Review: Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire (@jessicadhaluska, @seananmcguire, @dawbooks)

Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire
Series: InCryptid #6
Published by DAW
Published on: March 7 2017
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 360
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley

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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.

I’ve been looking forward to getting Antimony’s POV in a full-length InCryptid novel since I read Blocked on McGuire’s website. If you haven’t read Blocked (or any of the other short stories from her or Elsie’s POV), you probably don’t know what to expect.

Alex and Verity paint the youngest Price sibling in a somewhat unflattering light, and on the few occasions she shows up in their books, Antimony reinforces that impression.

BUT.

There are two sides to every story.

And while Antimony begins MAGIC FOR NOTHING with a chip on her shoulder the size of an Aeslin mice colony, by the end . . . She’s grown. And regardless of whether or not you think she needs an attitude adjustment, she is willing to sacrifice in ways that can’t help but earn your respect.

So have patience with her.

Dollface is only twenty-two years old after all, and she is being sent into the belly of the beast b/c Verity wanted to be a dancer.

Besides . . . As someone with a preference for Rogue or Hunter-type avatars in MMORPG, I can a appreciate a girl who likes to deal with physical danger from a distance, and if that involves explosives and pit traps, so much the better. #teamantimony

That being said, I’m not sure I’m totally down with View Spoiler »her choice of significant other. o.O

Maybe it makes me speciesist, but I can’t help it.

I’m totally fine with Aunt Jane being married to an Incubus, I’m looking forward to Artie and Sarah’s inevitable romance, and I wish we saw more of Uncle Mike’s Oread wife, but COME ON . . .

Sam is a freaking monkey. #notfine

I even googled spider monkeys to see if maybe they weren’t as creepy old man-looking as other species, like chimpanzees and orangutans, and they are in fact kind of adorable . . . For a PET.

NOT a boyfriend. *shrugs awkwardly* « Hide Spoiler <——seriously, DO NOT read that until you’ve read the book for yourself or if you have no intention of reading it.

Suffice it to say that apparently I have limits, and I met mine in Sam. *tries not to to judge* *fails miserably* *doesn’t know whether or not I’m sorry*

As for the actual plot, it’s pretty well outlined in the blurb: Antimony infiltrates the Covenant to ascertain their future plans for the Price family, which is dangerous enough by itself, but she’s also dealing with her recently manifested (and therefore uncontrollable) magic.

*EDVARD MUNCH FACE*

And if you think that’s scary, just wait until you meet Leo . . .

SO. If you haven’t already figured it out from my previous reviews, I love this series, and if you like urban fantasy, I think you should read it too. We’re six books in, and there’s yet to be a stinker. *whispers* That’s kind of a big deal. Highly recommended.

InCryptid:

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