Other by Karen Kincy

Other

Karen Kincy

Publisher: Flux

Release Date: July 1, 2010

Pages: 336

Rating: 4 stars

Seventeen-year-old Gwen hides a dangerous secret: she’s Other. Half-pooka, to be exact, thanks to the father she never met. Most Americans don’t exactly roll out the welcome mat for Others, especially not the small-town folks of Klikamuks, Washington. As if this isn’t bad enough, Gwen’s on the brink of revealing her true identity to her long-time boyfriend, Zack, but she’s scared he’ll lump her with the likes of bloodthirsty vampires and feral werewolves.

When a pack of werewolves chooses the national forest behind Gwen’s home as their new territory, the tensions in Klikamuks escalate-into murder. It soon becomes clear a serial killer is methodically slaying Others. The police turn a blind eye, leaving Gwen to find the killer before the killer finds her. As she hunts for clues, she uncovers more Others living nearby than she ever expected. Like Tavian, a sexy Japanese fox-spirit who rivals Zack and challenges her to embrace her Otherness. Gwen must struggle with her own conflicted identity, learn who she can trust, and-most importantly-stay alive.

Other is a refreshing read that isn't quite like anything else you've ever read. It's really an awesome debut.

I loved how unique Other's plot was. It wasn't really along the beaten path of all the paranormal out there, which was very cool. Karen Kincy does a great job of leading you to think you know exactly what is going on. The entire book, I'm like "Oh it's THIS person. I'm right, I've got to be." Then I got to the end, and, guess what, I was wrong and totally shocked.

The diversity of all the creatures in Other was creature, and especially how Karen Kincy used all sorts of creatures you don't hear much about. Yes, there were your common creatures such as werewolves, but also kitsunes, pookas and dryads. I loved it!

The writing was fantastic. It really made you feel as if you were right next to Gwen. Gwen goes through a lot, and Kincy portrays this very well and really makes you feel for Gwen. There's a perfect balance between describing everything and dialogue. The world she creates is just awesome. In Gwen's world, "Others" are known everywhere and live among humans - in one scene, she sees a centaur shopping and it's totally normal. I thought that was so interesting and really gave a lot of points to consider to the story.

There were a few parts where Gwen's interactions with either Zack or Tavian felt very awkward to me. It made me not quite sure what to think. Those few parts aside, I did love all the Gwen and Tavian scenes. They felt so free and real.

This is one I would whole heartedly suggest. It is a fantastic debut set in a rich world and filled with a full scale of creatures and wonderful characters! Karen Kincy is definately an author to watch, I can't wait for more from her!