Shift

Shifters, Book 5

By: Rachel Vincent

Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

"Being the first female werecat enforcer isn’t easy. Scars accumulate, but I’m stronger in so many ways.... As for my personal life? It’s complicated. Choices worth making always are. Ever since my brother’s death and my father’s impeachment, it’s all I can do to prevent more blood from spilling. Now our Pride is under attack by a flight of vicious thunderbirds. And making peace with our new enemies may be the only way to get the best of our old foe. With the body count rising and treachery everywhere, my instincts tell me to look before I leap. But sometimes a leap of faith is the only real option."

Listen to more in the Shifters series.

©2010 Harlequin (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

A more positive ending than the previous books.

Thankfully, things seem to finally be looking up, if only slightly. Fayth is coming to realize her alpha potential. You could even call it her alpha destiny. Malone sinks to even lower depths in his quest for power and Fayth and the Pride and their allies struggle to stay alive and come up with a plan for success. The thirst to avenge Ethan's death still runs strong and the Pride plans to attack soon. That is, until they themselves are attacked by a species none of them had ever come in contact with before, thunderbirds. It becomes Fayth's job to clear up the misunderstanding that gained her pride the wrath of the thunderbirds, driving her to take extreme chances and risk a life of misery under Malone's thumb and the death of Marc and Jace. And with only one council member's vote for council chair undecided, she needs to make her decisions very wisely. I'm not sure that I can say that this ending is HEA, but it is not nearly as bad as the previous books. The book actually ends on a relatively positive note by comparison, but does still end in a cliffhanger. Having listened to this book has renewed my desire to finish this series.

A probably biased review

I love Rachel Vincent and the shifters series. I've been reading the series since Jr. High school, and still love it in my early 20's.

I won't give anything away but Shift book 5 does kind of drag in the biginning but of course once you get into it you can't put it down. I find it easier listening since I have read the series so many times, it's nice to listen while I'm at work.

The narrator however I'm not a fan of. Her voice is very mono tone and doesn't differentiate much between characters. There are small snippets of music here and there as well which I think is unnecessary. Thankfully I've read the series so much I'm able to tune out all of this and let my imagination wonder with the words. Which is how I think it should be.

But anyway, I would recommend this series to anyone. By far my favorite series along with Harry Potter.

Great Werecat series

Would you listen to Shift again? Why?

Yes, if I ever listened to ANY series again I would. I don't re-read or listen to any books. I have a VERY good memory and have never been able to listen to or read a book again because I know everything that will happen.

That being said, this is a very entertaining series and I love Faythe, the main character. She is very witty and strong.

What did you like best about this story?

There was always a lot of action and just the right amount of romance...

Which scene was your favorite?

When Faythe realizes she really wants to be where she is, not being forced to be there like she had thought.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Faythe realizes she really wants to be where she is, not being forced to be there like she had thought.

Any additional comments?

If you're considering it, give it a try...

Key Word for the Day: SMITH & WESSON

Here's a quarter, Rachel, buy yourself a writing clue. The elephant in the room of giant Thunderbirds is a SHOT GUN full of buck shot. It would even work quite well on a herd of Werecats. It won't kill them and they will be pulling buckshot out of their hide for a week!

What I see here is a lack of respect for the book buyer and reader. First you give us a reader completely wrong for this character and this series, then she reads it (loud and aggressively) at 90 mph, and then the producers put huge spaces of time between the chapters.

Second, we sit here thinking... why the hell doesn't she have a shot gun (at the very least) on a ranch? Hello? This is Texas and while most of my fellow Texans are not especially high on the IQ scale politically, they have enough snap to say, "why don't you shoot the dang birds?" And then why don't you shoot the bad guys? Duh?

Thirdly this so called heroine is more fickle than Scarlet O'hara. Give me a break! This gal can't figure out who she is more in love with on a scale of two? It makes her totally stupid and totally unsympathetic on anyone's scale.

There's a old Texas sayin'.

"You dance with the one that brung ya!"

A little too wordy.

Was irritated how she brought Jake into the equation. Seem like the book dragged on with no real substance.

Worst audio book I have ever listed to.

Good Scifi is taking an unrealistic premise (shape-shifting people in this case) and having the characters act logically and consistently with that otherwise unrealistic world. In this book the characters do and say the stupidest things I couldn't imagine anyone of any species doing or saying in any circumstances. One example is being under murderous attack by a flock of bird people and trying to figure out a way to counter them, and not seriously considering guns (in Texas of all places) as a serious or humane way to fight a group killing your people one by one (the outer pride members could have brought guns to the ranch). Although I am not a good judge of romance writing, I can't imagine this is good example of that genre either. Her earlier books had tolerable stupidity, but the series has been deteriorating and this book falls below any definition of good writing. I want my credit back.

Too brutally violent for my tastes

I was looking forward to this book but almost didn't finish it. There were parts near the end that just made me sick. Each installment gets a big more brutal but now I think I've reached my limit.

The love triangle is difficult as well. Faythe should be preparing to take on leadership of the pride but she can't figure out her own love life. This is an unnecessary diversion to the book and series. There were also some loose ends left loose. Maybe next book?

Like a train wreck you can't look away from.

I'm torn between what to rate this series, especially this book. On one hand I want to give it 5 stars because I can't stop listening to it. On the other hand I want to give it 1 star because never before have I gotten so angry at the main character of a series. Faythe makes mistakes and bad choices one after another throughout the series that leave me constantly swearing outloud. I continue listening because I'm hoping that at least some of the supporting characters make it to the end alive and not emotionally destroyed. Vincent has me listening because I'm attached to them more than the heroine. She is stupid and selfish even though you are suppose to believe she is strong and independent. So I'll listen to the last book I need to know how it all ends.

Lease favorite of this series

The love triangle is ridicules and weird. It's a great series just the story line in this one was lacking.

Not so good

The other four books prior one are very good. Vincent could have skipped this one entirely to just give us an ending. The love triangle is tired but if Faythe has to pick I would say Jace is her best choice. Marc is an amazing enforcer but his temperament is not alpha material although I think it would be good for the other prides to see a stray in power but just over all I like Jace better.