Alpha by Rachel Vincent

1st October 2010, Mira Books
472 pages, Paperback
Review copy

Fantasy (urban fantasy)

Lots of threats & danger, relationship tension, moderate violence, strong language, some humour, lots of tissues needed

Book blurb

"The Only thing I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt - I would live and die for my pride."


Everything is about to change for werecat Faythe when her father is ousted from the council that controls their secret world. And a shocking tragedy jeopardises her future as Alpha of the pride. 


Now a rebel on the run, Faythe's biggest fight lies ahead. Old allies from the supernatural world are ready to stand by her side. And weretoms Marc and Jace would give their very souls in the duel for Faythe's heart....


Yet as their enemies draw near Faythe knows that she - and she alone - can lead the pride into what may be their final battle.


Nayuleska's thoughts


Alpha is the sixth and final book in this series - I haven't read the rest (yet!), and recommend that you do before reading it. Although it didn't spoil my enjoyment of Alpha. There's a lot of background detail, especially Faythe's relationship with all the other characters but that does get summarised a little throughout the book. I loved how strong Faythe is. She has a strong heart. She isn't the strongest cat on the block and she knows it. She does all she can to keep the pride she belongs to safe. I might be a little cold in saying she really should have figured out which of Jace and Marc she liked the best sooner, but the romantic elements of the book weren't what drew me to it. I'm sort of new to shapeshifters and loved the concept of Faythe being in charge.

There's so much tension in the book - it really is life or death for Faythe a lot of the time. When I started the book I had worked out what the tragedy might be, and I was correct. This didn't spoil it for me though. I was tearing up as it happened. Every reference to it afterwards had me reaching for the tissues - which wasn't easy when I was waiting in my local garage! Books that make me cry rank highly - emotional connections are part of the reading experience. Faythe has ticked off an awful lot of people who want revenge, but her pride will stand by her no matter what. I learnt a lot about werecat culture, which was fascinating. The description of what happens when Faythe and the others shift was a compelling read. I'm a little sad the series has finished (even though I've only read 1 book) because I feel that there's still a lot of work left for Faythe and more to learn about her rather large family.

Final conclusion
A fantastic story about werecats, full of emotional drama, action and revenge.

More about the shifter series can be found on Rachel's website

If you liked this, another werecat book to try is Heart's Sentinel by PJ Schnyder