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If you missed my last KU article on Death’s Obsession, you can find it here.
I have been a reading fool lately. I just finished A Court of Silver Flame, and I have been reading the next in the Shadow City series, Death’s Obsession and Shifter’s Mate. I love reading, though. I get to see a new world, make new friends, and, given my reading log, see new magick and beautiful people. Shifter’s mate is no exception in the beautiful people category.
The book is cited as a reverse harem book which I could dig. I was also interested to see what the story has in store. The female main character is supposed to be kick-ass, and the synopsis had me curious because she was being stalked but didn’t think it was human like her. It was to be a quick read, too. The Kindle said the book would take roughly three and a half hours to read. So, I downloaded it.
In the book, we meet Tamara, a human looking for the party her sister was at. Riley, a werewolf (in this book, the wolf shifters are referred to as werewolves) who left his pack, Brett, Riley’s friend and brother from another mother, and the mysterious Max. We also meet Jagger, an alpha of the pack Riley and Brett live near. He’s a piece of work.
Tamara was on the way to meet her sister Sam at a party, and she got lost, and then her car ran out of gas. She got out, meaning to walk to get more gas, only to end up fleeing for her life. Left for dead, Riley happened upon her while out for a run. He brought her back to the house where Brett and Max were. Max had only shown up at Riley and Brett’s house a little while before Riley found Tamara. Tamara was torn open and bitten and left. When Tamara fully came to and realized it was Riley who saved her, she was unhappy about everything—and confused. She was very confused. Tamara and Riley used to be a couple, and he abruptly broke it off and left, breaking her heart.
I was really unhappy with the book. I was left wanting fully formed characters, a complete, captivating story, and growth somewhere. Tamara and company weren’t very fleshed-out characters. I don’t know if the changing POV caused the deficiency because no one was focused on long enough for growth to happen or something else. I know that writing this, I can’t tell you how any of them looked. I remember that all eight people who speak in the book sound the same.
We don’t get very far with actual story stuff. I think because this is book one of, I am not sure how many, the author wasn’t worried about it. Or at least I can see how it would happen. I just know there wasn’t enough good stuff to keep me engaged. None of the characters seem to get along well enough to save Tamara from her fate despite them needing each other’s help. The only two that seem to get along very well are Tamara and Max. For a reverse harem romance, there is only one sex scene and only one of the men. This is, in part, an example of not enough story. How can they have a relationship if no one likes each other?
I can’t say that I will read more about this. I’m not interested. I don’t care enough about any of the characters to keep reading. I was going to say that I think the changing of POV is always a problem, but I don’t believe that is true. In this case, I think it was a big problem but not something that will always cause problems. Look at A Court of Frost and Starlight. There needs to be a whole lot more to the story. Right now, it is a very filled-out outline.
Have you read Shifter’s Mate? What are your thoughts? What do you think of the POV moving from person to person? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, have fun storming the castle!
