Book Title: Under My Skin (Skinned Book 1)
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Pages: 303
Author: Judith Graves
Date Published: 27 March 2010 (Original)
1 January 2014 (Re-released)
1 January 2014 (Re-released)
Synopsis:
All her parents wanted was for Eryn to live a normal life...
Redgrave had its share of monsters before Eryn moved to town. Mauled pets, missing children. The Delacroix family is taking the blame, but Eryn knows the truth. Something stalks the night. Wade, the police chief's son and Redgrave High's resident hottie, warns her the Delacroix are dangerous. But then so is Eryn--in fact, she's lethal.
But she can't help falling for one of the Delacroix boys, dark, brooding--human Alec. And then her world falls apart.
A normal life? Now that's the real fairytale.
Review:
Under My Skin by Judith GravesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was recommended this YA book by Amazon way back in 2011/2 due to my reading and browsing history. I liked the synopsis and fell in love with the cover so I bought a copy. Unfortunately, due to my large reading list, I have only recently been able to read it. However, since purchasing this book, it has since been re-edited and given a new cover in 2014. I can only review the original.
Eryn McCain is a wonderful character. She is not your average teen. In fact, she's not even human. Well, okay, she's part human. Her mother is a wolven and her father is human. However, she acts just like a normal teenager at times, full of angst. The only difference is that she is exceptionally strong and fast, and hunts werewolves.
This is a fast paced roller coaster ride of action and adventure. I started this book and was quickly engrossed in the tale. I was impressed with the illustrations interspersed throughout the book, but was surprised at their inclusion. However, they gave the reader a chance to picture the characters and scenes more easily, especially if a youngster is not as proficient in reading. I don't know if the illustrations were kept after the re-edit though.
There are some interesting characters in the book: Brit, a young goth who has her own secrets. Alec Delacroix is not really a bad guy, but as Eryn has been warned away from the family, she finds herself intrigued with him. Then there is Wade, the police chief's son. He's handsome and charming, but there is something about him that made my skin crawl. When I found out what was going on with him, I felt sorry for him.
The story is intricately woven with mystery and suspense. Just when I thought I had figured out what was going on, a twist would occur and I would have to begin again. As the story progressed, I found myself cheering Eryn on whilst sitting on the edge of my seat. I reached the end of the story with sadness, as I wanted to keep reading. I am now looking forward to continuing the series with the second book, Second Skin.
Judith Graves has written a fantastic YA paranormal coming of age story. I love her fast paced writing style and the flow was wonderful. There were a few typos, but as this book was re-edited, I would like to think that most of them would have been corrected.
I highly recommend this book to young readers aged 12 and above who love stories about werewolves. I also recommend this book to adults who love reading YA paranormal romances. - Lynn Worton
View all my reviews
About The Author:
Judith Graves has multiple young adult novels and short stories published with Leap Books, Orca Book Publishers, Compass Press, and, under the pen name, Judith Tewes, is also published with Bloomsbury Spark. In addition, Judith is an award-winning screenwriter and playwright, writes freelance articles for literary magazines, and facilitates writing workshops for both adults and young adults. She lives in northern Alberta with her husband and three crazy labs.
