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Title: The Shambling Guide to New York City
Author: Mur Lafferty
Genre: Urban fantasy
Thingummies: 3
Synopsis: A travel book editor finds herself in charge of writing a travel book for monsters.
Thoughts: The idea that there's secretly a world of paranormal monsters coexisting with us is not a new one. It's been played for horror, comedy, and comic horror. And angsty drama, of course. This book doesn't bring a whole lot new to the mix, although it does have some cute takes on golems and Frankenstein-style monster creators.
It does have a cute hook, with the whole "travel guide for monsters" thing, which includes passages from the guide in between chapters. They're a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the plot itself has basically nothing to do with the hook except for the occasional lampshade. I would have preferred to have more about her actually trying to write the book.
The other big problem is an overabundance of coincidence. The antagonist is someone from the protagonist's past; the protagonist takes a job that makes her realize that the paranormal exists; the mundane love interest turns out to have his own connection; the protagonist turns out to have a magic power. Thing is, none of these are connected, and it's just too much to believe that one person, in a world where almost no one realizes the paranormal exists, ends up with four unrelated connections. The antagonist's hating her has nothing to do with her power, job, or crush. She doesn't find out about or get the job because of the other connections. The fact that she moves next door to and gets a crush on a hunky guy is likewise unconnected. I don't think it would have been that hard to find reasons why these things keep happening to her, but they seem to happen because Plot.
Also, the ending feels rushed, kind of confusing, and a little anticlimactic. Main baddie goes down too easily, more baddies appear for no apparent reason, and I never really understood exactly how the overall situation got resolved.
But it's cute, and charming, and reasonably witty. Fun read, won't reread, won't go out of my way to find a sequel.
Author: Mur Lafferty
Genre: Urban fantasy
Thingummies: 3
Synopsis: A travel book editor finds herself in charge of writing a travel book for monsters.
Thoughts: The idea that there's secretly a world of paranormal monsters coexisting with us is not a new one. It's been played for horror, comedy, and comic horror. And angsty drama, of course. This book doesn't bring a whole lot new to the mix, although it does have some cute takes on golems and Frankenstein-style monster creators.
It does have a cute hook, with the whole "travel guide for monsters" thing, which includes passages from the guide in between chapters. They're a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the plot itself has basically nothing to do with the hook except for the occasional lampshade. I would have preferred to have more about her actually trying to write the book.
The other big problem is an overabundance of coincidence. The antagonist is someone from the protagonist's past; the protagonist takes a job that makes her realize that the paranormal exists; the mundane love interest turns out to have his own connection; the protagonist turns out to have a magic power. Thing is, none of these are connected, and it's just too much to believe that one person, in a world where almost no one realizes the paranormal exists, ends up with four unrelated connections. The antagonist's hating her has nothing to do with her power, job, or crush. She doesn't find out about or get the job because of the other connections. The fact that she moves next door to and gets a crush on a hunky guy is likewise unconnected. I don't think it would have been that hard to find reasons why these things keep happening to her, but they seem to happen because Plot.
Also, the ending feels rushed, kind of confusing, and a little anticlimactic. Main baddie goes down too easily, more baddies appear for no apparent reason, and I never really understood exactly how the overall situation got resolved.
But it's cute, and charming, and reasonably witty. Fun read, won't reread, won't go out of my way to find a sequel.
