The Shapeshifter's Secret
Author: Heather Ostler
Page Count: 318
Release Date: June 12, 2012
Publisher: Cedar Fort
Series: The Shapeshifter's Secret #1
Genres: YA, Paranormal, Shapeshifters
Source: Won from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
Read summary on Goodreads, here.
I had a little trouble getting into the book and I had my doubts that I would finish it but decided to stick it out until the end. While the story wasn't bad, I did have trouble connecting to any of the characters.
Despite the danger she was in, Julia was constantly keeping secrets and breaking the rules and I never understood her reasons why. One of her reasons was because she just had to stand where her mother once stood. It just didn't seem like a good reason to risk expulsion. She also jumped into a romantic relationship way too fast in my opinion. She's only met the guy twice and exchanged a few letters and already they're "in love" with one another. She also seemed a bit immature when it came to Caleb, even if she did like him she didn't have to jump down his throat because he had a girlfriend, I mean she knew him for like a week. Caleb seemed like a alright guy even if his appearances were brief. He really seemed to care for Julia and really tried to protect her. Terrence, the boyfriend, also makes brief appearances but he fell in love with Julia way too fast, they barely knew each other. Sierra and Gabe were good supporting characters but I still couldn't connect with them because I knew so little about them. Sierra's a water nymph and Gabe's smart, that's pretty much all we find out about them.
The storyline was a good one, not great, but good. A land called Ossai with a corrupt government and a school for shapeshifters and other magical creatures trying to learn about and control their powers. Some of the story reminded me of Harry Potter. A castle for a school...magic...secret passageways...a crooked teacher...a teacher with Snape's attitude...the villain out to kill the main character...three friends with similarities to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Throughout most of the book I got deja vu of "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone." I was somewhat confused by the timeline, in one part of the chapter it's winter and in the same chapter it's now spring.
There was no big cliffhanger and I felt that part of the ending was predictable. I had already narrowed down who the traitor was and wasn't at all surprised by the identity of the masked man.
I love the cover. The background and the font are perfect and I love the tiger stripes of Julia's face. It's definitely a beautiful cover.
Rating: 3/5
Review also posted to Goodreads
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