Shifting review

Description: After bouncing from foster home to foster home, Magdalene Mae is transferred to what should be her last foster home in the tiny town of Silver City, New Mexico. Now that she's eighteen and has only a year left in high school, she's determined to stay out of trouble and just be normal. Agreeing to go to the prom with Bridger O'Connell is a good first step. Fitting in has never been her strong suit, but it's not for the reasons most people would expect-it all has to do with the deep secret that she is a shape shifter. But even in her new home danger lurks, waiting in the shadows to pounce. They are the Skinwalkers of Navajo legend, who have traded their souls to become the animal whose skin they wear-and Maggie is their next target.

Full of romance, mysticism, and intrigue, this dark take on Navajo legend will haunt readers to the final page.

My thoughts: The thing about Shifting is that since Maggie doesn’t know what she is, we don’t either. It says she’s a shape shifter in the description, but there’s more to the story than that. I thought that’s exactly what she was, but once the history off her “people” were revealed, it was clear I’d been a little off. But it was great to learn more about what made her so special as the story went on.

As for Bridger, I liked him well enough. I thought he was a little too mushy with the love aspect (not at first, but near the end) but since there is a justifiable reason (sort of) for it, I excused the over the top lovey dovey parts. In this case Maggie acted similar to Bridger, but with everything she’s gone through with never having a real family or being abused at a young age, her actions are understandable.

And although nothing with the plot really happens until the end, I’m actually pretty excited about learning more about the groups of people who can change into animals. I’ve never read any Navajo themed books, but this was a great one to start with. It had legends, history and other parts of the Navajo culture mixed throughout it. This was what made everything fresh and exciting, because when certain characters were explaining rituals or legends, it felt real. Like there were people really roaming the earth who could change into animals. As long as this series continues to be different and give me more info on the Navajo culture, I’ll be more than excited about the next book.