I did a very short review on my first read that basically consisted of “it was good” and “I look forward to the next one,” which is still true. I had a lot of fun rereading Discount Armageddon. The book itself is currently serving as my mousepad while I’m on vacation.
I find Verity an interesting protagonist. She’s got a sort of Buffy mentality to monster — sorry, Cryptid — fighting and having some sort of life on the side. I like her no-nonsense approach and her curiosity. It also helps that she’s an athletic person to begin with. There are just too many “hey, I’m the protagonist but I don’t actually do much in the way of exercise but I look fantastic and have great fighting stamina” protagonists out there. Verity is not one of them.
I found Dominic’s progression from monster killer to more tolerant dude really quick. I believe Verity seconds that a few times in the book by looking at him askance. He’s an alright character, but he is honestly quite blank.
I love all the Cryptids. I find it really interesting that a lot of them are therianthropes rather than just critters. The pseudoscience that McGuire puts into them is pretty well thought out, if wacky. But hey, Cryptids are pretty wacky to begin with so… much hand-waving. I definitely enjoyed the change from the bog-standard vamps and witches.
Discount Armageddon was quite fun. Loved the mix of humor and action. Loved the characters. Loved the Cryptids. Just a lot of fun overall.
Favorite Quotes
"There's no such thing as a normal life. Some lives are just more interesting than others, and we shouldn't judge people for being boring." - Evelyn Baker
"We all make mistakes. Luckily for us, there are very few mistakes that can't be solved with a suitable application of either lipstick or hand grenades." - Frances Brown
"When all else fails, put on a fresh coat of lip gloss and pretend you have no idea what that horrible thing that just went running down Main Street was. A surprisingly large number of people will believe you." - Frances Brown
"If you interfere in any manner with our continued survival, I will play skipping games with your intestines while wearing your lungs as a hat." - Istas
