There is so much potential given to us.

Ignoring how easy it is to read her brother as her mate in the first few pages, we meet this fox and we get all this information on foxes, on magic, on so many things, dead foxes, undead foxes, there is so much potential and I really wanted to enjoy this book!

But it was predictable, easy to guess what happens, what's going to happen. It held no surprises, no indulging me in foxcraft or magic, just a sort of nod to yes, this exists, and the whole ride was a rapid reading to get to the good part and then bam!

I'd finished the book.

As someone who's read few fox books, this got my hopes up, then dashed them. I'm going to read book two, and maybe book three, but if book two's a bust, well, I guess it won't be more than an annoyance. ( )

My daughter’s favorite series. This is a fun book that has a sophisticated story that is both accessible and a fresh take on an adventure story. Sometimes accessibility means simplistic use of language, however Foxcraft is full of figurative language, which puts the reader into the fiction.
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Isla's family means everything to her, so when they are taken by a band of ruthless foxes, she goes to the Graylands in search of them. The Graylands have the furless animals (humans), deathways (roads) and manglers (cars). When she is attacked by a dog protecting his territory, she is saved by a fox disguised as a dog. Siffrin uses foxcraft to shapeshift or appear invisible. The Fox Elders are looking for Isla's brother Pirie and Siffrin is charged with finding him. Isla and Siffrin stick together, all the while being chased by The Taken, a band of foxes who have no freewill. At the end, Isla is separated from Siffrin, so she returns to the zoo to free the wolf who she hopes will help her find her brother.

This book was a challenge for me. I had a tough time with the fox vocabulary for human things. It kept me from having a solid visual of the setting because I had to think too hard about what was being described. The plot was too slow. Isla and Siffrin don't do much except walk and try to avoid the bad foxes. There were a few interesting scenes like the zoo and the pound, but there were hardly any interactions with humans even though they were in the city. The ending just stops with no clear justification or any clue about where the story is headed next. The book I recommend instead of this one is [b: Pax|22098550|Pax|Sara Pennypacker|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1434493048s/22098550.jpg|41443759] by Sara Pennypacker. ( )

Isla is a young fox living a happy life with her brother Pirie, her parents, and her Great Ma. Pirie and Isla have a special set of skills each called Foxcraft. Pirie has mastered his skills, called slimmering, which means that he can blend in with his surroundings, and go practically invisible. Isla on the other hand, she's having a little trouble with her skills. Her skill is that she can imitate any sound, and throw her voice. One day, when Isla comes back from out being alone, she returns to find her den empty, and trashed. As well as that, there is an evil skulk of foxes lurking around her home. The leader of the skulk is a vixen by the name Karka. With her family nowhere to be found, Isla hides in the bushes and spies on Karka and her followers. Isla steps on a twig, gaining the attention of the evil vixen. Quickly, Isla throws her voice, momentarily distracting Karka, and winning a few seconds to escape. The skulk chases her all the way to the outskirts of a city, where she crosses a busy road, and loses the group. After wandering around the city, now Isla is starving. She chases a rat, which scurries under a fence, and when she follows it, is confronted by a massive, unfriendly guard dog. Just when she is about to be ripped to shreds, the dog is distracted by a small, scruffy, little dog arrogantly taunting her. The dog is distracted, and Isla escapes. Later, Isla sees the same dog, and when she calls out to it to say thank you, it runs away. Isla follows it, and questions the little dog. The dog admits he isn't what he seems. After being pressed, it admits that it is a messenger from the Elders, and turns into a fox. He introduces himself as Siffrin, and his Foxcraft skill is shapeshifting. He tells her he is looking for a young fox named Pirie. Isla is also looking for Pirie, so they team up to try to find him. In an alleyway, while the two are traveling, Karka's skulk finds them, but this time Karka isn't here. Siffrin uses his magic to hide them until the skulk is gone. Not long after, Karka returns, and almost catches them, but Isla and Siffrin make a getaway by climbing an escape ladder on a tall building. They leap from buildong to building until Karka gives up. That's when Isla starts having dreams about a tall, dark furless, (human) with wings, in a misty courtyard. In one of her dreams, she sees Pirie through the mist. Excited, Isla tells Siffrin about it, and is surprised when he replies that he knows where the furless with wings is. Finally now that they have a clue, the pair sets off to find Pirie.

Although this isn't my favorite book, it is very good. I enjoyed it enough to want to read the next books at least. Isla is the main character although it seems like Pirie was meant to be. Siffrin is my favorite character, because he isn't supposed to help Isla, but he does. He also gives her the protection and mentoring she needs, because she is still very young. The whole story is very creative, but I don't know how it would be as a movie. ( )

I would not call this book thrilling. For me it was boring. This is another book that I picked up for my nephews. I really struggled to get into this book. I got to about chapter four and put the book down. I did not come back to it for a while. In fact, I had to force myself to pick the book up again to try to read some more. I could only get a few more chapters in and I gave up. Luckily for me what I did read I know my nephews will enjoy this book. This is a good thing as it is geared towards their age group. Although there was a scene that I do think the older readers can handle. It was not a murder scene but it still talked about fur and blood. So the younger readers may not be able to handle this. ( )