by J. J. Bidell
Naomi Roberts finally receives a scholarship for a semester abroad in Maine. When Naomi’s grandmother suddenly claims that Naomi will soon be transformed into a panther, like her great grandmother Romina, Naomi believes it is a final and desperate attempt to keep her from departing to the USA.
Having arrived in Maine, Naomi enjoys her student life with new friends and her first love, Roman. Even though she feels magically drawn to a mysterious clearing in the woods, believes she is being watched and begins to sleepwalk, she does not remember the prophecy of her grandmother. Until her very first transformation. And - Naomi is not alone, which not only exposes her to mortal danger, but also Roman.
I agreed to review this book since I just love werewolves. Yes it isn't a wolf they morph into but a panther. That sounds just about as cool. But for some reason when it is spelled out as werecat it loses its luster. Now I can't help but picture some lame helpless kitten. Yeah, just not doing it for me. The writing in this book was also really hard to follow. There seems to be a lack of transitions so I had to keep rereading sections to figure out what I missed. Except I couldn't figure it out and just had to accept the gaps that were the result. The good news is that the writing improved as the book progressed. I even began to like the characters. But then one of the characters turns out to be a complete opposite of how he is painted in the beginning. Yeah, it turns out he is the villain. And not just any villain but a super creepy rapist. At this point I was reading this book more in the hopes of a good ending. In a way it was a good ending but not since it is all a facade. So the future is now bleak and you will have to repeat this at least five more times. That just screams give up now and welcome oblivion to me. But hopefully things turn out well at the very end. Poor, poor Naomi. Although, in many ways it does seem like she asked for it.
In the end this book wasn't quite my style, it left me with disturbed sleep.
Spoiler Section:
Okay, how could she not notice she had been raped? You would be sore in the morning and not in a way that would be easy to explain away. And why to characters so often decide it is better to fight separately instead of team up for the win? Don't they read books or watch movies? Help is almost always better. I mean look at Kai, he could have been in a completely different world. But deciding to leave the girl for her protection left him blind and resulted in her death as well as his. Will Naomi learn from others mistakes? It doesn't look too promising.
