Half-Off Ragnarok
I love Seanan McGuire! I love the In-Cryptid series. I really liked this book, but I think my expectations were too high. This was good, no doubt about it, but I missed Verity. This focused on Verity's brother, Alex, who is also a cryptozooligist, only out in the fields rather than in a more urban setting.
In a weird way, the first third of the book almost felt very Verity-ish, except she was a he. It was written in that same breezy, slightly snarky and very offhand style that I love but it just didn't ring true for Alex. I will say as the book progressed, either the style became more muted or I got over my expectations, and I did end up enjoying it. One thing I really enjoy about McGuire's books is the way she works in any romance - it's believable, not angsty, and it never takes over the story. She did it again here-yay!
What did make it interesting is seeing some of the incryptids outside of an urban setting - seeing how they might adapt and live in their own communities. We also got to meet even more species - I'm always fascinated by how creative authors can be with introducing us to weird yet believable outsiders.
3-1/2 stars + 1/2
Oh - that extra half star I gave is because AESLIN MICE! Yes, Alex has a colony of 'em too!
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