Magic for nothing

InCryptid 2014, #2

by Seanan McGuire

352 pages

English language

Published Jan. 3, 2017

ISBN:: 978-0-7564-1039-1
OCLC Number:: 976026818

(10 reviews)

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.

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

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.

1 edition

Geekess reviewed Magic for nothing by Seanan McGuire (InCryptid 2014, #2)

Review of 'Magic for nothing' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is why I read the Incryptid series. Lighthearted fun. Where the previous (Verity) book disappointed, this one picks up steam again. Yes, Antimony is a whining brat. She accuses Verity of all kinds of things she actually does herself, like the roller derby debacle at the end.
I also sat with slightly curled toes (not in a good way) in the violent Sam scene. It skirts the abusive relationship trope, and it isn't sexy. But the author didn't go that route, fortunately.
What I like about the books is that she flirts with the tropes, but most of the time, doesn't exactly follow them. Not the bad tropes, at least. While her books are slightly predictable (she clearly does have a problem with authority figures), that usually doesn't take away the fun. And boy this book was fun.

unsquare reviewed Magic for nothing by Seanan McGuire (InCryptid 2014, #2)

Review of 'Magic for nothing' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I think one of the biggest strengths of the InCryptid series is its ability to support switching viewpoint characters from volume to volume. These books exist in a shared world, but every Price sibling has a different perspective on life and a unique tone that comes along with it.

The whole series is funny, but the humor in each book comes at you from different angles. This book is the first of three focusing on Antimony Price, the youngest Price sibling, tasked with an important undercover mission after the world-changing events of the last book. She also ends up joining the circus.

One nice thing about Antimony’s story is that she gets a bit of new romance, which was missing from the last few books because Alex and Verity have more established relationships. It’s a fun time to mix romance and danger with death-defying feats in a carnival tent. I’ve …