Navigating Solutions and Darkness

Written on September 29, 2015; published at Feminist Quill Title:  Alpha Author:  Rachel Vincent Year of Publication:  2010 Series:  6 Goodreads Rating (Avg.):  4.33 Goodreads Rating (Mine):  3 Plot Description:  After the death of a couple of family members and the loss of their father’s position as Chair of the Werecat Council (or whatever it is they’re calling themselves these days), Faythe Sanders’ Pride finds themselves about to be turned out of their own home – all because the current Werecat Council refuses to recognize the new Alpha. SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE  SHIFTERS  SERIES: BEWARE Faythe is Alpha now. At least, her father named her Alpha before he passed away in  Shift . The new Council mandates, however, that every new Alpha is to be recognized by them, and they’re not about to recognize the first female Alpha in North America. This means war. Right? Nope. This actually means Faythe once again forgets to l...

Crossposted from Feminist Quill , written on September 27, 2015. Title:  Shift Author:  Rachel Vincent Year of Publication:  2010 Series:  5 Goodreads Rating (Avg.):  4.23 Goodreads Rating (Mine):  3 Plot Description:  Whilst dealing with the aftermath of an attack by rival Alpha (and current head of the Council) Calvin Malone, the Sanders Pride finds itself attacked by a flock of Thunderbirds – supernatural creatures who are half human, half bird. Faythe finds herself taking a road trip with Kaci, Marc and Jace on a diplomatic mission to see if they can get the thunderbirds to stop trying to massacre their Pride. In fact, the Thunderbirds are the only things  Shift  has going in its favour. It’s not, of course, the first time a new species has been introduced into the  Shifters  universe. Once the we, the readers, got over the shock of reading about werecats, the werewolves were mentioned. Briefly. Apparently they’re all...

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 Plot Description:  Faythe, Marc and a couple of other characters are attacked by a group of strays while on neutral territory, and Marc goes missing soon after that.  Prey  chronicles the ensuing manhunt and the list of never-ending problems that rival Alpha Calvin Malone manages to lay at their door, both directly and indirectly. 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 ...

Crossposted from Feminist Quill; written on September 14, 2015 Title:  Pride Author:  Rachel Vincent Year of Publication:  2009 Series:   Shifters #:   3 Goodreads Rating (Avg.):  4.16 Goodreads Rating (Mine):  3 Warning: Spoilers for Books 1 and 2 Plot Description:  Faythe is now on trial by the Pride for intentionally infecting her ex boyfriend Andrew, and then for killing him to cover up the crime. The trial quickly devolves into a sham front for Pride political machinations, Faythe and her family make a LOT of new enemies, and a new young tabby, Kaci, is introduced. After discovering that she had accidentally infected her ex with a bite while she had been Partially Shifted during sex, Faythe has a showdown with Andrew at the end of  Rogue.  The easy going and amiable guy she used to know is gone, leaving a stray cat turned crazy by scratch fever. Andrew tries to kill her, and she ends up killing him in self defense. Now s...

Crossposted from Feminist Quill , originally written on September 13, 2015 Title:  Rogue Author:  Rachel Vincent Year of Publication:  2008 Series: Shifters #:   2 Goodreads Rating (Avg.):  4.10 Goodreads Rating (Mine):  3 I'm so glad to be able to get back to reviewing, but I'm less excited that I'm going to be reviewing the rest of the Shifters series by Rachel Vincent. As I stated in my review of  Stray,  the first book in this series, I'm very conflicted about  Shifters.  And as far as the general plot goes, my thoughts on  Rogue haven't changed much from my thoughts on  Stray.  So in this review, I'll focus on the differences, and will try and avoid spoilers as much as possible. Spoilers for  Stray may, however, be unavoidable at times. Mild Spoiler Warning Plot Description: Following the events of  Stray , Faythe has taken up working for her father as an enforcer - the first fema...

Originally written, August 17, 2015. Crossposted from here . Title:  Stray Author:  Rachel Vincent Year of Publication:  2007 Series: Shifters #:   1 Goodreads Rating (Avg.):  3.81 Goodreads Rating (Mine): 2 I find this cover disturbing rather than alluring. If you have a strong female protagonist, the least you can do is show her face. SPOILERS Plot Description: Faythe Sanders is a female werecat and a rebel. Her happy go lucky days at college come to an end when it becomes known that there's a rogue werecat out there kidnapping tabbies - female werecats. Faythe's family bring her home to keep her safe, but she ends up running into the kidnappers anyway, leaving it up to her to save herself and her cousin. Despite my Goodreads rating of 2/5, this will not be a Negative Review. There will, however, be a lot of ranting. Brace yourselves, please. Stray  had me extremely conflicted. I think it had something to do with the combination of...