Otherkin

Otherkin

by Nina Berry

Desdemona (Dez, for short), is just trying to fit in.  An adopted child with scoliosis of the spine, Dez just waits (somewhat) patiently for the day when she won't have to wear her stupid back brace ever again.  In the meantime, friends are rare and boyfriends are rarer (because who would want to date a girl who's made of hard plastic and fiberglass from hip to shoulder?).

One day, after finally getting asked on a date by the best looking boy in school, Dez completely freaks out and runs the moment he touches her "waist" and the brace around it.  In a rare fit of anger, she tosses the brace and then her humanity aside when the anger she feels helps to transform her into a rare Siberian tiger.

Seconds later, she's sedated by a member of the Tribunal and taken to be "studied" and "cured".

At the facility, she wakes to find herself naked in a silver cage with a very gorgeous boy in another cage nearby.  They work together to escape only to find that there are a more than just cages out there that can trap a person.

Can she and her new, completely amazingly beautiful (boy who may be more than a) friend reveal all the secrets around them (and within them) before it's too late?

Final thoughts:  Solid story with a good pace that draws the reader in and almost forces you through it.  My only problem is that it feels like the publisher accidentally cut out the first few chapters.  I've checked my Kindle and the first page of the story does say Chapter 1, but it starts as if it's mid-scene in chapter 3 or 4.  We're just thrown into the story and the exposition comes in trickles throughout the rest of the plot.  That and a few tiny nit-picks are all the stops this from being amazing.  I'm looking forward to the next book.

Rating: 4/5