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jillianlily's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
kathydavie's review
4.0
First in the Shifters urban fantasy series that so far seems to revolve around Faythe, a werecat irked at her independence being reined in.
I've realized I've been somewhat unfair in denigrating books whose characters I find stupid. And Vincent's Faythe did make me hope she would disappear into the jungles of South America, but I kept reminding myself that she is a, okay, not a teenager exactly even though she does act like one. It's more that she is incredibly spoiled and self-obsessed. As her observations change toward the end of the book, I've come to realize that Vincent is setting the stage for her series. I'm still gonna whine though! And hope I can do as well in writing a teen's behavior should it ever come to that!
We're one-fourth into the story before Faythe realizes that her father has been grooming her to take over for years and that Marc was also her father's choice.
Arghh! Faythe relates all the tricks she pulls, the number of times she's driven Marc nuts and then complains when she gets penalized. It's just not fair! Bitch. She talks about how hard she works to make them respect her. To give her the same respect they'd give each other. Just don't make her do something she doesn't wanna do...wahhhh… Then she decides she wants out. Out of the Pride. She wants to go Rogue. And she announces this in the middle of the kidnappings. After a bit, she realizes that "well, she just can't back down now…" Well, duhhh, wait to make the announcement AFTER the kidnappings are resolved. What??? Is she 8??
She encourages Jace to kiss her, touch her, and Marc comes storming in, throwing Jace into a wall. The other guys are angry at her for instigating this and...wahhh…everything's always Faythe's fault. Wait, how old is she again?? Yes, Marc does have anger issues. Which Faythe knows about. She is also quite well aware of the possessive nature of a cat. But, hey, this is Faythe.
I can't help it, she drives me nuts. Here her father has been teaching what's at stake and how to rule. She knows about the danger stalking all the unmated female werecats---both Abby and Sara have been kidnapped and there are probably two psycho strays roaming around.. So, naturally, she takes off in the middle of the night to "take a walk". Ya almost want her to be taken far, far away.
Stray is a weird combination of the practical and the huh-what??
As Faythe bemoans how awful her life is what with Daddy setting all these spies around her, she's about to be hit with a one-two punch: a stray attacks her and Marc has arrived to take her home for Sara Di Carlo has been kidnapped.
It's primarily a bitch-fest of dramatic proportions in which Faythe continues to whine about her her lack of independence; how awful Marc is for being so attractive, wanting her, and being so incredibly possessive about it; how badly she doesn't want to turn into her yes-sir, no-sir mother; and preening herself on how clever she's always been to escape her family's watch even as they've always managed to track her down. A constant she must suddenly rely upon when Faythe is kidnapped by the same men who raped, tortured, and murdered Sara.
Faythe does at least fight back...daddy should provide Faythe with lots more lessons in practical tactics in fighting. Ya just don't take time out to translate when you should be takin' 'em down. She also spends too much time thinking about victory dances when she should be ensuring her safety!
Faythe Sanders is a werecat proud of her ability to do an end-run around her father in staying on at school after her initial graduation. She's currently enrolled to achieve a master's degree.
Marc Ramos is the heir to the Pride and Faythe's ex-boyfriend. Taken in as a stray when he was 14-years-old, he has the drive, the ambition, and the decisiveness needed to lead; now he works as Sander's head Enforcer for the Pride. Michael Sanders is the oldest brother, has a law degree, and is married to a full-human supermodel. He has his own home within Pride territory. Additional brothers include Ethan (Jace is his best friend) and Owen; they and Parker Pierce are enforcers. Technically, Ryan is another brother but he chose to go Rogue and no one is allowed to mention his name. Jace is another enforcer and he wants Faythe. Daddy (Greg Sanders) is an architect and the alpha for his Pride. Faythe's mother is "a remnant of the June Cleaver days of intact families and repressed emotions"; a woman Faythe almost despises for her spinelessness, at least until Faythe has one of her rare fits of growing up!
Vic is Sara's brother and one of Sander's enforcers. His father, Umberto "Bert" Di Carlo, is a friend to Greg Sanders and the Alpha for a neighboring territory; Donna is the mother. His daughter, Sara, has been kidnapped just before her wedding to Kyle. Sean had been a contender for Sara.
Seventeen-year-old Abby Wade has also been kidnapped. Her parents, Rick (Faythe's mom's brother) and Melissa. Nikki Davidson is another target.
Dr. Danny Carver is a forensic pathologist working as an ME for the state who runs interference when strays or pride members show up on his slab. Miguel is a South American werecat plotting the kidnappings of all unmated tabbies. He prefers to sample terrified wares. One of his confederates is Eric, who wants Abby.
Sammi is/was Faythe's roommate in college. Andrew was her human boyfriend.
The cover is quite colorful in its green background and the red and navy of Faythe's cropped top and low-slung jeans with a fall of her dark brown hair over one shoulder.
The title is the topic for the Pride is definitely concerned about Strays.
My Take
I've realized I've been somewhat unfair in denigrating books whose characters I find stupid. And Vincent's Faythe did make me hope she would disappear into the jungles of South America, but I kept reminding myself that she is a, okay, not a teenager exactly even though she does act like one. It's more that she is incredibly spoiled and self-obsessed. As her observations change toward the end of the book, I've come to realize that Vincent is setting the stage for her series. I'm still gonna whine though! And hope I can do as well in writing a teen's behavior should it ever come to that!
We're one-fourth into the story before Faythe realizes that her father has been grooming her to take over for years and that Marc was also her father's choice.
Arghh! Faythe relates all the tricks she pulls, the number of times she's driven Marc nuts and then complains when she gets penalized. It's just not fair! Bitch. She talks about how hard she works to make them respect her. To give her the same respect they'd give each other. Just don't make her do something she doesn't wanna do...wahhhh… Then she decides she wants out. Out of the Pride. She wants to go Rogue. And she announces this in the middle of the kidnappings. After a bit, she realizes that "well, she just can't back down now…" Well, duhhh, wait to make the announcement AFTER the kidnappings are resolved. What??? Is she 8??
She encourages Jace to kiss her, touch her, and Marc comes storming in, throwing Jace into a wall. The other guys are angry at her for instigating this and...wahhh…everything's always Faythe's fault. Wait, how old is she again?? Yes, Marc does have anger issues. Which Faythe knows about. She is also quite well aware of the possessive nature of a cat. But, hey, this is Faythe.
I can't help it, she drives me nuts. Here her father has been teaching what's at stake and how to rule. She knows about the danger stalking all the unmated female werecats---both Abby and Sara have been kidnapped and there are probably two psycho strays roaming around.. So, naturally, she takes off in the middle of the night to "take a walk". Ya almost want her to be taken far, far away.
Stray is a weird combination of the practical and the huh-what??
The Story
As Faythe bemoans how awful her life is what with Daddy setting all these spies around her, she's about to be hit with a one-two punch: a stray attacks her and Marc has arrived to take her home for Sara Di Carlo has been kidnapped.
It's primarily a bitch-fest of dramatic proportions in which Faythe continues to whine about her her lack of independence; how awful Marc is for being so attractive, wanting her, and being so incredibly possessive about it; how badly she doesn't want to turn into her yes-sir, no-sir mother; and preening herself on how clever she's always been to escape her family's watch even as they've always managed to track her down. A constant she must suddenly rely upon when Faythe is kidnapped by the same men who raped, tortured, and murdered Sara.
Faythe does at least fight back...daddy should provide Faythe with lots more lessons in practical tactics in fighting. Ya just don't take time out to translate when you should be takin' 'em down. She also spends too much time thinking about victory dances when she should be ensuring her safety!
The Characters
Faythe Sanders is a werecat proud of her ability to do an end-run around her father in staying on at school after her initial graduation. She's currently enrolled to achieve a master's degree.
Marc Ramos is the heir to the Pride and Faythe's ex-boyfriend. Taken in as a stray when he was 14-years-old, he has the drive, the ambition, and the decisiveness needed to lead; now he works as Sander's head Enforcer for the Pride. Michael Sanders is the oldest brother, has a law degree, and is married to a full-human supermodel. He has his own home within Pride territory. Additional brothers include Ethan (Jace is his best friend) and Owen; they and Parker Pierce are enforcers. Technically, Ryan is another brother but he chose to go Rogue and no one is allowed to mention his name. Jace is another enforcer and he wants Faythe. Daddy (Greg Sanders) is an architect and the alpha for his Pride. Faythe's mother is "a remnant of the June Cleaver days of intact families and repressed emotions"; a woman Faythe almost despises for her spinelessness, at least until Faythe has one of her rare fits of growing up!
Vic is Sara's brother and one of Sander's enforcers. His father, Umberto "Bert" Di Carlo, is a friend to Greg Sanders and the Alpha for a neighboring territory; Donna is the mother. His daughter, Sara, has been kidnapped just before her wedding to Kyle. Sean had been a contender for Sara.
Seventeen-year-old Abby Wade has also been kidnapped. Her parents, Rick (Faythe's mom's brother) and Melissa. Nikki Davidson is another target.
Dr. Danny Carver is a forensic pathologist working as an ME for the state who runs interference when strays or pride members show up on his slab. Miguel is a South American werecat plotting the kidnappings of all unmated tabbies. He prefers to sample terrified wares. One of his confederates is Eric, who wants Abby.
Sammi is/was Faythe's roommate in college. Andrew was her human boyfriend.
The Cover
The cover is quite colorful in its green background and the red and navy of Faythe's cropped top and low-slung jeans with a fall of her dark brown hair over one shoulder.
The title is the topic for the Pride is definitely concerned about Strays.
magencorrie's review
4.0
4.5 stars
Emotions all over the place!!
First off, I'm so happy I finally picked this one up off my shelf and gave it a go. I love Rachel Vincent, and this book by her was, like her Soul Screamers series, an emotional roller-coaster read! Each page had me on the edge of my sit, stomach in knots and breath trapped in my throat.
To say this book gave me a full range of emotions would be a lie, I was all over the place, experiencing every emotion known and unknown to man. I also know that I love me some werecats, never thought I would, but Rachel has proven me wrong. And I am happy about that.
Loved Faythe, really enjoyed Marc and I couldn't get enough of the other werecats! I simply loved this book!
Another series by Rachel that I'm going to be obsessed with and that will throw my heart all over the place!
(Rest of review to come)
Emotions all over the place!!
First off, I'm so happy I finally picked this one up off my shelf and gave it a go. I love Rachel Vincent, and this book by her was, like her Soul Screamers series, an emotional roller-coaster read! Each page had me on the edge of my sit, stomach in knots and breath trapped in my throat.
To say this book gave me a full range of emotions would be a lie, I was all over the place, experiencing every emotion known and unknown to man. I also know that I love me some werecats, never thought I would, but Rachel has proven me wrong. And I am happy about that.
Loved Faythe, really enjoyed Marc and I couldn't get enough of the other werecats! I simply loved this book!
Another series by Rachel that I'm going to be obsessed with and that will throw my heart all over the place!
(Rest of review to come)
clairedrinkstea's review
3.0
Stray took a bit to get in to but once the perverbial s*** hit the fan it got good!
Faythe (silly spelling) may be 23 years old but to me she was acting like a 13 year old. Her internal monologue of not being treated as an equal because she's a girl, rants over the protective nature of her pride and unreasonable/mistimed demands started to fall on deaf ears. I wanted to scream at her to grow the hell up and act her age. She may have spent five years at college but she has gained no real world experience as "Daddy" payed for everything so she felt no responsibility.
Once the bad guys came on the scene properly though it got better. Faythe started to act like the adult she is and her whining thankfully decreased dramatically. Faythe has the chance to become a strong, dynamic female lead (and Alpha) and as this is the first book in the series I will concentrate on the elements I enjoyed and hope she does some serious growing up in future installments.
I like Marc, Ethan, Owen, Parker and Jace and hope their presence remains strong. I want to see the dynamic between her parents who have great potential as secondary characters.
Overall a decent start once you get into it.
Faythe (silly spelling) may be 23 years old but to me she was acting like a 13 year old. Her internal monologue of not being treated as an equal because she's a girl, rants over the protective nature of her pride and unreasonable/mistimed demands started to fall on deaf ears. I wanted to scream at her to grow the hell up and act her age. She may have spent five years at college but she has gained no real world experience as "Daddy" payed for everything so she felt no responsibility.
Once the bad guys came on the scene properly though it got better. Faythe started to act like the adult she is and her whining thankfully decreased dramatically. Faythe has the chance to become a strong, dynamic female lead (and Alpha) and as this is the first book in the series I will concentrate on the elements I enjoyed and hope she does some serious growing up in future installments.
I like Marc, Ethan, Owen, Parker and Jace and hope their presence remains strong. I want to see the dynamic between her parents who have great potential as secondary characters.
Overall a decent start once you get into it.
nicolerene's review
5.0
Stray is the first novel in Rachel Vincent's shifter series, and iis about a were-cat named Faythe who's greatest desire in life is to attain independence from her Pride (her family). When she is dragged home from college, kicking and screaming, after another female were-cat goes missing, she begins a battle of wills with her father over her freedom. Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding the missing werecat gets more and more complicated and Faythe must decide where her priorities lie.
I loved this book! I put off reading it for awhile because the whole "were-cat" thing was a little wierd for me. I kept picturing people shifting into house-cat sized felines and I was really put off. To clarify, in Rachel Vincent's books, were-cats are actually South American jungle cats and resemble black panthers. Once I realized that, I couldn't put the book down.
Faythe reminds me of so many young woman who fight tooth and nail against the pressures placed on them by their families. She just wants to be left alone to live her life and has no desire to settle for being barefoot and pregnant , which is what she believes her father wants for her.
The male characters in this book were very strong and I loved the playful interactions between Faythe and her "brothers". Faythe has a big mouth and she always seems to be getting herself into trouble with her Dad or one of the male members of the Pride.
This book contained plenty of suspense, action, and more than it's share of steamy interactions between characters.
I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
I loved this book! I put off reading it for awhile because the whole "were-cat" thing was a little wierd for me. I kept picturing people shifting into house-cat sized felines and I was really put off. To clarify, in Rachel Vincent's books, were-cats are actually South American jungle cats and resemble black panthers. Once I realized that, I couldn't put the book down.
Faythe reminds me of so many young woman who fight tooth and nail against the pressures placed on them by their families. She just wants to be left alone to live her life and has no desire to settle for being barefoot and pregnant , which is what she believes her father wants for her.
The male characters in this book were very strong and I loved the playful interactions between Faythe and her "brothers". Faythe has a big mouth and she always seems to be getting herself into trouble with her Dad or one of the male members of the Pride.
This book contained plenty of suspense, action, and more than it's share of steamy interactions between characters.
I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
misslover's review against another edition
5.0
I will admit it's a little shocking as to how many low star reviews were given for this book. I am already a huge Rachel Vincent fan as I read her Soul Screamer series first. To go from her YA series to this one, I already had my interest and excitement achieved. I have to agree that yes, this book was very long. I felt like I read for hours and barley moved a percentage. But at the same time I don't feel like the book could have been any shorter without leaving great detail and understanding of the characters, storyline etc. That right there made me very happy. Secondly, the main character Faythe was badass. Yes she's spoiled and bratty with her "daddy" I'm a rebel attitude, but she was a whole new type of "bitch" for me that made me love her attitude and "I-dont-take-no-bullshit" type of girl.
After we finally got through which characters matter and where relationships stood the story finally took off. I thought it was amazing. The small little twists and turns kept your curiosity going and your stomach aching to see how things would turn out.
I rarley ever give 5 stars to the first book of a series, but this one impressed me to no end. If you can handle a long-detalied, information, must read one more chapter, type of story, then this is it :)
Spoiler
Marc, *sigh* the minute he came to her school to take her back home and his feelings shifted when he heard she had a boyfriend named Andrew, I knew I liked him from that moment on.After we finally got through which characters matter and where relationships stood the story finally took off. I thought it was amazing. The small little twists and turns kept your curiosity going and your stomach aching to see how things would turn out.
Spoiler
I would have loved to learn more about Ryan after the fact, and what his real punishment and where he stood after everything subsided, but was left disappointed. Maybe this is because something else with him will happen later in the series? We shall see....I rarley ever give 5 stars to the first book of a series, but this one impressed me to no end. If you can handle a long-detalied, information, must read one more chapter, type of story, then this is it :)
courtneyyloves's review
3.0
I think I had to high of expectations, because this book wasn't as good as i thought it would be.
madame_medusa's review
5.0
I loved this and I'm planning on reading the others. I'm not going to say anything else. You should read it yourself... sorry