Book Review: Shifting

 

Shifting

Bethany Wiggins

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

I originally read this book maybe four years ago? Maybe longer I have no idea but I remember kind of liking it so I decided to do a reread. I think all of the elements that I liked it for the first time I read it held strong, several things fell flat. Maggie Mae has been bounced around foster homes for years and she's been officially known as a problem child for the last two because of her consistent run-ins with the law. But it's not really her fault, she can't control all the supernatural and freaky stuff that happens around her. At a new school, things are looking up. She has a friend and she has a guardian who can be a confidant for all her worst secrets. The supernatural isn't relinquishing its grip so easily though and things are far behind her control. 

Honestly, the shapeshifting is cool. I love it and the autonomy that it starts to give her. I wish we could've seen it developed a little more. Especially in light of the ending and all the information that we could have had. I also just did not vibe with the idea of some moral superiority cause of being a shifter like they were having arranged marriages and stuff which just very much rubbed me the wrong way. And it's like, a society that prides itself so much on lineage really shouldn't have had such a slip up in the paperwork and we should get an explanation on that. 

So not as iconic as I remember it. The romance was a lot duller too, I liked the way that the friendship was built up but oh my gosh we really did not capitalize on her insecurity of being left? Like the ending was a half-assed way of dealing with it that really annoyed me, you cannot tell me that someone without a real family would be satisfied with that whole "I only walked out on you momentarily but I never stopped thinking about you" excuse. Just very inconsistent on that front. So definitely better for the plot than the characters.