Crosspost: Shifters #4 - Prey
Written September 25, 2015; published at Feminist Quill
Title: Prey
Author: Rachel Vincent
Year of Publication: 2009
Series: 4
Goodreads Rating (Avg.): 4.21
Goodreads Rating (Mine): 3
Prey provides a very good set up for the next two books, complete with a high stakes finale. It also proves a turning point for Jace Hammond, who is the Adrian Ivashkov of the Shifters universe.
We need to talk about Jace. My reviews of the first three books in this series were too taken up with Faythe's complex personality, and how it fits into this incredibly contradictory and patriarchal universe, and with Marc Rants. But now it's time.
Jace Hammond is introduced in Stray via some mild sexual harassment. Well, it's not technically harassment because Faythe didn't really mind that this guy had suddenly turned up and put his arms around her, but I object to the fact that he expects she won't mind. Standard of enthusiastic consent and all that.
Jace is promptly pulled away by two of Faythe's brothers - Ethan (everybody's favourite brother) and someone else. Jace protests that had it been Marc, they wouldn't have done that, and they counter it by saying that Faythe would have taken care of Marc herself. It's notable that Faythe's agency only comes into play when there's a dude they don't approve of in the picture.
Jace, it soon turns out, is the anti-Marc. In fact, his persistence is the only thing he has in common with Marc in the romance department. Jace is respectful. Jace gives the fact that Faythe is someone with real opinions a lot of importance. Jace doesn't walk around beating people up just because they're encroaching on what he sees as his territory. This is because Jace recognizes the fact that Faythe is a woman and not actually territory, and that she has the right to take her own decisions.
Jace also has every bone in his body broken (more than once) simply because he dared speak to Faythe. Thanks a lot, Marc. You're clearly ideal Literary Boyfriend material, right up there with Christian freaking Grey.
When Faythe and Marc resumed their abusive relationship, Jace was understandably bummed, but didn't really do anything that would make him stand out in the ranks of 'Good' Literary Boyfriends - like inflict grievous body harm on Marc because he thinks she ought to belong to her. The points in his favour just seem to keep piling up, but that's actually because the standard's pretty freakin' low.
In Prey, with Marc exiled and therefore not around
This plot also allows Vincent to explore a subject close to my heart, albeit on a superficial level. With Faythe's realization that she's in love with both Marc and Jace comes the radical notion that it's perfectly normal to love more than one person, and that that's okay. In a society obsessed with monoamory, poly-amorous relationships rarely get the credit they deserve. And books 5 and 6 in this series take a look at some of the dynamics that would presumably be involved in a romance involving more than two people. While said study is admittedly more of a guide on what not to do, it still takes their relationship one step beyond the classic love triangle, and that's something.
The pros of Prey are that it provides an action filled mystery and a thickening of the political plot, the better to explain the alliances formed in future books. The cons of this book are that the action is often slowed down by what can only be described as sheer stupidity on the part of the protagonists forming the hunting party for Marc. Oh, and that it features what can only be termed child abuse.
Kaci, the young werecat found in the previous book, is now living under the protection of the Sanders Pride. She's extremely attached to Faythe, and follows her around all the time, hanging onto her every word and being extremely perceptive as to the dynamics of Faythe's love triangle. But the one thing Kaci will not do is shift into cat form, and it has been repeatedly impressed on the reader that it's important for the cats to shift regularly, lest they sicken and eventually die.
Traumatized by the fact that she had ended up killing several people while in cat form for the first time, Kaci refuses to shift. This does not, to put it delicately, have a good impact on her health.
As her de facto mentor, it's Faythe's job to talk Kaci into shifting. There's also the option of medically inducing a shift, but Faythe refuses to allow this, citing a potential loss of Kaci's trust. One would expect then, under the circumstances, that Faythe would put every effort into giving Kaci the therapy she needs and thereby getting her to shift.
This is precisely what Faythe does not do because she's busy with enforcer work, and with missing Marc. And this is the point at which I stop making excuses for Faythe and call her an irresponsible idiot.
The mounting tension in this sub plot is meant to eventually pay off when Faythe talks Kaci into finally shifting, but this is honestly not the kind of plot that absorbs such a plot device. Being careless about the health and well being of minors under your care is not something to be taken lightly. Nor is it an easily forgivable offence.
As far as the plot is concerned, Prey provides a good set up for the final act of the story, but by itself, it's bogged down by slow moving action sequences and slow thinking protagonists. Like with all the books in this series, it's just interesting enough to make you wonder what happens next.
Comments
Post a Comment
Leave an opinion!