- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Ace Hardcover; 1 edition (April 3 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1937007170
- ISBN-13: 978-1937007171
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.6 x 3.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 522 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #84,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
For fifteen years Maria Devane has been desperately, passionately in love with Dante Romano. But despite loving him with all of her heart and soul, Maria knows that Dante can never give all of himself back-at least not all the time.
Every month, Dante shifts shape, becoming a wild animal. During those times, he wanders far and wide, leaving Maria alone. He can't choose when he shifts, the transition is often abrupt and, as he gets older, the time he spends in human form is gradually decreasing. But Maria, who loves him without hesitation, wouldn't trade their unusual relationship for anything.
Since the beginning, she has kept his secret, knowing that their love is worth the danger. But when a string of brutal attacks occur in local parks during the times when Dante is in animal form, Maria is forced to consider whether the lies she's been telling about her life have turned into lies she's telling herself...
About the Author
Sharon Shinn is a journalist who works for a trade magazine. Her first novel, The Shapechanger's Wife, was selected by Locus as the best first fantasy novel of 1995. She has won the William C. Crawford Award for Outstanding New Fantasy Writer, and was twice nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. A graduate of Northwestern University, she has lived in the Midwest most of her life.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2.9 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A dangerous love, April 3 2012
By Elf2060 "Elf2060" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Shape of Desire (Hardcover)
"The Shape of Desire" by Sharon Shinn is a lyrical love story about a shapeshifter named Dante Romano and the woman, Maria Devane, who is inextricably tied to him. Maria continues to work at her job as an accountant but she lives for the ever diminishing times out of the month that her lover can live with her as a human. She has accepted all of his tales about changing into various animals over the years for increasingly longer periods of time and has never questioned him or his strictures and has arranged her entire life to accommodate his unusual circumstances. Complications with her coworkers and frightening murders in her town start to alter her relationship with Dante and force her to examine her goals and ultimate desires. Her unswerving devotion to Dante is tested as she finally interacts with his family and discovers that there are even more secrets that she has been unaware of. Escalating tension forces Maria to take action that may ultimately betray the lover that she is striving to protect and changes the dynamics of her relationship with her coworkers. The question is whether she can regain the equanimity that she has treasured for so many years or is this the price she will pay for having a shapeshifter in her life?This story was a bit of a departure from Ms. Shinn's intricate series as her characters seemed a bit underdeveloped and the secondary characters were relegated to very brief appearances. The premise is interesting but I found Maria to be too clingy and irritating, filled with angst but trying to hold it in to keep her relationship on an even keel. The interaction between the main characters seemed unhealthy and the pacing of the book was slow until the last third or so. There are beautiful passages with imaginative imagery but the story itself feels two-dimensional and the ending seemed to be disingenuous with little resolution of some of the dangling threads.
© Night Owl Reviews
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
not that great, April 4 2012
By Kim - Published on Amazon.com
As a huge fan of Shinn's Angel/Samaria books I was really looking forward to this new direction in her writing. Unfortunately, this book was nowhere near that quality. It took forever to get going- Dante shows up and Maria is delirious with love, Dante leaves and Maria is desolate, over and over again. This recycles for a big chunk of the book and for me was pretty repetitive. I also found it difficult to believe that Maria would be able to sustain such extremes of emotion for 15 years. I mean, wouldn't a sane person more or less get used to it? Overall, not a terrible book, but not what I was hoping for, and not worth paying the "new release" price.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Shinn's Best- By a long shot!, April 10 2012
By R. T. French - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Shape of Desire (Hardcover)
I've loved Sharon Shinn's writing for over a decade. I have to say that, so far, this is my least favorite book by her. Many of the elements were entirely out of character for her usual writing. It is almost as if her publisher called her up and said, "Sharon, we need to edge up your writing to keep up with this whole paranormal romance trend that is so hot. So, let's drop some f-bombs, throw in some erotic language, and maybe a few bestiality jokes. Sha-zam! Publishing gold!"What Shinn excels at is showing us strong, independent characters (particularly female leads) and making us love them and love watching them fall in love. In "Desire" the female character is completely dependent, with an almost Bella-like obsession and willingness to abandon family and future for her dangerous beau. We don't see them fall in love, but we do see the long term consequences of a paranormal romance. In that aspect, the book was interesting in concept. Where do we go from here? Is there any future in this type of relationship? The redeeming quality of the book is the development of Maria and Dante's self-imposed isolation and complete couple-centeredness into a functional relationship that works together to help and bring in others. However, other reviewers are correct in that it takes too long to move the action of the book along. Shinn's take-it-for-granted otherworldliness is missing altogether, offering instead a jarring and false feeling "real world" setting. Readers who haven't "met" Shinn before and are pulled in by the paranormal romance aspect might enjoy the book (though they, too, might miss seeing how this strange relationship began), but my guess is that readers looking for more of Shinn's usual fare will be disappointed in this change.
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