Skinwalker

I loved this book. I prefer my urban fantasy to be filled with kickass female characters without making the main thrust of every chapter be about sex. The cover is my main complaint. As with so many novels, the person who wrote the book apparently had no say in the cover. Jane doesn’t leave exposed skin and breasts pushed up so high that the vamps can just clamp down on a boob and suck her dry. She doesn’t leave a long ponytail blowing in the wind for someone to grab. When will the person drawing the cover actually use a description of the character?

If I’d seen this book in a store, I’d have walked right past it. Thankfully I saw it on Amazon where there were a lot of great reviews.

Spoiler ——

I like the way she got through the length of time this book takes place over without ever having sex. Oh sure, there’s flirting and a bit more, and I bucked up and dealt with it, but no sex! Maybe one day I’ll find a novel about a kickass female character who can get through whatever it is she’s doing without sexual tension. Now that would be a dream come true!

So this book popped up in my feed and I wasn’t sure what to expect, and to be honest I still don’t know how I feel really. After the first mention of “the beast” I thought, weird. After the first time the beast spoke out I thought “I can’t read this, it’s gonna drive me mad” and I must admit I felt that way every time the beast spoke. It just irritated the crap out of me.

I did find the story and other characters entertaining, although Jane could have been… just more.

The book was nice and long and went into good detail, which I enjoy in a book, so I’m willing to give Book 2 a go.

I bought the printed version after having endured the audio version. Granted, it is not the narrator’s fault that the author cannot speak or spell French, yet insists on peppering her novels with full sentences in French (I understand this is set in Louisiana, but cut me a break, the same goes on in all 12 books). Not having to hear the narrator’s poor attempt at men’s voices or Beast’s made it much more enjoyable. Yes, Jane is a bit of a guilt trip addict, and puts herself in situations you’d think a security expert would know to avoid And when the author grabs a hold of an idiom or word she likes, she will not let go of it (do not play a drinking game for each time Jane says “flying by the seat of my pants”, or “Go me”, you will end up in a coma. But this is a fun serie to read. Beast is funny and a cool twist, and the vampires are pretty interesting on their own.

Ok, so I have seen the book at the store, and the covers…. I Really didnt want another Romancy urban fantasy with more sex than story that went on for a million books. So the covers turned me off. However, finding myself at an impasse (not wanting to Beta read another book, none of my favorite authors had new books out, and I need a break from JF/YA and romances) I decide to try it. Im glad I did. The cover artist and publisher needs a swift kick. Yes sex sells, but why does a fabulous character if Male get a cool rocking cover with clothing on, but if Female needs to be dressed for porn?
Anyhow, this is a fun adventure with Native American characters and culture. It has vampires, and a cool riff on them (more like Lestat than Sookie Bill.) complete with inability to move with modern times and a religion. I love Skinwalker mythology. They are the biggest baddest beast in North American folk lore. I like that our main character is both female, Cherokee and some skinwalker Beast hybrid.
Fun mix of magic, mythology, and police-detective procedural. I will be reading more of this series.

I almost didn’t get this book based on a couple of not so great reviews. How many times am I going to fall for that? The reviews that sold me were the ones that said “if you like Mercy Thompson or Kate Daniels series”. Those are my favorites of all times so I had to try it.
It’s really good. I had no problem with her using her second person term of “Beast” to describe her animal inside her. She has to let readers know that this thing is fully someone else so yes, she uses it constantly. If I had a problem it would be the thought process of Beast with the broken english, but when she’s a bird with a super small brain she talks perfectly normal in her mind. Beware, the first episode involving her change is super long, as in, I almost didn’t continue, but I correctly figured that with it being the first change, she would give us the long version. The rest of the changes don’t take that long.
All that aside, Jane has a job to do as a Vamp hunter and the world building is just getting started but I can tell it’s going to be great. So far, each character is well thought out and she takes her time piecing things together. You don’t know until the very end who the rogue vamp is. I’m pretty sure she will eventually come to like at least some of the vampire characters.
The best part is that I just now started it and there are at least 14 to read. Happy days.

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