Friday 13 January 2017

Review: Chaos Choreography - Seanan McGuire

Destiny, Noun:
1. The inevitable or irresistible course of events.
2. The inescapable future.
3. See also “Screwed.”

Verity Price is back on the West Coast and getting back into the swing of the family business: cryptozoology. She's rescuing cryptids from bad situations, protecting them from monster-hunters, and generally risking life and limb for the greater good, with her ex-Covenant partner/husband, Dominic, by her side. Her ballroom dance career is behind her...or so she thinks.

When Verity gets the call from the producers of Dance or Die, the reality show she almost won several years before, she finds the lure of a comeback impossible to resist, and she and Dominic are off to L.A. for one last shot at the big time.

Of course, nothing is that simple. When two of her fellow contestants turn up dead, Verity will need every ally she can find—and a couple she wasn't looking for—in order to navigate the complicated steps of both the tango and a murder investigation without blowing her cover. It doesn't help that her official family backup is her grandmother, Alice Price-Healy, who thinks "subtle" is something that happens to other people.

Winning this competition may have just become a matter of life and death.

Incryptid Series:
14 Jonathan Healy & Frances Brown Short Stories (Read for free on Seanan McGuire's website)
3 Alice Healy & Thomas Price Short Stories (Read for free on Seanan McGuire's website)
Discount Armageddon
Midnight Blue-Light Special
4 Antimony Price Short Stories (Read some for free on Seanan McGuire's website)
3 Istas and Ryan Short Stories (Read most for free on Seanan McGuire's website)
Half-Off Ragnarok
1 Sarah Zellaby and Arthur Harrington Short Story (Read for free on Seanan McGuire's website)
5 Verity Price & Dominic De Luca Stories (Read for free on Seanan McGuire's website)
Pocket Apocalypse
Chaos Choreography
1 Elsie Harrington Short Story (Short Story in the Shadowed Souls anthology)
Magic for Nothing
1 Aeslin Mice Short Story (Purchase though Seanan McGuire's Patreon Page)
Tricks for Free
That Ain't Witchcraft

Ghost Roads Series:
(Stories are set in the Incryptid World)
Sparrow Hill Road
Train Yard Blues (Short Story in the Coins of Chaos anthology)
The Ghosts of Bourbon Street (Crossover Short Story with Verity from the Incryptid series free on Seanan McGuire's website)
Last Call at the Last Chance (Short Story available via Seanan McGuire's Patreon Page)
The Girl in the Green Silk Gown

Visit Seanan McGuire's website for more information

Review:
As much as I loved getting to know Alex I was really excited for the chance to catch back up with Verity and Dominic. I was looking forward to seeing how married life was treating them and it was great to see what a strong couple they have become. Verity thought she had walked away from her dancing career for good when they left New York but when she gets an invitation to appear on an all star line up of the dancing show that started it all she finds the lure impossible to resist. Heading to L.A. in a whirlwind of sequins and wigs Verity knows she's going to have to work 24/7 to impress the judges.

Dominic has never understood Verity's obsession with dancing but I loved how incredibly supportive he is of her choices, he knows how much dancing means to her and he wants her to have every possible opportunity to fulfil her dreams. Even though he won't be allowed to stay in the dancer's accommodation he heads to L.A. with her just to offer support and to make sure she's safe. Unfortunately for Verity what should be a fun reunion with old friends and the chance of a lifetime for her career ends up getting a lot more complicated when dancers start going missing. After discovering dead bodies covered in strange runes they realise they're dealing with something significant and her parents send backup in the form of Verity's grandmother Alice.

Chaos Choreography was probably my favourite book in the series so far, I enjoyed spending time with Verity and Dominic, the crazy dance show setting made a nice change, the Aeslin mice were on hand to add humour in the darker moments, we get to meet a few interesting new cryptids but most of all I absolutely loved getting to know grandma Alice. We've had a lot of hints dropped about Alice during the series (someone please tell me that Seanan McGuire is going to give her her own book or spin off series eventually - I want to join her on her search for Thomas and we NEED to see them get a HEA!) and we even met her in one of the short stories but nothing prepared me for how completely badass she is. Alice is a weird mix of cookie baking grandma and gun-toting, grenade throwing, dimension hopping supergirl who looks like Verity's younger sister and she is absolutely awesome.

Things got very interesting at the end of this book and now I'm more excited to continue this series than ever. It initially seemed like a weird place to switch to Antimony's point of view for the next two books but having read the blurb for Magic for Nothing March can't get here soon enough so that I can find out what happens next.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback:

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