Honestly... I was bored through most of this. Most of the character stuff was just rehashing things that had already been "taken care of" earlier in the overall narrative. The mystery was just kind of "bleh." There was no way Todd was going to end up back in jail after pretty much the entire Cainsville series was so focused on him getting out. Even the Fae stuff was just "meh."
So, the main story line of Lost Souls gets and A+ from me. The mystery is a good one, folding in possibly unknown lore with the Fae stuff. I like how it went, I like how it was resolved.
However, I honestly found Gabriel's treading or re-treading of his insecurities involving Olivia really quite tedious. I get that he didn't have a great childhood. I get that he didn't learn how to make friends. I get that Olivia is literally the first relationship of any kind he's had to forge by himself. Fantastic. I wanted him to tell her all of that as a way of explaining the awkwardness that tends to happen between them from his end. I know she knows about Gabriel's horrible childhood at this point, but I'm not sure she knows or even thinks about what that might have truly done to his social skills. Some sort of explanation from him would have done wonders, I think.
I don't particularly enjoy yelling at a book or rolling my eyes over the utter lack of communication going on between characters. Gabriel is a very insular character and it's ridiculously frustrating to "watch," even if the rest of the story is pretty good.
"He's a matagot. He understands me just fine.""He's also a cat. Which means he doesn't care." - Patrick and Grace
Nick attempts some cloak-and-dagger stuff and ends up in a long chase. Very fast-paced. Not really much else to it.
Ah, a Department Thirteen, eh? No relation to a similar Warehouse, of course… Nah, D13 really seems more CIA-ish than Warehouse-ish.
Basically just an enjoyable little romp.
I finally got my confetti! Currently upping my goal to 110.
Calculated Risks is basically one big bottle-episode character study. Definitely not a book to put down and pick up and put down and pick up — which I did for the most part. It is definitely a book and a story that works better in much larger chunks than I was reading it in. I recommend reading it when you have time to actually sit down and read it. All of that said, Calculated Risks was very good.
Poor, poor Sarah having to deal with the closest members of her family without them remembering her. I don’t know if I could have coped, but she manages arguably better than anyone could be asked to. Especially given that they all have to deal with the stress of an alternate universe and basically zombies at the same time. I also believe I said in my Imaginary Numbers review that I wasn’t really affected by the Sarah/Artie romance… Calculated Risks made me feel it in-absentia. Sarah’s heartbreak during the 24-hours or so during which Artie does not remember her is palpable.
Artie during this whole thing is a giant jerk and is called out several times for it. Given how much time he and Sarah apparently spent together throughout their lives, I do not blame him one bit. I’m sure having such patchwork memories to deal with was awful. I do like that he eventually came around and it is very helpful to remember that Calculated Risks takes place over 48-hours so it’s not like there was a lot of time to process.
I like James a bit more now. Getting the little bits of time with him near the end reminded me that he’s a research nerd and maybe doesn’t have much of an outward personality, which isn’t a bad thing. I also think his rapport with Annie is pretty awesome. They really do feel very much like James took to being a Price quite quickly. I’m sure being stuck in a camper with Annie and the gang helped with that, but I really felt his whole thing here… if that makes any sense to anyone but me.
Annie was her loveable self throughout. I am glad we basically got to see how well-rounded she is as a person from both inside and outside perspectives. Sarah was definitely right when she called Annie “the flexible one.” Annie will always be my fave of the Price “kids.”
Finally, Mark. Hmm, he’s alright for a fully adult cuckoo. I quite like somewhat acerbic heart-of-gold type characters. Like, we know he’s inherently selfish, but not entirely so that works. I also definitely think he did a bit of a whammy on Annie, James, and Artie to make them more comfy around him, even if it was unintentional and not really addressed. I feel like Mark would be a good ancillary character to have around after this.
The story itself was mostly a bottle-episode focused on Sarah. I didn’t really feel much dread until the giant spiders started appearing, which was over halfway through the book. Aaand I don’t like giant spiders, not even Greg. I tried very hard not to think about Greg or the mantids and focus myself on Sarah and the other humanoids. Speaking of, we finally learn why the Prices are luckier than normal humans! That was fun, even if I can’t remember the name of the species their luck comes from. We do learn a but more about cuckoo brain-ology though. Seeing them pretty much from tiny to fully instar-ed out helped with that.
I’m glad Sarah basically found a way to de-cuckoo the cuckoos… or at least the kiddos who “made it” to the Iowa thingy. Hopefully they make a point of going about de-cuckoo-ing any others they can. I’m interested to see how the species is going forward.
So yeah, Calculated Risks is very emotionally heavy and should be read (in my opinion) in as few sittings as possible for full enjoyment. Really let those emotions sink in a burrow, man.
"And then it was said and Stated, as it always shall be, Never Split the Party!" - Aeslin Mouse
"Dumbledore was a dick," - Sarah Zellaby
"Sarah is my cousin, because say so, and I'm the terrifying one." - Antimony Price
"Is that the correct plural?" I asked. "I thought it was 'mantids.'""I don't think the correct plural is appropriate for me to use around children" - Sarah Zellaby and James Smith
I’m not overly fond of nine-years-ago Annie. She might be a quippy smart-alec but she’s also just straight-up mean. Seriously, the amount of Verity hate in the entire thing is egregious. Needs character development.
This novella was kinda cute, but not really satisfying. I mean, I would have liked to get an actual resolution to the siren, rather than just the “let’s talk in a few hours.” Sarah was adorable. Artie was there, being nervous, but largely just there. Much shrugging.
"I am what happens when nerds are allowed to marry and thus produce even more nerds, like nerdiness squared, like what happens when Seymour from Little Shop is allowed to hook up with Jordan from Real Genius. And if you got both those references, odds are good that you're a nerd, too, which would explain why you're following this road trip of the damned." - Antimony Price
"Why? Are we expecting a visit from the normal people for some reason? I thought I was done with them when Artie graduated and they stopped trying to strong-arm me onto the PTA." - Jane Harrington
That Ain’t Witchcraft is one of the more intense books I’ve read in a while. It’s not intense all the way through, mind you, mostly it’s just fun. The intensity really came in at the end, but I definitely won’t spoil that. I had tons of nerdy fun with this one.
I am absolutely in love with Antimony’s found family. Fern is still my favorite. I love her so much. She does spend an awful lot of time in this book hiding in her room, though. Which, like, fair. I feel like the way Sylphs seem to form really intense platonic relationships should make its way into the Incryptid Field Guide.
Considering how absolutely perfect the house they’re renting is, it must have taken a MASSIVE amount of luck to actually find it just given the amount of bad that’s followed. First Crossroads, then Covenant. Clearly Cylia doesn’t think it was that much, but I beg to differ.
I hate Leo so, so much. He deserves to be taken down all the pegs. Painfully. One by one. I’ve enjoyed every single moment of Annie threatening Leo within an inch of his life. It’s awesome. And Sam’s “introduction” ooooohhhh that was the best. Chef’s kiss. Anyway, Leo’s the worst and continues to be the worst and I hate him.
Oh look, the Crossroads did that impatient villain thing. How quaint. Seriously, although Annie isn’t exactly following the Crossroads instructions, she is actually doing what it wants and it’s getting picky. If it just wanted James dead, why tell Annie to get the information? And now it’s changing its mind about what it wants. Like dude, getting information takes time. Be patient. If you “don’t want you to know how to hurt us” then why tell Annie to get the information? Just… much ugh about that.
I am very interested in why the Crossroads hates sorcerers so much and what it was exactly that made the Crossroads “go bad. Why would the Crossroads take a deal that contravened an earlier deal? James was never going to be able to leave town apparently, so why take that deal with Sally? Also, doesn’t killing James before he has kids kind of… void the deal the Crossroads made with his ancestor? Also, what actually happens if the Crossroads voids its own deals? Like, the Crossroads doesn’t have some sort of cosmic oversight, so what would actually happen? Apparently nothing unless it’s contested, which seems like a big ol’ cheat. Some of this is answered but a lot of it isn’t and I want more.
I’m finding it very endearing that Sam’s reactions to things are often violent. Or at least violent thoughts.
Annie might not have the Aeslin with her, but she had them with her and you better believe that has me in tears. Truly, the whole ending was super intense. Intense enough that I had to take a break rather than continue to read the included novella. Good intense, but intense.
Megan from Tricks for Free makes an unexpected return in a position that’s actually kind of close to Alex so, like, the fangirling in Tricks for Free is interesting. All she had to do was go home and spend a day at work with Dee and tada! Meet Alex. Anyway, that’s not really the point of the novella. Alex and Shelby and Sarah (yay, she’s kinda mostly back to herself) take on some poachers. I really, really hate poachers in general and think even less of the ones who decide to go after sapient creatures. They deserved what they got. Aaand we got an answer to the Shelby or Verity question that got posed in the main novel (basically by Mary), so that’s nice.
"I solemnly swear that if I'm about to be murdered by bigoted zealots, I'll stop worrying about property damage and makr as much of a mess as possible, so you'll know what you're walking into. Okay?" - Sam Taylor
"We can get hurt anywhere. It's better to get hurt doing something you love, or helping someone you love, than to get hurt because the world isn't fair." - Fern Conway
"Some skills are essential, no matter what your future holds. Never assume that knowledge is useless." - Jane Harrington-Price
A Spoiler Free Review
Okay so, I have come to realize that although Karen Chance does write some pretty good battle scenes, her writing really shines in the quieter moments. It’s a shame, really, that the quieter moments between epic battles are subsumed by those battles. I was really enjoying the “Dory plays detective” aspects of this novella and then most of that went out of my head because of the high-stakes epic battle that always happens toward the end of Karen Chance’s books.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Pritkin show up. I found it a little weird that we only know it’s Pritkin is because the nameless Irin name-drops him. Which is like, Easter Egg for those reading both Cassie and Dory books. I don’t know that I would have taken that one name drop and followed him from the Dory books to the Cassie books, but I might have been more interested if it was more than a single name drop and not “the mage” or “maybe a mutant” thing that was going on.
As for the ultimate “villain reveal” I’m feeling incredibly underwhelmed. The info-dump of the reveal is… not great. It definitely doesn’t make me wanna go back and re-look at all the clues and it didn’t make me go “oh that works really well.” Just blah. And the “villain” remains nameless, so the ending has even less of an impact.
I might be expecting a lot from a novella, but this really doesn’t feel like it had much bearing on the overall story. It feels like Dragon’s Claw largely serves as a vehicle to showcase Dorina’s power set and solidify Cheung and Zheng’s places on the Senate. I could be wrong, but I guess I’ll see once I start Queen’s Gambit.
"To be remembered is the only real eternity." - Irin
A Spoiler Free Review
I honestly wish this one was part of the main series. It’s fairly quick but also sheds light on Pritkin’s personality and past. Cassanova and Rian were interesting to experience outside of Cassanova berating/complaining at Cassie. I actually quite like Rian for the short amount of time she’s “on stage” and hope she gets to interact outside Cassanova somewhere other than the demon realms. Cassie is also interesting to see from an outside perspective. Seems like she’s at least getting some training… or at least the training is mentioned a couple times in this.
I’m kind of starting to think Karen Chance works better in novella style stories rather than the apparently full-length ones. I say this because the through-line of the story isn’t chopped up or nearly as chaotic as the main books literally because it can’t be. The few shorter stories I’ve read from her just tend to flow a lot better, in my opinion.
