Different (Shifter Academy, #1) by Scarlett Haven

My rating: three stars

Genre: YA, paranormal romance

Edition: e-book

Goodreads Summary: My whole life, I’ve known there’s something different about me. I didn’t realize how different until four guys show up all claiming that they are destined to be my mates.

They’re not human, and they say I’m not either.

But if I’m not human then what am I?

Now I’m forced to go to a school where I don’t belong and am reminded of it everyday.

Creatures I never imagined were real that used to give me nightmares are everywhere I turn.

The world that once existed is gone.

Will anything ever be like it was again?

I was browsing through my Kindle trying to find a free book to read and I thought this one sounded interesting. I did not have high expectations for this book at all which is probably why I gave this book three stars.

Likes: I know the premise is pretty strange, but I thought this book was a lot of fun! It has supernatural creatures and reminded me of avatar with the different elements of the creatures. There is a whole range of characters – from funny to petty- and I enjoyed meeting and learning about all of them. The whole mate aspect was so weird that I found it enjoyable. I don’t mean to make fun of the book, don’t think I am trying to be judgmental when I say “weird” and “strange”. I honestly mean it in a nice way, I just can’t think of any words with better connotations. I think strange and weird is wonderful, who wants to be normal?? Anyway, continuing on with the review, I also liked how fast paced this book is. It never seems to lull or get boring, something is always happening.

Dislikes: The writing is honestly not that great. There is a lot of repetition in the writing which isn’t my favorite. The way that the characters talk to each other and think to themselves seems immature and unrealistic. It just seems like she describes the character’s interactions in a mundane way that makes the book immature. Along with that, the whole plot just seems a little….fanfiction-y. I can tell that there is supposed to be a deeper plot about her heritage and stuff, but it seems like the main plot is her figuring out how she is going to be in a relationship with all these boys who are completely okay with being in a polygamous relationship with her. It just doesn’t seem deep.

To be honest it was not a well-written book. It was hilarious and a ton of fun to read, but wasn’t the best quality. It is the type of read that I like when I don’t want to think too much and I just want a quick quirky romance. For that reason alone I gave it three stars. I did get a lot of enjoyment from it and was chuckling through the whole book, but I wouldn’t say it was a high-quality story.