Book Review: Badger to the Bone

 

Badger to the Bone

by Shelly Laurenston

Laurenston is a fairly prolific author of shifter paranormal fiction and romance. I read The Unleashing, part of her Call of Crows series, which incorporated Norse mythology and thoroughly enjoyed that.

The thing you have to understand going in is that these are shifters, people who are not human, and they are very much in tune with the animal side of their nature. Then you have to realize that the three main characters – Max, Charlie, and Stevie – are honey badgers. They are tenacious, aggressive, and fearless. The three girls personify those traits.

They are also deeply loyal to their family and those they consider part of their family, whether or not they were born to that. The three girls have the same good-for-nothing father and have stuck by one another through thick and thin. That’s Max’s family by blood.

Then there’s Max’s teammates, who are family by nature and choice. They are all honey badgers, grew up together, and play on the same basketball team.

Laurentson does a tremendous job of giving back story on the characters to explain, from a human psychological point of view, why they are the way they are. That is, even if they weren’t honey badger shifters.

And there’s usually a romantic couple at the heart of Laurenston’s stories. This book focuses on Max, and a “stray kitty” she brings home in the form of Zeze Vargas. Ze is a cat shifter but he doesn’t know it until Max acquaints him with the shifter world.

Of course, there are complications galore and feuds abound as different factions of different families come into conflict over the shifter tendency to consider themselves above the law and human society.

As I read, I wondered if I was just a little more sensitive to it right now, or if this book really was a lot more savage then the other series I read? I looked back at my review for The Unleashing. Yeah, I mentioned how bloody it was. For some reason, that wasn’t the aspect that stayed with me though.

I think, perhaps, because the story telling is so strong – the characters are well developed and really interesting, plus the plot is faced-paced and intriguing – the bloody parts of the story are able to be skimmed over and generally forgotten if you don’t find them interesting.

If you really don’t like fighting or killing is a stop word for you, then give this one a pass. However, if you’re a fan of urban fantasy or paranormal, then you’re probably able to maintain the distance necessary to enjoy this book.

It’s a jungle out there, a concrete jungle, and these shifters may have human emotions and goals, but they have their own animalistic way of going about getting there. It’s a very interesting read.