PRE-RELEASE REVIEW: “The Choosing” by Annabelle Jacobs
ABOUT:
Jerath is facing the biggest problem of his life. When boys in his shapeshifter village Eladir get their fangs, they must endure a coming-of-age rite called the Choosing, so they can take on their animal form. The rite is performed on the full moon, but the trouble is the Choosing involves having sex with a girl, and Jerath’s only interested in boys. Even if he manages to somehow get through the rite, he doesn’t know if he’ll ever find a mate in his village, where opposite-sex couples are the norm.
Even worse, he may miss the rite altogether after raiders attack his home and take several young men prisoner. Jerath will need the help of warriors if he’s to free the captive shapeshifters, so with his best friend, Serim, he flees south to find aid. Along the way, they meet Meren, a handsome warrior whose attraction to Jerath is instant and very much returned. But with the next full moon approaching and available time for the prisoners to undergo the Choosing running out, Jerath’s love life is far from his only worry
REVIEW:
I like sinking my teeth into a good paranormal every now and then. I enjoy coming of age and YA as well, and this was a lovely blend of the two. As much as I had high hopes for a killer tale, it fell a bit short. Don’t get me wrong; it was up to scratch…it just didn’t knock me off my feet.
Jacob’s created a magical unique realm consisting of feline shifters intermingling in a world with humans. As much as the focus was on the shifting, it was also lacking in shifting. I suppose it’s unfair to compare feline shifting when I’ve read and adored other cat shifters PNR, but I couldn’t help in doing so.
When they wanted to shift, they merely thought about it and shifted. That was it.
I wanted more. I wanted to feel, hear and know when they shifted. I wanted to become the cat too. I wanted to relish in the magic. I didn’t get it.
The process of ‘the Choosing’ was intriguing. Females are born with the ability to shift; males must go through a rite of passage to develop the ability. When Jerath approach’s the ‘age’ he is overwhelmed with paranoia. He must consummate with a female and well, he’s gay. His village does not accept same sex mating and he may be forced to live his life in hiding or even worse, alone.
When a snatch and capture raid on his village results in the kidnapping of his loved ones, he is forced to grow up straightaway. He sets out for help with his best friend Serim, searching for alliances in a faraway village. Once they stumble across the bordering hunters he finds himself helplessly drawn to the chief’s son, Meren. Can they trust this band of strangers? And how can he stop the boil of emotions threatening to release when he has no desire to so? There are so many reasons why they can’t be together, but sometimes logic takes second place to love.
I liked Jerath. I liked Meren. I liked the secondary characters too. It was evenly paced with magic, action and romance. Ohh and the lovin’ in the furs was pretty hot too!
My biggest niggle…. it was more of a tell and not show. I heard it, it was nice, but I really wanted to feel it.
RATING: 3 STARS
BOOK INFO:
Title: The Choosing
Author: Annabelle Jacobs
Publisher: Dreamspinner
Pages: 210
Release Date: October 18, 2013
Purchase Links: Dreamspinner
A nice in-between book, then. We need some.:)
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Yes!
a lovely in-between story…not bad, but not incredible either.
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