No Choice by Mel Todd – A Book Review

Posted April 1, 2021 by Booksandblurbs in Reviews, Sci-Fi, Urban Fantasy / 0 Comments

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No Choice

(Kaylid Chronicles Book 1)

by Mel Todd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Down & Dirty

This is a very unique Urban Fantasy / Sci-Fi with quite a bit to offer. Free on Kindle Unlimited.

What is it about?

(Blurb from GoodReads)

Doing your duty isn’t a choice, even if you become a cougar.

Officer McKenna Largo’s life is thrown into turmoil when she is catapulted onto the worldwide stage as the focal point for a bizarre event occurring across the planet.

She finds herself famous and infamous when, in the middle of a bank robbery call, she turns into a cougar. The video goes viral, making her the most famous shifter on Earth.

Plagued by reporters, leveraged for publicity by her department, and apparently a magnet for major events, the beleaguered McKenna just wants to be a good officer.

When everything goes wrong, she’ll decide what price she’ll pay to protect and serve. Even if she becomes a monster to do it.

My Thoughts on No Choice

Very creative

There are many urban fantasies that revolve around the notion of hidden shifters – but what happens when the emergence of shifting, and the exposure of such, happens on prime time Television? It’s a fascinating thought and one that plays out on the page here, in technicolor detail.

As a cop, McKenna keeps her head down and does her job, even if that means accepting a media crew following her around to capture footage for their ‘Cop Show’. It’s horrible, but she deals. When a bank robbery goes sideways, McKenna is caught, on film, shifting into a Cougar….. and she is not the only one. The thing is, this is the FIRST time ANYONE has shifted, and suddenly there are people all over Earth who are finding their animal side. McKenna was just the first one to be captured on video. It’s a mess, both personally and politically, and the events of that day launch an epic series that dances through complicated subjects, human nature and science fiction. Well done.

Perspective:

Third Person, very limited multiple POV

Ending Type:

Minor Cliffhanger, Continuation

Rating:

PG-17 (There is a rather disturbing scene that should be monitored if someone under 18 reads it – a less than descriptive rape. I am rating the entire series PG-17, as there is no other moment like that, nor is there any sort of ‘heat’ level on the page.)

Romantic Dynamic:

Nothing here, eventually it’s M/F

Character Age Range:

Adult

My Final Verdict on No Choice

I really enjoyed this book and this entire series. It was uniquely done with compelling characters and a well-founded plot. Overall, I would recommend it for Sci-Fi lovers or those looking for a different sort of shifter novel. I do, however, have a few reservations – though they are not strong enough to limit my star rating. One, the rape scene while held captive. It is not well described, thank goodness, but the plot could have moved on without it – it’s a worn-out device that offered nothing. The trauma of the moment could have been expressed in different ways. Two, there are editing errors that jarred a bit, though not quite enough to pull me out of the tale. Aside from those, this was a decent series I quite enjoyed.

No Choice

Published June 8th, 2018
365 Pages

If you enjoyed this review of No Choice, please consider checking out a few of my other articles.

Your Turn

What are you reading today? Have you read this completed series? What other books by Mel Todd have you enjoyed? Leave a comment, I would love to talk!