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The Shapeshifter #5
Stirring the Storm
In the finale to the series, Dax must save his friends from being sold as commodities, and in the process find out who his mother really is and how he and his friends ended up with their amazing powers.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 3, 2008
18 people are currently reading
270 people want to read
About the author
Ali Sparkes
121 books146 followersAli Sparkes (born 1966) is a British children's author.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 16, 2022
I will never believe another death in this series. NEVER! Way to tear my heart out and then shrug it off.
I'm actually really happy this character isn't dead. It's been a rollercoaster of emotion!
I'm actually really happy this character isn't dead. It's been a rollercoaster of emotion!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2011
Read this series last year and just foun it on her
A real page turner, a brilliant story that i still love and will always love
One bad thing: its the last one!
A real page turner, a brilliant story that i still love and will always love
One bad thing: its the last one!
May 26, 2024
WARNING: There will be no spoiler tags for this review.
Fun fact! Until the release of Feather and Fang in 2016, this was actually the series finale.
(In the finale to the series, Dax must save his friends from being sold as commodities, and in the process find out who his mother really is and how he and his friends ended up with their amazing powers.) ~ Blurb from Goodreads
I liked how this novel finally dove into who Dax's mom and dad were. Yes, the reader did gets bits and pieces of who they were in previous entries, but never the full picture. There was also a lot of buildup to this as well, which made the lead up to the reveal feel all the more exciting.
I liked what this novel did with Mia's character arc. Throughout the series, Mia has been trying to become stronger and more assertive. However, there's a scene in chapter eleven where she gets so angry in response to another girl hurting Lisa, she sets the girl's bathroom at the disco on fire, destroying the bathroom, destroying people's clothing, and scaring the absolute bejesus out of everyone. Afterwards, Dax and Lisa are uncertain she'll be able to control her fire powers. Fire, if improperly controlled, can be absolutely destructive and I think the use of fire here is a very interesting way of showing that sometimes, people can go too far in wanting to become stronger and more assertive by doing way more damage than necessary. Also, in chapter thirty-two, Mia tricks Catherine into holding hands with her and Mia uses her fire powers to burn Catherine into nothing more than feathers and bone. Not only was this a badass moment in and of itself, but it was also a great conclusion to Mia's character arc because it's the moment where she's truly able to be assertive and truly able to control her fire powers.
I was surprised by the character development Spook got. Throughout the series, there have been attempts by Mia to get Spook to become a better person, but despite this, he still acts like a jerk towards Dax. In this entry however, Dax saves Spook from almost drowning after Dax and the other COLAs were captured by a college staff member named Mr. Eades (who planned on auctioning them off and was involved with implanting microchips in the COLAs to disable the free use of their powers or to blow them up if need be) and from there, they have a heart to heart and eventually agree to work together to get to Owen to let him know what has happened (then later switching to following a different path when the original became no longer viable), though Spook's old ways do poke through from time to time. After being a stagnant character for basically the entire series, it's really cool to see Spook finally grow as a character. The post-heart to heart interactions between Dax and Spook also feel quite natural as well, thanks in part to the novel allowing time for their new friendship to steadily grow.
I'm really split on how this entry develops Dax's shapeshifting power. So in chapter thirty-three, it's revealed that Dax had gained an otter form during his effort to find Owen's body in the sea after Owen chose to "die" because Dax wasn't the one that had to choose between saving his dad and saving Owen. On the one hand, it's really cool to see Dax finally gain another form and in turn, create a "Land, Air, and Sea" kind of trio with the limited form slots his power allots. I also think this trio allows for a lot versatility as well. However, this is the only time in the entire novel where the reader gets to see this form in action and even then, it's at the tail end of the novel and even then, it's mostly told in recap format and even then, it's not particularly long. If there were maybe one or two more scenes where Dax was in his otter form or if the scene where he's looking for Owen's body was told in a bit of a more engaging way, I wouldn't really have minded as much.
I was not a fan of the reveal of the mystery behind Dax's parents, particularly the side involving Dax's mom. So basically, in chapter twenty-six, Dax's mom (as well as the other COLA moms) are aliens whose immune systems caused them to die four years after giving birth. Therefore, Dax and the other COLAs are part alien and are intended to be ambassadors for the aliens. Now, I'll give it this, it's not a bad twist, as it does align very nicely with the clues that have been provided throughout the series (such as the COLA moms passing away when the COLAs were four years old, the freak weather that occurred when the COLAs were born, and so on). Despite this however, it feels very underwhelming and considering that there were four other entries worth of build up, I was expected something a little more creative, a little more out there.
I hated how Owen was handled. So in chapter thirty-four, it's revealed that Owen didn't die and that he plans to hide out in Spain with one of the other college staff members. While I'm glad that this novel tried to subvert the whole "mentor dies cliche", this reveal does not work. Not only does this reveal take away all of the emotional impact of Owen's sacrifice, but the "person who sacrificed their life is actually alive" reveal is also cliched. The novel subverted one cliche... with another cliche. Ugh! This is gonna sound really weird and really stupid, but I honestly think the novel would've been better off just doing the "mentor dies" cliche. Like, at the tail end of the novel, Dax opens Owen's note that he got from Owen's sister at his funeral and finds a location and stuff listed. He goes to the location. He finds a pencil with a map rolled up in it and a compass under the eraser. He also finds another note from Owen. The note explains that the pencil was used to guide soldiers in the second world war and felt he should have it, should anything happen to him. The pressure to do anything to get Owen back and the pressure to wallow in grief that's been trapped within Dax ever since Owen's funeral mostly evaporates in a flash as he bursts out laughing, a few tiny tears joining in. Moments later, he considers getting his medium friend Lisa to try and contact Owen's spirit so he can thank him, but decides to let her finish recovering her strength after being nearly drained by Catherine. This little rewrite here still retains some of the elements from the original reveal (such as the special pencil, note, and so on) but here, the pencil symbolizes Owen's love of bushcraft and survival and his more cunning side, therefore allowing Owen to live on in some physical form and tying back into the "Death is not the end" idea that's repeated throughout the novel. It would also show Dax coming to terms with the loss of Owen in a very believable yet heartfelt way.
Overall, Stirring the Storm was a novel that wasn't as strong as it could've been, but was a novel I was still able to enjoy nonetheless.
Overall Grade: B
Fun fact! Until the release of Feather and Fang in 2016, this was actually the series finale.
(In the finale to the series, Dax must save his friends from being sold as commodities, and in the process find out who his mother really is and how he and his friends ended up with their amazing powers.) ~ Blurb from Goodreads
I liked how this novel finally dove into who Dax's mom and dad were. Yes, the reader did gets bits and pieces of who they were in previous entries, but never the full picture. There was also a lot of buildup to this as well, which made the lead up to the reveal feel all the more exciting.
I liked what this novel did with Mia's character arc. Throughout the series, Mia has been trying to become stronger and more assertive. However, there's a scene in chapter eleven where she gets so angry in response to another girl hurting Lisa, she sets the girl's bathroom at the disco on fire, destroying the bathroom, destroying people's clothing, and scaring the absolute bejesus out of everyone. Afterwards, Dax and Lisa are uncertain she'll be able to control her fire powers. Fire, if improperly controlled, can be absolutely destructive and I think the use of fire here is a very interesting way of showing that sometimes, people can go too far in wanting to become stronger and more assertive by doing way more damage than necessary. Also, in chapter thirty-two, Mia tricks Catherine into holding hands with her and Mia uses her fire powers to burn Catherine into nothing more than feathers and bone. Not only was this a badass moment in and of itself, but it was also a great conclusion to Mia's character arc because it's the moment where she's truly able to be assertive and truly able to control her fire powers.
I was surprised by the character development Spook got. Throughout the series, there have been attempts by Mia to get Spook to become a better person, but despite this, he still acts like a jerk towards Dax. In this entry however, Dax saves Spook from almost drowning after Dax and the other COLAs were captured by a college staff member named Mr. Eades (who planned on auctioning them off and was involved with implanting microchips in the COLAs to disable the free use of their powers or to blow them up if need be) and from there, they have a heart to heart and eventually agree to work together to get to Owen to let him know what has happened (then later switching to following a different path when the original became no longer viable), though Spook's old ways do poke through from time to time. After being a stagnant character for basically the entire series, it's really cool to see Spook finally grow as a character. The post-heart to heart interactions between Dax and Spook also feel quite natural as well, thanks in part to the novel allowing time for their new friendship to steadily grow.
I'm really split on how this entry develops Dax's shapeshifting power. So in chapter thirty-three, it's revealed that Dax had gained an otter form during his effort to find Owen's body in the sea after Owen chose to "die" because Dax wasn't the one that had to choose between saving his dad and saving Owen. On the one hand, it's really cool to see Dax finally gain another form and in turn, create a "Land, Air, and Sea" kind of trio with the limited form slots his power allots. I also think this trio allows for a lot versatility as well. However, this is the only time in the entire novel where the reader gets to see this form in action and even then, it's at the tail end of the novel and even then, it's mostly told in recap format and even then, it's not particularly long. If there were maybe one or two more scenes where Dax was in his otter form or if the scene where he's looking for Owen's body was told in a bit of a more engaging way, I wouldn't really have minded as much.
I was not a fan of the reveal of the mystery behind Dax's parents, particularly the side involving Dax's mom. So basically, in chapter twenty-six, Dax's mom (as well as the other COLA moms) are aliens whose immune systems caused them to die four years after giving birth. Therefore, Dax and the other COLAs are part alien and are intended to be ambassadors for the aliens. Now, I'll give it this, it's not a bad twist, as it does align very nicely with the clues that have been provided throughout the series (such as the COLA moms passing away when the COLAs were four years old, the freak weather that occurred when the COLAs were born, and so on). Despite this however, it feels very underwhelming and considering that there were four other entries worth of build up, I was expected something a little more creative, a little more out there.
I hated how Owen was handled. So in chapter thirty-four, it's revealed that Owen didn't die and that he plans to hide out in Spain with one of the other college staff members. While I'm glad that this novel tried to subvert the whole "mentor dies cliche", this reveal does not work. Not only does this reveal take away all of the emotional impact of Owen's sacrifice, but the "person who sacrificed their life is actually alive" reveal is also cliched. The novel subverted one cliche... with another cliche. Ugh! This is gonna sound really weird and really stupid, but I honestly think the novel would've been better off just doing the "mentor dies" cliche. Like, at the tail end of the novel, Dax opens Owen's note that he got from Owen's sister at his funeral and finds a location and stuff listed. He goes to the location. He finds a pencil with a map rolled up in it and a compass under the eraser. He also finds another note from Owen. The note explains that the pencil was used to guide soldiers in the second world war and felt he should have it, should anything happen to him. The pressure to do anything to get Owen back and the pressure to wallow in grief that's been trapped within Dax ever since Owen's funeral mostly evaporates in a flash as he bursts out laughing, a few tiny tears joining in. Moments later, he considers getting his medium friend Lisa to try and contact Owen's spirit so he can thank him, but decides to let her finish recovering her strength after being nearly drained by Catherine. This little rewrite here still retains some of the elements from the original reveal (such as the special pencil, note, and so on) but here, the pencil symbolizes Owen's love of bushcraft and survival and his more cunning side, therefore allowing Owen to live on in some physical form and tying back into the "Death is not the end" idea that's repeated throughout the novel. It would also show Dax coming to terms with the loss of Owen in a very believable yet heartfelt way.
Overall, Stirring the Storm was a novel that wasn't as strong as it could've been, but was a novel I was still able to enjoy nonetheless.
Overall Grade: B
June 28, 2019
It was amazing as it obviously is fiction but it feels so real and it has a mix of genres which is cool and i defiantly recommend this series as it is amazing!
September 26, 2022
Great book
June 4, 2021
This entire book series has had me so gripped that I've no choice but to read them all one after the other. I didn't want the series to end, and so I'm super excited to move onto the Unleashed books next! This book was a fantastic ending, though: it wrapped up a lot of the plotlines from the rest of the books and felt like a very satisfying ending. The final few pages made me cry like a baby and I had to just lie down for a few minutes to recover from how good this book was. I wasn't sure these books would be as fantastic as they are, reading them for the first time as an adult, but Ali Sparkes deals with some intense themes very well. Would recommend to anyone who loves a bit of fantasy in their lives!
June 20, 2018
This was my all time favourite book and also in one of my favourite series when I was younger. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I don’t often read books more than once but for this, I made an exception and was not disappointed.
May 22, 2022
I miss this series so much already. Although the Neetanite plot line was not my favourite, I feel like giving this anything less than 5 stars would be an insult. Now I just need some time to mourn the end of this reread.
May 21, 2023
Definitely the weakest in this series.
I did enjoy how much foreshadowing fed into it, but really, it doesn't make any sense that the kids have powers because they're born from aliens.
They justify that female bodies are all much more durable, so they sent their women, but... a male alien would probably need to be on earth for all of an hour to be able to produce powered children, if he just went to a sperm bank. He'd definitely be able to manage it within a weekend. Whereas a female alien needs to be on earth for at least 10 months, realistically closer to 2 years, in order to reproduce. The males need a minute fraction of the amount of time to reproduce, so could be a tiny fraction as likely to survive long-term on Earth, and they'd also be able to get treatment very quickly so in a sense them being unable to survive on Earth matters less, too.
If the aliens had picked to send their males, the males could come back to their home planets and have had contact via anonymous letters with their children, which would have a much better potential to fulfill the entire point of the aliens having sex with earthlings, which is to expose Earth culture to alien powers peacefully. They killed off several hundred of their own women, and left all these kids without mothers, rather than work out how to get into a sperm bank..?
What was the point of the mothers being there to exposure earth people to aliens if they don't leave any indication that they're aliens? Who is going to assume that because their kid can turn invisible occasionally, aliens are real?
If they're all half alien, how come some of them are enough more alien to be able to keep powers despite the parasite alien hybrid?
If it's hard to access Earth, how did they not manage to stop the parasite mother getting through, especially as that alien mother who was carrying the twins HAD to have been aware that something weird went on with a parasite mother and presumably must have notified the alien council?
If the powers have defined limits, like the shapeshifters being able to take 3 forms, the name Children Of LIMITLESS Ability makes absolutely 0 sense. They're teenagers now, and their abilities are in fact, limited.
What allowed some alien species to send so many more of their own members than others?
Dax finds out his own mother was a literal alien and his response is essentially "yeah this is fine, dw guys, all normal!". If I remember right, he doesn't even tell his friends this, and firstly, they all have a right to know, and secondly, it defeats the entire point of the aliens having a peaceful first contact if no one knows they even had a first contact.
This is a plot point that could be its own entire series, as the COLAs fulfil this quest to help relations with the aliens and set up their own political embassies and stuff. That could have been VERY cool... nope. Just. Not returned to.
It'd honestly have been better to leave it as a mystery in this series, then come back to it in a second series, rather than leave this hot mess of a reveal there. I really like the raw concept! But it needed a bit more work and that just wasn't given.
I reckon it'd be pretty easy for any fanfic writers who, hint hint, want an idea, to be able to rewrite this book to be significantly better.
Maybe they tried the males, but they couldn't produce children with humans. Maybe give more time to explore the repercussions of the main characters all being half alien. Maybe have them tried to make peaceful contact via radiowaves during the 60s and cold war paranoia meant it wasn't taken well. Maybe the female aliens genuinely thought they had a decent chance of surviving. Maybe rename them from being COLAs. Make a couple more types of changes to match up and just get it as neat as possible... It wouldn't be that hard. Instead we just have this really meh finale to a series that was really fun up to this book.
I did enjoy how much foreshadowing fed into it, but really, it doesn't make any sense that the kids have powers because they're born from aliens.
They justify that female bodies are all much more durable, so they sent their women, but... a male alien would probably need to be on earth for all of an hour to be able to produce powered children, if he just went to a sperm bank. He'd definitely be able to manage it within a weekend. Whereas a female alien needs to be on earth for at least 10 months, realistically closer to 2 years, in order to reproduce. The males need a minute fraction of the amount of time to reproduce, so could be a tiny fraction as likely to survive long-term on Earth, and they'd also be able to get treatment very quickly so in a sense them being unable to survive on Earth matters less, too.
If the aliens had picked to send their males, the males could come back to their home planets and have had contact via anonymous letters with their children, which would have a much better potential to fulfill the entire point of the aliens having sex with earthlings, which is to expose Earth culture to alien powers peacefully. They killed off several hundred of their own women, and left all these kids without mothers, rather than work out how to get into a sperm bank..?
What was the point of the mothers being there to exposure earth people to aliens if they don't leave any indication that they're aliens? Who is going to assume that because their kid can turn invisible occasionally, aliens are real?
If they're all half alien, how come some of them are enough more alien to be able to keep powers despite the parasite alien hybrid?
If it's hard to access Earth, how did they not manage to stop the parasite mother getting through, especially as that alien mother who was carrying the twins HAD to have been aware that something weird went on with a parasite mother and presumably must have notified the alien council?
If the powers have defined limits, like the shapeshifters being able to take 3 forms, the name Children Of LIMITLESS Ability makes absolutely 0 sense. They're teenagers now, and their abilities are in fact, limited.
What allowed some alien species to send so many more of their own members than others?
Dax finds out his own mother was a literal alien and his response is essentially "yeah this is fine, dw guys, all normal!". If I remember right, he doesn't even tell his friends this, and firstly, they all have a right to know, and secondly, it defeats the entire point of the aliens having a peaceful first contact if no one knows they even had a first contact.
This is a plot point that could be its own entire series, as the COLAs fulfil this quest to help relations with the aliens and set up their own political embassies and stuff. That could have been VERY cool... nope. Just. Not returned to.
It'd honestly have been better to leave it as a mystery in this series, then come back to it in a second series, rather than leave this hot mess of a reveal there. I really like the raw concept! But it needed a bit more work and that just wasn't given.
I reckon it'd be pretty easy for any fanfic writers who, hint hint, want an idea, to be able to rewrite this book to be significantly better.
Maybe they tried the males, but they couldn't produce children with humans. Maybe give more time to explore the repercussions of the main characters all being half alien. Maybe have them tried to make peaceful contact via radiowaves during the 60s and cold war paranoia meant it wasn't taken well. Maybe the female aliens genuinely thought they had a decent chance of surviving. Maybe rename them from being COLAs. Make a couple more types of changes to match up and just get it as neat as possible... It wouldn't be that hard. Instead we just have this really meh finale to a series that was really fun up to this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2023
Für mich definitiv der beste Band der Reihe!
Schon am Anfang hat die Geschichte Wendungen genommen die ich so nicht erwartet hätte und dann noch das Ende...
Ich hätte ehrlicherweise nie erwartet das ein Buch, das nicht einmal in meiner Muttersprache geschrieben ist, mir so das Herz zerreißen könnte, zumal ich den Trope, bei dem ein Charakter der stirbt, letztendlich doch noch lebt, normalerweise gar nicht mag, doch in diesem Fall war das für meinen Seelenfrieden die einzige Rettung.
Schon am Anfang hat die Geschichte Wendungen genommen die ich so nicht erwartet hätte und dann noch das Ende...
Ich hätte ehrlicherweise nie erwartet das ein Buch, das nicht einmal in meiner Muttersprache geschrieben ist, mir so das Herz zerreißen könnte, zumal ich den Trope, bei dem ein Charakter der stirbt, letztendlich doch noch lebt, normalerweise gar nicht mag, doch in diesem Fall war das für meinen Seelenfrieden die einzige Rettung.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2024
I think out of the whole “The Shapeshifter” series, this book was by far my favorite. The amount of twists that occurred, and the emotions the book made me feel was just beyond my expectations. I went from being angry to sad to shocked, and I was just amazed at the complexity that made sense and wasn’t drug out in a boring way throughout the novel. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who’s a fan of books like Harry Potter!
October 6, 2023
So - yes! Another great instalment in the series! It was, however, very dark - a lot darker than I had expected it to to be…however, every plot twist and unexpected turn was thrilling, and I ended up thoroughly enjoying the book! Only one more to go, and it sounds very enticing, so I can’t wait :)
January 10, 2022
Can't fault the writing of this series, it grips you and keeps you on the edge of your sleep. Echo's of Animal Farm and 1984 themes give this book deeper levels for those of more mature years.
February 2, 2022
Good book
April 11, 2020
'Get this thing out of me now. Take your bracelet off, shift to the falcon, and do what you have to do. I want it off now.'
First things first: It was better than I remembered.
So. Got that out of my system.
Back at Book 3, I mentioned Mia, and I said I'd get back to her in Book 5. So here we go: You've noticed by now that something's changed about her, that much was clear already in Dowsing the Dead. She's getting… dangerous. Unhinged, one could say. Now, I'm all for character development, but not in this way. She's clearly on a path straight up to Doomsday. More about that further on. That said, I really felt sorry for her around page 150, because Dax and Lisa pull a very cruel trick on her. Not that they didn't have a choice, but it was horrible to read about all the same. Probably the most emotional chapter of the series.
It takes a while before the actual story takes off, just as was the case with Book 4. It's clear there's something amiss, but you can't quite figure out what and how. Catherine's still out there, but is she involved in it? How then? Sparkes keeps you guessing, and then - finally - the truth comes out. It's one of those characters that has been there all books, and yes, it's a creep, but you've more or less gotten used to them by now and you don't really notice or care about them anymore. And now… Well, that's all I'm saying. Well played!
This book also gives us the backstory of the COLAs. To me, it really depends from series to series, but sometimes I'm not just not that interested in it. I don't honestly care then, and this series was one of those. So, yeah, Dax and Gideon and Lisa and everyone have powers - but I've never wondered where they came from, funnily enough. I guess most other people will find it a good addition to the book, but for me it's just… filling up pages, in the end.
And speaking of an end... I felt that could have been better, somehow? You don't really find out much of what happens after… everything. They're all back at Fenton Lodge, fine, and you know about Owen, fine, but... What happens to the students there? What are they doing? How are they coping? There's just something missing, somehow… Could have been better.
6/10
Before we continue onwards to Book 6...
Maybe one of the reasons why the ending seems not really an ending, is because Sparkes by then already knew the sequels were coming. They appeared in the form of a five-book series called Unleashed, and I won't be reviewing them one by one, but I do want to say some things about them.
First of all, they're not centred on Dax, but on the other characters. So we've got Lisa (good), Gideon and Luke (okay), Spook (meh), Jacob and Alex Teller (whu…?) and Mia (oh no).
At first, it seems as if they're just self-contained stories, no arc present, and every once in a while Dax comes running or flying in. I always felt it was a shame he featured so little in A Life and Death Job, though (that's Lisa's story) - for obvious reasons.
But then things start changing. We know by now that Sparkes doesn't exactly shy away from really bad and ever-changing things happening, and sometime around Trick or Truth (that's Spook, Book 3) it's becoming more obvious that there is a bigger picture present here as well, and it's… not good. In fact, it's pretty much as terrible as you can get for kids of about eleven, twelve years, I think. It all starts getting darker.
Then Book 4 comes around, the one with the twins in (Speak Evil), and I've always wondered why they needed to have their own book, because they're not that important to the original story in The Shapeshifter. But fine. Okay.
The Burning Beach. Hell no. This one's about Mia, and Mia... has changed. A lot. The stuff that happened in The Shapeshifter Book 4 and 5? It has escalated, and Mia has now turned into basically . I didn't exactly appreciate the other four books before that either, but Mia's story was absolutely horrible. Her character is changed dramatically, she does unspeakable things… I won't be going into detail, but I wasn't prepared for it. It still is one of the darkest books I've ever read, and let me tell you: I won't be reading it again.
The bad news? Before continuing with Feather and Fang, Book 6 of this series, you should have read the Unleashed books. Which I did, clearly, I just bought them when they were released… and after I'd finished the series I sold them - for obvious reasons. And I can't remember much of them other than some main plot points and that I still get very bad feelings about them, which is enough for me. I remember more or less how The Burning Beach (which is the book where everything comes together and is explained) ends, at least enough to understand Feather and Fang, and that's good enough for me.
First things first: It was better than I remembered.
So. Got that out of my system.
Back at Book 3, I mentioned Mia, and I said I'd get back to her in Book 5. So here we go: You've noticed by now that something's changed about her, that much was clear already in Dowsing the Dead. She's getting… dangerous. Unhinged, one could say. Now, I'm all for character development, but not in this way. She's clearly on a path straight up to Doomsday. More about that further on. That said, I really felt sorry for her around page 150, because Dax and Lisa pull a very cruel trick on her. Not that they didn't have a choice, but it was horrible to read about all the same. Probably the most emotional chapter of the series.
It takes a while before the actual story takes off, just as was the case with Book 4. It's clear there's something amiss, but you can't quite figure out what and how. Catherine's still out there, but is she involved in it? How then? Sparkes keeps you guessing, and then - finally - the truth comes out. It's one of those characters that has been there all books, and yes, it's a creep, but you've more or less gotten used to them by now and you don't really notice or care about them anymore. And now… Well, that's all I'm saying. Well played!
This book also gives us the backstory of the COLAs. To me, it really depends from series to series, but sometimes I'm not just not that interested in it. I don't honestly care then, and this series was one of those. So, yeah, Dax and Gideon and Lisa and everyone have powers - but I've never wondered where they came from, funnily enough. I guess most other people will find it a good addition to the book, but for me it's just… filling up pages, in the end.
And speaking of an end... I felt that could have been better, somehow? You don't really find out much of what happens after… everything. They're all back at Fenton Lodge, fine, and you know about Owen, fine, but... What happens to the students there? What are they doing? How are they coping? There's just something missing, somehow… Could have been better.
6/10
Before we continue onwards to Book 6...
Maybe one of the reasons why the ending seems not really an ending, is because Sparkes by then already knew the sequels were coming. They appeared in the form of a five-book series called Unleashed, and I won't be reviewing them one by one, but I do want to say some things about them.
First of all, they're not centred on Dax, but on the other characters. So we've got Lisa (good), Gideon and Luke (okay), Spook (meh), Jacob and Alex Teller (whu…?) and Mia (oh no).
At first, it seems as if they're just self-contained stories, no arc present, and every once in a while Dax comes running or flying in. I always felt it was a shame he featured so little in A Life and Death Job, though (that's Lisa's story) - for obvious reasons.
But then things start changing. We know by now that Sparkes doesn't exactly shy away from really bad and ever-changing things happening, and sometime around Trick or Truth (that's Spook, Book 3) it's becoming more obvious that there is a bigger picture present here as well, and it's… not good. In fact, it's pretty much as terrible as you can get for kids of about eleven, twelve years, I think. It all starts getting darker.
Then Book 4 comes around, the one with the twins in (Speak Evil), and I've always wondered why they needed to have their own book, because they're not that important to the original story in The Shapeshifter. But fine. Okay.
The Burning Beach. Hell no. This one's about Mia, and Mia... has changed. A lot. The stuff that happened in The Shapeshifter Book 4 and 5? It has escalated, and Mia has now turned into basically . I didn't exactly appreciate the other four books before that either, but Mia's story was absolutely horrible. Her character is changed dramatically, she does unspeakable things… I won't be going into detail, but I wasn't prepared for it. It still is one of the darkest books I've ever read, and let me tell you: I won't be reading it again.
The bad news? Before continuing with Feather and Fang, Book 6 of this series, you should have read the Unleashed books. Which I did, clearly, I just bought them when they were released… and after I'd finished the series I sold them - for obvious reasons. And I can't remember much of them other than some main plot points and that I still get very bad feelings about them, which is enough for me. I remember more or less how The Burning Beach (which is the book where everything comes together and is explained) ends, at least enough to understand Feather and Fang, and that's good enough for me.
February 8, 2017
Brilliant ending! Great build up! If a bit of a dull start.
November 4, 2016
I quite enjoyed this book all the way through. It was such a sad ending where Owen can't be with them anymore, the COLA club is now broken down a bit, like Spook not coming back ever again. I want to know what happens at the end though; is there still a COLA club? If so, who joins it again? What are they going to do when they grow up? Will they get normal jobs and act as normal humans? Anyway, at least the answer to where their powers came from was there.
I've enjoyed every book of this series!
I've enjoyed every book of this series!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2016
Absolutely loved it
Had me hooked from the beginning. Everything is so well thought of, I really didn't see the plot twists. Especially the big big one.
When He-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named-Because-I-Don't-Want-To-Spoil-Anything dies, I honestly thought he'd come back. Death is not the end and all that. Then the funeral made me realise he was gone. Dead. Death is not the end however, what a finish. Wish there was another book in the series.
Had me hooked from the beginning. Everything is so well thought of, I really didn't see the plot twists. Especially the big big one.
When He-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named-Because-I-Don't-Want-To-Spoil-Anything dies, I honestly thought he'd come back. Death is not the end and all that. Then the funeral made me realise he was gone. Dead. Death is not the end however, what a finish. Wish there was another book in the series.
October 4, 2014
Although I rated all the other books in the series 5*, I have to say this book was a little bit of a let down for the grand ending I was hoping for. The 'other worlds' bit wasn't as great as the more interesting rescue the rest of the series seemed to be building up to something great. But, it's still a great book!
February 5, 2017
Used to be the most traumatic book on my young adult shelf (before Feather & Fang came out, anyway.) Genuinely terrifying stuff. The trackers! The ship! Mia's pyro beginnings! (Also, that scene where everyone pretends to stop being her friend to get her to explode? Messed Me Up.)
January 10, 2008
Apparently this book is okay as told by my mates. But the ending is really really bad.
December 11, 2010
Nice development in the Shapeshifter series. All of the books were well written with good plot development and great characterisation.
January 6, 2011
Very very very good
May 24, 2012
A brilliant conclusion to a brilliant series. I couldn't put it down. This is a series you will want to read again and again!
Read
July 17, 2012A fantastic conclusion: probably the best one yet with hundreds of twists and unexpected events. Brilliant!!
October 19, 2013
Can't believe they're finished
Amazing page turner
Amazing page turner
April 1, 2014
Really enjoyed this book because the main character final learns how to changer= into a falcon.
June 22, 2014
i hate this book. i mean what kinda ending is that????
June 21, 2016
Absolutely love this book and the series. I recommend this series to anyone who likes action, sci-fi and/or mystery books, but I think anyone will like this series.
April 28, 2013
FAB!!!!!
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