Title: OtherAuthor: Karen Kincy
Age Group: Older Teens
# of Pages: 326
My Rating: 5/5
Gwen has a secret. She is an Other, one of the supernatural species. She is a shapeshifter who can turn from an owl into a horse by will. Although there are others just like her out in society, along with vampires and werewolves, it is still hard for Gwen to come out to her Christian-boyfriend, Zack.
While on a stroll with Zack, Gwen discovers a couple of dead bodies. They were Others. Gwen realizes that there is someone targeting Others when more dead bodies were uncovered. She starts to fear for her safety and her kind.
Along comes Tavian, a mysterious boy who makes her heart flutters. He is hiding a secret of his own and Gwen has her suspicions. When the killings get worse, the two get together in order to figure out who the culprit is. But would they be able to before it is too late?
I held off reading this book for a few months because I hadn't been too fond of the supernatural stories for awhile. I was getting sick of the repetitive plot lines of forbidden love without any action happening. This was my initial impression of the novel with no reviews read prior to me cracking it open. However, it brought back some hope for paranormal books as I enjoyed it from beginning to end.
Kincy made Gwen to be a very well-rounded character that I could strongly relate to. Gwen is a smart girl but is also insecure because of how society treats her kind. This concept can be related to real life in many aspects from homosexuality to cultural differences. Gwen has a realistic approach to things and I like that about her. Also, the people around her definitely shape who she is and it was nice to see how she changed over time through her experiences.
I also found Gwen's love life to be extremely realistic and is one that I support. It is nothing along the lines of those sappy forbidden romances that I have been seeing lately. Instead, it is something that anyone could go through and be in the position of.
I absolutely love the thriller part of this novel. I think this was definitely the drive that kept me reading. There is so much suspense and the culprit in the end was a slight surprise to me (I say slight because I was expecting some sort of a twist, though the twist I thought of was not correct). There was this one character that died and it broke my heart of how it happened, but it definitely added more novel depth.
I have strong sense of equality and this book manages to poke at that interest. It is quite interesting to see that these supernatural creatures wanting to live a normal life and do no harm (except for the odd ones out) get hunted down by humans. Although fictional, this strongly relates to some past events (such as WWII) and it is a book that anyone should be able to connect to. Not to mention, the storyline and writing makes everything that much more interesting.
I highly, highly recommend this novel (as you can tell by this longer-than-usual review). So go pick up Other now if you haven't yet!
