Not for Me #1: Faythe's Shenanigans

Some books are not good reading experiences for me. Sometimes these are books everyone loves that I just don't enjoy. There are books I steer clear off because I know I won't like them. So here's my diary page for the books and series that are just not up my alley.

The Shifters series by Rachel Vincent

Rachel Vincent is probably one of my favorite UF authors. I love her writing - love it! And her world-building is fantastic. Her settings are so, so unique and oh-so memorable. You won't find them, or a worthy facsimile of them anywhere in UF-landia. When you come across something similar, her world is always the superior one, always.

But - and it is a major 'but' here - for me, her characters leave a good deal to be desired.  They drive me to violence. I often want to sit them down and beat some common sense into them; or just beat them bloody. It took five books for me not to want to kill Kaylee in the Soul Screamers series. I still want to badly maim all the other characters in that series except for Tod. Same issue for her Unbound series. The response the characters have to revelations or their knee-jerk reactions just frustrate the daylights out of me! To borrow one of the many British phrases I am learning, her characters just take the piss.

Without having ever read a single book in her Stray series, I can say that this series is not for me. I have read several reviews as well as a couple of discussions about the series. Just about everyone - lovers or haters of the books - complain about Faythe, the protagonist. I tend to believe the complaints because they're almost unanimous. And I know I just can't. Her well-loved characters give me pause, so how much more this almost universally panned one? Great world-building or no, I won't be able to deal with Faythe. So I pass over the Shifters series every time I come across it without blinking an eye. It is loved by many of Ms. Vincent's fans, and probably with good reason too. I would love to read more of Ms. Vincent's adult books, since she creates such fantastic settings. It's a shame really, but this is one set of books that are just not for me.