Scan barcode
schism's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
everybody's review against another edition
3.0
I'm gonna be honest here. I've seen this book constantly in my recommendations but because of the atypical cover combined with the title, I avoided it for over a year.
Yesterday I actually checked out the genre list and reviews and decided to finally give it a try.
It wasn't as good as I hoped but it was far better than I expected considering the appearance.
The action scenes were purely written to be stylish without much consideration for consistency or logic. One example that particularly stood out to me was a gun being reloaded but before there was a chance of it being fired again the MC picked it up and an ammo check resulted in 3 bullets left. I mean, yea, it could be that the person reloaded a mag with 3 bullets but come on. But the problem is broader than just details like that. The battles are more in line with an action game than a real fight. For example, the MC fighting 8 enemies at once but they all wait for her to finish styling on one of them before the next one attacks, and so on, and lots of other similar issues.
The plot was a little all over the place with quite a few story threads and hints that just lead nowhere.
I somewhat enjoy unconventional tension arcs in books because I got fed up reading the same "proper" arc-focused story structure over and over again. It's not that you can predict what exactly will happen in books like that but you get a feeling for what kind of thing will happen when and that kind of spoils some of the enjoyment of being surprised.
The story makes use of a lot of dated and shallow clichées but maybe that can be at least somewhat excused by the release date of 2012? I have no clue about the timeline of the UF genre development.
The heroine sadly is quite useless despite her fighting prowess and is mostly just accidentally dragged into the plot resolution without much active contribution. I've read much worse offenders in that regard but it still took away some of my appreciation for her character.
The author doesn't seem very interested in telling a story but rather uses the story as a tool to set up cool scenes she wanted to write. I feel it should be more the other way around.
Don't get me wrong, the plot actually is pretty decent but the way it is implemented didn't present it in the best light.
All in all, it's an average read which I rounded up as I think it would be unfair to rate it the same as some of the crap I have among my 2-star ratings.
I will try out the next book but I predict I will probably drop it early on, scratch that, after reading the blurb of the second book I decided to not continue.
Yesterday I actually checked out the genre list and reviews and decided to finally give it a try.
It wasn't as good as I hoped but it was far better than I expected considering the appearance.
The action scenes were purely written to be stylish without much consideration for consistency or logic. One example that particularly stood out to me was a gun being reloaded but before there was a chance of it being fired again the MC picked it up and an ammo check resulted in 3 bullets left. I mean, yea, it could be that the person reloaded a mag with 3 bullets but come on. But the problem is broader than just details like that. The battles are more in line with an action game than a real fight. For example, the MC fighting 8 enemies at once but they all wait for her to finish styling on one of them before the next one attacks, and so on, and lots of other similar issues.
The plot was a little all over the place with quite a few story threads and hints that just lead nowhere.
I somewhat enjoy unconventional tension arcs in books because I got fed up reading the same "proper" arc-focused story structure over and over again. It's not that you can predict what exactly will happen in books like that but you get a feeling for what kind of thing will happen when and that kind of spoils some of the enjoyment of being surprised.
The story makes use of a lot of dated and shallow clichées but maybe that can be at least somewhat excused by the release date of 2012? I have no clue about the timeline of the UF genre development.
The heroine sadly is quite useless despite her fighting prowess and is mostly just accidentally dragged into the plot resolution without much active contribution. I've read much worse offenders in that regard but it still took away some of my appreciation for her character.
The author doesn't seem very interested in telling a story but rather uses the story as a tool to set up cool scenes she wanted to write. I feel it should be more the other way around.
Don't get me wrong, the plot actually is pretty decent but the way it is implemented didn't present it in the best light.
All in all, it's an average read which I rounded up as I think it would be unfair to rate it the same as some of the crap I have among my 2-star ratings.
I will try out the next book but I predict I will probably drop it early on, scratch that, after reading the blurb of the second book I decided to not continue.
odin45mp's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun urban fantasy. I would compare it favorably to the first Dresden Files novel: it has some rough patches but the characters and dialogue carry the day, and leave me wanting more.
tomasthanes's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book.
On first thought, it reminded me a lot of the Anita Black books by Laurell K. Hamilton where humans inhabit a world filled with non-humans (cryptids in this book) however Anita Black, while by vocation a necromancer, functionally she's a detective working with the local police department. Verity Price is is a cryptozoologist, a scientist. In Anita's world, the humans are aware of vampires and lycanthropes and interact at their peril; in Verity's world, the humans for the most part are unaware of the cryptids living among them unless they're members of the Price family or the Covenant of St. George.
I like the character development of Verity, Dominic, and Sarah (who is such a cuckoo). I liked Verity's struggle to prove her compassion for the cryptids of New York City; it will take a life time for her to prove that she's trustworthy (or at least a couple more books).
Verity's life growing up was instructive and made me glad for the family I grew up in as opposed to the Price family.
I quadrupled my knowledge of ballroom dancing (which was non-existent before reading this novel) but I like how the author pointed out that the strength, dexterity, balance, and movement of dancing was similar to that of martial arts. I'm convinced.
The Aeslin mice were a comic element that succeeded far more than Jar Jar Binks or the Ewoks.
The romantic entanglements of Verity and Dominic and William and Candy seemed very plausible.
I'm glad that we're setup for a sequel.
On first thought, it reminded me a lot of the Anita Black books by Laurell K. Hamilton where humans inhabit a world filled with non-humans (cryptids in this book) however Anita Black, while by vocation a necromancer, functionally she's a detective working with the local police department. Verity Price is is a cryptozoologist, a scientist. In Anita's world, the humans are aware of vampires and lycanthropes and interact at their peril; in Verity's world, the humans for the most part are unaware of the cryptids living among them unless they're members of the Price family or the Covenant of St. George.
I like the character development of Verity, Dominic, and Sarah (who is such a cuckoo). I liked Verity's struggle to prove her compassion for the cryptids of New York City; it will take a life time for her to prove that she's trustworthy (or at least a couple more books).
Verity's life growing up was instructive and made me glad for the family I grew up in as opposed to the Price family.
I quadrupled my knowledge of ballroom dancing (which was non-existent before reading this novel) but I like how the author pointed out that the strength, dexterity, balance, and movement of dancing was similar to that of martial arts. I'm convinced.
The Aeslin mice were a comic element that succeeded far more than Jar Jar Binks or the Ewoks.
The romantic entanglements of Verity and Dominic and William and Candy seemed very plausible.
I'm glad that we're setup for a sequel.
breezy610's review against another edition
4.0
a lot different from the octocber daye novels, but still pretty good. while the other series is more serious, this one is hilarious and good adventure. i can't wait to read the next in the series.
timinbc's review against another edition
2.0
Feh. Stephanie Plum with monsters. Only not as good.
Yet another Plucky Heroine, and her main distinction is that this book would have been a novella without the ballroom dancing, the I'm-such-a-roof-runner, and the ludicrous cartoon mice. And the constant reminders that she is roof-running with 15 knives, a gun, a machete and a flensing knife.
I was already skimming REALLY fast by the 3/4 point, because at least I had to know how it ended. Then I hit the battle in the bar, featuring an iPod in perhaps the most ridiculous fight scene that has ever been written.
Let's face it, Seanan McGuire isn't writing for me, and no one should be surprised if I don't like her work. I won't read any more of it.
Yet another Plucky Heroine, and her main distinction is that this book would have been a novella without the ballroom dancing, the I'm-such-a-roof-runner, and the ludicrous cartoon mice. And the constant reminders that she is roof-running with 15 knives, a gun, a machete and a flensing knife.
I was already skimming REALLY fast by the 3/4 point, because at least I had to know how it ended. Then I hit the battle in the bar, featuring an iPod in perhaps the most ridiculous fight scene that has ever been written.
Let's face it, Seanan McGuire isn't writing for me, and no one should be surprised if I don't like her work. I won't read any more of it.
jaji's review against another edition
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
4.0
kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
First in the InCryptid urban fantasy series revolving around the dancing Verity Price, a human supernatural enforcement agent in New York City.
My Take
Oh, I do love Seanan McGuire. I adored her October Daye series and she is not disappointing me at all with this new one! You will crack up when you read this. I absolutely adore the Aeslin mice. I'm sitting here typing and laughing as I remember their antics...oh, hail… Verity has such a lovely acceptance of them and all their religious festivals...snicker, giggle, oh heck, guffaw… I want my own colony! Suicidal gummy bears...oh my... Then there's the dance routine with the saltine crackers that Verity reckons could make Disney sit up and take notice.
Oh, oh, oh, and there's the quotations at the start of every chapter. Don't skip those, really.
I hate that I have to wait until 2013 for Midnight Blue-Light Special!
Verity certainly had a unique childhood. Her version of hide-and-seek is certainly not ours… I do love her parkour approach as well. I have to keep reminding myself that she's merely human. Yup, suckered in completely by page five with comments like "made up for my shameful modesty with a blood-red velvet bustier...and...had steel corsetry boning...room for five strategically placed throwing knives." McGuire's description of Verity's shower-taking contortions…
Ya know, it's kinda scary when I started thinking that Verity's usual mode of transportation sounds normal… Okay, I don't get Sarah's life. On the one hand, McGuire explains how cuckoos operate and then there's Sarah living in a fancy hotel and I keep trying to relate the explanation with the life. It's just not meshing for me.
Oh, there is just something about the way McGuire talks about the tooth fairy...and the tooth fairy dust...that just creeps me out.
The Story
Unlike most of the human world that's aware of the supernaturals, the Price family believes live and let live whereas the Covenant is more interested in kill and kill again. So while Verity pursues her work as a cryptozoologist, she maintains order amongst the supes in New York City...with luck they'll evade the notice of the Covenant and live happily ever after.
Yeah. Sure. Especially when there's a dragon sleeping under New York City and some crazy cult is slaughtering cryptids right and left in an effort to wake him up and control him. AND, there's a member of the "shoot first, don't bother with questions until after Covenant" in town...oh, crap.
The Characters
Verity Price of the urban legendary Prices is pursuing her dancing career in New York City while she waits tables at a Dave's Fish and Strips, a supernatural strip club. Her parents are Evelyn and Kevin Price and she has one sister, Antimony, who is obsessed with trapping. Her brother Alex — the one who was so proud of his first concussion at age five — is an accountant.
Sarah Zellaby is a cuckoo. Telepathic, not human, and her blood can heal most anything. She's also Verity's cousin-by-adoption and her sometime partner when she's checking out the nightclubs. Oh, yeah, baby, Verity likes to dance. Sometimes on the dance floor and sometimes with weapons; sometimes with both at the same time. There's also Aunt Jane married to Uncle Ted. Cousin Artie is secretly in love with Sarah. And vice versa. Only they won't tell. Grandpa Thomas somehow ended up in Hell and Grandma Thomas spends most of her time trying to get him out.
Her strip club coworkers include Kitty who's off playing stage candy for her boyfriend's band; Carol is a gorgon and, man, it is a bitch to get that wig on over all the snakes; Marcy is an Oread; Candice, a dragon princess; Istas is a waheela and you do not want to piss her off!; and, Ryan, a therianthrope, is one of the bouncers. Their boss, Dave, is a bogeyman. Never go into a dark room with a bogeyman. Piyusha is a Madhura and I so love the sound of their shop...and the lovely aromas. I gotta try that trick with the honey and the candles. Sunil and Rochak are her brothers. Betty Smith is the queen of the dragon princesses with her very own agenda. William is the dragon.
Dominic De Luca is an orphan. And Covenant. A bigoted, kill'em-all, religious monster hunter. New York City is his first mission for the organization. The Covenant has branded the Healys, Prices, and Bakers traitors with essentially a shoot-to-kill order on any Price. Too bad Verity is a descendant of all three.
The Cover and Title
The cover is practically a schoolgirl-themed porn shot of Verity posed with a gun in hand, a sword sheathed at her back, and a knife sheath strapped to her thigh high atop the buildings in New York City. Her tiny pink and black plaid miniskirt and her pink cropped top tied under her breasts, black bra showing at her cleavage with her pink dancing pumps. I can't quite figure out the pink stocking on one leg while the other is bare, though.
The title is pretty funny and, yeah, it is a Discount Armageddon what with the threat of a dragon waking and two human adversaries undecided as to his fate.
My Take
Oh, I do love Seanan McGuire. I adored her October Daye series and she is not disappointing me at all with this new one! You will crack up when you read this. I absolutely adore the Aeslin mice. I'm sitting here typing and laughing as I remember their antics...oh, hail… Verity has such a lovely acceptance of them and all their religious festivals...snicker, giggle, oh heck, guffaw… I want my own colony! Suicidal gummy bears...oh my... Then there's the dance routine with the saltine crackers that Verity reckons could make Disney sit up and take notice.
Oh, oh, oh, and there's the quotations at the start of every chapter. Don't skip those, really.
I hate that I have to wait until 2013 for Midnight Blue-Light Special!
Verity certainly had a unique childhood. Her version of hide-and-seek is certainly not ours… I do love her parkour approach as well. I have to keep reminding myself that she's merely human. Yup, suckered in completely by page five with comments like "made up for my shameful modesty with a blood-red velvet bustier...and...had steel corsetry boning...room for five strategically placed throwing knives." McGuire's description of Verity's shower-taking contortions…
Ya know, it's kinda scary when I started thinking that Verity's usual mode of transportation sounds normal… Okay, I don't get Sarah's life. On the one hand, McGuire explains how cuckoos operate and then there's Sarah living in a fancy hotel and I keep trying to relate the explanation with the life. It's just not meshing for me.
Oh, there is just something about the way McGuire talks about the tooth fairy...and the tooth fairy dust...that just creeps me out.
The Story
Unlike most of the human world that's aware of the supernaturals, the Price family believes live and let live whereas the Covenant is more interested in kill and kill again. So while Verity pursues her work as a cryptozoologist, she maintains order amongst the supes in New York City...with luck they'll evade the notice of the Covenant and live happily ever after.
Yeah. Sure. Especially when there's a dragon sleeping under New York City and some crazy cult is slaughtering cryptids right and left in an effort to wake him up and control him. AND, there's a member of the "shoot first, don't bother with questions until after Covenant" in town...oh, crap.
The Characters
Verity Price of the urban legendary Prices is pursuing her dancing career in New York City while she waits tables at a Dave's Fish and Strips, a supernatural strip club. Her parents are Evelyn and Kevin Price and she has one sister, Antimony, who is obsessed with trapping. Her brother Alex — the one who was so proud of his first concussion at age five — is an accountant.
Sarah Zellaby is a cuckoo. Telepathic, not human, and her blood can heal most anything. She's also Verity's cousin-by-adoption and her sometime partner when she's checking out the nightclubs. Oh, yeah, baby, Verity likes to dance. Sometimes on the dance floor and sometimes with weapons; sometimes with both at the same time. There's also Aunt Jane married to Uncle Ted. Cousin Artie is secretly in love with Sarah. And vice versa. Only they won't tell. Grandpa Thomas somehow ended up in Hell and Grandma Thomas spends most of her time trying to get him out.
Her strip club coworkers include Kitty who's off playing stage candy for her boyfriend's band; Carol is a gorgon and, man, it is a bitch to get that wig on over all the snakes; Marcy is an Oread; Candice, a dragon princess; Istas is a waheela and you do not want to piss her off!; and, Ryan, a therianthrope, is one of the bouncers. Their boss, Dave, is a bogeyman. Never go into a dark room with a bogeyman. Piyusha is a Madhura and I so love the sound of their shop...and the lovely aromas. I gotta try that trick with the honey and the candles. Sunil and Rochak are her brothers. Betty Smith is the queen of the dragon princesses with her very own agenda. William is the dragon.
Dominic De Luca is an orphan. And Covenant. A bigoted, kill'em-all, religious monster hunter. New York City is his first mission for the organization. The Covenant has branded the Healys, Prices, and Bakers traitors with essentially a shoot-to-kill order on any Price. Too bad Verity is a descendant of all three.
The Cover and Title
The cover is practically a schoolgirl-themed porn shot of Verity posed with a gun in hand, a sword sheathed at her back, and a knife sheath strapped to her thigh high atop the buildings in New York City. Her tiny pink and black plaid miniskirt and her pink cropped top tied under her breasts, black bra showing at her cleavage with her pink dancing pumps. I can't quite figure out the pink stocking on one leg while the other is bare, though.
The title is pretty funny and, yeah, it is a Discount Armageddon what with the threat of a dragon waking and two human adversaries undecided as to his fate.