I loved the concept behind "Shifting" - orphaned teenage girl and shape shifter trying to be normal. I was pleasantly surprised to find I also loved the execution of the plot. Wiggins wove her story well, with seemingly the right amount of genuine surprises and those moments of "that's what I suspected!" Maggie Mae is a multidimensional, sympathetic and believable character, and I found myself genuinely caring about what happened to her over the course of the book. The supporting cast was also amazing, particularly characteres like Yana and Naalyehe. I'm definitely a fan of this book and will absolutely be looking for more by Wiggins (maybe even a sequel, perhaps?) ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: One word: angst. This book is full of it. The romance tears at your heart, the mythology is unusual and exciting and the minor characters are unusually helpful!

Opening Sentence: I woke to the sun setting behind mountains and peeled my forehead from the car window.

The Review:

Love this book. Just saying.

Maggie has finally come to the last foster home before she turns 18, but it’s not everything its cracked up to be. Sure her current family is just her agent’s mom who’s strict yet understanding. Sure she’s going to prom with possibly the cutest guy in town. Sure she’s got the track coach under her thumb. But there is someone out there on the hunt for her, following her tracks and eventually sniffing around her work. Even worse: she’s not sure why animals keep attacking her. As in trying to kill her. Is it just coincidence or is it because Maggie has a special gift – or curse – the ability to shape-shift into almost any animal by just thinking about it. Just when her life starts taking a turn for the better, the attacks start getting worse and the only person she feels safe with abandons her. And Maggie thought that this new start is just the next step before freedom…

This book. Agh. It was some of the most angst filled books I’ve read in a while. And I LOVED it. From the torn and broken characters to the Navajo mythology, I loved every second of this book (except the beginning. It was boring. But once Wiggins introduces Bridger O’Connell, there is no going back.) Wiggins’ writing can be so intense at times, but there are the light, fun times that give the reader a breath before the next intense scene comes and destroys your heart. AH! It’s an emotional roller-coaster ride.

So you know how whenever a minor character isn’t the least bit helpful or friendly, they usually end up dying? (No? Maybe I’ve just read too many dystopian stories lately.) Well, I kept expecting somebody to die, but I kept reading and nothing. Nobody dies. (This is a misleading sentence, nobody nice dies.) And I appreciate this. It’s refreshing when you expect a character you really like to die, and they don’t. This is just one of the many positives about this book. (I feel like this last sentence is a cliche in a school essay…and since this isn’t an essay I’m keeping it. Take THAT English teachers!)

Maggie is such a lovable character. She’s been though multiple arrests for indecent exposure, shifts into an animal on a full moon, and has jumped around from family to family without really getting know people for fear that she’ll just leave anyway. She just wants to get through senior year and move on with her life. I love when a main character is already broken, yet they keep on persevering though the hard times. Maggie has obstacle after obstacle fall in her path, yet she comes back with more determination the next time. Although her own emotional roller-coaster is easier with her best friend at her side.

Bridger O’Connell. In the beginning he’s just a jock and cold shoulder supreme until he finally breaks down and gets to know Maggie. (Cliche, right?) But despite the predictable relationship that develops, Bridger is still one of my favorite YA boys. He has his own personal responsibilities that he has to keep secret from Maggie and yet he still tries to get to know her. He’s banned from dating “local girls” (one of the reasons this makes the book so angsty) yet he still wants to befriend Maggie. I love him for his bravery and determination to still care for Maggie, despite his parents’ wishes. It’s both endearing and sweet.

Overall, there’s not much I didn’t like about the book. The character arcs were pretty predictable, but it’s the how’s that kept me reading. This could have been such a great series, but the book had a satisfying ending. My suggestion: READ IT. You won’t regret it.

Notable Scene:

“I’ve really missed you,” I whispered, looking into my empty mug.

He let out a long breath of air. “Believe me, I know.”

I look at him.

“Maggie, I don’t know what’s wrong with me–I feel everything you feel. Even when you aren’t beside me. Even when I’m asleep.” For the first time I noticed how tired he looked–how miserable. Black half-moons darkened the skin beneath his eyes and his cheeks were almost gaunt and covered with black stubble. “I took Angelene all the way to Deming for dinner, hoping to get you out of my head, but no. All that evening, all I could feel was miserable anguish. Your miserable anguish! And this morning at Wal-Mart, it was all I could do not to fall to the floor and cry, your emotions were so strong.” He reached his hand across the table and took mine. His eyes turned haunted. “And the night you were at the mine…” A shiver racked his body. “What happened? Why were you there?”

“You were there, too,” I accused.

“Of course I was there! Your fear–it was just like tonight! I thought you were going to be killed!”

FTC Advisory: Walker Childrens/Bloomsbury provided me with a copy of Shifting. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

I was SO excited when I found out I was going to be a part of the Shifting Book Blog Tour that the gracious Elana Johnson set up. I’d been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Shifting and when it finally came in my mailbox last Thursday, I dove right into it!!

The Good: Believe it or not…this is actually my first encounter with Skinwalkers…I’ve seen Shifters in a couple of other books I’ve read, but not Skinwalkers. I was impressed with Bethany’s treatment of them. They came across as creepy and evil. I think the first thing I really loved about this book was the setting. I love the New Mexico setting and there were some points I felt like I was actually there, it was described so well. I LOVE the Navajo culture weaved in. I love history, I love different cultures and I thought it was great to bring in a culture that really thrives on legends and storytelling. Maggie Mae, Bridger and Mrs. Carpenter were definitely my favorite characters and I loved that Maggie Mae and Bridger’s relationship developed over time and it wasn’t the “insta-love” type of relationship. (Those really irritate and turn me off.) Also, I really appreciated that Bethany gave Maggie Mae a great role model in Mrs. Carpenter. I loved that Mrs. Carpenter was not a good role model because she was pious, pure, prim and proper but because she truly loved Maggie with intensity and because she believed in Maggie Mae. She was a good role model because she was a good person.

The Bad: While I enjoyed this novel, I thought there were quite a few things that needed work. I really wish we could have gotten more background on Maggie Mae. There were only bits and pieces of information from her past and only a slight indication at the end as to why she was who she was. Same thing with Bridger… I wish we were given some more information on his parents and his Navajo background. I especially wish that I would have gotten some more background on the Skinwalkers. Since this was my first encounter with them, I wanted more explanation or theory. I thought a lot of things could have been better fleshed out as well. The characters, the reason and theory behind the skinwalkers versus the shifters, the plot and the relationships.

Overall, this was a pretty enjoyable read. I did receive the ARC version of this book, so maybe some of my concerns were addressed in the final version. Also... I really don't like this cover! The cover for the ARC is SO much better and makes more sense...I have no clue why they kept this as the cover..it doesn't really even make sense. That being said, I thought this book deserved a B+!! ( )

This is by far the best novel I've read all year. Maggie Mae is a character that you can't help but fall in love with. From the first page, she is extremely endearing, and you are overcome with the need to know her story. She's a foster child who has been bounced around within the system in Albuquerque, NM. After multiple arrests for indecent exposure, she gets transferred to Mr. Petersen's (her social worker) mother's home in Silver City, NM. Mrs. Carpenter, her new foster mother, is a lovable character as well, and she helps Maggie Mae accept who she is.
Once in Silver City, Maggie Mae meets Bridger O'Connell, an extremely rich boy of Navajo decent. They get off to a rocky start, but they become fast friends. Bridger comes to her rescue when the mean girls at school tell everyone of her past and say that Maggie Mae used to be a prostitute. Maggie, of course, is not a prostitute, she's just a shifter. The bullying scene where some of her secrets come out, though, is heartbreaking.
While parts of the novel can cause you to get teary eyed, there are also some funny parts, such as when Maggie tries and fails to change into certain animals, but ends up getting stuck in between being that animal and her human form. There are also some really intense fight scenes and enough mystery to keep you on the edge of your seat.
The relationship between Bridger and Maggie is believable and develops at a slow, natural pace. There is no insta-love, thankfully, and they become friends before they decide they like each other as anything else. Maggie is not co-dependent. She does not need Bridger to survive, and after all she's been through, she still has a will to live. She is not a self-sacrificing heroine, instead, she looks out for those in her life as well as herself to the best of her ability. She's a fighter, and she's an excellent role model for girls and women alike.
My favorite parts of the book are the Navajo legends that are woven into the story. Wiggins treated the Navajo with extreme respect, and she put some very interesting Navajo lore into the story. I really enjoyed the explanations of skinwalkers and the various protection rituals that the Navajo use. She obviously did her research before writing this novel, and it paid off.
The climax of the novel is a bit shocking, and it will have you on the edge of your seat, biting your nails until you make it through. The ending wraps the novel up nicely, and it feels like Maggie Mae's story is over, but I still hope for a sequel because I loved all of the characters so much that I want to see more of them!
The romance is sweet, the fight scenes have plenty of action, but aren't graphic, and there is no cursing in the novel. There is also no drinking or drug use by minors. Because of this, I'd recommend this book to anyone 12 years of age or older.
Shifting is a beautiful story that will keep you hooked until the very end. Be prepared to lose some sleep with this book! ( )

I’ve been looking forward to reading Shifting by Bethany Wiggins ever since first hearing of it. I love Native American folklore! Also, the synopsis mentions skinwalkers, which of course makes me think of the awesome Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series. So basically, I knew this was definitely the book for me. Turns out I was right! I absolutely loved almost everything about it.

In my opinion, one of the biggest mistakes a paranormal/fantasy author can make is sacrificing characterization for the sake of developing the supernatural plotline. Oftentimes, authors make the characters the second priority and the book suffers for it. Bethany Wiggins definitely knew better – I established an emotional connection with Maggie Mae almost from the get-go. She is finally about to graduate high school and grow out of the foster system she has been a part of almost her whole life. When the book starts, she is being shuttled to yet another new place, in order to finish her education.

Almost nothing gets to me as fast as seeing a kid get treated badly when they don’t deserve it. Misunderstandings have plagued Maggie her whole life and she has definitely not had an easy life. Things don’t get a lot better for her in Silver City, New Mexico (at least not at first). There is a scene where she is surrounded by other kids getting bullied that literally had me crying before I even realized – I was so deep into the story that it took me a few minutes to realize how much it was affecting me! It was a truly horrific scene, freakin’ bullies.

The love interest, Bridger, is also one heck of a complex dude. For the majority of the book, I couldn’t figure out how I felt about him! His involvement in the climax of the plot also gave me pause – things got a little weird, y’all. I’m actually a teeny bit disappointed in the end, things worked out a little bit too easily considering all the suspense and build-up. Still – it was engaging to the last, so I’m being pretty forgiving.

Overall, I loved Maggie and Bridger’s story and I highly recommend it to everyone. I loved seeing the characters be the top priority while still balancing an extremely interesting shifter/skinwalker plotline. Definitely a book worth reading! ( )