Review: Half-Off Ragnarok - Seanan McGuire

When Alex Price agreed to go to Ohio to oversee a basilisk breeding program and assist in the recovery of his psychic cousin, he didn't expect people to start dropping dead. But bodies are cropping up at the zoo where he works, and his girlfriend--Shelby Tanner, an Australian zoologist with a fondness for big cats--is starting to get suspicious.

Worse yet, the bodies have all been turned partially to stone...

The third book in the InCryptid series takes us to a new location and a new member of the family, as Alex tries to balance life, work, and the strong desire not to become a piece of garden statuary. Old friends and new are on the scene, and danger lurks around every corner.

Of course, so do the talking mice.

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:
Half-Off Ragnarok steps away from Verity and gives her older brother Alex a chance to shine. I would have been nervous about the change in narrator for the next few books but after reading a lot of the free short stories on Seanan McGuire's website I've really enjoyed getting to know lots of different members of the Price family so I was looking forward to the switch up.

Alex is very different to his sister, where she's confident and outgoing Alex is more of a nerd, he has friends but his circle isn't as large as Verity's and he prefers to stay out of the limelight. Alex has moved back in with his grandparents to help them take care of Sarah after the injury she received rescuing Verity in the previous book so we get to see a whole other side to her from his point of view. Technically Alex works at Columbus Zoo as a researcher who is in charge of the reptile house but he's really there trying to start a basilisk breeding program and monitoring the local incryptid populations.

Things start to get complicated when his colleagues at the zoo start dying and when Alex realises the bodies are being partially turned to stone he knows he is the only one qualified to track down the murderer. Alex is trying to balance hunting a killer and all his other cryptozoologist duties with spending time with his girlfriend Shelby, a colleague at the zoo who is a big cat trainer. Shelby is getting more and more suspicious about the weird goings on and Alex is having trouble keeping everything hidden from her.

I really enjoyed the change of pace this novel offers us, the more rural setting allows us to see a lot of the incryptids in their natural habitat and Seanan McGuire excels at adding interesting creatures to her world. Alex's pet Crow was a particular favourite of mine, he's a church griffin which is basically a cross between a raven and a main coon cat and he's utterly adorable, but you'll also meet a variety of snake like creatures from basilisks to gorgons and some cute sounding feathered frogs known as frickens.

Half-Off Ragnarok was a fun instalment to the series and I'm looking forward to reading more of Alex's story.

Source: Purchased

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Review: Midnight Blue-Light Special - Seanan McGuire

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity--and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and when her work with the cryptid community took her to Manhattan, she thought she would finally be free to pursue competition-level dance in earnest. It didn't quite work out that way...

But now, with the snake cult that was killing virgins all over Manhattan finally taken care of, Verity is ready to settle down for some serious ballroom dancing-until her on-again, off-again, semi-boyfriend Dominic De Luca, a member of the monster-hunting Covenant of St. George, informs her that the Covenant is on their way to assess the city's readiness for a cryptid purge. With everything and everyone she loves on the line, there's no way Verity can take that lying down.

Alliances will be tested, allies will be questioned, lives will be lost, and the talking mice in Verity's apartment will immortalize everything as holy writ--assuming there's anyone left standing when all is said and done. It's a midnight blue-light special, and the sale of the day is on betrayal, deceit...and carnage.

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:
Verity is reaching a crossroads, she's nearing the end of the time she allowed herself to spend in New York to build her dancing career and now she has to decide whether to continue chasing her dream. As much as she loves dancing she has spent her whole life training to be a cryptozoologist like the rest of her family and it's becoming harder and harder to keep both sides of her life separate. Especially when she finds out that the Covenant of St. George is sending a team to New York to check up on Dominic and help him purge the city of cryptids.

Dominic was raised by the Covenant and he used to believe the company line that all cryptids are evil but verity has shown him a whole new side to the cryptid population and it's made him question everything. Unfortunately now that the Covenant is sending a team to check on him it's not going to take long for them to realise that he has been making false reports about the lack of cryptids in the city. What remains to be seen is whether Dominic will go against the people who raised him to help Verity protect the cryptids she loves.

Midnight Blue-Light Special is a fantastic instalment in the Incryptid series, the stakes are higher than ever before for Verity and it's time for both her and Dominic to make some very difficult decisions. I loved seeing Verity bring the entire cryptid community together to protect themselves against the Covenant, she calls in a few favours from family members too and although they're aiming to stay under the Covenant's radar they're all very willing to fight to protect themselves if needed. Verity is such a brilliant character, she's so protective of everyone she cares about and I really enjoy the scenes of her free-running across the city rooftops. I was pleased that she stayed in communication with Dominic throughout the story, they're from very different backgrounds but they are willing to work together and talk through their issues so there is no unnecessary relationship drama between them.

Side characters that we met in the previous book are given a chance to shine too. I loved getting to know Istas and Ryan better (and I've since read & thoroughly enjoyed the short stories about them that you can download on Seanan McGuire's website) the scenes with Istas and the Aeslin mice were hilarious and added some much needed levity to the book when things took a darker turn. Verity's cousin Sarah also really outdid herself here and I loved the chapters she narrated, she's such a dangerous breed that a lot of other cryptids look at her as a monster but she has worked incredibly hard to fit in with her family and go against her nature. She has to unleash her powers here to save Verity though and she pays a high price for it which I'm sure we'll see explored further in subsequent books.

Talking of the next instalment I'm kind of excited that Verity's brother Alex is taking over the narration for Half-Off Ragnarok. Not because I don't enjoy Verity and Dominic's story (I'm glad we'll be revisiting them in the future) but because I'm looking forward to meeting new characters and getting to explore another section of the Incryptid universe. This series really is becoming one of my favourites and I'd highly recommend both the full length novels and the numerous free short stories that add so much background to the world Seanan McGuire has created. These books have been the perfect blend of action and humour with a wonderful range of supernatural creatures and just the right amount of romance so I'm excited to continue reading them.

Source: Purchased

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Review: Discount Armageddon - Seanan McGuire

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity – and humanity from them.

Meet Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she’d rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan to pursue her dream career in professional ballroom dance. That is, until talking mice, telepathic mathematicians, and a tangle with the Price family’s old enemies, the Covenant of St. George, get in her way . . .

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:
Verity Price comes from a long line of cryptozoologists and has spent her entire life learning about the numerous types of cryptids (supernatural creatures) who live hidden amongst us. Her family used to belong to the Covenant of St. George but once they realised that not all cryptids are monsters and that they deserve the chance to live peacefully amongst us they parted ways with the organisation and set out on their own. Now the Price family focus on helping the cryptids stay hidden and making sure they aren't a threat to humans. Verity is more than capable of dealing with any troublemakers but she also has a lot of cryptid friends and allies. Unfortunately the Covenant would prefer to see all the cryptids exterminated and since the Prices decided to break ties with the organisation they've been considered enemies.

Verity would much rather pursue a dance career than spend her days dealing with monsters and she is spending a year in Manhattan to see if she can make it as a ballroom dancer. Unfortunately for her she runs into a member of the Covenant while doing her usual rounds checking up on the local cryptid population. Now she must try to convince Dominic that the Price family aren't really traitors and that not all cryptids deserve to be killed just for existing. If she can't persuade him in time then he could bring down the entire Covenant on her head and she'll be in a whole heap of trouble along with her friends.

I had so much fun reading Discount Armageddon, Seanan Mcguire has created a world full of weird and wonderful supernatural creatures from a colony of talking, highly religious mice (who reminded me of a cross between the clockwork mice from Bagpuss and the singing cockroaches from Joe's Apartment!), to telepaths, gorgons, ghouls and dragon princess with many more in between. Verity has an incredible amount of knowledge when it comes to the hidden supernatural creatures that most of us think only exist in myths and legends and she's very good at making sure they aren't a danger to the human population and helping them exist peacefully alongside us. She didn't choose the life she has but she takes her responsibilities seriously even when she's trying to make time to follow her own dreams too.

When cryptids start being attacked Verity is worried for her friend's safety and her first instinct is to blame the Dominic and the Covenant. When he assures her that he isn't behind the murders they agree to work together to figure out what is really going on in the city. I have to admit it took me a long time to warm up to Dominic, has his own reasons for working with Verity and I wasn't at all sure he could be trusted. His attitude is terrible in the beginning but he has been trained for most of his life that all cryptids are evil and can't be trusted so he gets a real shake up when Verity starts introducing him to some of the less frightening and more friendly ones she considers her friends. I'm still not 100% sold on him or the romance that has started to develop between him and Verity but I love the world enough that it didn't cause me a major issue and I'm hoping I'll like him more as we get to know him better. This is a series that I'm excited to continue and I'm looking forward to seeing what new creatures Seanan McGuire will throw at us next, I'm pretty sure she's not done surprising us yet.

Source: Purchased

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Review: The Dragon Conspiracy - Lisa Shearin

After solving The Grendel Affair, the agents have another SPI File to investigate . . .

We’re Supernatural Protection & Investigations, known as SPI. We battle the real monsters of myth and legend, but this Halloween, we’re searching for diamonds . . .

A gala opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has attracted the upper crust of Manhattan—and thieves. A trio of vile harpies attacks the crowd and steals the stars of the exhibition: a colorful cluster of seven cursed diamonds known as the Dragon Eggs.

In the right mage’s hands, each stone can pack a magical wallop. Together they have the power to “cure” the supernaturals of the tristate area—but for many of those vampires and werewolves, that means turning into dust.

I’m Makenna Fraser, a seer for SPI. With the help of my partner, Ian, and the other agents, I have twenty-four hours to prevent total global panic, find the diamonds, and save the supernatural community. No biggie . . .

SPI Files:
Lucky Charms (Novella included in the Night Shift anthology)
The Grendel Affair
The Dragon Conspiracy
The Brimstone Deception
The Ghoul Vendetta

Visit Lisa Shearin's website for more information

Review:
When Mak and Ian are tasked with guarding a set of cursed diamonds known as the Dragon Eggs, at a gala night opening for the Metropolitan Museum of Art they should have known they were about to be in trouble. What they couldn't have guessed is that three harpies would show themselves in front of the humans present and escape with the dangerous jewels. Unfortunately the diamonds are dangerous and if SPI aren't able to recover them quickly enough they could be used to cure all of the supernatural creatures in the area and return them to their human selves. That might not sound like a major problem but what do you think would happen to vampires and shapeshifters who are hundreds of years old if time was able to catch up with their bodies? Yes, SPI is looking at a major supernatural disaster!

I absolutely loved the prequel novella Lucky Charms but there were a few teething problems with the first book The Grendel Affair. I like the world that Lisa Shearin has created and how she has included so many different supernatural creatures but the pacing was a little slow in the first book which made the story drag a bit. Luckily that wasn't the case in The Dragon Conspiracy and the story starts with a bang, in fact one of my favourite scenes from the book was the opening night at the museum and I thought it kept a fairly steady pace from there onwards. I really loved the addition of a gorgon to the cast of characters, Helena had a really interesting back story and considering what she has to do to stay alive I was surprised at how much I liked her character. It was also great to see Rake back in the mix again, his character intrigued me in Lucky Charms and I liked him even more here.

While I enjoyed this book more than the first one there were still a few things that bothered me, mainly the ever changing relationship between Mak and Ian. In the prequel there was some fantastic chemistry between them, I loved their banter and I had high hopes of a slow build romance between them. That chemistry fell a little flat in the first book but I was expecting it to pick up again here since Lucky Charms was written after The Grendel Affair but for some reason things seemed to a complete 180 in this book. For most of the story they were acting more like wary strangers than the friends and colleagues they'd been before, the banter was completely missing for a large chunk of the book and the chemistry has vanished too. It seemed like the author was throwing them both in different directions romantically and I found myself really disappointed by that, especially since we'd seen such a great build up between them previously. I know the romance isn't the main focus of the story and I definitely enjoyed the rest of the plot more than the previous book but there was definitely something missing here.

I do still love this world though and I'm hoping everything will come together in the next book. I'm not sure what to expect from the romance but I think I'm going to be going in with much lower expectations on that front, I do hope that we see the friendship and banter back between Mak and Ian though, even if we end up with no romance between them. This series has a lot of potential and I'm very curious to see what kind of supernatural creatures Lisa Shearin will throw at Mak next, she's been on a steep learning curve already but I expect she's in for a few more surprises.

Source: Purchased

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Review: A Beautiful Evil - Kelly Keaton

All Ari ever wanted was to know who she really was.  But the truth was beyond her worst nightmare.  A descendant of Medusa, Ari is cursed to become a monster, able to kill with a single look or touch.  Haunted by the horrific image of her future, Ari, along with the brooding, sexy Sebastian, is doing everything she can to find out more about Athena, the goddess who cursed her family and kidnapped young Violet.

But time is running out, and Ari must fight back.  And now, as she prepares to face Athena.  Ari knows she must unleash the very thing she's most afraid of . . . herself.

Gods and Monsters Series:

Darkness Becomes Her

A Beautiful Evil (Released in the UK on the 2nd of February)

Visit Kelly Keaton's website for more information

Review:

I really enjoyed Darkness Becomes Her so was looking forward to reading A Beautiful Evil, I have found that I've been disappointed by quite a few sequels recently though so was a bit nervous that this wouldn't live up to my expectations.  I shouldn't have worried though because if anything Kelly Keaton's second novel was even better than the first.  This really is a fantastic series and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.  If you're new to the series but looking for something unusual in the YA paranormal market then I'd highly recommend checking out Darkness Becomes Her, I love the fact that the author has focused on Greek mythology and come up with something completely different to anything else I've read.  This series does need to be read in order though and my review will include a major spoiler for the first book so you might not want to go any further unless you've already read it.

A Beautiful Evil picks up the story just after the ending of the first book.  Ari is trying to come to terms with the fact that she is a descendant of Medusa and that she is turning into a gorgon.  She is scared to learn to use her new abilities but if she wants to have a hope of rescuing Violet from Athena then she is going to have to face her fears.  The more she learns about Athena the harder her task appears to be but luckily she still has good friends who want to help her.

I loved getting to spend more time with Ari's new housemates in this installment.  One of the things I liked the most about the first book was the interaction between the group of misfits who all share an abandoned house in New 2.  We get to see more of Sebastian, Henri, Dub and Crank and learn a few more of their secrets in this book.  I did miss Violet though as we didn't see as much of her this time around but that was completely understandable and I'm hoping she'll have a bigger part to play in the next part of the story.  It is so nice to see that Ari is finally letting people past her defences and learning to rely on her friends.  She spent so long looking after herself that she still finds it hard to trust but she has come a long way since the first book.

Athena is proving herself to be a frightening enemy, she knows exactly how to hit Ari the hardest and enjoys making her suffer.  Ari isn't one to sit back and just let it happen though and she is getting stronger all the time.  I have a feeling the final showdown between the two of them will be explosive and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens.  This series is fast paced and the author always manages to surprise me with a few twists that I didn't see coming.  A Beautiful Evil is a quick and fun read with plenty of action and a hint of romance that has left me keen to pick up the next book.  If you enjoyed Darkness Becomes Her you don't want to miss this one.

Source: Received from Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Darkness Becomes Her - Kelly Keaton

Ari Selkirk has always stood out.  With her teal-coloured eyes and freakish silver hair, it's hard not to.  And she's always been alone.  Her mother died when she was tiny, and she's grown up in foster care, longing for some understanding of who she is and where she came from.  When her search for answers uncovers a message from her mother with the single word 'RUN' on it, Ari realises that someone, or something, is getting too close.  But it's impossible to protect herself when she doesn't know who or what she's running from.

Returning to her birthplace in the rebuilt city of New Orleans, she discovers she isn't so different after all.  But why is every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, afraid of her?  The truth is both disturbing and terrifying . . .

Gods and Monsters Series:

Darkness Becomes Her

A Beautiful Evil


Visit Kelly Keaton's website for more information

Review:

Ari was brought up moving from one foster family to another and although she has now found a loving home she has never really felt like she fitted in anywhere.  She also has questions about her birth parents and it is when she goes looking for answers that she finds herself in a whole new world.  After finding a letter from her mother telling her that her family is cursed and she must run Ari decides she must head to New 2 to find answers.  New 2 used to be New Orleans, until 2 hurricanes destroyed the city several years ago.  Unable to fund the cost of re-building the city the government sold the city to an alliance called the Novem and the city has become a haven for outsiders and anyone who is different.  Although the Novem have started re-building a lot of New 2 is still very run down and poverty stricken but Ari finds a group of misfit children and feels like she has found a place where she can fit in at last.

I wasn't really too sure what to expect of Darkness Becomes Her but it is an impressive YA debut and I'm looking forward to seeing where Kelly Keaton takes the series next.  If you're looking for a YA urban fantasy that is a little different then this would be a good place to start, the author has mixed in an interesting amount of Greek mythology and the story stands out from the huge number of YA vampire stories in the market at the moment.

Ari is different from a lot of other YA heroines in the fact that she can stand up for herself and she doesn't take people at face value.  Her past has taught her to be wary and it takes her time before she will trust people.  Although she is vulnerable she is capable of standing up for herself and can kick butt when she needs to.  I did think that the romance took off a little too quickly when she met Sebastian but I liked them as a couple so I was easily able to forgive that.  We are introduced to some great secondary characters who I'm looking forward to learning more about as the series progresses.  Along with Sebastian you have the rest of the misfits Crank, Henri, Dub & Violet and although I liked them all it was Violet who really stood out for me.  She is a weird and quite creepy character but at the same time she was also incredibly sweet and makes you want to look out for her.

The story line is fast paced and full of twists and turns, I'll admit that I had made a good guess at what Ari was before the big reveal but this didn't reduce my enjoyment of the story and I couldn't wait to find out if I was right or not.  There were a few things that I would have liked to have seen expanded but I'd rather have a pacy shorter story than one that is long winded and meanders to the finish line at a snail's pace.  Darkness Becomes Her was a great start to a new series and is an easy book to devour in one session.  I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series and would recommend this to any fans of YA paranormal stories.

Source: Received from Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review.

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