayne. He not so much pursues her as lets her bumble her way into his life. His character starts out seeming ferocious, but then he ends up being…blah. He’s kind of grumpy, and a little physical, but for the most part he just lets people do things to him. Blayne is almost always on a high, and simply cannot stop babbling. Their relationship is an uneven one; they remain friends for a very long time, until suddenly they’re making out. Bo makes a big career sacrifice for Blayne midway through the book, but instead of being earth shattering it simply seems odd because they’re barely friends. They’re like a less charismatic version of the Odd Couple: He’s uptight, punctual, and folds his underwear, she’s a big mess and wears a watch that doesn’t work. It’s amusing the first 200 pages, but when nothing changes very much, it (again) gets old quickly.

Everyone is extremely spazzy in this book, and they all display dizzying abilities to go off on tangents and digress for hours. This also means that over 100 pages into the story, nothing really happens. There are a million characters, all of whom I assume had their own books. I didn’t feel too lost when they appeared, but I felt like I was missing something that would have helped me enjoy their presences more.

Still, there are some pretty funny scenes – and deep beneath the snarktastic, melodramatic, exclamation-mark loving characters, there’s a decent story. It is extremely dialogue/thought heavy, but the author has the ability to make character development happen through the tons of dialogue, although it takes a little while.

Beast Behaving Badly is definitely a madcap, roller coaster ride. With an ADHD heroine and an OCD hero, this book should be taken in small doses or else you’re going to start getting dizzy.