Unraveling Words: Early Unraveling of Darkest Fear by Cate Tiernan

Title: Darkest Fear

Series: Birthright Book One

Publication Date: January 7, 2014

Vivi’s animal instincts are her legacy—and maybe her downfall—in this start to a romantic fantasy series that will appeal to fans of The Nine Lives of Chloe King.

Vivi has known the truth about her family—and herself—since she was thirteen. But that doesn’t mean she’s accepted it. Being Haguari isn’t something she feels she’ll ever accept. How can she feel like anything but a freak knowing that it’s in her genes to turn into a jaguar?

Now eighteen, Vivi’s ready to break away from the traditions of her heritage. But all of that changes with the shocking, devastating deaths of her parents and the mysteries left behind. Vivi discovers family she never even knew she had, and a life open with possibility. New friends, new loyalties, and even romance all lay ahead—but so do dangers unlike anything Vivi ever could have imagined.

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My Thoughts

A copy was provided through Edelweiss and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review

How do I even begin this review...It's going to be more of a rant because put simply this book was a mess. I think the only thing going for it was the writing style which made it incredibly easy to actually keep reading because I honestly don't know how I even finished.

The characters ... most of the secondary characters were actually pretty great and about half of them were LGBT couples which was both nice, but at the same time it felt like too much, as if she were compensating for the lack of LGBT characters in every other book. It just felt like she was trying too hard in that aspect. As for the main character Vivi, she can be described in one word: pathetic.

Look I understand she was there when he parents were murdered, but for her to go into hysterics like she did and then crying at the drop of a button every 5 mins for the next few months seemed a bit excessive? Maybe I'm being a cold hearted bitch? I don't know, but I just didn't like her. She was also TSTL. Her parents get murdered and she doesn't start even to think about the implications 'till a month after someone tried to breakin...I mean seriously? Her dad gets his heart ripped out and she doesn' question any of this till a whole month later. I just don't get it.

Then there is her overall attitude. She gets told she is a jaguar shapeshifter at 13 and instead of thinking it's awesome, she freaks out. Fine, whatever, I can maybe see that happening. Her parents didn't really come across as pushing it in your face types, they would occasionally try to get her to at least get interested in her heritage, which I think is perfectly normal. So what does she do? The exact opposite of whatever they say, and I mean that about everything. They want her to attend college somewhere close? She wants Seattle (They live in South Florida). Her mom wants her to dress nicely. She turns into a slob. So on and so forth. You would also think that someone who is so opposed to being a shapeshifter will at least want to know enough to you know, not change right? Wrong! This girl is a Coward with a capital C. Oh, and everyone tells her she is hot, but she doesn't believe it even though she knows she looks exactly like her mom and she thought her mom was a hottie ...
TL;DR - I didn't like Vivi.

Let's talk about the plot, or lack thereof. First, 5% her parents die. 50% They find out other shapeshifters have died with a missing heart. Last 5% 2 of their friends go missing and while they go on a rescue mission another 2 get captured, Vivi somehow rescues them and the perpetrators might have died in a car chase. End of book. That was it. There was not even the slightlest mention as to why someone might want live hearts, some kind of ritual maybe, for what purpose is anyone's guess. It was ridiculous.

Oh and the romance? Stupid. It's obvious the guy is a shapeshifter as well, but does she at least try having some kind of conversation where she drops hints to get a confirmation that he is a shapeshifter? No. Instead, she bitches and whines that they keep having these steamy makeout sessions, but he won't/can't date her.

This was a train wreck of a book, but I somehow managed to finish it, so it has that going for it at least and that's pretty much it.

So...