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

Hello to all!

            i hope you have a better weather than us because here it's so cold ( and rain...) ....oki an excellent time to stay near the fire with a good book and a cup of tea but sadly it's not on my list for today, the special event at the roleplaying club is only a few hours away so we must do the shopping, finish decorating and a lot of other details ^^ busy day.

Busy yes.. enough that i don't participate in Brenda's event The Ghoulishly Good Monster Mash Mix up? No ^^ and today is about dragon so it will the next thing i do... but first like promised i continue to share with you my october reading discoveries....and  Brenda planned well because this book does have dragons too so...
 Happy reading!

Publisher: DAW

Publication: 2013

ISBN:  0756407923

Genre: urban fantasy
Violence: strong
Language: normal
sex: mild
Public: 18+

Source: won (thanks Brenda!!!)

Short description 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.

My opinion:

          After reading Discount Armageddon, I couldn’t wait to get more of Verity and Dominic as well as the Aeslin Mice.  If I could have rushed my precedent reads to get to this one earlier I would have done it but it’s not my style so I had to be patient and it was more than, worth it! I really enjoyed this book, I’m not giving it an higher score though and I can’t really tell you what I found missing even if I will try .

So first this story takes place some weeks after the events in book 1 and Dominic and Verity are still not sure where they stand together. Trust isn’t completely there but they do have a sort of relationship. Dominic isn’t trusted by the cryptids but he does prove to be concerned for some and trying to adapt to Verity’s company which can be really confusing, not every one would be comfortable with speaking mice or a telepath you can’t remember.

He has reason to be perturbed by all this new knowledge since it’s the completely opposite of how he was raised but he is trying for the sake of Verity and she is not making things easy for him. To be honest I really enjoyed how his personality was constructed because a sudden change wouldn’t feel right and how the author managed to make him sound is just the right one. I love him, he is so human and trying to do things right I couldn’t be angry with him for his hesitations and doubts.

Verity is also trying to adjust to having someone other than family to trust and she is really difficult about it, she keeps fighting Dominic and trying to put him ill at ease. I had a little difficulty to understand that since she was the one to make the relationship move to the next level and I don’t like the idea she could make love to him without any trust or love soothe fact that after she acts like it’s nothing bothered me.  At the first occasion she doubt him. She is at a time of her life when she must decide what really counts for her and that’s her primary focus and as often if facing adversary that you can really discover yourself and what is important for you. I enjoyed seeing her determined, trying to help the majority and how she was persevering the torture was really interesting. She isn’t a super woman, yes she had a special training, yes she has some abilities but  no super powers at the end she is still a young woman who doesn’t like suffering, who can be terrified… so human but it’s her humanity that make her want to fight for the cryptid population despite the risk, she could flee but she stays and do what she believe in even if it means sacrificing herself, and not without thinking about other solution. She isn’t a coward, she wants to life but she can see farther than herself and it’s what makes her a Heroine. ..; at that time I was really admiring her.

Another part that interested me was the way the cryptid community acted after learning the danger….it was so natural in a sense some afraid run away some want to fight to protect what is their. It was something I could understand perfectly and I loved to see some wanting to stay and trust Verity… I mean they have some doubt about her because she is a Price but they can admit what she has done for them and trust her when necessary. Kitty is a good example at a time she sound like against Verity at all, selfish to the worst levels but she is the one taking a stand to protect the community and offer refuge, helping in negotiations and such. It’s when facing difficulties that you discover your true friends and allies…. And here it’s really a good example. Istas and Ryan as well as the dragons are there, some with a little persuasion but there are there.

 We also see more member of the Price family and learn about their history, I can tell you I was probably more disappointed with that part ^^, her parents send to Verity uncle Mike as backup but the way he nearly gave up at a time had me frustrated and angry. He should have been the one to believe ion verity but no. Sarah did all the work and for a normally peaceful character it was really something. 

 I still enjoyed as much as before the little advices or proverb from Verity‘s ancestry, there are ringing so well^^ and never miss to make me smile, like the way Seanan McGuire at the beginning of each chapter put in bold the place where the action takes place…it could seem to be a detail but can’t recommend enough to pay attention to them.

The romance is there and not just in a few pages, action is gripping and  non stop so you are really left wanting to keep reading until the last page  but perhaps what make me sad is that you feel it’s the last book on Verity adventures. I don’t mean she will never appear again in the series but the next two book will focus on her brother not her and  I wanted more, a lot more of Verity and Dominic and the mice ( as well as Sarah of course).. it’s hard to explain without giving too much info… there is a ending, a happy one but it’s kind of an open ending set in a proper place yes just I wanted more ^^;; I can only hope we get what happen after last page in a novella because it could be so fun that I don’t want to miss that^^

 In resume, it an excellent book full of humour, tension and romance, that will catch you in the story and not to let you go until you have finished it. I enjoyed it a lot, I even loved it but it could have been even better I think ( how I absolutely can’t tell^^;;) and I will read the rest of the series hoping for more Verity ( and I can’t wait to meet Antimony^^) a must read if you love urban fantasy with humour and original creatures

Score:  4/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

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