Stray - Rachel Vincent

Stray (Shifters - Vol. 1)
Rachel Vincent
MIRA
Copyright: 2010
978-0778329077

The amazon.com product description:

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—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….

I've had a copy of Stray on my e-reader for the last few years but never got more than about five pages into the book prior to this weekend. I have to say though, while I liked the read, I'm not absolutely raving to read the next books in the series.

I agree with some of the other reviews I've seen. Faythe is stubborn - too stubborn, and the romantic interest picked out for her - no thanks! No relationship needs to be filled with that much drama. Even after finishing the read I don't have a feeling for the werecat culture - unlike with some other urban fantasies I've enjoyed.

She does have agency though. I'll say that for sure! Faythe is certainly not the type to just wait around for things to happen to her - she's going to do them herself, thank-you-very-much! At the same time, the choices she makes and her reasoning for them.... Let's just say that they could be better. A lot better. I got fairly tired of some of the repeating fights she had. And at the end of the book, I didn't feel like anything at all had been resolved.

If' I'm comparing Stray with other urban fantasy novels I've read - mostly Patricia Brigg's Mercedes Thompson series, as it's the one I'm most familiar with, every time Stray comes out behind. I'm also thinking back to the Anita Blake series, even though it's been years since I read any of them, and they come out far ahead too.