Book Review- Skulk by Rosie Best

Title: Skulk

 Author: Rosie Best

Series:  Shapeshifters of London  #1

Published:  1 October 2013 by Strange Chemistry

Length: 387 pages

Source:netgalley

Summary : When Meg witnesses the dying moments of a shapeshifting fox and is given a beautiful and powerful stone, her life changes forever. She is plunged into the dark world of the Skulk, a group of shapeshifting foxes.
As she learns about the other groups of shapeshifters that lurk around London – the Rabble, the Horde, the Cluster and the Conspiracy – she becomes aware of a deadly threat against all the shapeshifters. They must put aside all their enmity and hostility and fight together to defeat it.

Review: Meg is coming back from graffiting a wall at her school when she sees a man die. Man fox. Fox man. He curried a stone and mumbled about the fog. Then died. Later, Meg leaves a party...and then turns into a fox. Found by another fox, who wants her to run from the fog, just run, she is thrown into a world of shapeshfters. There’s groups of them- Skulk are foxes, the Rabble are butterflies, the Hoard are rats, the Cluster are spiders and the Conspiracy are ravens. And then there’s a metashifter, who can shift into any of these shapes. And now someone wants the Metashift to control the elements. And they’re willing to kill for it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading this. I’m very glad I read it though. It starts off wuickly, with the first death happening at the 4% mark, so the set up for the rest of the thing happens quite early on.

Meg is an awesome protagonist. She’s size 16, something I have NEVER seen in YA) totally happy with it, a graffiti artist, takes things in her stride, and is generally great. Friendship and family is important to Meg, and I like having that come through.

Then there is TRHE MOST WONDERFULLY DIVERSE CAST EVER. It spans ages, ethnicities, social backgrounds, able bodiedness, sexualities, and genders. And none of that is the focus, it’s just who they are.

All the characters are well built up and totally varied. I’m not sure who may favourite character is- maybe James or Addie or Meg or Mo. I think maybe Addie, because of her explanation of why she likes being in her fox form is sad, but the best line in the whole book: I’m not homeless, I’m wild.

The plot moves quickly, and the book is addictive- you get through it really quickly. there isn’t a place where you want to put it down. Meg’s narration is funny, relatable, and descriptive.

The villain is well fleshed out, the end is satisfying, and hints at more to come.

If that doesn’t make you love this book, something else that’s great and new about this book-there’s evil pigeons.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea. Come for an addictive read, urban fantasy, shapeshifters and a lot more.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website |