In her young adult novella, Shifting in the Realms, Theresa Snyder created a “realm” or alternate dimension where paranormal beings exist. Vampires, shapeshifters, and an assortment of other mythical creatures live together in less than harmony. Setting this hidden location somewhere between the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul the area is called The Realms by its inhabitants.
The primary protagonist is a teenage boy, Cody, who is a shapeshifter; a werewolf. He inherited the gene from his father, although his mother was human. In addition he has a human sister who is six years older than he is. Killed at sixteen in the human world he manages to escape to the Realms where he survives as a shapeshifter. He becomes friends with Pete who is a teenaged human and Remy an adult vampire. It is through Pete that he meets Simone, a beautiful teenage human who he is immediately attracted to.
There are a couple of scenes at the beginning of the book that may be disturbing for some young readers. While they explain why Cody flees to the Realms it makes the book more appropriate for teens sixteen and older.
Although the story does have a complex edge, the writing is immature and awkward in places. Because it is short the characters are not very well developed and the writer leaves many questions unanswered. The story itself ends abruptly leaving the reader wondering what might happen next. It reads more like the rough draft of a full length book.
Because the story does have the potential to be a good one I’m giving it a green Bookworm. I hope the author will revisit the tale and expand on the story, fully develop the characters, and fill in a bit of the back story for other characters.
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Between the Beats 