Stray (Shifters, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Feb 10, 2009 Shannon rated it it was ok

Shelves: paranormal-romance, strips, shifters, dumb-female-characters, hated-this-book, forgot-to-drink-the-kool-aid, novels

I had a really difficult time with this book. I went back and forth from really liking it and then really hating it. In the beginning I could sympathize with Faythe; nobody wants their life decided for them. But as you start to learn exactly what she's running from - responsibility and family obligation - the sympathy turns to annoyance.

Faythe is one of the few female werecats in the United States. For some reason females are very rare, although it's never really explained why. Faythe wants to I had a really difficult time with this book. I went back and forth from really liking it and then really hating it. In the beginning I could sympathize with Faythe; nobody wants their life decided for them. But as you start to learn exactly what she's running from - responsibility and family obligation - the sympathy turns to annoyance.

Faythe is one of the few female werecats in the United States. For some reason females are very rare, although it's never really explained why. Faythe wants to go to college and try to have a career and a life separate from her Pride. She doesn't want to be stuck in the role of mother and housewife so she tries to run away from it all. The thing is, someone is hunting the tabbies, female werecats, and so Faythe's Father makes her come home from college so she can be protected by her numerous brothers and the enforcers working for him.

At the best of times, Faythe is mildly retarded. A tabby was found beaten and raped and very much dead, and then soon after another tabby goes missing. So naturally, Faythe's family decides that they need to protect her at all costs. But Faythe gets it into her head that she wants to live outside the Pride so she tries to negotiate with her Father to leave. Um, hello? Did you miss the part about the kidnapping and rape? Why not wait for a better time to throw a temper tantrum?

There are countless times where Faythe does the one thing that she shouldn't do, resulting in her own kidnapping, attempted rape, beating, and so forth. Some of the situations she gets into are so ridiculous that you almost have to think that the author didn't know how else to move the plot along.

Also, Faythe fights her attraction to Marc for most of the book, so much so that she bites his leg to the bone in cat form when he tries to rub his scent on her. But then she gets drunk and sleeps with him. So not only is she stupid, she's also a stupid cheating whore (she has a human boyfriend back at college.)

One final thing, this book was over 600 pages long and honestly there was so much description, explanation, and world-building included that really could have been shortened or even altogether left out. I found myself skipping over parts because they just weren't important, and I don't think I've ever done that before unless I'm reading a textbook.

All in all, this was a pretty mediocre book. The only thing that makes me want to read more are the male characters. Faythe makes me want to strangle her though so I don't know how much more I can put up with. ...more

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Apr 12, 2009 Trish rated it liked it

Shelves: series, rachel-vincent, shifter-romance

Enjoyable read, although I sometimes thought the author discussed the set up and story of werecats a bit much. Fast paced, good action, and engaging characters.

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Jun 09, 2009 DarkHeart "Vehngeance" rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, audiobooks, a-rachel_vincent

It was great to "re-read" where it all started with Faythe and Marc. While the narrator did a fine job, her voice just didn't work as Faythe for me. ...more

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Sep 18, 2009 Angi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I really enjoyed this book. There wasn't a lot of action until about half-way through the book in terms of the "Stray" and the action part of the story. However, I really enjoyed being to able to learn about the characters and their relationship to each other and the past, etc. I REALLY loved the characters.... especially Marc. I must admit that I have a crush on him ;-)
Fayth's constant complaining got on my nerves a bit, but overall, I really, enjoyed this book. Looking forward to the next one ...more

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Jul 12, 2009 Brandy rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-own, 2010, shifter

I like the world Vincent has built for her characters. This was a fast read with some fairly unpredictable twists. Vincent isn't afraid to write things that most people probably don't want to know about.

What I liked most about the book is that by the end you genuinely care about a lot of the characters and want to see what will happen to them after the book ends.

My only real complaint is that the main character annoyed the hell out of me. I believe that this was intentional, possibly (hopefully ...more

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