Written in Red (The Others, #1)

by Anne Bishop

[Melanie]

Listened to audiobook.

This is a book unlike anything else I've ever read. It starts off with Meg running in the cold, almost dying from exposure. She stumbles into the courtyard of Lakeside. She decides that she is safer with the human-eating others than with the people chasing her,so she applies for a job as the human liaison of the others.

In this world the shifters are nothing like the shifters you read about in other books. They are way more animal than human, but they are really neither. They are a completely different creature which is mimicking the predators to best suit their needs. They think of humans as “creative meat”. Once Meg stumbles into their lives, she starts to change their perspective on humans. She is unlike any human they ever met before. She is what is known as a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet. She was raised to do nothing but be bleed to to see the future. She is only taught enough to understand the prophecies. She is so innocent, she wins over everyone in the courtyard.

Simon is the leader of this town and he is a wolf shifter. He is the one who decides to hire Meg, because he is in desperate need of a liaison and she is the only person who applied that he didn't despise on the spot. He is also very confused be she doesn't smell like prey and all humans smell like prey to him.

There are tons of secondary characters in this story and they are all wonderful. I can't wait to learn more about them. Each group of shifters takes on some of the personalities of the animals that they mimic. My favorite group are probably the crows. They are very inquisitive and like to get into trouble. They also like everything shiny. At one point, one of the crows is helping Meg in the office, keeps taking her pens because he is building something, though we never find out what. Meg outsmarts the crows by purchasing something along the lines of Tinkertoys and trading pieces for the pens back.

There is also a group of ponies that help Meg deliver the mail. I'm also big fan of them. At first they are reluctant to help, but Meg wins them over with treat, especially sugarlumps. There is also a grizzly, coyote, owls, hawks, vampires and the elementals. All the others are scared of the elementals because they can change the weather with their anger.

Lastly, my other favorite secondary character is Sam. Sam is a young wolf pup, whose mother was killed. Sam regresses to the point that he is a danger to himself. Simon, who is his uncle and is extremely worried for his safety, locks him in cage. This really offends the wolves, but Simon doesn't know what else to do with the boy. Of course, Meg finds a way with the boy. I love this boy. He is great.

I can't say enough about this book. It isn't a short book and looking back, there are parts you would think that would have drug on and on, but it didn't seem that way. I didn't want to stop listening. You can tell I enjoy a book and I start looking for housework to do so I have a reason to keep listening.

For the narration, at first, I didn't like it. I thought it was a little bland and some the characters could've sounded a little older. However, as I got drawn into the story, the narration grew on me. I don't think it was bad, though, there is room for improvement.