The Book Nook

[cathepsut]

Stray by Rachel Vincent

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I can't say that I REALLY liked it, as I found the main character, Faythe, much too irritating. Think very pampered college student with issues of teenage rebellion.

Take and replace the strong, female heroine with a whiney girl and you get a pretty good idea what this book is about.

The storyline is pretty entertaining and I will probably get the next book in the series, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that Faythe will mature a little in the sequels.

Several other reviews mentioned that the book is too long and I have to agree. The book is over 600 pages and the action starts about halfway through. I wasn't exactly bored during the first 300 pages, but half that many probably would have done the job.

The other characters stayed a little one-dimensional and the shapeshifting aspects of the story were pretty brief.

So, a tighter storyline, less whining, stronger characterizations and more emphasis on the world-building and this could have been outstanding. As it is, I merely liked it and it has potential...