I really liked Stray!  I've read a few of Vincent's series and I'm glad I picked this one up.  

I liked Faith, and thought she was a great character.  She is very independent, and doing her own thing is important.  She wants more than what is expected of her, but I also felt like she started to understand the power her own mom had.  Faith is definitely smart and she's a fighter.  While she can take care of herself, I also liked seeing how protective she was of her cousin.  I'm curious to see how much she changes over the course of the series.

Faith lives in an interesting world.  I like it, though.  I mean, there is definitely a structure there, though I think there's a lot we don't know about the rest of the world.  I have the feeling we'll see a lot of Faith's Pride, but will also see some of the other ones.  That's what I'm hoping, because I think there's a lot to work with.

The one thing that I was reminded of was her Menagerie series, which I still need to finish.  I have no idea why I kept thinking of that series.  Well, it is set in a carnival, and you see mermaids, minotaurs and other mythological creatures.  The two series are two very different worlds and in no way connected to each other, but it makes me wonder how the two would come together.  It makes me wonder what other creatures/cryptids exist in Faith's world.  

Anyway, Faith ends up in a spot of trouble.  Which is a vast understatement, but things work themselves out in the end.  I knew they would, but there are definitely some obstacles along the way.  It makes me want to know more about the strays that are pretty important to this story.  I feel like there's more to them than what we're getting, and I feel like this is not the last we've heard of them.  

I am wondering a few things, though.  For starters, what is going on with Andrew?  I get why he came up at the beginning of the book, and then we didn't hear from him for most of the book.  Until the end, when we find out he just randomly left school, and vanished without a trace.  I honestly can't remember if they even broke up or if they were still together.  A lot happens, and it was either mentioned and I wasn't paying attention, or it was never mentioned and happened off-the-page.  

I am glad I went with the audio book.  I liked Jennifer Van Dyck as the narrator, and her voice sounded really familiar.  That was pretty odd because this is the first book of hers that I've listened to.  But her voice reminds me a little of Gabra Zackman, who is pretty awesome.  Maybe that's why I was reminded of Menagerie- I listened to that series, which is narrated by Zackman.  I'm definitely going to continue series on audio.  

My Rating: 4 stars.  I really liked Stray, and I can't wait to see what's in store for Faith.  

Overall I think this book was 3.5 stars. Even though I like the story, I do think it was a bit too long. The story could have been told in 350 pages instead of 600+. I found myself skipping over some portions that were too detailed and didn't really matter. I liked enough to read the 2nd book in this series. So, with all the mixed reviews out there, I would say give it a try.

This was an exciting read and I was glued to the pages. About a werecat family...anyway the only thing that I wasn't sure about was the violence in the interpersonal/interwerecat relationships. I suppose that cats play rough but it was sometimes a little strange and uncomfortable when you think of them as human relationships.

DNF at 50% I tried but Faythe really pissed me off. Maybe I'll try later just for Marc's sake.

Great start to a series. I was drawn into the world of the Werecats from the first few chapters.

I gave it 2 stars because for some reason I couldn’t put it down and that’s worth at least 2 stars. I also gave it only 2 stars because Faythe, the main character, can be frustrating (to put it mildly). Her lack of self awareness while being introspective is common to the genre and to first person narrative, but her personal plight for freedom is ridiculous in the context of the plot. I am writing this review to give warning that anyone who can’t read about rape or kidnapping should skip this one.

This is the first book I read since becoming a writer. I only gave it 3 stars because my rating system has taken a drastic turn. It was entertaining and makes me want to read more in the series but the action was weak at times and the ending was somewhat anti-climatic.

I apologize in advance for this helter-skelter review. It is past my bedtime but I wanted to write a quick review with the information fresh in my head.


I enjoyed reading this but there were several flaws. Once I was able to overlook those flaws I was able to enjoy the book.

The story is about Faythe, a werecat who is a grad student in Texas. She has ‘run away’ from the Pack—her father’s the patient leader, of course. For some reason he has allowed her to ignore her family/Pack and attend college and he also provides surveillance, in the form of enforcers, to make sure she is safe. Without warning a stray arrives on campus and attacks her (she did go searching for the fight). Her father sends his top enforcer to retrieve her so she can return to the safety of the Pack grounds. Of course the enforcer sent to retrieve her is her ex-boyfriend who has not gotten over her.
The story centers on a weak plot—foreign werecats who are kidnapping tabbies (prized female werecats) and selling them as wives.—but does manage to have some good dialogue.

The bad points—there are several. First, visualizing the setting and characters was difficult due to the lack of descriptions. “Her hair was brown.” “Running through the trees. ‘ Not enough to paint a visual pictures.

Second, Faythe was too fickle in both emotion and action. She was in college and hated her family. She wanted to avoid them at all costs then suddenly she arrived home, realized she loved them and missed being around them. She wanted to hang out with them and race through the woods with them.

She was dating Andrew, a human. She used to date Marc, one of the enforcers. She hated Marc and dumped him before leaving for college. He pined for her but she didn’t return the feelings. Suddenly she is back at home and completely forgets about Andrew. One strange, awkward phone call is all she has—she didn’t even call him.

Much of the time Faythe did stupid things that even she realized were stupid. At least once she mentioned that her actions were the same as the character who was about to die in a horror movie. She also was immature for a 23 year old grad student. Her bratty behavior was always ignored.



The good points—the character development started increasing as the story unfolded. It needs improvement but there was enough to help build some foundation for the story. Some of the characters were likeable, despite the lack of details. I enjoyed the basic story idea of an independent thinking young woman accepting the responsibility of her family and future.



The ending has me wondering what happened to Andrew. Was this the author’s way of keeping him in the plot or did he just drop out of college because Faythe did?
I plan to read the next book. There was a lot of room for improvement and I hope it is there.