Book 86, 2018

Skin Deep: A SkinWalker Novel #1: A DarkWorld Series by T.G. Ayer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Yes, it's taken me a month to finish this latest book. I am made of fail. Part was due to how insanely busy I am in the month of December, but part was due to the fact that the book was aggravating. It was Skin Deep, by TG Ayer. The book is part of the author's "Darkworld" verse, but the first in the "Skinwalker" series within the verse. I think the author could have done a better job of smoothing in the rough patches for someone like me, whose first introduction to the verse was this book. Instead, I felt like I was missing out on the joke, in a manner of speaking, in a lot of places.

In a world where humans are unaware of the supernatural beings that exist side by side with them, Kai Odel is a skinwalker and a Wraith-hunter. She is preternaturally good at it, and she takes her task seriously. However, when Kai comes across the body of a murdered shifter, and someone close to her is killed, she is dragged into a far more dangerous underworld, where drugs are dealt and shifters have gone renegade. Arriving on the scene is human investigator, Logan Westin. There is a strong, mutual attraction between them, but Kai knows humans are off-limits, and she must also keep her nature a secret from him. However, she needs Logan more than she knows, if she's to save herself, her friends, and her family.

To begin with, I must say I was taken aback to learn that Kai is only 18 and Logan 19. Um, I don't know why the author thought to make her main characters so young. Kai, maybe, but for Logan to be an investigator with the police at that age? No.

The story started out well, and I was invested in it. The action was fast-paced and engrossing, but the longer the story went on, the more disenchanted I became with Kai. Yes, she's young, but some of her decisions were so blatantly stupid and immature that I couldn't even. I think that's when I put it down and then didn't pick it up again, because it's almost like I knew it would tax my brain to finish it. Guh.

Things were sort of dumped on the reader with little explanation, and later action scenes just seemed to go too fast, you know? Like zip zip zip, it's over! Not much was resolved, and the reader is left hanging, with more questions than answers. Yes, I know it's the first book in a series, but there should still be some resolution.

Favorite line: Not that he was in any way the knight charging into help me out. Rather, he'd be the idiot hanging onto the horse's tail as it galloped off into the night.

I'm struggling with a rating here. The book had its moments, but considering how often I wanted to reach in and slap the shit out of Kai...Eh, I'll give it an average rating of three.