July 2015 Book of the Month

July 2015 Book of the Month

Sorry for the lateness, but this month's title was worth the wait! Review from my Goodreads account.

First, I'd give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars if I could. The main difference between the 4 and 5 stars is basically the minor typos, grammar, capitalization and puncuation problems I spotted. I have to admit, I'm an anal reviewer when it comes to problems such as these (having an English Lit background). But these in no way deterred from the story; they were extremely minor. The only thing that really drew me out of the story was the author's use of parentheses to clarify something. I have never seen this used before and wonder if that is a cultural thing (Ms. Rae is from New Zealand). For me, it tossed me right out of the flow of the writing. UPDATE: Author has corrected a majority of these errors.

Ms. Rae's sentence structure needs a bit of improvement to help the flow as well. It's not wrong, just in my opinion she needs to utilize more compound and complex sentences. There were quite a few 'choppy' simple sentences (basic subject/predicate sentences) that would have been improved with the use of connecting prepositions or the use of adverbs.

As for the plot, I was hooked almost immediately. I'll admit I was a little frustrated at the bits and pieces she gave out about this world, but realized I was following the footsteps of the main character, Jodie. She's only given glimpses of the world of shifters when she falls for mysterious Danny.

The reveals are slow, but not painfully so. It's a book of discovery, of love and passion, of change. Of overcoming obstacles and following one's heart. The characters are well-thought out, each one with their different quirks and personalities that really shine when given their specific scenes. Not everything is revealed in this book, however. I know the author is working on the second book as she did leave this one in a cliffhanger.

All-in-all I want the second book now! It's going to be a long wait for the next one. UPDATE: Book 2 "The Fury" and Book 3 "The Butcher" have been released. The series name is "Therian Secrets."