Review: A YA where the parents are loving and alive!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 30, 2012
"Shifting Pride" is a coming of age young adult novel where instead of finding herself, Nicki learns that she's a werecat. But she isn't just any werecat...she's the daughter of a really powerful one whose been missing for a year to hide out from the despicable Derek (the leader of the local cat pride). And really what makes Derek so despicable is he's an old guy with the whole saggy skin and face-licking fetish that likes young girls similar to that FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. He's in a similar position of power, using his position to get young girls to screw and then to kill those that oppose him and mount their heads on walls. That part kind of reminds me of "The Governor" from "The Walking Dead" who keeps trophies of his victims in fish tanks.Well in the midst of all this is Xavian, and he is smoking hot. Let me reiterate this girls...if you want a perfect boyfriend, Xavian is it. He's charming, drives a BMW, his parent's house is all modern with contemporary furnishings, Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances, and marble countertops. In contrast the villain has horrible interior decorating ideals, relying on post-Victorian crap that probably smells of mothballs. Oh and Xavian's natural scent/musk from his sweat smells like Old Spice. Like seriously...he smells like "Palm Trees, Sunshine, and Freedom." That's not me...that quote comes from the Old Spice stick and their commercials. And that's Xavian to a tee.Just like any perfect boy, Xavian is delicious. And like all YA, this is a white-washed story filled with creamy-skinned perfect boys and girls. Xavian is rockin' six-pack abs, eyes that are "cerulean"...Do you know what Meryl Streep in the role of Miranda Priestly says of "Cerulean" from "The Devil Wears Prada?" It's one of my favorite quotes and here it is just for you:`This... stuff'? Oh. Okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select... I don't know... that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise. It's not lapis. It's actually cerulean. And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent... wasn't it who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff.'Oh I love Meryl Streep...she was such a bitch in that movie.Anyway, yes...Xavier's eyes are "cerulean" and that just makes him more yummy. And he's the real deal. By the end of the book they are living happily ever after in the Pride.Okay the best thing I liked about this book are the parents. Most YA books tend to have the parents missing or killed. Not so in "Shifting Pride." Laura breaks the stereotype and forges her own territory by making loving parents central to the core of this book. Bravo, Laura! Bravo! *clapsThe thing I didn't like so much was how everyone just took turns getting rescued. In order it was 1) Xavian rescued Nicki from going cat and killing her family 2) Nicki and Xavian rescued dad from the zoo 3) Nicki rescued Xavian and Dad from Derek and 4) Tiffany rescued the first three. So yeah...there's a lot of rescuing and people falling into places where they need to be rescued after they just rescued someone else.That kind of plot device is a little weak, but who cares since there's so much eye-candy in this book.I recommend the purchase and reading of "Shifting Pride" for all ages. It's safe, it's great, and I literally read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down.