Rating: 
Summary: A vampire to review a werewolf book
Review: Go figure that a vampire would read and review a book on shapeshifters. However, one of my closest friends happens to be a shapeshifter, so I felt it was a good idea to read and see what this author had to say and compare it to my friend's experiences.
Overall, I am impressed. The writer has a lot of good ideas and a fascinating theory on what makes the more physical paranormal phenomena possible. She believes, to be brief that ectoplasm, the physical manefestation of spiritual or etheric matter, is what makes up the "body" of a full physical shifter. She fully admits to this being a theory at some points and acts as if it is proven fact in other areas, which I guess is understandable with such an innovative idea. She also covers a great deal of ground on mental and sensory shifting, both of which I have seen in action. I am not sure about the real difference between bilocation shifting and physical shifting, as I think they overlap quite a bit, whether she wishes to admit it or not. They may even be one and the same.
On the negative side, some of her statements are a bit absurd, such as her descriptions of how a familliar's color affects it's nature. A black dog is a black dog, not one inclined to run around in the underworld or accrue negative energy! That is the difference between supestition and magical knowledge, though the two do admittedly overlap a bit. Her descriptions of magical herbs briefly mention toxicity of some plants then breeze over the subject saying that toxic herbs are not usually toxic if applied to the skin. This is both wrong and potentially deadly. Nightshade and Monkshood, as well as Jimsonweed were used in such preperations and all can be deadly if a sufficient dose is absorbed through the skins via the volatile oils in the pores. Even innocuous herbs such as cinnamon can leave severe chemical burns on sensitive areas of skin such as the lips and eyelids if applied in an oil based salve, as is traditional. This is very important information that for safety needs to be changed in future editions of the book, and I believe the publisher should be informed as well.
Other than this serious oversight, I am impressed by this book. Though I am not sure of her conclusions or how well her techniques work, I will definitely explore both in research and personal trial. Hopefully my shapeshifting friend will eventually find the time to read and review this book as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh please...
Review: I bought this book because I find shapeshifting an interesting subject, but by no means do I consider myself to be a "shapeshifter". In "The Magic of Shapeshifting", she states some obviously weird and inaccurate things, such as on page 47, "The same wolf etheric body that lends a wolf's abilities to a berserker, can, at a more physical level of manifestation, actually become material enough to be a physical thing, via either bilocation of physical shifting." First, Berserkers were people who took on the qualities of BEARS while fighting, not Wolves. That would have been an "Ulfhednar". Second, physical shifting?? Does she expect those of us with any semblance of sanity to believe that somehow a human body is going to shift into the body of a wolf? I think she's either pulling the leg of people who would read that and say to themselves, "Hey, I wanna be a wolf!" or she's certifiable. In subsequent chapters, she just states some really dumb things, such as "Black familiars are evil, white familiars are good" (I'm paraphrasing). She advises you to have a pet as a familiar, but avoid black dogs because they're "demonic" unless they have a white spot on them to "balance" them out. Crimeny. Statements like that just make me question the rest of the book, which is, actually, filled with more stupid statements like that! No wonder she considers herself a "lone wolf". In a small community of people who are viewed as nutjobs by the rest of society, I would think they would want to distance themselves from her as much as possible.
Rating: 
Summary: If you can't believe werewolves are real, don't read it
Review: I bought this book because I find shapeshifting an interesting subject, but by no means do I consider myself to be a "shapeshifter". In "The Magic of Shapeshifting", she states some obviously weird and inaccurate things, such as on page 47, "The same wolf etheric body that lends a wolf's abilities to a berserker, can, at a more physical level of manifestation, actually become material enough to be a physical thing, via either bilocation of physical shifting." First, Berserkers were people who took on the qualities of BEARS while fighting, not Wolves. That would have been an "Ulfhednar". Second, physical shifting?? Does she expect those of us with any semblance of sanity to believe that somehow a human body is going to shift into the body of a wolf? I think she's either pulling the leg of people who would read that and say to themselves, "Hey, I wanna be a wolf!" or she's certifiable. In subsequent chapters, she just states some really dumb things, such as "Black familiars are evil, white familiars are good" (I'm paraphrasing). She advises you to have a pet as a familiar, but avoid black dogs because they're "demonic" unless they have a white spot on them to "balance" them out. Crimeny. Statements like that just make me question the rest of the book, which is, actually, filled with more stupid statements like that! No wonder she considers herself a "lone wolf". In a small community of people who are viewed as nutjobs by the rest of society, I would think they would want to distance themselves from her as much as possible.
Rating:
Summary: Biased but good
Review: I really loved this book but, i have to agree with what others are saying. She is VERY biased towards males. She states things that she can in no way prove by writing this book alone and she doesnt even try to give steps on how to practice the things she talks about, she assumes that the reader know everything already and just wants to clarify it. This is good for those of us already practiceing these things but not for newer people.
Also she seems to know what she is saying but just didnt know how to say it and because of this she had ended up creating a book that has good facts and stories as well as RL stories (wich i found fun to read) but other then that she just seems to be repeating what many other authors have already said. At least now you can just buy this book instead of the myriad of others LOL, but then reseach wouldnt be half as much fun anymore!
Other then these things i did like it, i am female so the male bashing didnt bother me as much. But yes male shapeshifters are much more common then females in legend! And i wouldnt be suprised if it were still so. I am a Fox-shifter for those who would like to know!
Rating:
Summary: Finally, something for the furry folk!
Review: I've been fascinated by the paranormal and cryptozoology since I was a young boy, especially in werewolves. I've collected almost every non-fiction and half the fiction books and movies out there. However, this one takes the cake. Not only does it cover the basic folklore for several different species, but the entire book is written in a very clearheaded, nonzealous way. I've read books by fanatics, but Rosalyn Greene truely believes in herself and what she is. In this book she covers different types of shifting (usually only physical shifting ever gets air-time), ways of becoming a were-creature, demographics, history, and a good dollop of advice for the newbies. She also differentiates between shifters (true believers), furries (people who want to believe so bad, but can't actually cross the line or commit), kin (regular people supportive of shifters and furries), and the myriad of dangers present to young shifters This book actually helped me figure out parts of my soul and personality I could never explain before; I guess I (and my father) have very strong animal magic. If you are interested in mythology, paranormal phenomina, magic, shamanism, cryptozoology (lesser degree), or if you are yourself a shifter; this book is a must have!
Rating:
Summary: Not Worth Reading, Other Than For Laughs
Review: If given the ability, I would have rated this book zero stars, as besides giving no useful information, it provides a twisted veiw of therianthropy. Being the one of the few published sources on animal human connections, it has given horid ideas to many people not yet introdced to the real facts of therians and their beliefs. The truth is that phsyical shifting does not exist and as a whole, and therians are sane people who are fully aware of this fact. People do not have the gentics, the ability to survive the twisting of limbs or any way to even start such a transformation. One can not 'become' a therian. You are born that way. Shifts are not induced, they come naturally. By shift I mean mental shifts, wherein the mindset of the person changes to that of the animal. Again, the mind, not the body.
Not only this, but half the book is hacked up stealing from sources not provided in the book (shifers (dot) org and others) while the other half seems to come entirely from the author's mind. Perhaphs while under the influence of drugs.
I can tell you, this book has done murder to the online therian community (which may I add, the author seems to beileve does not exist). Intelligent, serious therians who are just trying to get on with their lives and chat with others like them have had to suffer though hoards of people who want to be special and ask for how to physically turn into animals. It is not pretty.
The book is useless.
Rating: 
Summary: Brave, Lone Wolf
Review: Rosalyn Greene makes no bones about it--in her experience, werecreatures (werewolves, werecats, werebears, weredolphins) exist and in fact she claims to be one. "The Magic of Shapeshifting" is enlightening. Greene asserts that people are actually capable of full transformations from human to animal and back again. The author doesn't care about winning over her readers who might also be shifters, she dispenses warnings and critiques the shifter community at large. Whether you believe the author can do full transformations or not, her writing is that of real lone wolf. She doesn't seem to have her community behind her, she is sketchy in her case studies, she wants to have no contact with her readers. Rosalyn Greene has thrown out into the wind, some very powerful ideas and tools and then left us as readers to do with them what we will. I applaud her approach that demonstrates elder wisdom and restraint.
My major criticisms of the book are that the title suggests that the book will be a broad overview of shifting but the contents are almost completely devoted to werewolves. She would help readers truly interested in the topic if she discussed the various types of shifters in-depth. It would also have been helpful if she could have stepped outside of the White European and North American experience more often, to speak more in depth about weres in Asia (she suggests many types of shifters are of Asian descent)Indigenous Americans and African society as well. Still, I recommend the book and advise readers to keep in mind that "The Magic of Shapeshifting" is an introduction with a memoirist rather than a researcher's approach.
Rating:
Summary: Brave, Lone Wolf
Review: Rosalyn Greene makes no bones about it--in her experience, werecreatures (werewolves, werecats, werebears, weredolphins) exist and in fact she claims to be one. "The Magic of Shapeshifting" is enlightening. Greene asserts that people are actually capable of full transformations from human to animal and back again. The author doesn't care about winning over her readers who might also be shifters, she dispenses warnings and critiques the shifter community at large. Whether you believe the author can do full transformations or not, her writing is that of real lone wolf. She doesn't seem to have her community behind her, she is sketchy in her case studies, she wants to have no contact with her readers. Rosalyn Greene has thrown out into the wind, some very powerful ideas and tools and then left us as readers to do with them what we will. I applaud her approach that demonstrates elder wisdom and restraint.
My major criticisms of the book are that the title suggests that the book will be a broad overview of shifting but the contents are almost completely devoted to werewolves. She would help readers truly interested in the topic if she discussed the various types of shifters in-depth. It would also have been helpful if she could have stepped outside of the White European and North American experience more often, to speak more in depth about weres in Asia (she suggests many types of shifters are of Asian descent)Indigenous Americans and African society as well. Still, I recommend the book and advise readers to keep in mind that "The Magic of Shapeshifting" is an introduction with a memoirist rather than a researcher's approach.
Rating:
Summary: Can't Define a Clear Topic
Review: This book is something spooky or odd to read. A bit like Brad Steiger's books, you tend to like it, even with its errors and bizarreness. The main problem with this book is that it doesn't have a clear topic. Is it about werewolves? Kind of, but not really.
Is it an insider's view of a subculture of "shifters" or werewolf people? Kind of, but it tends to focus on theory and folklore enough that it obscures the actual workings of the subculture being observed. You actually finish the book and then realize that you don't know all that much more about these people than when you started.
Is it a paranormal investigator's handbook? It seems to be going in that direction for awhile, making some fascinating comparisons between werewolves and certain kinds of spirit phenomena, then abruptly drops that line of inquiry.
Is it a how-to manual aimed at the New Age crowd? Once again, it seems to be heading in that direction, but the author only gives a few instructions before abrupty stopping. The author seems afraid of turning it into a religion, and stops just short of venturing onto pagan territory.
Is it a memoir? The author tells many interesting anecdotes about herself and her pack, but seems determined to shroud the whole thing in so much secrecy that you don't really get the whole story of what happened to her.
Perhaps the author intended to address all these topics at once. In this case, the book is a success at whetting your appetite, but doesn't satisfy. Perhaps it should have been a series, so each subject could get the depth it needed.
Also, there are signs of editorial failings. Sentences are often chopped off in the middle, are sometimes contradicted by the next sentence, and, in the whole, I get the sense that an editor or someone tried to impose a different vision than the author, and that the resulting reorganization resulted in wavering views.
As to the "werewolves" themselves, it is mostly symbolic. Except for a few things like people's eyes turning yellow under stress, the author admits that she hasn't personally seen a hair of evidence for werewolves, and that her more spectacular stories rest entirely on the truthfulness of the "werewolves" who told these stories to her.
Rating:
Summary: The Fallacy Of Shapeshifting
Review: This book, although containing many bits of helpful information to the modern day therianthrope, best offers as an introduction to the world of modern-day therianthropy. The history of therianthropy is somewhat useful. However, the information collected in the book on modern day therianthropy has been stolen, from the most part, from many websites belonging to the therianthropic public. Many of the terms, from "awere" to "wereside" to "werewoof" were deliberately stolen from another author, an individual I know which coined the terms. Much of the information pertaining to modern day therianthropy has been printed first on, and is still contained within the organization, shifters (dot) org. Yet, for some odd reason, the book does not site this resource for credit. What's worse is that the author proceeds to inform her readers that there is no well organized therianthropic community. Yet information, such as that contained on shifters (dot) org, exists, and has existed since before the publishing of this work. Worst of all, the author tells her readers to go online in search of information inside the Furry Fandom, which is a community, for the most part, knowing little about therianthropy at all. If you are looking for more factual and up-to-date information on modern day therianthropy, you would be better off doing a websearch. You can find the same information online, for free, that is published in her book.
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