Friday Mini Reviews #9 - Midnight Blue-Light Special, Fury's Kiss and The Age of Miracles

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Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire (InCryptid #2)

bought

Synopsis from Goodreads
Cryptid, noun:
1. Any creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven scientifically. Term officially coined by cryptozoologist John E. Wall in 1983.
2. That thing that's getting ready to eat your head.
3. See also: "monster."

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.
Amazon  US/UK | Amazon kindle US/UK | The Book Depository US/UK

8.5/10

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I am quite enjoying this series by Seanan McGuire. It's got funnier, quirkier ton than October Day, but it's still pretty strong in its own right, and reminds me of Marta Acosta style in places. Verity is a strong woman and this book shows at last where her allies and enemies stand. This is a short, action-driven and intense read. Recommended.

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Хахаха, я люблю эту серию и её настрой, хоть она и не так сильная как Тоби Дэй. Серия Инкриптид - экцентрична, смешна и динамична, и напоминает мне стиль незабываемой Марты Акосты, так что если вы ищете городское фэнтези с хорошим чувством юмора и с совершенно очаровательной героиней - вам сюда.

Fury's Kiss by Karen Chance (Dorina Basarab #3)

bought

Synopsis from Goodreads

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. But so far, Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing...

Dory is used to fighting hard and nasty. So when she wakes up in a strange scientific lab with a strange man standing over her, her first instinct is to take his head off. Luckily, the man is actually the master vampire Louis-Cesare, so he’s not an easy kill.

It turns out that Dory had been working with a Vampire Senate task force on the smuggling of magical items and weaponry out of Faerie when she was captured and brought to the lab. But when Louis-Cesare rescues her, she has no memory of what happened to her.

To find out what was done to her—and who is behind it—Dory will have to face off with fallen angels, the maddest of mad scientists, and a new breed of vampires that are far worse than undead…
 Amazon  US/UK | Amazon kindle US/UK | The Book Depository US/UK | Fishpond

7/10

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Okay... I usually love this series, but this time I felt like I was tripping on magic mushrooms throughout the whole book (not that I know how it feels anyway). Messy, very hazy and choke full of action to the point where I couldn't understand what was happening. I think that the fact that half of the action was happening in memory land and half in real world didn't help at all. Very confusing, read with caution.

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Я обычно люблю Карен Чанс, но не в этот раз, ребята. Такое впечатление было, что я всю книгу торчала на наркотиках и испытывала галлюцинации. Очень всё мутно, перебор экшна, не помогает то, что половина книги происходит в действительности, половина в воспоминаниях. Я просто совсем ничего не поняла, и я всё никак не могу дождаться когда Касси и Дори наконец-то нормально познакомятся. Так, что читать можно, но с трудом.

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

bought

Synopsis from Goodreads

'It is never what you worry over that comes to pass in the end. The real catastrophies are always different - unimagined, unprepared for, unknown...' What if our 24-hour day grew longer, first in minutes, then in hours, until day becomes night and night becomes day? What effect would this slowing have on the world? On the birds in the sky, the whales in the sea, the astronauts in space, and on an eleven-year-old girl, grappling with emotional changes in her own life..? One morning, Julia and her parents wake up in their suburban home in California to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth is noticeably slowing. The enormity of this is almost beyond comprehension. And yet, even if the world is, in fact, coming to an end, as some assert, day-to-day life must go on. Julia, facing the loneliness and despair of an awkward adolescence, witnesses the impact of this phenomenon on the world, on the community, on her family and on herself.
 Amazon  US/UK(£3.85) | Amazon kindle US/UK(£3.49) | The Book Depository US/UK | Fishpond

9/10

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This is one of those books where when everyone keeps telling you this is amazing, you should listen. This is an amazing read, and I'm glad I listened to Blodeuedd's contemplative and wonderful review and read it. It's slow, very atmospheric, melancholic and soulful. I loved it and felt sad when it's ended. Read it!

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Совершенно превосходная книга, медленная, грустная и с чудесной характеризацией. У меня было впечатление как будто я прощалась с целой эпохой, и мир никогда больше таким не будет. Честно говоря, я даже не знаю в какой жанр её всунуть. Может в литературный фикшн с небольшим пост-апокалиптичным акцентом? Я не знаю. Однако читать её очень даже нужно и спокойно рекомендовать друзьям, которые паранормал и дистопии совсем не читают. Это утрёт им нос.