A review by bookishwonderlandco
Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs

5.0

I was excited to get back into the world of Mercedes Thompson, even if it was in the form of minor characters and shorter novellas. Its been almost a year since I read this, so only a few of the titles remind me of what the stories were about, so give me some leeway as I scrounge to remember.
All these stories were fascinating. Some remained with me more than others, but they all helped me see and realize more about these characters than I had previously realized by just reading the Mercy books.
In these novellas you will read about Samuel and the Marrok, and how they were turned and lived for a while. In that story you will also find out how Samuel met and fell for Ariana.
One of the last stories included is with Mercy as she gets in yet more trouble trying to help out a guy with a...poltergeist? (I think the description said poltergeist but it might have just been a malevolent ghost. Either way.
Also, one of the stories in here is about Ben. If you love Ben as much as I do, this book is totally worth everything just to have Ben be the main character and to get inside his head for a little while. The novella that is about him takes place a book or two after Ben is introduced into the Mercy world and is actually the events that turned Ben from a really self-centered wolf into the Ben that in later books is extremely loved. This story was absolutely fantastic and really helped me understand Ben in a way I didn't realize I needed to. Basically Ben finds a girl at his workplace that is being harassed by his and her boss, and Ben has to decide if he is going to stick up for her, ultimately showing he cares about others and not just himself, or he can continue to be more self-centered.
Another great thing about this book full of novellas, if the fact that these take place in the world of Mercedes Thompson wasn't enough, is that before each story there is a blurb where Patricia Briggs says something about the story you are about to read or the characters in said story. It offers some more wonderful insight not only into this world but everything that goes behind these stories, as well. Honestly this was an incredible read and I enjoyed every story that was in this book. I know I only brought up three of the many novellas in this book, but I have a lot more that I really enjoyed but I would run out of space. This was an incredible book and a great insight to many of the secondary characters and completely worth the read if you are even the smallest fan of the Mercy series!