All of Seanan's books are fun, and I and my staff at The Portal Bookshop regularly get someone new hooked on the series

I received a copy of this book as part of the 2017 Hugo Awards voter's packet and therefore won't be reviewing it on NetGalley.

I read this series for the 2020 Hugo (Best Series) awards and felt it was the best of the nominated series, although I enjoyed the earlier short stories more than the 'modern times' stories.

Copy of book received as part of this year's Hugo packet, therefore will not be reviewing at this time.

Ah, the first book in the InCryptid series! We start with Verity Price as protagonist and slowly get introduced to the cryptids of her world and her family's cryptozoological mission to protect them from a zealous cabal whose sole mission is to protect humans from non-humans. They're xenophobes of the worst ilk - we get a better dive into their philosophy as the series progresses and they're the kind of antagonists I love to hate because they're just the worst kind of people. I delight every time the Price family spokes their wheels. The review of this series is really hard to do because I want to gush about it but I really can't without spoilers. With Verity, we get a protagonist who works in a burlesque/strip bar as a waitress to cover her bills while she pursues her dream of professional ballroom dance competitions, and by nights she patrols her area of the city to both keep people safe from cryptids and keep cryptids safe from people. It has a Buffy vibe without the killing in a way, but also it's very 'If you liked Jody and Ellen and Jo and on Supernatural and think they were utterly robbed, you will love all the women protagonists'. Verity's strong and sassy and perky and fun and smart. She's an adrenaline junky who free-runs and parkours off buildings and enjoys free-fall in a way that makes my stomach hurt to read because I hate heights and Seanan captures the sensation of diving off a building really well. The books are fun to read and kind of straddle the Urban Fantasy/Romance fence with some girl meets boy, boy catches girl in a snare, girl turns boy's entire life structure upside down, boy and girl do the 'do you like me, y/n, circle one' thing and while it doesn't have a HEA, it has a HGFY ending.

received as part of the Hugo packet when the series was nominated for Best Series. I had never read the books and read every novel and every short story available in under a month. Wickedly funny banter, delightful characters, intriguing cryptozoology. They continue to be books I buy pretty much immediately.

Listen, I long ago joined the church of Seanan McGuire, when I read Rosemary and Rue for the first time with Felicia Day's Vaginal Fantasy book club. From that moment on, I was completely hooked. Seanan has never failed me. So when this series was nominated for a Hugo and I received the first eight books in the series as part of my Hugo voter packet, I was beyond pleased. This series gives me the same warm and fuzzy feelings that I get when reading Toby Daye books, but just ever so slightly lighter and I love the kind of monster-of-the-week feeling. One of my favourite parts about this series is that we get to follow different characters, which I honestly was skeptical about when I first got to a book not from Verity's point of view. But it really widens the possibilities of the series. The Aeslin mice are my favourite. As always, the balance of character building and world building is pretty close to perfection.

When we get to the later books in the series, I think she straddles the line perfectly of reviewing what has happened previously in the series (a kind of "previously on" but for books) while also moving on with the series. If I wasn't reading them all in a row, I'm sure I would appreciate that even more, as so often I feel like I have to completely re-read a series in order to remind myself of what's happened before I read the newest installment, which tends to mean that i put off that reading.

Overall, really pleased to have finally started this new-to-me series from McGuire and equally pleased to look forward to future books to come.

Ok, I went into this with a fair bit of trepidation as I absolutely adore Seanan McGuire's Toby Daye series, and often find that I'm disappointed when I go into other series in the same genre. They just don't quite live up to the hype that I've built. This was thankfully an exception to the rule, and whilst I didn't fall quite as hard as I did for Toby, I still really enjoyed the novel as a whole.

I like the way that McGuire has run with a whole different take on the 'unnatural and weird' here. From the fae, which are otherworldly, but reasonably easy to organise by blood, you go into the weird and wonderful world of the cryptids. An unholy chaotic blend of every creature you may or may not have heard of in folklore, mythology and tales to scare small children. But with science to back it up.

I also enjoyed Verity's perspective on the world; she's got the same kind of sassy attitude as Toby but has less of the benefits being wholly human and therefore wholly breakable. Not that she sees it that way. Verity is a Crytozoologist, someone who researches, helps and sometimes hunts the cryptids of the world. She's also a ballroom dancer and a waitress at a bar full of cryptids of all shapes and sizes. And she enjoys challenging the forces of gravity on a daily basis, by free-running over the rooftops of Manhattan. Because her life isn't busy enough as it is.

Her family is in constant hiding though, having split from the Covenant some two or four generations ago, depending on which side of the family tree you start counting from. Where the Price family aim to serve the cryptid community, the Covenant exist solely to hunt them down and eradicate them from the earth forever. Which is a problem for Verity as there is a Covenant agent in her city and she's the only Price on the ground (or roof) to stop the city from being purged.

Her only back up? Her admittedly exhaustive training in how to shoot, throw and generally not get killed and a splinter colony of talking, uber-religious mice who worship her as a Goddess. Let's just say, I love those mice. Along with an attitude problem and some serious dance moves, Verity has her hands full in trying to keep her city safe... and her insides where they belong; inside her body.

This is a fast-paced and highly entertaining spill across the rooftops and sewers of Manhatten, that I flew through in just under a day. If you like your fiction spiced with basilisks, bogey men, ahools, gorgons, dragons (and their princesses) and other critters reptilian, mammal and somewhere in between, then this may just be the series for you.

The first of the Incryptid series, introducing Verity Price, aspiring dancer and cryptozoologist. Read to determine the also-rans for the 2020 Hugo Awards Best Series. A light and fluffy Urban Fantasy, displaying Seanan McGuire's well crafted prose, pop culture smarts and effective pacing, which keeps the pages turning over, even if it takes some time to get a feels for the characters and the point of the story in the first place. I was impressed by the application of conservation to imaginary non-human creatures, even the dangerous ones. I may return to the series some time in the future, but it certainly does not warrant a 'must read' status.

Seanan always brings really interesting takes on biology to her fiction and this one does not disappoint. And, still better, her writing is just fun. This book was entertaining as heck and just a great read.

A pretty good start to a great series. Verity's different enough to Toby that she takes some getting used to, but she's still plenty likeable.

Thank you for the chance to review prior to Hugo voting. It was very helpful to get the full series on NetGalley!

Verity Price is a young woman living two lives in New York City. The life of her family profession and the life of her heart. One is looking after the city's cryptid population, the other is ballroom dance. She is willful, witty, compassionate, and resourceful. This book is FUN. The characters and their relationships are authentic and though treated with a light touch, have very real interactions. I especially am fond of the Aeslin Mice, (HAIL)

This is a book I am accessing via Netgalley for the Hugo nomination packet. Due to this, I will not be reviewing this book via Netgalley at this time.

Delightful tale of a young woman trying to make it as a dancer in Manhattan, while trying to save and study other nonhuman beings. She comes by it naturally, she's from a family with multigenerations long history of cryptozoologists. The tale begins with our girl saving a coed from a ghoul out for a snack of that very coed, and blossoms into a full search of who's making young girls disappear from all types of nonhuman backgrounds. Along the way of this mystery we meet many humanoid beings while learning about her family as well. Enjoyable tale, talking mice, good and bad guys, and the mystery gets solved. Looking forward to the next in this series.

This book is quintessential McGuire! We get to enjoy the exploits of cryptozoologist Verity Price along with her family, enemies, friends, and coworkers as they defend and save New York (and themselves). As usual, McGuire dishes up humor, adventure, suspense, and a delightful world of supernatural creatures that are more human than human living among us. I am very happily looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Thank you so much for providing this book as part of the Hugo voting packet. When I have read this book my review will be posted to my blog, Goodreads and retail websites.

I read this book because I was feeling October-Daye-withdrawal. I didn't like it quite as much as Toby's books, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
I liked the plot and the supporting cast, especially Candy and the Aeslin mice, and I liked the balancing act Verity has to pull off between her life as a cryptozooologist and her life as a professional ballroom dancer.
I was less convinced of her little romance with the Covenant guy. I thought he treated her badly, even quite apart from his genocidal tendencies.
My overall first impression of this series was still good, however, so I will keep reading in the hopes that I will really love the next one.

My second read pretty much confirmed the impression I got during my first read, and only made me more curious about the cryptids and Price family members lurking in the background, just waiting to be explored.

The always excellent McGuire is at it again with the Incryptid series. An enjoyable romp with a lot of potential.

This book started out a little slow for me but really grabbed me the further I got into it. The main character seemed really ditzy but as the book went on you get to see the depths that the character really has. Great read!