Review: what an urban fantasy truly is
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 24, 2012
For months, teenagers in Santa Feliz have been shifting, changing to animals and no one knows why or even how; it's being broadcasted and reported all over the news. Josh also unexpectedly turns out to be one of these shifters as he shifts into a mountain lion when his mother's boyfriend was fighting with him. Now he's a Wildling (what the public calls these shifters) and must keep it a secret or else he'll be taken away like all the others that were discovered.I don't believe I quite understood what an urban fantasy was until I read Under My Skin. It's the perfect blend of fantasy and contemporary, keeping it modern yet at the same time it's touched by the supernatural. It was done so well, the characters and people's reactions to the Wildlings phenomenon, that I could truly believe something like that actually unfolding.The characters were solid and I could see them existing. Josh, his friends and all the other characters just had a lot of depth and it wasn't just that - it was the world as well. Usually in urban fantasy there isn't much focus on the world because unlike fantasy, we're familiar with that world. But in Under My Skin, the world was given a nice focus and I was really aware of it - I could picture it so well.The one thing I didn't like was all the slang. It is how teenagers talk I guess (I should know, I am one) but I  never liked too much slang dialogue in books, it irritates me a little. But I suppose that could be more of a personal thing. Though it was done extremely well, I'll give that. Some authors try to portray how teenagers talk and a lot of times it just comes out as horrible but with Under My Skin it was realistic.The story shifts between the point of views of Josh, our main character, and his best friend Marina. Both point of views were equally interesting. The story was paced very well and I really enjoyed the plot. I definitely wouldn't have been able to guess anything that was coming.Overall Under My Skin, is a wonderful start to the series. Charles de Lint has written many books and you really can see his experience when you read Under My Skin. It'll make you realize what an urban fantasy truly is, full of the supernatural but at the same time mixed with the modern world and real, normal people dealing with it.