Shift by Rachel Vincent


rating
(Shifters, #5)
URBAN FANTASY


Being the first female werecat enforcer isn't easy. Scars accumulate, but I'm stronger in so many ways.

As for my personal life? It's complicated. Choices worth making always are. Ever since my brother's death and my father's impeachment, it's all I can do to prevent more blood from spilling. Now our Pride is under attack by a flight of vicious thunderbirds. And making peace with our new enemies may be the only way to get the best of our old foe.

With the body count rising and treachery everywhere, my instincts tell me to look before I leap. But sometimes a leap of faith is the only real option...


“I've seen this episode. This is the one where Sylvester eats Tweety.”


Shift brings the pack back to their home fighting ground, this time attached by wereBIRDS of all things. Don't fret though, they're brilliant monsters - powerful, cold with their logic and methods, beautiful, awesome villains. The same ol' stuff is at stake - the power struggle of the other packs, avoiding the girls being kidnapped, blah - but it still works well in holding enough interest.

The newly developed love triangle is still rearing it's head, this time with someone else discovering the truth and bringing it to its ugly light. I'm not sure where the author is going with it, there's only one book left in the series, but I hope it's resolved tastefully. It's unusual to put in a love triangle so late in the game. It will depend if the sixth book was the planned last, wrapped-up, or if it was the last because the contract wasn't renewed with the publisher. Here's hoping no cliffhangers...

I've never been a huge Faythe fan, but she's likeable enough in this one. She has vulnerabilities when they're supposed to be there, protective to the core, determined and brutal, up to the end where she realizes there CAN be honor in mercy. Shifters aren't known for compassion in general, and she still doesn't have what I'd call a compassionate nature, but she's endurable.

The story was entertaining enough, although not terribly layered, but it was flushed out a bit by some personal melodrama that got in the way. By now Faythe should have grown more if she is supposed to be the big, bad alpha someday. She still is making selfish mistakes, self-doubting some things, and feeling her way through the crowd. I don't have as much faith in her besides her arrogance, but realize she's young and still has a way to go. By now we need something new in the story, however, as it's the fifth go around and love triangles were not the answer I was looking for.

Worth reading for the series sake and not bad by itself(Thunderbirds were cool), but there were some introduced issues as well.



   Book Quotes:

“If I love you more than you love me, I’m as good as dead. Yet I can’t make myself take it back. I can’t just walk away from you, because every time you pass by me without smiling, without touching my hand, or at least making eye contact, it feels like I’m dying inside.”

   Author Extras:


Shifters Territory Pride Map |  Source: Author Site

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