This review was first posted on http://www.rubysreads.com. 
 I loved this book. I might just have been ripe for it, but it hit all the right spots and kept me absorbed from cover to cover. I'm really digging the way that skinwalkers are edging their way into shifter stories these days. Patricia Briggs did it in River Marked and so did Kelley Armstrong in The Gathering. Does anyone know of any others? 
 Shifting opens with the heroine, Maggie, being taken to her latest in a long string of foster homes. Maggie's moved around so much that she has no faith that this foster home will be any better than any of the many others. All she wants to do is turn eighteen and graduate--that way she'll be out of the foster system and on her own. And since, every full moon she shapeshifts, being on her own is kind of necessary. Especially since forced shapeshifting means ending up in public with no clothes on and then being picked up for prostitution. 
 As it turns out, Silver City is exactly the place Maggie needs to be, and her new foster mother is just the right guardian. Of course, this is a book (a teen book), so it doesn't always seem that way. For one thing, Maggie's hate at first sight with Bridger O'Connell quickly gives way to mutual attraction. Too bad Maggie's had years of practice distrusting people. It's also too bad that their mutual attraction brings Maggie to the attention of the local mean girl. The ups and downs of Maggie and Bridger's romance is delightful to read about, with plenty of swoonworthy moments. The romance, however, isn't the only storyline here. This is a coming-of-age tale, a story about finding your place in the world, and about learning to love yourself despite perceived flaws. 
 What can I say? Shifting hit all the right notes for me. It has romance, shifters, a small town setting, folklore and great writing. Maggie is a heroine to love--I'm a total sucker for emotionally closed-off heroines. Wiggins infuses her heroine with intelligence, backbone and vulnerability. And while we don't spend a great deal of time with Bridger, I liked him, too. I think my appreciation for him would totally be helped by a *cough*sequel*cough*. 
 The one issue I had with the novel was the scene where things come to a head between Maggie and the mean girl. It's seriously disturbing and kind of over the top. Maybe things like that happen in certain parts of the country, but I can't see things getting that out of hand at a small town high school. 
 I said earlier that I was enjoying the skinwalker mythology. Wiggins' take on the lore makes me want to know more about the traditional Native American skinwalker legends. It's a creative and novel reinvention of the usual shapeshifter stories in teen and adult paranormals. The writing, overall, tells me that this is a debut author I'll be watching out for in the future. 
 5 Points: I would move in with this book.