My First Audiobook - What An Introduction!

Spending a hot day in a long queue for a cross-channel ferry, with two bored and grumpy teenagers, is nobody’s idea of a good day. Our day, however, was enjoyable and memorable, and it was entirely thanks to this marvellous audiobook.

Feather and Fang is the final book in an eleven-part series, and though we all came to it with no idea of what had gone before, we quickly found our way into an understanding of the slightly off-kilter world inhabited by Dax Jones and his companions. Off-kilter? Think Philip Pullman: it’s our world, it just doesn’t quite work in the same way. It’s not really sci-fi, and not really fantasy; it’s more like the world of my wildest dreams – and nightmares. For this world can be dark and disturbing, and though this story is ostensibly intended for teens it appears to be the culmination of a journey that begins in a simpler time, accompanying young readers as they grow and become adults alongside the characters.

Plot aside (nobody likes a spoiler), the key themes of this book are definitely adult: the limits of freedom and the consequences to an individual when ‘the greater good’ prevails, leading to the mistrust of authority in general and the Government in particular. What happens then? Loyalties are divided; people are betrayed; people get hurt. And then: redemption. Of a sort, at least. For though this isn’t set in the real world these characters are drawn as real people, with all the contradictions, confusion and small acts of heroism that entail. There are few happy endings in real life, so we make do with satisfying endings instead. If it were real life and I had experienced what these characters have been put through, I would happily accept the satisfying ending that Ali Sparkes provides, and consider myself lucky.

A great ending doesn’t make a great book though, this is a great book because of the tale itself and, particularly, the way it is written. The plot is compelling, and these are characters one cares about. This makes it thought-provoking. The themes here are relevant to the world we live in today, which stimulated interesting, and enlightening, discussions among our family.

Sweltering in the heat though we were, I doubt there was a happier vehicle anywhere in the country that day. We might not have been physically going anywhere, but we were transported nevertheless. It was the perfect start to a holiday, and also the start of a new relationship – with the rest of the Shapeshifter audiobooks, so I can enjoy the whole saga.

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Needs improvement (Reading Unleashed mandatory)

This book feels very much like it's there for set-up for a book that doesn't exist instead of being its own story, and also relies on the reader/listener being familiar with Ali Sparks' Unleashed series, giving no explanation to the events that carried over between books for those who aren't.
I have to stop listening a third of the way through after realising that the author wasn't going to give an explanation for what happened with Mia and who the new character was and listen to the Unleashed series to finally understand what was going on. I should not need to read/listen to the side-series to understand the main series, especially when it's not advertised that Unleashed is sort of required reading for this book.

Additionally, the plot with Alice and Caroline after meeting and parting with Dax feels rather superfluous with the failed and successful escape attempts and Caroline's finger on the metaphorical trigger, that then end up pointless in the ending where Dax and the others succeed. Though, it was nice to see Caroline again and for Alice to get some development, showing that she takes after her brother in her own way.
And the narrative is weirdly lashed to Dax, allowing for diversions to Caroline and Alice, but no one else. This wasn't a problem in previous books, since Dax was always around the other characters, but the very plot means that the other characters no longer get the attention they could have. We don't get to see why some characters make the choices they made or how they got to that point, or how the events of the book affected certain characters.

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