Shift

by Rachel Vincent

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0778327604
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: MIRA
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.6" x 0.9" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Love this series and GREAT writer!

I absolutely love this series! The main character is strong, funny, and lovable. This book had me laughing, crying, and unable to wait to read the next book. I highly recommend this writer! She has another series I love called The Soul Screamer Series. Couldn't put that book down either!!

Frustrations galore but still love every minute of it!

In Pride (Shifters) we learned a little bit about shapeshifters that weren't werecats. But even I will admit to being surprised to find that the majority of Shift's plot centers around thunderbirds, a raptor-like (bird enthusiasts will know what I mean) tribe of bird shifters who avoid human involvement. After the events of Prey (Shifters) bring some major conflicts to the table, *spoiler alert for Prey* Ethan's death and Faythe's subsequent hook-up with Jace, Faythe's world is in chaos. She needs to come clean with Marc about what happened between herself and Jace because the two can't act normal around each other anymore. When an attack and attempted kidnapping bring the thunderbirds into the picture it's not hard to guess who is behind them and why. The big conflict is how to prove it when the bird shifters don't have a social structure or culture anything like the cats. Without a leader and a lack of humanity in their decision making the Flight wants revenge for their own fallen and won't see reason without some proof. It's up to Faythe and the guys forming her frustrating love triangle to prove that the south-central Pride is innocent. I know a lot of other readers got frustrated with this book for many reasons, I definitely had some of my own to deal with too. So let me get those out of the way first. How on earth can the thunderbirds have not been noticed by humans simply based on the way they are described!?! And why on earth would they have taken the bad guy's word at face value rather than assume they were involved in the murder of their Flight mate? There were just a handful of things about them that didn't work for me or make sense to me enough to not bug me a little. Then there's Faythe finding excuses not to tell Marc about what happened with Jace. In spite of his temper he pretty much worships her and continues to want her no matter what (even when she was out in the human world sleeping with a human) so why is it such an issue really? And why does she suddenly have feelings for Jace beyond friendship? That bit doesn't make sense to me really since she always kind of had a flirty thing with him but in a playful way not an attracted way. Granted I am a total Team Jace girl but puh-lease! Either she loves him or she doesn't. Just because they had sex doesn't mean she has to love him now. There's also a lot of "red shirt" killing in this one. Okay maybe they have names at least but sheesh does everyone have to die before the final book? lol Even with those issues bugging me I still loved it. Faythe may very well be the most annoying heroine of all time (she never does what we all know she should!!!) yet there's something about that I can't help but enjoy. I don't like Marc, never have, and he's no less irritating this time but for once he has some competition that I liked. The story can get a bit slow because there are a lot of "talky" parts this time but when there's action it's intense. I'm not sure what more I can say about Sh

very happy

i have to say it was a great feeling when my book came and i opened it up to see,not only did this person gift wrap the book for me but also put in 2 bookmarks a teabag and a magnet. it was so nice to know i'm not the only one in the world the that likes to give a gift the right way . i just want to say thank you to the person that sold me the book,it was in great condition matter of fact i believe the book was brand new.not only did i enjoy the book but i also enjoyed getting it.i would absolutely buy ANYTHING from this person again!!thanx

LOVE it!

** this review contains spoilers from the previous books, but not from Shift ** Shift is the fifth installment in the Shifters series. I had high expectations for this book, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed! Rachel wrote an amazing book once more and got me hooked from the first page! Prey was a really hard book, with the disappearance of Marc, and the epic battle to get him back, the death of my lovely Ethan and some X-rated action with Jace, the table was set for a tide of emotions in Shift. Faythe's Pride is trying to deal with the aftermath of Ethan's death and the upcoming war. Several Alpha's are united but no one saw the next boulder crashing on them: Thunderbirds. They attempt kidnapping on Kacy and kill two enforcers. Outnumbered and defenseless against an attack from the sky, the Pride is facing something they never felt before: Vulnerability. But they are not ready to give up. In a desperate tentative to protect ladies and kids, Faythe and Kacy will end up at the mercy of a Flight of fifty or so full grown thunderbirds, and the future of the south-central Pride and weight on their shoulders. I am completely nuts of this series and Shift was no exception to my excitement. Vincent stepped-up the game once more when she introduced a completely foreign specie in the series with blazing success. You will get to find out the consequences of Ethan's death, Jace and Faythe's little adventure, you will find how low Malone and his crew can hit and how mentally strong Faythe is. The characters weren't spared in this book, at page 120 or so there was already two dead Toms and an injured one, at some point I was wondering if there would be any characters left alive for Rachel to write Alpha. Faythe is between a rock and a hard place in this book, both physically and emotionally. She is dealing with a broken arm from the final battle in Prey and will indeed suffer some more along the way, but she is not ready to give up. She is ready for all the pain in the world to save her family and I respect her for that. The psychological aspect is much harder, she is filled with guilt toward both Marc and Jace and even though she wants to confess to Marc, war and impending doom isn't really a good time. She keeps thinking she isn't good enough for M & J, not good enough to protect Kacy and that her Pride deserves better, but she will keep her head high and keep fighting. Her growth is incredible since Stray and she will have to take some life changing decisions in this round. Poor Marc is completely oblivious to Faythe's cheating and loves her unconditionally. He is aware Jace is acting weird but he thinks it's because of his regretted best friend. Jace on the other hand is more determinate than ever to win over Faythe's heart and is pushing her to confess to Marc, he is also constantly pushing Marc's limits and it might not end up well. I LOVE every aspects of this book, the characters, the fantastic story, the rollercoaster of emot

A pivotal book in the series.

I'm afraid this review will contain spoilers for previous books. Let me start this review by saying, I am not always the biggest fan of the series heroine, Faythe. There have definitely been times when she's made bad choices, been stubborn to the point of stupidity (one of my personal pet peeves in a heroine), and taken a bad situation and almost willfully made it worse. However, that being said, I did not see that in this book. I find myself pretty surprised at the comments in a couple of other reviews, and am in fact writing this review because I could not stay silent after reading them. This had to be a difficult book for the author to write. Too many times in a series, especially it seems in the genre of urban fantasy, the story and heroine become stagnant and unchanging as the author writes book after book. Nothing changes, the main characters don't seem to learn anything or progress, and the series takes a slow dive into boring and mediocrity, no matter how strong it started out. That is not the case here. In the last book, the author made some brave choices. I read reviews and comments here, where people have called Faythe a "terrible girlfriend" and "unworthy" of either of the men in her life. One review even claims that each of these books follows an identical formula to the last. I do not agree. Sure, the books start in conflict, which inevitably worsens before the end. That's how it's supposed to work for all stories, actually. And I can agree that in previous installments, Faythe did some things that made that conflict worse. But I frankly don't see any of that here. It seems to me that, personal relationship issues aside, Faythe is really coming into her own. I fail to see how she made the central conflict in this book worse, and in fact, it seems to me she fought harder than anyone to resolve it, and succeeded. She made some difficult choices, and took on the position of leading more than she ever has before. She has grown and changed so much since the first book in the series, and that more than anything is what will keep me coming back for more. I no longer see the petulant, stubborn girl who wanted her own way in book 1. Faythe is still stubborn, but she sees beyond her own problems and desires, now. After everything that's happened, she has to. Let's talk about those personal relationship problems for a moment. I applaud Rachel Vincent, I really do. In Pride, the over-arcing conflict for this series really picked up speed as Malone used Faythe and her mistakes in his bid for power among the prides. I watched it unfold as I read the book, and it had that inexorable, unstoppable feel that actually makes me frustrated on behalf of the characters. I've been watching it build steam for the past two books, culminating in the death of a major character in the last book, Prey. I, like many, was totally shocked by this turn of events. It couldn't have been any easier for the author to kill the character in

5 Stars

I was going to try to write this review without spoilers from the previous books in this series, but I honestly don't know how to do it. Too much has happened that built up to this book to leave them out. I will avoid spoilers about the plot content of Shift and tread cautiously with previous books, avoiding spoilers about the main mystery/suspense plot of each book. Several people have asked if they can read this book without reading the previous books.... my answer is yes, you could if you really wanted to. But I agree with Patti over at Book Addict that if you do you are missing the full impact of the story. The buildup and history of these characters add so much I would avoid it if you can! You won't be sorry. Fans of this series know what a hugely important and controversial book Prey, book 4, was. Besides the devastating death of a well loved character, there was shocking (and totally hot!) smexing between Jace and Faythe. Fans have high expectations of Shift and it delivers on every one of them. Simply put, Faythe Sanders is not the same girl she used to be. Book 1, Stray, introduces her as a mouthy, defiant, and somewhat whiney college student. Her father is Alpha of South Central pride of werecats, and tabbies (female werecats) are rare. So incredibly rare that they are prized and used as pawns in greedy attempts at controlling all the werecat prides. Initially, Faythe wants none of this system and insists she can have a life of her own outside of the pride, away from her family. This series is very much about the growth of Faythe and her finding her own path within the system her natural werecat instincts are longing for. By the time we get to Shift Faythe is a strong, determined, intelligent, and forward thinking tabby. She no longer denies who she is or what her status means, but instead works to redefine it and make it her own. She is done shying away from the tough choices. She is the first female enforcer for a pride and thrives on the decisions that will lead her to become the first female Alpha. Yet, she is still flawed, she still makes mistakes. Faythe has to face the consequences of one of those mistakes in Shift. The tension between Marc, Faythe, and Jace in this book is overwhelming. For most of this series there has been tension between Marc and Faythe, could she ever just let go and be with him? I was rooting for him, he was strong and dependable and would let Faythe lead in her own way. He surprises me in Shift and it only adds to my admiration of his character arc. Jace was always the fun, but flirty guy who made the readers laugh. I never expected him to grow so much over such a short period of time. The events in Prey, changed him drastically. He is no longer willing to be the fun flirty guy who's intentions aren't taken seriously. He is making a serious attempt to win Faythe's heart in Shift and I find myself swooning over his new found Alpha-ness. Faith is going to have to choose and if being with both of them is