Pride

I bought the first five of these series all at once, but I was disappointed in the first book [b:Stray|793399|Stray (Shifters, #1)|Rachel Vincent|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511P5La5HAL._SL75_.jpg|779381], luckily I liked [b:Rogue|2314315|Rogue (Shifters, #2)|Rachel Vincent|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hnM3kC-ML._SL75_.jpg|4633523]much more and with Pride I am now a confirmed fan of the series and can't wait to read the last three installments. The plot of Pride is intricate, incredibly well paced and maintains a suprisingly high level of supense all the way through. The drama of the trial and the action involving the stray pack is compelling and I was so engrossed I read it straight through into the early hours of show more the morning. The trial is far from fair and Faythe has become a pawn in the political machinations of the Pride Council, as Malone manouvers to challenge her father's leadership. I am impressed at how Vincent manages to sustain the level of tension surrounding the trial and keeps the conflict interesting.Equally intriguing is the introduction of Kaci and her story. I really liked this twist, not only for the role she plays in Faythe's development but for the possibilities she presents for the future.The Pride's hunt and confrontation with the strays is wild and exciting.Personally I was hoping a couple of the strays would stumble across Malone and rip him to shreds, but no such luck.It is evident that Faythe is finally recognising that there is a price for her unconventional behaviour. She is still impulsive and explosive but there is an obvious development in her maturity level in this installment. I found her much more admirable in this storyline, she is making the effort to think situations through and take responsibility for her decisions. I loved seeing Faythe standing up to the manipulation of the council in defense of her father, Marc and Kaci. Her defiance is justifiable, instead of being motivated by the self interest that is so evident in Stray, and it is an important milestone in her character development. She still can't figure out how to deal with her relationship with Marc in a mature way, but drastic circumstances pushes things along a lttle bit more.I was suprised at how much I enjoyed Pride, the character development is fabulous and the multilayered plot is both intriguing and exciting. If, like me you disappointed after Stray, I recommend you persevere - this book makes it worth it. show less

Okay, for starters, if you haven't read either of the first two books in this series, I seriously suggest that you do, otherwise you may end up lost and not really getting the story of what's happening. In Pride, there is a lot going on with Faythe and Marc and the territorial council!

Up in the mountains, the council has convened a trail for Faythe and her crimes, but needless to say if you're a fan of Faythe, we all know how her mouth tends to get her in trouble. Which it does, plenty of times throughout the book! But what I loved about this book in particular was that Faythe knew what needed to be done whether or not she was going to get into trouble, especially if she had the others behind her. Especially when Kaci was discovered to show more have been a werecat and not just any werecat cause she's not a stray either! Hmmm....I'll let you sit on that one. And if you've read the book, you know what I'm talking about.

But even with all of the stuff that she did, killing a rogue and helping with Kaci, in the end, she ended up losing something very important to her. But we all know that there is going to be more and I can't wait to dig my claws into Prey!

Rachel Vincent has always had very interesting and flawed characters. Faythe is far from perfect and her character tells you that almost all the time. Marc loves her but would do anything to make sure that she is safe. Her father, although very proud, had some difficult choices to make in this book too! So it seemed that even though everything turned out okay, there is still more to the story. Rachel's plots are so intricate - that I feared for Faythe even though she is a fictional character. Certain parts of the story almost made tears come to my eyes. That's how close I've gotten to the characters within that plot! We'll have to wait and see what's going to happen in Prey! show less

Of the three books in the series this is by far the best one. It is incredibly fast-paced, with werecat politics threatening Faythe's pride as well as her life. Basically Faythe's world falls apart in this book but it is done amazingly well. The council convenes to try Faythe who is facing the death penalty after infecting her ex-boyfriend (by accident) and then having to kill him (in self-defense). The only way she can exonerate herself is by demonstrating her partial-shift but it isn't something she can control. The trial is interrupted when a group of strays are attacking the hikers in the area where they are staying and have to be stopped.

Everything that happens is in the name of politics rather than justice. The fact that the show more council ignores Faythe's ability and bravery as an enforcer especially considering that she is female is completely unfair as is the way that they treat Marc, a remarkable enforcer who seems to be one the best in his field but because he is a stray, he apparently is not worthy of their respect or his position. No one wants to see him in charge of his pride, which he may inherit with Faythe if he marries her. Faythe's father wants change but the council members are old and are resisting change favouring the traditional medieval ways of sexism and descrimination against those who were infected rather than born werecats. I can't wait for the next book, PREY to come out later this year to find out the verdict on Faythe's murder charge and the way that her pride will handle the political assault on their alpha. A brilliant read! show less

Pride is the third book in Rachel Vincent's werecat series and like the ones before it, it begins in the middle of a mess and ends with the characters looking forward to the next challenge.

Faythe Saunders is on trial for accidentally infecting her ex-boyfriend and being forced to kill him in self defense. There are three judges and two of them have problems with her father's liberal choices in running his pride--like his decision to let Faythe be the first female enforcer ever. The job that finally pulled Faythe into feeling like her pride valued her for more than the (potential) contents of her uterus is why she encountered her ex in the first place. As for the third judge in her trial, well, her uncle is technically on her side, but show more even he doesn't believe she can partial shift, which means he's not convinced that the infection was an accident at all.

However, the trial for Faythe's life is put on pause when Elias Keller, a bruin (werebear) who cares for the neutral land that the prides have gathered in for Faythe's trial, storms in angry at all the cats causing trouble on his land. The pride cats and Elias quickly put two and two together, realizing that not only are the mysterious noisy werecats not from any of the visiting prides, but they're probably also responsible for the two missing hikers the humans in the area are searching for. Things continue to grow more tangled when Elias brings in a tabby cat he believes to be Faythe, but in fact is a thirteen year old girl no one's ever heard of before.

Faythe has to prove herself useful, out maneuver one of the judges who is plotting not just against Faythe but also against her father and save the girl, from her past and the future the old fashioned alphas want to manipulate her into.

Even though this is part of a running series it would be easy enough for new readers to pick up the story, and the world, so far. Despite it's size Pride is fast paced with lots of action, both emotional and fight scenes. And unlike a lot of other urban fantasies that feature kick ass heroines, in this one the drive Faythe feels to be recognized and respected as a real person, not just a breeder, is integrated to the plot, as is the gender skewed world view that fuels Faythe's fight. Pride is definitely recommended, especially to women who are tired of princesses who need to be saved or women who's sole purpose is to be swept off their feet, impregnated and plopped into a Donna Reed role. show less

There must be some hidden, golden rule somewhere that I tend to fall more in love with Urban Fantasy series by the third book. I don't know what it is - maybe the writer is in the middle of getting the story even better, or else I've just fallen in love more with the characters? Have no idea, only in this one I do know it's not because I love the main character. I actually loathe her.

I was hoping that, by this point in the series, she would have evolved, calmed down, and grew up a little. Instead she's still abrasive and makes me cringe at some of what she says and how silly she is in predicaments, but it was toned down a little this time. Marc is more likeable now, although I always liked him a decent bit. The mother and Manx aren't show more really in this one as the book takes place in a neutral meeting place for the shifter council. They were missed but we get lots of the father, who I always dug, and the brothers, who are fun.

I'm not usually into shifter internal politics, but the maneuvering here was actually interesting. There is a big change in the status of two of the main characters, so there is a small cliffhanger with that at the end. There's a lot of talking in this one compared to the action of others, but it works and pacing doesn't lag somehow.

Rachel Vincent has a creative way with words and dialogue that works. It's easy to envision the characters you're reading about. Their motivations are clear without needing spelled out. She must like the main character herself, and I know some other readers do, but for me she's the only downfall of the story.

I'm curious about the next book, as it's clear there's a lot of changes in store and potential dangers to the family, not just Faith herself. show less

This is not so much a review as it is a sorrowful, heartfelt complaint that this series is headed straight down a path where I never wanted it to go. I thought Faythe would grow as a person, a woman and a werecat and learn some valuable lessons that would lead to making more educated decisions for the Pride and for herself. But I can now most definitely predict the outcome and I hate it. Note: I also confirmed my suspicions by glancing at spoilers - not to worry as I won't put myself through finishing this series.

Other people's reviews seem to suggest that Faythe is a rather disliked heroine because she's bossy, stubborn and often makes rash decisions. However, these were the main reasons why I got into this series and why, for me, it show more stood out so much from the massive amount of urban fantasy novels available that have a heroine that fits so perfectly into a pre-defined mold. I loved the fact that Faythe had enough about her to stand up to all the men who were fighting for control of her and I hate that the author seems to be going down the route of "the moral of this story is... don't think for yourself if you're a female werecat".

I wanted the series to be a lesson in how Faythe could stand up and make her own decisions, even if they go against the wishes of her father and/or boyfriend. Though it seems that every time she finally took matters into her own hands, everything went wrong and she was left looking like a stupid girl who didn't do what the big men said.

Oh, and honestly, I can't fathom how anyone could see Marc as a decent love interest and the right choice for Faythe. He is nothing but an uptight, violent control-freak. I was taking part in a conversation on one of my group forums about this series and heard Marc described as 'intense'... so apparently his erratic behaviour is what turns people on. I don't know but I do know I could never be with someone who has to make a show of 'dominating' me to prove himself, and I mean in a Pride "you must obey me" kinda way and not in a kinky way. His open disregard for what Faythe wants and the way he turns his nose up at her desire for indepedence just makes my blood boil in fury.

And I wouldn't even mind if she didn't have a yummy, kind, sexy and funny alternative that would do just about anything for her. You see, I've read reviews where people say they love Marc and hate Jace. Now, how can you hate Jace? He's all kinds of fun. If you haven't read this series and are now forming some opinion that Marc must be the sexy bad boy and Jace must be the nice guy and I'm the kind of girl who has a feminist rant at the dangers of the bad boy stereotpye... you couldn't be more wrong. Here's how I see these two candidates for Faythe's heart:

Marc - uptight, violent, controlling, "intense", plays by the Pride rules.

Jace - funny, sexy, actually cares what Faythe wants not what she should do according to werecat rules, a rulebreaker.

Anyone here ever watch Buffy (if not, go here now and do nothing else until you've finished it!)? Well, Marc reminds me of a more violent version of Angel and Jace reminds me of Spike *swoons like a fangirl*. I like 'bad boys', those who are wild and disregard the rules... and I like them to be fun too. Marc's a square and the realisation that the author has super, never-ending love planned for him and Faythe is what made me reluctant to read on.

Too bad, Faythe and Jace would have been worth over-looking the silly love triangle thing for. show less

The latest instalment in the Werecat series and the good news is that I didn’t want to slap Faythe quite so hard this time around. I’m not sure if she’s growing up as a character, if I’m growing accustomed to her particularly self-cantered point of view, or if it was a combination of both.
There is a lot to like in this series. I like the fact that the gender discrepancy is explored so thoroughly, that the scarcity and value of the tabbies (female werecats) have a profound effect on gender equality and on the power balance between different prides. I like the fact that Rachel Vincent is playing the idea of genetics, it’s fantastic that she’s put some thought in to the scientific plausibility of a werecat race and has show more considered what might happen when werecats interbreed with humans. I also really enjoyed the bloody-minded politics. All of the posturing rang true for me, although (because this is an ongoing series!) it was very clear that there was no personal danger to Faythe. In fact, the only thing I didn’t really like is the Faythe/Marc subplot – I’m not a big Faythe fan (although she annoys me less and less with each book) and Marc does nothing for me as a character so the romantic angst didn’t move me at all… show less