Stray

Shifters, Book 1

By: Rachel Vincent

Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck

Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

"I look like an all-American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape-shifter, and I live in two worlds.

"Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked.

"I'd been warned about Strays (werecats without a Pride) that are constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female, and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared.

"This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I'm no meek kitty. I'll take on whatever and whoever I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays, 'cause I got claws, and I'm not afraid to use them."

Listen to more in the Shifters series.

©2007 Rachel Vincent (P)2007 Audible, Inc.
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

This is a really good book.

IM USUALLY NOT INTO THE WHOLE SHAPE-SHIFTER THING BUT I STUMBLED ACROSS THIS BOOK DURING AN AUDIBLE BOOK SALE. TO MY SURPRISE I LOVE THE BOOK. I THINK THE AUTHOR DID A GREAT JOB WITH THE MAIN CHARACTOR. SHE A STRONG INDEPENDENT. SHE SEAMS TO GET HER SELF INTO STRANGE SITUATIONS THAT ARENT HER FAULT. I ALSO LIKE THAT SHE DOESNT GIVE INTO GIVE INTO HER LOVE INTEREST. BOOKS LIKE THAT KIND OF KEEP ME ON MY TOES. I NEVER KNOW WHO IS GOING TO END UP WITH WHO. FIVE STARS.

Addicting

This was my first download and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I found myself sucked in and definately enjoyed the story. I am hoping that the author continues with this story and its characters.

Good but violent but good

Not really a romance book, but I like the strong willed heroine who is her own hero so that's cool, but again there really is only a romantic subplot and it's not the best.

Enjoyable Cat Shifter Fantasy & Romance

This series is my 4th favorite after Mercy Thompson, Bloodlines (the VA spin-off), and Vampire Academy itself. Then it's followed by Wolves of Mercy Falls, Twilight, and Kitty Norville. They are all vampire or shifter fantasy with a decent romance thread, but without overly descriptive erotic scenes like you get with Anita Blake or (from what I remember of) Southern Vampire Mysteries. This gives you an idea of what I like to help you determine if you might share my tastes.

I seem to gravitate toward strong female characters that can rescue themselves, Twilight being my exception. So I like Faythe for the most part, but she does really stupid things that knock her down a few points. However, I can forgive that because who hasn't done something stupid a time or two in their life? But infidelity, even under the influence of any substance, is a hot button of mine.

Regardless, I still enjoy the story and character interactions. This is the first book in the series, and it lays the groundwork for how their clandestine werecat society works. I love this deviation from the traditional: cat shifters instead of wolf.

Faythe begins with a short-sighted feminist view in a world where male werecats rule, but female werecats are incredibly rare and highly prized. She is forced to return home from college when one of the other female werecats goes missing. She devalues her mother's choices because of her inability to fathom why a woman would want to be a wife and mother, and she resents that she is expected to do likewise to continue the species. But at its core, feminism is the right to choose for oneself, a lesson that Faythe learns as she fights for change throughout the series - and gets into all sorts of very serious trouble.

This first book focuses on recovering the missing female werecats. I have read this series several times, but this was the first time I tried listening. I wasn't thrilled with the narrator's voice, and some of the distinctions for various characters was annoying. The gravelly / growly voice for Faythe's father was especially obnoxious & distracting. I hope it won't be too unbearable in future books where he speaks more. Other than that, the audio book is okay and allows me to enjoy the story when I don't have time to just sit and read. The story and series itself are great and worth a go if you like this genre.

Incredible author

Rachel Vincent is by far one of my favorite author. Every page is full of wonder and suspense. Good luck figuring out her plots ahead of time! Such a beautiful blend of action and romance that anyone can enjoy.

Spunky Heroine & Great World Build

Stray was the start of what I expect will be a great series, with a great world and complex characters.

For one, I really like this world. I like my werewolf shifters just fine, but cat shifters are a nice change of pace - I don't think I ever got exactly what kinds of cats they are but I pictured Jaguars for some reason (if there's an actual type named and I missed it, someone tell me please). There's a sort of class system - cats born to the families have a higher class than strays, or those that are changed by another cat shifter - and, like all class systems, it has some problems. That created an interesting tension that I think could go far as the series progresses.

I also really like that women are a rarity - they have more boys than anything - and thus females are treasured. Especially since, as is typical in cat hierarchy, they are a matrilineal society. That had had frustrating consequences for the main character, Faith though. She doesn't want to lead or settle down in marriage and have her life be about giving her pride children - particularly a girl child. She wants to go to school and have a more "typcial" tragectory. I can 100% appreciate scoffing at the responsibilities that she has ahead of her and feeling so trapped by all the expectations that all you want to do is run. Faith apparently has quite the track record of running and I mostly love her for it.

I say mostly because sometimes she goes just a bit too far. Stubborn would be an understatement when describing Faith. She sometimes ignores reason to stick to her guns. And that got a bit irritating. I wanted to shake her and tell her how stupid she was being. Speaking of being stupid - she gets some information at the end of Stray that I'm almost positive will show up in future books because it seemed pretty damn critical and she just shrugs at it and moves on. Yeah dumb move.

But Faith is not a TSTL (too stupid to live) heroine most the time. Most the time she's a fiesty, smart, tough cat and I loved her for it. Her stubbornness was even endearing, especially since it made her a character that is flawed and has room to grow. I don't like my characters too perfect after all.

The pace was good and kept me engaged from beginning to end - Stray had elements of mystery, though mainly it was just a bit of suspense and action. I should note that it does have some scenes with fairly light sexual abuse (if there's such a thing) and mentions of rape, though not graphic. Just in case that's a trigger for someone.

I listened to Stray and Jennifer Van Dyck did a really good job. I thought the voices were distinct and the male voices weren't overly feminine. And I was able to listen at 2x speed with no loss of performance, which doesn't hold true for all narrators. I'm glad I have book 2 on audio too, because I definitely plan to continue soon and I will be listening for sure!

Just a little too whiney

This book was just OK. The main character comes across way too whiney. It makes it hard to go finish. The story was decent, but not spectacular. I just wanted to smack the main character, which made it difficult to enjoy. I unfortunately bought the first three books. I struggled to get through the first one. Not looking forward to the others. They've been pushed to the back burner. I enjoy a lot of young adult books, and I hold them to a lower standard, as I am not necessarily the target audience. But yikes.

Good

I had to start this one over to understand what was going on. My fault I am sure. Lots of excitement and good action. Wish the main character wouldn't whine so much. I will buy the second one to see it she gets better. It is another take on wereanimals. Still a pretty good listen though.

a good start to a new series for me

I liked the heroine fairly well. Yes, she did some of the mandatory too stupid to live stuff but let's face it, without that there isn't much of a story. Her main love interest had serious anger control issues and of course there was violence. This could probably use a trigger warning.

Good Read!

(On my dad's account)
Ok so to break it down for you this book is for teens 14-18 this is ONLY for that age group some people don't understand on here that they don't like it because it's not there taste because they're ethier like 26-40 And because of that they don't have the imagination or the mind set to like it.
So don't read the comments and decide not to try it that would be a silly choice.
I'm 15 and i really loved this book it was nice and awesome , faith (Main Character) was witty and smart she always has something to say and she never lets anyone take advandage of her :) She's a strong willed Person but May i add this isn't so much a love story but later on it makes her stronger to make a love story..Though i DO HATE that she technically has a human boyfriend but he isn't mentioned much AT ALL only a few times and he seems like a nice guy..but i do like that she's one of the boys at the ranch it's really cool and she has such a good realationship with her brothers and Marc.
Once again i may for warn for some sexual scenes..
Overall i love this book.
-Pk