Reviews with content warning for Racism - Discount Armageddon

I love a good urban fantasy, but this one blows the rest out of the water. Verity Price gunslings her way across the page with wit, charm and sass. The colourful cast of side characters are simultaneously supernatural and down to earth (and usually have some funny quirk). The streets of New York will never be the same for me after reading this book, that's for sure!

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jenny_d's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was... okay? I didn't like the romance at all (personal preference thing), and

I wanted a LOT more background on the snake cult. Maybe I just missed it, but like... how did the snake cult get founded? How did they find the dragon? Why was the snake cult leader some high falootin' dude with fancy shoes? Did we ever even learn the guy's name???

That said, I think it was fun, and it reminded me of what little I've seen of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but better. (Sorry not sorry, Whedon's writing drives me nuts.)

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Discount Armageddon is an exciting and pretty bloody way to kick off a series, and I love it. With a few twists I guessed and one that I definitely did not see coming, this fun and fast-paced story that has me excited to keep reading this series.

The cryptids described and/or referenced in the book are from a variety of cultures and appear to be interpretations which came out of a lot of research and care, though I’m unable to vouch specifically for any of the portrayals. The overall effect is to make it clear from the start of the series that cryptids are a worldwide phenomenon, with cryptids from cultures all over the world (no default-European nonsense here). There’s a pretty important secondary character whose journey involves learning to be less racist against cryptids, and occasionally he dips into microaggressions founded in real-world racism. It’s minor, and it’s called out by the other characters, but it is there.

Overall I really enjoyed this one. Having read some of the author's later (and better) writing spoils me a bit for this one because I know it gets so much better later, but I really like this book and it's a great start to a series that I've heard so many good things about. I love creature-features and that's the focus of this whole book so I was very happy reading it.

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