Stray (Shifters, #1)

by Rachel Vincent

[Angie]

What in the world made me take so long to finally start this series?! Stray was quite awesome! Faythe is a mostly normal graduate student, taking summer classes, until her father commands her back home. She had been desperate to live her life without the influence of her Pride, and straight up refuses to follow the path they've set out for her. But then two female werecats are kidnapped, so naturally, Faythe's father thinks she may be next.

I'm a bit on the fence about my feelings toward Faythe. On one hand, I was annoyed with just how stubborn and defiant she was. At times it seemed like she wasn't simply trying to make her point and live her life independently, but just wanted to avoid looking stupid by holding on to her argument even when she's already been proven wrong! But werecat society is pretty messed up, so I could understand her wanting to get away at all costs. I mean, they lock her in a cage when she tries to leave! There are bars on her bedroom window and no lock on the door! And she had to actually negotiate for privacy in the bathroom! I'd want to get away from that, too, but if there's a kidnapper and a rapist on the loose, and I was on his hit list, I'd stay home! She is quite kick-ass though, so she can hold her own in the face of danger which we see a lot of in Stray.

As much as I loved to hate the werecat society, and found it fascinating, I did have some lingering questions. Mainly, why does Faythe's father want her with Marc rather than Jace? Faythe and Marc have a romantic history, while she and Jace have always just been flirty friends, which is great, but I still have to wonder. Marc is a stray, which is generally looked down upon by Pride cats, and yet Jace is the one that isn't considered good enough. I found this strange, and it just nagged at me, despite Faythe and Jace not being romantically involved at all in Stray. Plus the Pride seems to have a one-track mind when it comes to the women, but there's a very strong possibility that Faythe and Marc wouldn't even have werecat children, while she would with Jace. It made no sense.

Despite my complaints, I really, really liked Stray. It's fast paced, and has a lot of great world building. And those 600+ pages just flew by! It didn't feel long at all, since I was always engaged in the story. Stray is a great introduction to the series, and had me excited for more!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.