Review: That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire

Antimony Price, aka Annie, and her friends travel north to Maine trying to find a place to get off the road for a while. They've been trying to evade both some baddies from Lowryland and the Covenant of Saint George. They end up in danger anyway. Perhaps it has to do with the bending of luck that her friend the jink has done.

The Crossroads decides to call in the favor that Annie owes them as a result of the events in Tricks for Free (InCryptid #7). They want her to kill someone for them, someone who is a danger to the Crossroads who lives in New Gravesend, Maine - James Smith. And if that wasn't bad enough, someone from the Covenant of Saint George shows up. It might take nigh unto a miracle to keep Annie and her friends alive as they deal with the Crossroads and the Covenant.

This is the third book featuring Antimony Price. Annie has been a fun character to follow. She is smart and capable of taking care of herself generally. And she has a good sense of humor.

It becomes a question of can Annie outsmart the Crossroads? Can she outsmart the Covenant of Saint George? Will she finally be able to go home again? Or will she end up a cautionary tale whispered in the same breath as the Crossroads?

Annie's friends are a unique mix: a Jink, a sylph, a furi, and a ghost. And actually, she happens to be dating the furi. I liked all of her friends. I have to admit I wasn't totally on board with considering James Smith a possible friend. He seems kinda sneaky, but he may have reasons for that.

The plot is a little slow when they first arrive in Maine which mirrors the group's desire for some downtime in a safe place. Then as events progress, the novel moves along faster and faster until the denouement. It was complex enough to hold my interest at all points too.

I really liked that Annie and company were taking on the Crossroads in this book. The Crossroads is a creepy entity that manipulates people to get what it wants. People think they are getting the best of the bargain, but they seldom are, even when a ghost like Mary helps them to negotiate their deal.

Overall, I give this book 4 stars out of 5. It's a well-written urban fantasy novel in a possible alternate world where cryptids are more likely to be real than not. And the cryptids usually stay out of sight of the general population unless they are one of the groups that can blend in among people. This book doesn't do well as a standalone. It refers to events in the previous books. So, it's best to have read at least #7, Tricks for Free. I do recommend reading this series if you enjoy urban fantasy. It's been well-written. It shows good use of imagination. And it's got fun parts and snark.

That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire was published March 5th, 2019 by DAW.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of this from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions herein are my own and freely given.

Teaser Tuesday: That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Cylia leaned against the wall, dressed in a fluffy yellow bathrobe that made her resemble nothing so much as a malevolent daffodil come to pass judgment on the weak. She still looked friendlier and more understanding than Sam, who was in human form, wearing only his jeans, and glaring at James like he was trying to decide how to dispose of the body. (16% through on my Kindle)

That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire is expected to be published today, March 5th, 2019 by DAW Books. It's the 8th Incryptid novel.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #268: That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event which had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Crossroads, noun:

1. A place where two roads cross.
2. A place where bargains can be made.
3. See also “places to avoid.”

Antimony Price has never done well without a support system. As the youngest of her generation, she has always been able to depend on her parents, siblings, and cousins to help her out when she’s in a pinch—until now. After fleeing from the Covenant of St. George, she’s found herself in debt to the crossroads and running for her life. No family. No mice. No way out.

Lucky for her, she’s always been resourceful, and she’s been gathering allies as she travels: Sam, fūri trapeze artist turned boyfriend; Cylia, jink roller derby captain and designated driver; Fern, sylph friend, confidant, and maker of breakfasts; even Mary, ghost babysitter to the Price family. Annie’s actually starting to feel like they might be able to figure things out—which is probably why things start going wrong again.

New Gravesend, Maine is a nice place to raise a family…or make a binding contract with the crossroads. For James Smith, whose best friend disappeared when she tried to do precisely that, it’s also an excellent place to plot revenge. Now the crossroads want him dead and they want Annie to do the dirty deed. She owes them, after all.

And that’s before Leonard Cunningham, aka, “the next leader of the Covenant,” shows up…

It’s going to take everything Annie has and a little bit more to get out of this one. If she succeeds, she gets to go home. If she fails, she becomes one more cautionary tale about the dangers of bargaining with the crossroads.

But no pressure.

That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire is due to be released March 5th, 2019 from DAW Books.

Why am I waiting on this one? I have enjoyed the other books in the series that I've read. And this book sounds good to me. I especially like the crossroads angle. I want to know what happens to Annie.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Review: Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire

Tricks for Free is the seventh book in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire. Antimony Price aka Melody West is in Florida working at a busy amusement park, Lowryland, that is in direct competition with Disney. How did she get here? Why is she here? And why is she alone? Something went south with the Covenant and now they are chasing after her. The amusement park seems like the perfect place to hide out. So many people would make it hard for them to track her.

Still, there are unexpected occurrences. She is rooming with a sylph and a gorgon. She is scorching her sheets at night with the fire she is trying to control. Someone wants to teach her to control her fire and she jumps at the chance. Then bad accidents in the park start to occur. What or who is causing them? Annie works at resolving the issues and finding a way to return to the family fold.

This is my first Seanan McGuire novel. And it wasn't a bad place to start. It certainly whets my appetite for more in the series. And I will be checking out her other series as well.

The characters in the novel are interesting. Those closest to Annie are the most well developed. I want to know more about them as well. I find especially interesting her former babysitter, a crossroads ghost, who pops in and out pretty much at will.

There is enough background given to follow the action quite well and to see what lead Annie to the predicament she finds herself in. You could read this as a standalone, but you will probably want to read the sequel as well as some of the earlier books in the series.

The plot moves along at a good pace. I found it a little slow in the beginning, but that was because things were being established that the rest of the book would depend on. It didn't slow me down or make me stop reading. It was just something that I noted. As the book progresses, the pace picks up.

There's a short story at the end of the book. It works well and brings up what happened to her mice and what happened to her boyfriend after the end of the previous book. It's interesting and I enjoyed it. I was not familiar with Aeslin mice and it was nice to get to know them even in such a brief time.

I give this novel 4 out of 5 stars. It's well-written. The characters are interesting. The pace is good. I would definitely recommend this series to fans of urban fantasy. I will be reading more books by this author.

Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire is going to be released March 6, 2018 from DAW Books.

Seanan McGuire is a Washington State-based author. The October Daye novels are her first urban fantasy series, and the InCryptid novels are her second series, both of which have put her on the New York Times bestseller list. She is the first person to be nominated for five Hugo Awards in a single year. You can find out more about her and her books on her website here.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions herein are my own and freely given.

Teaser Tuesday: Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

I went very still as it struck me that, right now, I was living like a cryptid.I was hiding from people who wanted to do me harm as much because of who I was as because of anything I'd done. (11% on my Kindle)

Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire is expected to be published March 6, 2018. The quotation comes from an ARC and may appear differently in the final copy. 

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!