Review: The Turning

Turning Book 1: What Curiosity Kills                
Helen Ellis 
224 pages
Published 2010
Author's Website: http://www.helenelliswrites.com/ 

"My skin shows through: kitten skin, not girl's."

Synopsis

The Turning marks the first book in a new series.  Strange things begin happening to the main character Mary. The teen cannot explain why she begins purring in her sleep at school, why she has a strong craving for milk so powerful that licking it off the floor is not a turn off, or why she is all of a sudden sprouting orange fur.

Luckily for Mary her crush Nick may have the answers she has been searching for, whether she wants to hear the truth or not.

Once Mary begins to accept the fact that she is on the brink of the turning...into a cat the real story begins.  We the readers along with Mary learn that there are two basic types of cats: the doms (domestic house cats) and the strays.

Mary finds she has the chance to suppress the turning but as the story progresses she comes to find that the choice is not so easy. This is the start of her journey.

The Review

I liked this book. Not so sure that I loved it but it was a decent read with an intriguing premises. While the book is about shapeshifters, these are not your typical sexy werewolves, the characters in this story change into cats. We are not talking not the lion and tiger variety but the common housecat.  For me this took a bit of getting used to, most of the books of this genre surround people that shift into powerful strong mystical creatures. Cats do not fit that bill for me.  Ironically enough this was the reason I found the book so interesting. The author is very descriptive which helps the reader to feel like they are actually part of the action. There is a bit of a love story here but it mostly takes a back seat to the development of the story, this may change in future books.

So while I am the first to admit the book does take a bit to get used to with its different approach to the YA paranormal genre but if you stick with it I think you will find it to be a compelling read.