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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
3.5 stars, almost a 4. The Aeslin mice were the best thing. The heroine's love interest was one of the worst things.
I forgot just how well Seanan builds a world. I love this series more than anything else she does.
A light-hearted approach to monsters in NYC.
Verity Price is a cryptozoologist. She makes friends with the monsters and protects those who don't harm humans. Then she runs into a member of a Society who wants to kill any and all nonhumans.
Some interesting ideas, told in an easy-going way. Lots of action, altho no real surprises along the way.
Verity Price is a cryptozoologist. She makes friends with the monsters and protects those who don't harm humans. Then she runs into a member of a Society who wants to kill any and all nonhumans.
Some interesting ideas, told in an easy-going way. Lots of action, altho no real surprises along the way.
It was fun and distracting (and a little too easy in some spots and featuring way too much dancing for me) and different.
And it makes me want to take up free-running.
And it makes me want to take up free-running.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The voice of the book amazingly sarcastic in all the right ways. The world is super wacky and fun. It's a great fun read.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Paging Mary Sue... Mary Sue to the dance floor, please.
And that's pretty much all you need to know about this book. It's junk food, which is fine every once in a while, but this is like the fifth bad book like this I've read in a row. Urban Fantasy used to be interesting. Now it's just Buffy wannabes striking poses without actually saying anything of substance.
Well, maybe that's a little harsh, since the main character's family does have the credo of "live and let live", which resonates in these days of casual classism, rampant racism and perpetual shittiness toward people who aren't part of the mainstream. Sadly, McGuire doesn't really do anything with this, because her main character is a fucking idiot.
And speaking of idiots fucking, what's with the "suddenly having sex with someone" thing? Especially when that someone is the hereditary enemy of your family, a member of a group that wants to literally burn everyone you know at the stake? First the heroine blurts out who she is to this guy, which is moronic, and then she sleeps with him immediately after, compounding the stupidity. It felt fake and forced, and this in the middle of a book stuffed full of Men In Black-style critters, so I was already on board with silly nonsense. (Speaking of MIB-style critters, the heroine's apartment sports a colony of sentient, worshipful mice who are supposed to be comic relief but are taken directly from the Men In Black films. Every teeny-tiny group that worships one of the agents, a recurring gag in the movies, is the template for these. Really obvious ripoffs aren't funny.)
If you want to underscore the "be kind to everyone" thing -- which maybe McGuire was going for, I don't know -- then you shouldn't have the various characters doing things like violate decades of training and inculcation in a way of life at the drop of a hat. It's called "character development" and "story structure." No matter how ridiculous your premise is, you kind of need those things.
As far as I know, this is the first thing of McGuire's I've read. In her acknowledgements she mentions this is her second series. Since she clearly hasn't learned much about storytelling from her earlier books, I'm afraid this will have to be my last McGuire book.
And that's pretty much all you need to know about this book. It's junk food, which is fine every once in a while, but this is like the fifth bad book like this I've read in a row. Urban Fantasy used to be interesting. Now it's just Buffy wannabes striking poses without actually saying anything of substance.
Well, maybe that's a little harsh, since the main character's family does have the credo of "live and let live", which resonates in these days of casual classism, rampant racism and perpetual shittiness toward people who aren't part of the mainstream. Sadly, McGuire doesn't really do anything with this, because her main character is a fucking idiot.
And speaking of idiots fucking, what's with the "suddenly having sex with someone" thing? Especially when that someone is the hereditary enemy of your family, a member of a group that wants to literally burn everyone you know at the stake? First the heroine blurts out who she is to this guy, which is moronic, and then she sleeps with him immediately after, compounding the stupidity. It felt fake and forced, and this in the middle of a book stuffed full of Men In Black-style critters, so I was already on board with silly nonsense. (Speaking of MIB-style critters, the heroine's apartment sports a colony of sentient, worshipful mice who are supposed to be comic relief but are taken directly from the Men In Black films. Every teeny-tiny group that worships one of the agents, a recurring gag in the movies, is the template for these. Really obvious ripoffs aren't funny.)
If you want to underscore the "be kind to everyone" thing -- which maybe McGuire was going for, I don't know -- then you shouldn't have the various characters doing things like violate decades of training and inculcation in a way of life at the drop of a hat. It's called "character development" and "story structure." No matter how ridiculous your premise is, you kind of need those things.
As far as I know, this is the first thing of McGuire's I've read. In her acknowledgements she mentions this is her second series. Since she clearly hasn't learned much about storytelling from her earlier books, I'm afraid this will have to be my last McGuire book.
3.5 stars.
I was really torn about this book. First, the bad:
At first, the fashion seemed almost cringy in how edgy and try-hard it tried to be. It almost felt like Suckerpunch, the movie, though I really enjoyed Suckerpunch when I watched it (looking back, maybe that movie is what got this series recommended to me. Hmm). The narrative too, seemed to scream "look how cool and badass I am" in a mildly cringy way.
The romance between Verity and Dominic was cliche at best. Like, super cliche. And I really couldn't see any good points about Dominic that made Verity loose her mind over him like she did, except for the fact that he was, apparently, super hot. Newsflash, being crazy good looking does not make up for also having a gross sense of racial superiority.
I did not love the quotes at the beginning of every chapter, nor did I love the bold-italic description of where they were, ESPECIALLY when the very first sentence of the actual chapter usually established that just fine.
But, the more I read, the more the story grew on me. There was a ton of neat little world building seeds dropped in the narrative that promises some interesting stories later on in the series (and, apparently, in the short stories which I guess I need to read now even though there's approximately a billion of them, apparently. But I had to admit, I was very intrigued by Verity's great-great-grandparents and her grandparents).
Among the sometimes cringey narrative, there were a lot of really great lines, among them being "Mother Nature is a freaky lady who probably created pot so she could spend all her time smoking it", and the multiple references to wearing lungs as hats.
Dominic really did grow on my by the end of the book too.
Overall, good job. I'll definitely be reading more of the series.
I was really torn about this book. First, the bad:
At first, the fashion seemed almost cringy in how edgy and try-hard it tried to be. It almost felt like Suckerpunch, the movie, though I really enjoyed Suckerpunch when I watched it (looking back, maybe that movie is what got this series recommended to me. Hmm). The narrative too, seemed to scream "look how cool and badass I am" in a mildly cringy way.
The romance between Verity and Dominic was cliche at best. Like, super cliche. And I really couldn't see any good points about Dominic that made Verity loose her mind over him like she did, except for the fact that he was, apparently, super hot. Newsflash, being crazy good looking does not make up for also having a gross sense of racial superiority.
I did not love the quotes at the beginning of every chapter, nor did I love the bold-italic description of where they were, ESPECIALLY when the very first sentence of the actual chapter usually established that just fine.
But, the more I read, the more the story grew on me. There was a ton of neat little world building seeds dropped in the narrative that promises some interesting stories later on in the series (and, apparently, in the short stories which I guess I need to read now even though there's approximately a billion of them, apparently. But I had to admit, I was very intrigued by Verity's great-great-grandparents and her grandparents).
Among the sometimes cringey narrative, there were a lot of really great lines, among them being "Mother Nature is a freaky lady who probably created pot so she could spend all her time smoking it", and the multiple references to wearing lungs as hats.
Dominic really did grow on my by the end of the book too.
Overall, good job. I'll definitely be reading more of the series.
Amusing thankfully not a lot of time spent on the dancing or being girly, I get annoyed by those books.
Fun interesting tale
Fun interesting tale