chez_jae: (Books)
chez_jae ([personal profile] chez_jae) wrote2014-09-14 11:47 am

Book 49, 2014

I began reading Stray, by Rachel Vincent, at home. I got bored with it, so I took it to work, where I would be forced to read it for lack of anything better to do on break. I brought it home on Friday night to finish, since I had only a chapter and a half left.

The book is an urban fantasy, centered around Faythe Sanders, who is one member of a Pride of werecats. Female werecats are uncommon, and thus valued for their ability to propogate the species. Faythe would like to make her own choices, thank you, and she has chosen to go to college. When she is attacked by a Stray on campus, Faythe fights him off, but her over-protective family use the incident as an excuse to haul her back home. There, Faythe learns that two other female werecats have gone missing, and she is determined to help find them.

Because of her rebelliousness, Faythe ends up getting abducted and must save not only herself, but one of the other females.

This book was difficult for me to read for two reasons:

1. The author seemed to be trying to fit werecats into a werewolf mold. While she correctly referred to the males as toms, she called the females tabbies, which...just, no. For someone like me, who has populations of cats, both inside and outside, the characters' behavior didn't jive. I don't know if the author wanted to try something different than werewolves, which is fine, but know your species and how they interact before attempting it.

2. Faythe was immature at times, and I can understand that, given her young age. But, she persisted in acting like a snit-throwing tween at times, and it was exasperating. Also, her father, the Pride Alpha, threatened to lock her in a cage in the basement for months if she disobeyed him. Excuse me?! It's one thing to coddle and protect your daughter, but to lock her up like that just to prove a point is excessive. I didn't like that he was completely serious about it, too.

The action in the book did pick up, but I refuse to give it more than three stars:

★★★

[identity profile] avashida.livejournal.com 2014-09-15 11:50 am (UTC)(link)
The first book in this series is by far the worst. It actually gets a hell of a lot better because much bigger, long-term arcs/plots come into play, which involve a lot more development on Faythe's part. I would give book two a try if you have nothing urgent waiting to be read. I promise it's so much better!

[identity profile] chez-jae.livejournal.com 2014-09-19 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
That's good to know, because I have at least 3 other books in the series.

:D