Review: Under My Skin
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 16, 2012
When I first read the premise of this book I was instantly excited, I was excited by the prospect that shifters would finally get their long-deserved chance in the spotlight (I find that while there have been numerous books about werewolves there have been few on their cousins, the shifters, those who do not necessarily shift into wolves, but a whole range of different animal species- in fact, I can personally only recount two other series which deals with shifters, Rachel Vincent's aptly named "Shifters" series and Kelley Armstrong's "Darkness Rising" series), coupled alongside the fact that this book was written by world-renown fantasy author Charles de Lint I knew that I was in for a treat.This book was successful for a number of reasons, one being that it was a high-octane action and adventure that literally kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time while reading it. Another being its memorable cast, from oblivious Des to Chaingang, a big and burly outlaw with a kangaroo mouse residing within him, to passionate and selfless Marina and Josh, a boy trying to find his inner beast in the world.That being said, there were a few things that irked me about this book, one being the change in POV (one chapter was told in Josh's POV, the other told in Marina's)- typically I LOVE a book being told in multiple POVs, but with this book I could have taken or leaved it. I found that it didn't enhance the story in any way (say unlike how the crossed out words in Tahereh Mafi's "Shatter Me" did). Furthermore, I disliked the Elder/ Otherworld aspect of the book (I think that this can be attributed to the fact that when I read this book I had just finished a book whose central focus had been on the Otherworld and I found that the other book had done a much better job with it than this book did)- Like the multiple POVs I don't think that this aspect enchanced the book in any way, it just added an unnecessary level of complexity. Additionally, I disliked the love interest, Elzie- clearly there is a better option out there for Josh (or better yet, a better option right in front of his face), he allowed himself to be swayed by a pretty face rather than someone deserving (I found Elzie to be far too selfish and far too flaky for my liking).All in all, despite my complaints I do think that this is a successful book primarily because of the aforementioned likeable characters and the fast plot. I feel like this is exactly the sort of book that can get hesitant teen boys to not only read but actually care about what they are reading. I am looking forward to seeing what Charles has in store for us in the next book in this series.