Altered was the first book I have read from author Vicki Stiefel. Altered is the story of Kit, a woman in her fifties dying of disease. She is brought unwillingly into a parallel world where she is returned to the youth and health of her mid-twenties. I was immediately drawn into the first Made Ones story, it had a fascinating premise and a quick start. I did struggle about a quarter of the way into the book; I wanted more detail on the world and the characters and wasn’t getting it. I did continue the book after a couple of days and I was very glad I did! The story really picked up and I devoured the rest in about a day. I will definitely be picking up book 2.
I received an ARC of Altered by Vicki Stiefel from NetGalley for an honest review.

Review excerpted from my blog post over at FanSciHist (https://fanscihist.wordpress.com/2019/08/11/altered-by-vicki-stiefel/)

My Rating: 4 stars

Library recommendation: Recommended for public library fantasy, paranormal, and/or science fiction romance collections.

Warning: Hereafter, you chance spoilers. I will try never to reveal major plot points, but to review any book, you must reveal some parts of the story.


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Number of titles I have read by this author: 2

Love story speed: Medium burn

Relationship dynamics: The Wolf Alpha’s Son (H) / The Remade Middle Aged Circus Performer (h)

Sexual content: Some, both “on-screen” and “off-screen”. “On-screen” sexual content is explicit.

Triggers: PTSD (h); Loss of free will for women that may be interpreted as misogynistic; violence (not too graphic)

Grammar/Editing: Some typos; lack of apostrophes with possessive forms of plural nouns

Review: This evenly paced novel is set on a parallel world that evolved differently from Earth to include magic, advanced technologies and symbiotic relationships with animals. While there is some repetition of details within the story, the world building is well-done, both at the micro and macro level, while leaving enough to be described in future installments of the series. The physics are consistent with Earth physics, but the biology appears to differ in a way that wasn’t sufficiently explained. That is, women appear to be responsible for genetic sex selection in babies, but on Earth, this is not the case. I look forward to seeing if this is delved into further later in the series.

Rafe and Kit begin as acquaintances in a situation of need and develop a very mature, realistic, loving relationship. They are very sure of one another and remain so throughout. They trust one another a lot – far more time was dedicated to actual plot points than communication errors, wish I appreciated a lot (a lot). Some supporting characters were developed more than others and some of the villainous characters could have been given more back story to understand their motivations better, but overall, character development was well done and it was clear, even without reading the sneak peek for the next book, who the hero and heroine of the subsequent novel will be. Paulo the coywolf was also a definite highlight for me.

I am quite excited to read the next installment in this series and can’t wait until it comes out next year.

Bigtop version: An entertaining spectacle featuring unique tricks and old favourites that will entertain the majority of circus lovers and will leave the crowd feeling that the show can’t come back to town soon enough.



Full disclosure: I received a free advance review copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Three and a half
This is a difficult book to categorise as its a mixture of science fiction spliced with fantasy elements and all wrapped around a romance. Kit is a fifty eight year old woman who finds her consciousness waking up in a different dimension and she is now inhabiting a twenty something version of herself ! You would expect she would run around screaming but actually no because she's quickly taken in by a Clan who have a symbiotic relationship with Wolves . Initially Kit feels like a prisoner but she adapts and starts to form attachments but there's a sinister plan taking place and Kit is slap bang in the crosshairs !
Such a lot going on here and it could have easily turned into a Shifter romance but I liked that the author took a different path. Make no mistake this is probably more sci fi than perhaps the cover indicates with its technology but there's also magic present although it's something that those in charge are seeking to eradicate. It's a strange mish mash that oddly enough does work although I couldn't quite believe the way these Clans blindly follow the Alchemist Clan . It was a very interesting idea and there's a lot more to come although for this reader at times the characters didn't feel realistic in their actions but as a first in the series it certainly felt unique and original.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Altered by Vicki Stiefel, 427 pages. EBOOK
Afterworld Publishing, 2019. $1.
Language: R (95 swears, 5 “f”); Mature Content:R; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - NO
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
When Kit miraculously survives fall she and her sisters were in, her first thoughts are about her sisters -- did they survive, too? -- and how to continue to survive the new situation she’s in. Only once Kit meets Rafe and is out of immediate danger does she start to realize something isn’t right about the world around her. Kit bides her time, waiting for more information, but then she plans on making her own decisions regardless of the plans others have made for her.
I found the premise exciting and enjoyed chunks of the book, but I think it was poorly executed overall. Out-of-character moments were confusing and frustrating as I tried to understand the world being created; contradicting and unaddressed details were merely distracting at first but became annoying as the problem persisted; and I didn’t like how this strong-willed woman allowed the many inequalities in her relationship go unaddressed. I also did not appreciate the graphic sex scenes.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

I actually really liked this book. From the synopsis to the actual reading, this book was not what I expected.

In this you are following Kitlyn, Kit for short, a 58 year old woman who is slowly dying from a genetic disease. She is given a second chance, unwittingly, and transported into a former body in an alternate reality that is healthy, young, and full of life with no genetic marker to contract her fatal disease. For the first few chapters she is ecstatic and cant believe this is real. It seems to good to be true. Turns out you should always listen to your instincts, I mean I know we always wish we could have a new body without a cost but thats just not the way things usually go.  After a little while due to her bull headedness she discovers this new body has a cost, she was brought here to be a baby maker of hopefully girl children because girl births were declining at a rate of 20 percent to 80 percent male births. She demands answers as she fell with her two sisters she exspects they got transported too. Flying horses, giant wolves, and the relationships with the clans and some enemies. She takes it by storm.

It has the right amount of fantasy, has more science fiction tech than I expected, some action, and of course some steamy scenes. I actually look forward to reading the second one and will keep an eye out for it.

3.75/5
Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this read and give my honest review.

The first thing that drew me to this book was the cover. Which is awesome.
The next was the description. Which was intriguing.
And then I read the book. Which was amazing.

I love parallel worlds. And multiverses. And I freaking loved the world that this author imagines.
I found the idea of symbiotes really remarkable. Werewolves? Bah. I've had enough of those.
Vicki Stiefel created a really interesting concept, with the Made Ones and the Alchemists.

Kitlyn was a remarkable character. The things she went through were awful but she had a spine of steel.

It took me a while to get into the story, because there are so many details and new words. But after that I couldn't put it down.
And some things felt kinda forced and confusing. Like that Inga chick and her obssession or the Alchemists motives and cruelty.

All in all, it was a very good book, with and amazing world and extraordinary characters. Definitely recommend.

<b>I received this book from Netgalley for my honest review. </b>

This book can be fantasy, SF, romance, paranormal… a poutpourri of different gendres.

The heroine, Kit, is a 58 years old woman, crippled and dying of Huntington's who mysteriously, while trekking with her sisters, falls into a cliff and instead of dying, emerges into a parallel world young and whole again.
<img src="https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/613/770/826.jpg"/>

So, you would think that she would act like a mature woman. Nooo.. she acts like a 20 something, full of fears and indecisions and doubts.

I could understand doubts since the world she fall in is different than our Earth. There’re magical creatures, wolf talk with people, people live longer, it’s mix of bucolic, rural life like in a feudal Earth, but mixed with technological innovations like TV and phone and hoover-cars.

I could also understand her fears of thigs that remind her of her accident. Like riding…

But, I couldn’t understand her fears about everything else. Why would she fear the clan who accepts her? Why would she fear the attraction toward Rafe? Why would she fear being young and healthy again?

And there’s so much NA vibe here. They’re both acting like a 18 years old would… I didn’t like it at all.

The backstory and the world building is nice and interesting enough, but, even if the author tries to create differences, often they are not different enough. Even the language is too similar.

Also, the clans being unable to oppose the Alchemists’ tyranny is lame. The clans obey the Alchemists blindly like they’re small children. They don’t think, they just obey even the stupidest order! It was so frustrating!
<img src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/d62ad4a4-41c2-4b90-865a-c30317ad96b0/d2xbx1d-9bba6eec-8e68-4b66-8e5e-fe2254da5801.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2Q2MmFkNGE0LTQxYzItNGI5MC04NjVhLWMzMDMxN2FkOTZiMFwvZDJ4YngxZC05YmJhNmVlYy04ZTY4LTRiNjYtOGU1ZS1mZTIyNTRkYTU4MDEucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.nrDuxj3QwGsu55VFdgvzOpSeIN5_SUYtMIdGh8rkvuA"/>

There were so many instances where Kit’s thoughts were so OTT that I wanted to yell to her to snap out of it!!

Still it was not without merit! As I said the world bulding is interesting and would like to see if the clans would defeat the Alchemists!

Vicki Stiefel brings many ideas together in this creative, otherworldly narrative. Altered is perfect reading for those in search of quality and craft in this genre. A strong story and enjoyable book.