Skinwalker ( Jane Yellowrock 1) by Faith Hunter

Hello to all,

 Time is really flying, i didn't realize it was already so long since i posted a review. I guess i took too much pleasure gardening recently and it slipped my mind, i will try to do better.

So  i will stick with the monthly topic: witches but not only. Today i'm sharing with you my opinion on Shinwalker by Faith Hunter, a promising urban fantasy book first in the Jena Yellowrock series that i plan to continue soon.

Happy Reading!

Publisher: ROC

Publication: 2009

ISBN:  0451462807

Genre: urban fantasy
Violence: strong
Language: normal
sex: mild
Public: 18+

Source: bought

Short description from goodreads :

 First in a brand new series from the author of the rogue mage novels


Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind-a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires and hunts vampires for a living. But now she's been hired by Katherine Fontaneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katie's Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who's killing other vamps...

My opinion:

          The beginning was a little too slow for me as we discover Jane and immediately after Beast, though we learn more about her later in the story she is still mysterious but she has grown on me. 

There are several things I really liked in the story: first the main character’s background, I haven’t read a lot of book with  a Cherokee descent and I admit I’m curious about the language now, to know if  Faith Hunter knows it, just a few words or completely made it up ( which I doubt). The setting is also one I love more and more: Louisiana ..; I started to discover it with Royal Street and now after several books and a new author describing it I really want to see it with my own eyes even more now after I was told by Suzanne who lived there and have read this book that it was accurate.

Then there is Beast, Jane is a skinwalker so it’s a little like a shifter but with a larger range of possibilities. Jane can shift into any kind of animals or even birds, the only detail is that’s is more easy to pick a animal of the same mass as her and to have a fetish , like a bone, of said animal. However even that is not something  that can’t be changed like I said it’s just more easy but she take shift into smaller creature or larger one, just the risk is higher and it’s also possible for her to find the shape of some animals she got really used too even if she doesn’t have a fetish at hand.

That’s the basis but Beast is something more…it’s not just instinct speaking it’s a complete entity with a mind of her own one more animalistic true but more than just animal… we know she is a feline and it’s the same time she isn’t anymore. I don’t want to tell too much about her since it’s part of the story, but I can tell you I really loved her personality and the interactions she had with Jane. It’s something similar and at the same time completely different from the shifters I love so I needed a little time to grasp how it worked and understand Beast better now I just want to read more.

Jane is a vampire hunter; in a world were vampires live in the open while keeping a lot of secrets and mysteries. She doesn’t know a lot about them seeing them mostly as evil that must be destroyed but this time she is hired by the vampires council to take down a rogue… while investigating the murders and hunting the rogue she learns a great deal about vampires, their politics and structures which make her rethink her position a little, even more since she is more than a little attracted to Leo, one of the masters vampire.  She fears them but also hoped they got answers about her origin and past since she has forgotten all her childhood… they don’t know what she is, don’t recognize it but things happen restoring parts of her memories and due to the power of their enemy Beast also accept to share some really interesting details…. Even if I think I have now more question than answers.

The investigations takes times and I never guessed the culprit until the end so it was really good but the murder’s descriptions are quite violent so it’s not for young readers at all. The culprit is found but at the same time, things are resolved and they get even more complicated so it’s an open ending that make you want for more and in this case I can’t wait to meet Molly, her witch best friend, and her children. In this book they intervened thanks to flashback and phone call so we didn’t meet them completely but they look funny and it would be interesting to see how they will react with vampires.

So if you want a good book, despite the slow beginning, with vampires, witches, shapeshifters ( and later were and others since they exist in this universe) with action, violence but also humour and just traces of romance so far Skinwalker is for you! Even more if you wish for some Native American in your reading!  To recommend!

Score:  3,5/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

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