In a Badger Way by Shelly LaurenstonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I listened to this as an audio book available from Audible, narrated by Charlotte Kane. Therefore my review includes comments relating to her narration.
When you have a series about a family and the people they are friends or associate with, the second book is always more plot orientated than the first. We are introduced to everyone in the first book. We understand the family structure, the personalities of the people involved and the world building is already established. This means the book can be about things other than the set up.
This book is about Stevie, the youngest of the MacKilligan sisters. Stevie is a former child prodigy who suffers from a panic disorder. She is also a tiger/honey badger hybrid that turns into a 2 ton giant tiger striped honey badger. When she panics, she shifts and she is met with horror and disgust amongst her community. She has often wished she could be different. Other than her enormous alter-ego she is a sweet and kind woman and incredibly brilliant. She was a music prodigy but she felt too pressured, as a child, by her fame so she left the music industry and became an equally brilliant physicist.
Since she has been back in America with her sisters, Stevie has started relaxing a little and even started writing music again. She has also decided that she likes cuddling Shen Li, a giant panda shifter who is her friend Kyle’s bodyguard. There’s not much to do whilst guarding Kyle, so Shen Li finds himself being drawn into more of Stevie’s schemes as she tries to get a handle on her panic disorder whilst trying to find out who is murdering hybrid shifters, all without involving her sisters. Shen finds himself becoming more drawn to Stevie as each day goes by, despite her unusual ways and her high maintenance family.
As with the first book in the series this story was hilarious. The author’s writing is fluid and natural and the narrator delivers very well. The only reason I didn’t give the narration 5 stars is because of the dodgy Scottish accents. I thought with a change in narrator from the first in the series, the accents might improve, but I think it’s an American failing that their Scottish accents always drift into Irish ones. Apart from the accents, the narrator delivers the personalities of all the characters flawlessly. I’ll definitely look out for other books read by her.
The plot was intriguing and complex with many different strands to the story. There are a lot of characters in the book and if you hadn’t read the first book recently the reader may find the book confusing. I read the books quite closely to each other so I had no problem keeping track, so that wasn’t a detriment to me. It’s just something to bear in mind.
It was also nice to see how the other two sisters were doing in this book. There is character development within the family as a whole as well as only focusing on Stevie, which I really enjoyed.
I really look forward the third book being released next year. I may have to re-listen to really enjoy the next one, but that won't be a hardship!
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