Alpha - Rachel Vincent

Title: Alpha
(Book 6 - and last - of the Shifters series)

Author: Rachel Vincent

Publisher: Mira

Release Date: 2010

Category: Urban Fantasy

Source: From the publisher

Paperback: 472 pages

Summary from Amazon:

Power, revenge, and justice - prepare yourself for the final battle! In the final chapter of "The Shifters Series", Faythe and her Pride must fight a tyrannical werecat intent on taking over the territorial council, and the south-central Pride in particular. It's down to Faythe to take on the role of Alpha before she feels completely ready for the job. Forced to rise to the occasion, Faythe must balance experience, advice, and the urge for vengeance. She must also finally choose between Marc and Jace...No decisions will be is easy, and not everyone will survive this epic fight to the death.

~~~~~~~~

I can't review this book without writing spoilers for the 5 previous books of the series. If you haven't read any of the Shifters books (yet), head over to my general post on how awesome these books are (here)!

I have read the five previous Shifters books in a couple of weeks and I have been so impatient to read the next, and last, book of the series for so much time that there was a lot of squeeing when I received it. I read it in two sittings (mostly because I had to go to work) and loved every single page of it. It is a brilliant conclusion to a fascinating series.

This is Faythe's last battle to be accepted for who she is and what she stands for. Faythe fights for women (and tabbies in particular) to have a say in their future, and not be used as political means. She had been fighting for this from the very first book and each time she has been confronted to walls of indifference and narrow-mindedness. This time around, the outcome of her fight will have consequences on all tabbies and other species. 

Faythe has definitely grown up during each book. She has been able to be respected for who she was by her Pride and most importantly by her father who, without acknowledging it, wouldn't have her any other way. I know that there is a lot of sexual tension in the book and that a part of the story revolves on the romance, but I really feel that this book brilliantly explores the differences and inequality between genders as well as political maneuvers to get to one's goal.


The fight Faythe and her Pride bring to the Council isn't a mere territory dispute or the will not to be treated unfairly. They are fighting to bring one vision of the world where everyone can live together, including all species, as well as where tabbies have a say in their future. This fight is so fascinatingly told that I can't wait for Rachel to write a spin off of the series. The world she has created seems so genuine that it has become one of my all time favourite shape-shifting stories.

I have always said that Rachel's style is amazing. The reader is gripped from the first pages into the fast-paced action and falls for the fascinating characters and species present in the book. The characters have all amazing personalities and I love the way they interact with each other. There is also some romance, between Faythe and Marc and between... Faythe and Jace.   This part of the story is really well described and you can feel for Faythe when she says that she truly loves both of them. 

Faythe has come a long way from the first book of the series where she didn't want to be part of the Pride, despite her Pride's love for her. Now she will do absolutely everything for this group of people she has come to love and let them love her in return. After reading this book, you will want to be a Shifter and be part of a Pride. (Or maybe that's just me.)

I am so thrilled to have read this book and I am going to reread the entire series because I frankly can't get my head around the idea of it being over. Rachel has written a guest post on the shape-shifting tradition in literature and how she came to create her werecats on this blog. She is one of my favourite contemporary writers and I can't wait to read her next book; she is one of the few writers from which I will read every single one of her books on principle, knowing I will read something thoroughly original and brilliantly written.

If you haven't read anything by Rachel, you are missing out on something. Anyone with a liking for Urban Fantasy will love this series, the others should get started on the genre just for this series. Did I mention I really loved this series? :)

Thank you so much to Rachel, Mira and Tory for (in the order) writing this amazing story, publishing it and sending me a copy to review!