Audio Book Review: I Was a Teenage Weredeer

I Was a Teenage Weredeer

By:  C.T. Phipps & Michael Suttkus

Publish Date:  September 26, 2017, Audiobook Release February 13, 2018

Format:  Audiobook - 9 hrs 54 mins
Narrated By:  Arielle DeLisle

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Series:  1st in Bright Falls Mysteries series

Impression:  A fun, relaxing mystery in a shifter town.

Synopsis:
Jane Doe is a weredeer, the least-threatening shapechanger species in the world. Blessed with the ability to turn furry at will and psychically read objects, Jane has done her best to live a normal life working as a waitress at the Deerlightful Diner. She has big dreams of escaping life in the supernatural-filled town of Bright Falls, Michigan, and her eighteenth birthday promises the beginning of her teenage dreams coming true.

Unfortunately, her birthday is ruined by the sudden murder of her best friend's sister in an apparent occult killing. Oh, and her brother is the primary suspect. Allying with an eccentric FBI agent, the local crime lord, and a snarky werecrow, Jane has her work cut out for her in turning her big day around.

Thankfully, she's game.

Set in the same world as Straight Outta Fangton.

First Sentence:
I was a teenage weredeer.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Noble 

Audible

My Thoughts and Summary:

*I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Arielle has a young voice that fits Jane Doe. She also pulls off Jane's sarcastic humor of stating the obvious in a dry tone. Totally works and sounds like a young adult. Arielle also voices each character in different tones when they speak. The audio is very clear and clean listening. Arielle's pronunciation of words is clear. No distractions from the story.

Jane has a dry sarcastic humor about her, stating the obvious in a dry tone. And it totally works. Especially in audio format. Oh the deer puns. lol.

As in true C.T. Phipps fashion, we have references to t.v. shows and more throughout the book. It's not done in the Supervillainy humor but in an undertone to give a feel of what Jane is seeing as happening or a description. This is always something I find fun, as I get to see if I can pick them out and know the references.

Off the bat we get a lot of information. Wow. The first chapter is packed full of names and world info. It almost feels like an info dump. I don't think I'm going to remember all the names as they hit me so fast here. Once you read through this, and you are great through the remainder of the book.

Being a shifter is dangerous now. The world knows of vampires and shifters, but fears them all. It's set in the same world as Straight Outta Fangton, but you don't have to read it to understand the world here. (I haven't, yet.) This story is in Bright Falls, Michigan where Straight Outta Fangton is in New Detroit. But what happened with the vampires there affects the shifters here, and we hear about some of that, which then also makes me curious for the vampire book. People, states, and government have not taken well to the reveal of vampires and shifters. It's dangerous to go other places because of the laws.

A mystery! This is a shifter town where a murder has happened. Actually, we find out this is the third murder. Jane has the ability to read items with a touch, so she becomes important in helping with the case. Her mom and her best friend (who's sister was murdered) want her to help with the case, and clear her brothers name. Jane's visions help point her in directions, but don't give her the complete answer. So she works the case, looking for answers with the clues she finds.

I look forward to Jane "reading" items when she wants. She gets enough to send her in a direction, but learns there is more to the vision than she saw. Cool. I'm glad things aren't always black and white. Jane also has a new friend that's not really a friend or alive. It's the gun. It's actually cool, and reminds me a bit of the gun from Wynonna Earp. Jane also seems to find herself with new friends she never expected; Lucian and Alex. Lucian is the towns bad guy and drug dealer, but there maybe more to him. And Alex is new to town. We have Jane's long time friend Emma, who's part of the powerful family in town. It's a neat little group of people here. I even like Maria who finds herself as an ally.

The town is neat with all the shifters. Many shifters have abilities that come in handy. They have a social structure based on their were-animal as well.

Something that pops up through the book is prejudice. Jane sees it with the social structure of the weres and she even sees herself referencing it as that's what has been drilled into her from the old ways. Jane is working past the prejudices though.

I found this mystery story to be relaxing with Jane's personality and small jokes and puns. I look forward to Jane continuing to learn magic and spending time with her friends. Also, there are a few visions she had that may, or may not, come to pass. I'm curious if they do.



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