“We are crawling like flies on the corpse of humanity.”

Let me back up for you, shall I?

Two timelines with a cast of characters, two stories, intertwined and bound by their past.
1986, it’s a time where peace is over. Humans have lived and worked among or alongside Cryptides till then. Werevolves learned to read and write in school side by side with human children and in restaurants you could be served right next to a table with visiting dryads or oracles.

Rebecca Essig went out at night. She returns from a party and notices immediately that something is amiss at her family’s home. Her siblings and parents should have been asleep. The house is quiet. It seems peaceful…until Rebecca steps into sticky residue on the floor as she is heading upstairs into her room. Blood! Frantically she checks her siblings and parents rooms….her siblings are dead and her parents are asleep, with blood smeared all over.

The world is at a crisis. The Reaping had begun. Civil Rights movements and protections have begun. Turmoil ensues.

Timeline two:

Delilah is on the run. She is bloodthirsty and pregnant. Or is it the baby that is bloodthirsty? Overdue, at 10.5 months gestation, she isn’t sure what she is having, but she will love this baby no matter what. A safe delivery where she will not be captured and transported to a lab as so many others, is her ultimate wish.

In the company of shapeshifter Zyanya, Rommily, Gallagher and a few other friends, she is trying to do some good in the meantime. Headlines are showing two children have been captured into captivity. They are part of Rommily's family and they are planning to free them together. In return, they keep shelter together and prepare for the birth of Delilah’s child. As they head into the heart of the lab where different creatures are kept, Delilah’s thirst for blood grows exceedingly stronger, and a few bad apples on their mission will die. She is has mastered ripping out hearts to quench her needs.
In a series of different events, the band has to fight their way through to the ultimate battle at the very end. The question is, will they succeed?

Will Delilah be able to deliver her child safely and live?
How about Rebecca’s family? How does the story intertwine?

***

This novel is book three in the Menagerie series, and it is excellently crafted. A head spin of a tale. Timeless, retro and futuristic, Vincent wove a plot of different elements and genres into a mindboggling novel. Part thriller, part sci-fi it delves into the plight of humanity on the brink of an evolutionary sci-fi future without failing to deliver an emotional plot. Change, laws, order, up rise! A shift in humanity, the acceptance and change in the way of life. What a book.

I really enjoyed this novel. It reads easily and is fast paced. Almost cryptically the reader is taken through the timelines and memories, but it never really comes together till the end, and it left me at the edge of my seat.

This book is great for the YA audience and lovers of paranormal / urban fantasy.

Enjoy!

I received a digital copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you!

My review can also be found here:
https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/blog...

I hate reviews with spoilers so you won't read any here. All you'll get is my humble opinion about the quality of this novel.

I have previously read Rachel Vincent’s Shifter series and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I was excited to read Fury. Ms. Vincent did not disappoint. Because I wanted to get the full backstory, I read the first two books in this trilogy, Menagerie and Spectacle before I read Fury. All three books can be read as standalones, but I do suggest reading them in sequence.

Fury is absolutely captivating! The characters are rich and the plot is engrossing. The main character, Delilah, is a wonder, literally and Gallagher is her perfect counterpart. I was pulling for Delilah and the cryptids the entire way. Don’t know what a crytid is: Read this series. The plot twists are amazing. Fury is written from two perspectives: past and present. Rebecca is the primary character in the past. Delilah and her cryptid friends are featured in the present. The past and present are brought together in a totally ingenious manner. There is some graphic violence depicted but it isn’t gratuitous. It is central to the story. Fury is the perfect culmination of an excellent trilogy. Fury’s ending is emotional and unexpected, but leaves some unanswered questions regarding Delilah’s band of crytid friends. Maybe we’ll see a spinoff???

I was chosen to read an advance copy of this book by Mira Publishing, however the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine and mine alone.

I have really enjoyed this series. This book was no exception. Rachel is one of my favorite authors so at this point I think I would go any direction she wants to go. I enjoy her books! At first with this book, I was not sure why were where being told about Rebecca Essig. But as you read more Rachel let use all in on the why, how and a fantastic ending I didn't see coming. I cried a few times with this book. But I think it is also my favorite of the series. In this book, we still get together with all the great characters and a few new ones. This series is worth the read!

Thank you so much for accepting my request to read and review this book early :) I'm sorry for taking so long to respond to it. As I got accepted on Edelweiss first, back in July. And so I read and reviewed Fury on July 22nd. But still adding my full review below :D

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I have waited three years to know how these books would end. And now I know. And I may never recover, honestly. This book was pretty amazing, but it also ruined me a little. I'm giving it four stars, because there were things I needed answers to, and I did not get them. But for the most part I loved this final one a bunch.

I have a lot of things I need to write down about this book. Will try my hardest not to share spoilers, but I will share my feelings about certain things, and some hints too. This is the third book in such an amazing series that I have loved reading. And I need all of you to read these books as well. So painful. But so important.

This book still tells the story of Delilah. It has been nine months now since she and everyone else managed to escape from the Savage Spectacle. That most horrible place. They have all been on the run since then. Most of them were separated. But Delilah ended up with Gallagher and a few others that she was closest with. I adored all of them very much. They were such awesome characters and I very much liked reading about them all. Though they escaped that gruesome place, they are still not safe or free. The world still wants all cryptids taken away or dead. And so they are now hiding at a cabin in the woods, trying to stay hidden until the baby is born. Delilah's baby. That is half-fae. Ahh. My heart. This pregnancy pretty much killed me. But so good.

There is so much to learn in this book. So many secrets and plot twists are revealed. So much more to know about Delilah and how she came to be. And I loved that a whole lot. This book is also told a little from the point of view of Rebecca Essig. She is important to this story, to Delilah. And I liked her small chapters a whole lot. Getting to know her story was awesome. I love Delilah the very most, but Rebecca was pretty great too. Though my favorite character will always be Gallagher, haha. I love him very much.

I enjoyed this final book because I simply love reading about Delilah and Gallagher. They are awesome together. And I love how he is always protecting her. And how they are always together. Just, yeah. I wanted more too. Hmm. But pleased with some things that happened, eee. And oh. They are having a baby together. The reason for why they are is still heartbreaking. But so interesting to read about it all, even so. I just love these characters so much. And learning more about them was so very awesome.

The thing is, though, there was not really a lot happening in this book. It was short. And so much is still left unanswered. But we do learn more about Delilah, and why she is a furiae. And what she is meant to do about this. But that is pretty much everything this book was about. That, and waiting for the baby to be born. I kind of expected a bit more from this final book? The first two were pretty brutal and awful. This one had nothing of that. I kind of missed the heartbreak and hope. Wanted a little more action, honestly.

But I also really liked this final book. I just wish that there had been more. It was a bit too little, to be fully honest. Still. Fury was a great final book. It's possible that I'm the only one wanting more from it. Oh, well. What I did enjoy, though, was getting to read more about my favorite characters. Reading about Delilah and Gallagher spending time together and talking was the best. But she was pushing him away a little at first too, and that broke my heart, ack. But they were so good together. Sigh. Loved reading about them.

But what was missing from this book was the other characters, the other cryptids. Most are missing after they escaped from the Spectacle. There is talk about how they are going to find the missing ones, but it has been nine months since their escape, and nothing has been done. And then this book ended without knowing anything else about that. I'm a bit disappointed, to be honest. I wanted to know more about the other cryptids too. I wanted to know if they were freed. I wanted to know where they all were, alive or not.

Then there was the romance. Well, the lack of romance. Through this whole trilogy I shipped Delilah and Gallagher the very very most. They are just perfect together and would make such an awesome couple. I will not spoil this book, but, well, nothing happens for more than half of it. Because Delilah does not want him to touch her, after how she got pregnant by him. Even though she still does not remember the details. That is what bothered me. I so needed this memory. And Delilah needed to know it too. But she does not.

I very much needed to know what happened in that scene. How Delilah felt about it. Sigh. And I cannot help but be a little heartbroken about it. Because this book is short. Only about three hundred pages. Felt like there could have been at least two hundred pages more, because very much is missing. I loved the book, but so much is left out. The ending was a little rushed. And I am not pleased with how it ended, to be honest. It was fitting for the story, which was good, but I personally am not happy about it all. Hmph.

Huge thank you to the publisher, Mira Books, for accepting my request to read this early via Edelweiss. Feeling so thankful for the chance to have read it a bit early. While it did not have everything I wanted, Fury was an amazing final book. There were answers. There was a conclusion. There were amazing characters and I simply loved reading about them all. Fury was a worthy final book. Though, yes, there were a few things I wish would have been different. But I shall get past it. So happy I read this trilogy.

I loved the first Menagerie book. The idea of a traveling cirucs full of creatures like werewolves, minotaurs, oracles... poor creatures enslaved because of man fearing them for somethng that happened long ago, called the reaping... and seeing how these creatures managed to reclaim their lives for themselves after years of abuse... I loved it. the second one was also good, but for me not as good as the first one, and I was expecting the third one, which isn't bad, but to me it was a tad confussing. Let's begin.

We find two different time lines in this book: one that covers the reaping, following one survivor; and then the time line with Delilah, Gallaguer and all the gang that managed to stay together after the second book. I loved the alternating time lines, and I have to confess I loved the one from the reaping time line, but then it began to get confussing for me with the 3 different changelings that appear. I can't say much more without being spoiler-y (we already had been told that the ones who did the killing on the Reaping were changelings), but for me it began to be difficult to follow the relationships in actual time following those 3 changelings.

The characters are the same ones we have come to love on the previous books, plus the ones from the previous time line, which are also well developed and rounded, even though the chanelings for me remained a work in progress in the sense that they would have benefited of a more "personal" story, knowing their reasons as a collective and the whys... which I think this book failed to deliver, at least for me.

the ending, while conclusive in some aspects also left other things hanging, and I'm wondering if we are going to have more Menagerie books, even if they are spin-offs, to follow the characters that didn't end the book with all their problems solved (I would love that, to be honest).

All in all it was an entertaining read, but for me the best one of the three books is still the first one. Plot wise, characters and story were by far more compelling than the following ones, which to me ended up diluting the essence of the story.

Well, I'm definitely CONFLICTED. Vincent wrote a dark, complex and intricate world that is mind blowing, highlighting the deepest failings and depravities of humanity. In this tale, you are utterly engulfed by the characters plight with the hopes that some recompenses are provided for the tragedies that these characters had to endure. I, for one, loved and hated the conclusion. Loved it, because Vincent excels at ripping your emotions to their breaking point. But in the end, it was such a bitter sweet sorrow (this is where I leave out any possibilities of a spoiler)... and that is not what I want to invest three books worth of my reading time into only to have it end like that. That in a nutshell is my conflicted feeling on Fury and the entire Menagerie series. 5 stars, even though it might not be for me, it truly is a masterpiece of writing and imagination.

I received this ARC copy of Fury from MIRA - HarperCollins. This is my honest and voluntary review. Fury is set for publication October 30, 2018.

Rating: 5 stars
Written by: Rachel Vincent
Series: The Menagerie Series
Publication Date: Book 3
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: MIRA
Publication Date: October 30, 2018
ISBN-10: 0778307654
ISBN-13: 978-0778307655
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fury-Menagerie...
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fury...

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This is the first book I’ve read from this author. At first I was hesitant because I’m very picky about what I read as far as fantasy goes. What makes this book interesting is the new “kind” of creature that emerges from the pages. What exactly is a crytpid? I’m not sure, maybe a humanoid of sorts. The author was engaging that you don’t get too bored. Some of the pace ebbed and flowed in certain places.

I read YA but it’s not often so when I say it wasn’t too cringe worthy, I mean it. Some of the details aren’t exactly clear, so you may have to reread certain parts. The ending...well I won’t spoil it. But you will certainly be surprised.

Overall I give it a 3 out of 5.

I want to thank the publisher and Netgalley for gifting me with the book in turn for a honest review.

I really enjoyed this series and this started off really great, but i was really disappointed with the ending. It was building up to this great revelation and then was just entirely rushed. Especially if this is the last in the series, the author could have stretched it out into another book no problem and expanded on a lot of the ends left loose and hanging at the finish.

I have some very mixed feelings about this book in particular but also the series in general. All of the books in this trilogy were not what I was expecting. Each book took very unexpected turns. By the third book I was getting a little tired of Delilah so it was refreshing to have the added chapters following Rebecca who's life/story was very intriguing and at times was the only thing pushing me to continue on with the book.

This book did take me longer than usual to finish, I got about 30% in and I felt like Delilah's story was just confusing and I didn't really understand where it was going not to mention it was rather dull. It did start making more sense shortly after that, aside from the confusing child swap it was easier to get through.

For the most part the story was wrapped up fairly well, although, I felt like some very important questions didn't get answered which left me feeling a little unsatisfied. All in all it was a decent series, a bit more gory than I typically prefer and a little depressing. It wasn't until close to the end that there was anything really good for Delilah to hold on to. The entire series seemed to be one bad thing after another. I can understand why the author took the route she did. Showing the lengths people to go to with their prejudices. But I still feel like Delilah could have had a bit more passion for something (besides revenge). I think that would really improved her story.

I find that the premise of these three books is really interesting and also kind of novel - at least I have not seen this kind of cryptid-thing before. Vincent has always written in a really engaging way, so I cannot remember a time when I have gotten bored while reading any of her books.
However, some of the writing came off as cringy, especially when she tried to add weight to a situation. "Rebecca could see anger shining in his eyes. Or maybe it was... fear." Cringey and unnatural. Game show hosts speak like this.
I also did not fully understand how the three babies were exchanged and why exactly did they have different ages. I read these parts several times, slowly, like reaaaaally slowly... still didn't get it.
+ the ending. It was not a proper ending. First of all... Delilah did not kill all the cryptids, just some... and then kind of decided to die (like Beth in "Little Women"). We did not see what happened to the world afterwards... did she change something? Was the sacrifice worth it? Nothing. So she went out, really anticlimatically, did something with no high stakes, and went home and died. That's a proper ending to a three-book series with really high stakes? Nothing about Zyanya or Lenore gets solved as well (as one would hope/think from the synopsis).
So, overall... decent writing mostly in terms of fluency, the world and concept itself is brilliant, but there were some problems with the plot.

Beautiful and tragic, funny and disturbing, this book is the perfect conclusion to the Menagerie trilogy. Rachel Vincent has once again delivered her unique and exceptional brand of fantasy with no holds barred.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not paid for this review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

I had NO idea a while back when I requested this that this was book three in a series I hadn't read. In order to be able to give this a proper and fair review, I then devoured books one and two and fell in love with a completely unconventional story. This series wasn't like anything I'd read before; feeling part YA/NA, part Urban Fantasy, part plain old fantasy but just wholly good. There wasn't a second that any of the unusualness threw me off or that I didn't like.

The characters are entirely what makes this book. I dare you to read them without falling for Gallagher, Eryx, Rommily and every other fleshed out and well drawn character. It is a really satisfying feeling to get through a book and love everyone!

If you're waiting until October for the new book, I wish you luck and know you'll love it. If you haven't read the series, then what are you waiting for? Go for it!

I loved the world of this story, I felt drawn into it straight away. I would definitely recommend reading this book its was really exciting.

I randomly browsed my way into reading the first part of this series shortly after I discovered Netgalley and I was hooked! I love the world building that Rachel Vincent does and I loved the peek into the past that we were able to get in the third book. My only qualm was that it felt like the conclusion of the book happened quite quickly right there at the end. I was so crushed that Delilah had to make such a sacrifice to fulfill her purpose. So sad that this series is over!

This conclusion is simply stunning in its complexity as it winds through time giving readers the answers that have always alluded them. If the first book Menagerie was breathtaking in all its amazing nuances then certainly the second book Spectacle was harrowing as the author explored just how evil humanity can be. Now it’s back to the beginning in many ways as the terrible Reaping of 1986 flits through this story as we catch up with Delilah and her friends who have become family.
Having finished this trilogy I’m left feeling both uplifted and yet strangely bereft. No longer will I cringe at the protective and oh so bloodthirsty Gallagher whose heart is clearly bigger than a mountain. I won’t be sat on the edge of my seat as the cruelly maligned cryptids yet again are forced to be base entertainment and all the while I’m quietly crying inside for these wonderful and noble characters. This journey had to stop somewhere and it’s fitting somehow that as somethings have to end there’s the hope of a new beginning. This book made me FEEL and whilst I’m usually primarily a romance reader Delilah is a character that shines oh so brightly. I leave you with no spoilers but I do hope you will undertake this journey with Delilah and perhaps you too will start to realise that somethings are simply fated .
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

I got a copy of this book from Edelweiss to review. This is the third and final book in the Menagerie series by Vincent. I enjoyed it a lot. The story moves quickly and this was an easy read for me.

Delilah is anticipating the arrival of her new child and is in hiding with the other cryptids that escaped captivity in the last book. She is trying to help her friends tie up loose ends when another mystery rears its ugly head. For some reason she is being drawn to men who all look the same and for some reason her fury-side wants to brutally murder these men. Delilah is hoping that solving this mystery will help her to unravel the secrets of her past.

This story bounces back and forth between two different stories. One story is current day with Delilah. The other story is set in the 1980’s and follows a character named Rebecca who survives the Reaping that leaves the rest of her family dead and/or imprisoned. The two storylines end up converging in an interesting and unexpected way.

This story was impossible for me to put down. I was drawn to both stories (current day and 1980’s period one) and absolutely dying to know what would happen next. The ending was very emotional and left me reeling….I am still not sure how I felt about it.

Overall this was a wonderful series as a whole and I enjoyed this conclusion to it alot. I would recommend if you like gritty urban fantasy reads that have intriguing characters and lots of interesting mythological monsters. I am glad I read the series and would recommend.

3.5 stars

I'm still reeling from the ending. I loved the first two books in this series and could hardly wait to start this one. The final book begins with a chilling look at the first reaping, and throughout the book, readers learn more about the surrogates, Delilah's past, and how it's intersecting with the current moment. The alternating timelines added to the suspense.

I went into this book with big questions (things like what would happen to the baby? What about Delilah and Gallagher? Would they find the cryptid children? Would they always be on the run?), and by the time the book ended, a few of those questions were answered, but more remained. I was not expecting the deaths in this book, and the ending was abrupt. It's one of those endings you need a little time to process before you can form an opinion. I can say I didn't expect it to end quite like that, and I wish there were more books in this series because I enjoyed the world building.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is yet another book I’ve innocently dived into, unaware it was part of a series. “Series” can mean a number of things, from stand-alone complete-in-themselves novels set in the same universe to one long story that extends over several volumes. Recently I listened to an interview with Peter Jackson in which he discussed the decision to not put a recap at the beginning of The Two Towers, the second part of The Lord of the Rings. He felt that one year between film was a short enough time for viewers (those few not intimately familiar with the books) to remember and anyone who went to see it without having seen or read The Fellowship of the Ring, oh well… I admit to not being as careful as I might about checking to see if a book is a sequel, so I rely on the skill of the author to furnish necessary backstory without inundating me with it, and to draw me into the story so that even if I have to work a little harder to figure out what has gone before, I’m already hooked.

Rachel Vincent’s Fury definitely falls into this category. For the first couple of chapters I vacillated between “this is a sequel and I can’t keep straight who and what all these characters are” to “this is a stand-alone that brilliantly weaves the backstory into the present, trusting the reader to gradually put it all together.”

The book begins with parallel stories from the past and present. In the past, we learn of a mysterious rash of murders that leave one child survivor, always a six-year-old. In the present, a small band of cryptids (werewolves, redcaps, oracles, a minotaur, and the like), having escaped a brutal captivity, struggle to maintain their freedom while tracking down their abusers. Their journeys kept me reading on, dying of curiosity about how the two story lines would come together, and I was quickly so in love with these characters that discovering there were not one but two previous novels filled me not with disappointment but anticipation. There’s lots more, even if I read them in the wrong order. You, on the other hand, can reap the benefit of my experience and start at the beginning.

In some ways, this book made me think of the flip side of Seanan McGuire’s “Incryptid” series, which I like very much and have reviewed elsewhere. In McGuire’s world, as Vincent’s, these nonhuman people are at tremendous risk from the mundane world, only there is an extended family devoted to their protection and preservation. While it’s a terrible shame such heroes do not exist in the world of Fury, here the cryptids are their own saviors, which makes for a different but no less satisfying tale.

The usual disclaimer: I received an advance reading copy of this book, but no one bribed me to say anything in particular about it

It has been some time since the ending of a book took me completely by surprise, but this one blew me right out of the water.

Fury marks the conclusion of the Menagerie series by Rachel Vincent. It's an extraordinary series - just a step ahead of real world events with many of the issues it tackled, and though it may have lacked subtlety in some of its allegories, it's a message some people do seem to need hammered home. The characters were always so well drawn and this book makes no exception - the various cryptids are never just people plus fangs/fur/sparkles but instead managed to think in completely alien ways while building a sense of family and home for the reader and the protagonist. A delicate balance, one that puts the writing skills of Rachel Vincent on full display.


Here be spoilers, not mild spoilers but story ruiners, so please don't continue if you haven't read the book!


The finale though - I understand the sacrifice made and the peace it restored, but after the complete loss of self and control Delilah experienced, I wanted so, so, badly for her to have a chance at family and raising her daughter without having to hide. I am gutted right now, and part of it is because it feels unnecessary- damnit people, the world is brutal enough without making up new ways to rip out the hearts of loyal readers! But genuinely, the fact that its destroyed me this much speaks to the strength of the character Delilah had become over the series. I'm sad to leave them behind, but glad they were part of my life for a while.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Fury by Rachel Vincent


I read Spectacle and enjoyed it, this is the follow up. The stage was set with Spectacle and I would recommend reading it prior to this book as the back story is really important. Delilah, Gallagher and the others continue their journey in this book. The story is more in the moment and less philosophical than Spectacle.

Gallagher and Delilah are on the run as are all cryptids. There is an outside influence that is loosely, vaguely and briefly alluded to that may be the cause of all of the aberrant problems. It is never made clear if “others” are who set the stage for the mass murders that are blamed on the cryptids.

The relationship of Gallagher and Delilah is given greater attention in this book. The other cryptids are more of a supporting cast. The confrontation with the surrogates leads to the conclusion of the book.

I enjoyed the work and recommend it.