Taste the Books: Review Morsels #38 Seanan McGuire: "InCryptid" Series #1-4

Intro

Hello beauties!

Welcome again to my own brand of mini reviews! I never thought I'd do minis, until I recapped a few of my long reviews in some digest post in 2014, and then guest-posted some shorties for a blogging event in 2015. And Karen from For What It's Worth started praising my short recs/recaps 😊. Just to be clear,  I'm NOT taking a break from writing long reviews - no such luck LOL (though for anthologies, shorter books or books that I didn't enjoy/I don't have enough to say about, I decided to stick to minis). But while I'm making up my mind about a new book I've read, I might as well give you the short version 😉. Just be warned - this feature will be VERY random!

Note: all the mini blurbs (in italics) are of my own creation.

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire

(InCryptid #1)

★★★★

Mini blurb: Sassy cryptozoologist/competent ballroom dancer/shoddy waitress Verity Price is trying to protect the non-human beings of Manhattan from humans and viceversa, until a supposed enemy/potential squeeze and rumours of a dragon sleeping under the city further complicate her already messy life.

***

It's no mystery that I love Seanan McGuire, but it's also a well-known fact in my circles that I cut her no slack when I think she's being subpar. Then again, there are things she can get away with that I probably wouldn't condone from other writers because a) she knows how to write (except when she overexplains things...Seasonal Fears, I'm looking at you), b) she knows how to make you care for her characters, and c) she knows how to entertain. Not to mention the rich mythology she can come up with when she creates a new world, or when she takes her cue from existing folklore in order to weave it into something fresh and exciting. That's why I'm willing to make allowances for her using the enemies-to-lovers trope in this one (there's even the prelude to a sex scene, heaven forbid 🙈 😂) and thinking that having a centuries-long-asleep dragon speak English instead of his own ancient language would be a perfectly reasonable idea (also, centuries-long-asleep dragon - cheesy much?). And really, you have to read this book to realise that, despite the potential train-wreck above, the heroine is a force of nature (with an unprecedented hobby to match - ballroom dancing???), every single creature (a.k.a. cryptid) is fascinating and complex, the story is so much fun, and even the love interest has, um, some redeemable qualities. I still think Verity has nothing on her great-grandmother Frances (see this page for her short stories and more InCryptid content), but darn - never look in the mouth of an entertaining story with strong mythology to boot.

Note: as a rule, I review every book that I rate 3.5 stars and above in full, unless it's a novella or an anthology. But this series has been around for years now, and it doesn't sound like McGuire's going to stop writing it anytime soon, so I decided to only write mini reviews for its installments, or it would be too hard for me to catch up. I'll write mini reviews for the new ones as well, out of consistency.

Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire

(InCryptid #2)

★★★★★

Cryptozoologyst Verity Price is doing her best to protect the non-human creatures of New York from the Covenant - the very organisation her family forsake a few generations before - all while trying to figure out where her Covenant-born-and-bred boyfriend Dominic's loyalties lie. To their credit, the cryptids are resourceful allies. But unexpected enemies with a grudge can be a hard nut to crack, and every fight has got its casualties...

***

I didn't expect to like this installment more than the first one, but here we are. There was a lot of talking and scheming at first, and I was afraid I'd get slightly bored, but when the story and action picked up, wow, they truly did. Also, the interaction among different species of cryptids was fascinating (and often funny), the characters vivid, and Verity at the top of her game exactly when driven into the proverbial corner. But what really stole my heart was Verity's adopted "cousin" Sarah, a cryptid herself - basically a predator/manipulator/telepath by birth who grew a conscience by living with her foster family and became fiercely attached to them, which created an interesting (and heartbreaking) nature-vs.-nurture problem. Sarah will go above and beyond to keep her powers/instincts in check and not to hurt people (though she isn't averse to conning her way through first-class hotels 😂), but when your family's on the line, something's got to give...
To sum things up - the second installment in the InCryptid series is as high-stakes as they come, full of fleshed-up, quirky characters you won't forget, and finally trope-free (or dialing them down to the bare minimum - *cough* Dominic *cough*). And since the series started in 2012 and isn't showing signs of winding down anytime soon, that bodes well for the next 10 books and counting...

Note: as a rule, I review every book that I rate 3.5 stars and above in full, unless it's a novella or an anthology. But this series has been around for years now, and it doesn't sound like McGuire's going to stop writing it anytime soon, so I decided to only write mini reviews for its installments, or it would be too hard for me to catch up. I'll write mini reviews for the new ones as well, out of consistency.

 Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire

(InCryptid #3)

★★★★

Cryptozoologist Alex Price has his hands full with the (common) reptilians at the zoo where he works - plus a couple of basilisks whose breeding program he's secretly supervising - and the (cryptid) ones who hide in plain sight. Too bad that one of them is going around petrifying people to death, and Alex and his girlfriend Shelby could be next...

***

After two books - and a few short stories - featuring Verity Price, the new narrator in the InCryptid series is her brother Alex. While Verity specialises in urban cryptids, Alex is a herpetologist, which means there are a number of reptilians, or human-looking characters with reptilian features, or reptile hybrids in this story - from gorgons to cockatrices to a number of other cryptids McGuire made up, or put her unique spin on. Personally, reptiles (especially snakes) give me the creeps, but as long as I'm not required to look at them, I'm fine with reading about them - I'll go as far as to say that I find gorgons McGuire-style fascinating. Anyhow, if you have a vivid imagination and hate snakes and the like, proceed with caution.
Aside from the change of narrator (gender-wise too), what sets Half-Off Ragnarok apart from the previous installments in the series is that it is, at its core, a murder mystery. Oh, and that it features a pet unlike any other (no, not a snake) and a totally bonkers, totally believable petrifaction account. All the other ingredients stay the same, including a sizeable amount of romance (starting off as relationship drama, but with an unusual angle 😂) and a whole lot of action and peril - plus an even more generous dose of cryptid mythology. Also, we get introduced to a couple more Price family members, and touch base with Sarah, after the damage she brought upon herself in Book 2. Once more, McGuire comes up with a fresh twist on creature folklore and human relationships, wrapping it around a mystery for a change, and I'm here for that.

Note: as a rule, I review every book that I rate 3.5 stars and above in full, unless it's a novella or an anthology. But this series has been around for years now, and it doesn't sound like McGuire's going to stop writing it anytime soon, so I decided to only write mini reviews for its installments, or it would be too hard for me to catch up. I'll write mini reviews for the new ones as well, out of consistency.

Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire

(InCryptid #4)

★★★

Cryptozoologist Alex Price gets recruited by his Australian girlfriend Shelby to help with the continent's new lycanthropy outbreak, but her family's hostility complicates the matter, and both them and Alex may have underestimated the threat they're about to face...

***

Rated 3.5 really.

I've been dancing between 3.5 and 4 stars for a bit about this one, because while the second half picked up and featured both actual cryptids (finally!) and lots of twists and turns (one of them heartbreaking), the first was basically one neverending everyone-vs.-Alex match, with Shelby's parents and sisters at the forefront - and that got old and annoying fast, no matter their reasons for giving him a hard time (a couple of which were at least understandable). Also, though McGuire's take on werewolves brought some novelty to the table, they are NOT cryptid - only infected and mutated mammals - and I felt a bit cheated by her introducing them in a series about "natural" so-called monsters. My last qualm is that Pocket Apocalypse replicates the Half-Off Ragnarok formula, in what a) Alex gets into paranormal trouble mid-book and b) the final showdown features a helpless Shelby...
Then again - much like Discount Armageddon - the story is captivating, the mythology is great fun, those twists and turns keep coming (though they're mostly stacked near the ending), the protagonist is likeable, and the sex is limited to one, pretty tame scene (for the record, there's been one in every installment so far...). Also, moral dilemmas and grey areas are always interesting, and McGuire has the guts to be cruel when it's time to up the ante. So I was going for 4 stars...but ultimately, the neverending everyone-vs.-Alex match won 🙄 😂. So, 3.5 stars it is. Still entertaining, but Half-Off Ragnarok belongs to a different league, if by an inch.

Note: as a rule, I review every book that I rate 3.5 stars and above in full, unless it's a novella or an anthology. But this series has been around for years now, and it doesn't sound like McGuire's going to stop writing it anytime soon, so I decided to only write mini reviews for its installments, or it would be too hard for me to catch up. I'll write mini reviews for the new ones as well, out of consistency.

So, have you read/are you planning to read any of the above? And if you have, what do you think of them? Do you post mini reviews? Do you like to read them?