Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire

InCryptid, Book 6

Synopsis:

Improbable, adjective:
1. Not very likely to happen; not probable.
2. Probably not a very good idea anyway.
3. See also “bad plan.”

As the youngest of the three Price children, Antimony is used to people not expecting much from her. She’s been happy playing roller derby and hanging out with her cousins, leaving the globe-trotting to her older siblings while she stays at home and tries to decide what she wants to do with her life. She always knew that one day, things would have to change. She didn’t think they’d change so fast.

Annie’s expectations keep getting shattered. She didn’t expect Verity to declare war on the Covenant of St. George on live television. She didn’t expect the Covenant to take her sister’s threat seriously. And she definitely didn’t expect to be packed off to London to infiltrate the Covenant from the inside…but as the only Price in her generation without a strong resemblance to the rest of the family, she’s the perfect choice to play spy. They need to know what’s coming. Their lives may depend on it.

But Annie has some secrets of her own, like the fact that she’s started setting things on fire when she touches them, and has no idea how to control it. Now she’s headed halfway around the world, into the den of the enemy, where blowing her cover could get her killed. She’s pretty sure things can’t get much worse.

Antimony Price is about to learn just how wrong it’s possible for one cryptozoologist to be.

Review: If you know me, you know that I’m a big fan of Seanan McGuire and I always look forward to each of her new novels. I love her two series either October Daye or the InCryptid one. That’s why I was very curious to get into this sixth volume with Magic for Nothing. It must be said that the end of the preceding volume with the declaration of war by Verity for the Covenant of St. George, nothing could return as it was.

During the novels, we had the chance to follow Verity and her brother Alex and it’s true that it was very interesting to learn more about this family although I still have a small preference for Verity. But here we can discover another character by following the little last of the family: Antimony. She who has not yet decided what she wants to do with her life, will be put on the front of the stage. Indeed, the Price family has been waiting since the announcement of Verity and tries to know how the Covenant will act. The perfect solution would be to send someone to spy on their rank. But for that, they need a person who can not be recognized at the first opportunity and only Antimony corresponds to that profile. Novice in this matter, our heroine is going to be sent to Europe to infiltrate the Covenant while trying to hide her secret, the one she tries to control and which can ignite by a simple touch. Reaching their ranks, she is sent under cover in a traveling circus where she has to flush the creatures hiding there … Yet it seems much more complicated than expected, especially when Annie falls under the spell of the son of the manager.

I did not think that I could really appreciate a character as much as Verity but I confess that I now have a big weakness for Annie. She is a young woman full of freshness, ready to do anything to help her family and to save those she desires to help. It was very touching to see her relationship with Sam and to see her being herself in this circus. But it was also sad to see her torn between the Covenant and her desire to do well. It was really interesting how this organization was ruled, their desire to kill anyone who is different without trying to differentiate between good and evil. Moreover, I confess that I was really intrigued by one of the descendants of the Covenant, Leo, especially with this end and I am very curious to see what will happen thereafter. In any case, Seanan McGuire completely took me into her story that kept me curious throughout the chapters. A series that I can only recommend!

5

mellianefini

 

28 thoughts on “Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire

  1. Love seeing that this series is still going strong for you. I have been wanting to read it since the first book came out and I still haven’t gotten to it. ARGH!

  2. Every time I see a review of this author, I want to dive into her books. I’ve only read a couple of novellas (which I LOVED) and want to start her October Daye books soon. Hopefully this year. Yep, you have me wanting to read her more right now. 🙂

  3. I love that cover and I’m very intrigued by this one! I’ve only read the first Verity book so naturally I’m curious where McGuire takes the characters next. Antimony sounds like a unique and interesting protag, I really should read more of these.

Laisser un commentaire

Votre adresse de messagerie ne sera pas publiée. Les champs obligatoires sont indiqués avec *