I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuireSeries: Incryptid #13
Published by Astra Publishing House on March 5, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Contemporary, Fiction / Fantasy / Dragons & Mythical Creatures, Fiction / Fantasy / Urban
Pages: 368
Format: ARC, eARC, eBook
Source: Netgalley
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Buy on BookshopSeanan McGuire's New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated urban fantasy InCryptid series continues with the thirteenth book following the Price family, cryptozoologists who study and protect the creatures living in secret all around us
Mary Dunlavy didn't intend to become a professional babysitter. Of course, she didn't intend to die, either, or to become a crossroads ghost. As a babysitting ghost, she's been caring for the Price family for four generations, and she's planning to keep doing the job for the better part of forever.
With her first charge finally back from her decades-long cross-dimensional field trip, with a long-lost husband and adopted daughter in tow, it's time for Mary to oversee the world's most chaotic family reunion. And that's before the Covenant of St. George launches a full scale strike against the cryptids of Manhattan, followed quickly by an attack on the Campbell Family Carnival.
It's going to take every advantage and every ally they have for the Prices to survive what's coming—and for Mary, to avoid finding out the answer to a question she's never wanted to know: what happens to a babysitting ghost if she loses the people she's promised to protect?
I’m not sure I’ve ever reviewed a book from this series before, but that’s not because I don’t love it. In fact, it’s probably in my top 3 favorite series of all time. Seanan McGuire’s mind is as methodical and bloody as something from a Saw movie (I assume… I’m too chicken to watch those). It’s not uncommon for an offhand comment to pop up as a consequence books and years later. I don’t try to keep track, I just enjoy the ride.
That’s not to say that the Incryptid series is horror. Not exactly. But Seanan has a way of cracking your heart open like an egg and then leaving something slightly sinister but oh, so delightful to make a nest there. What I’m trying to say is that this series doesn’t pull its punches, and I know from prior experience with her other work that neither does this author. Her pledge of no sexual violence in her books is refreshing (and non-traumatizing! Novel! I’m looking at you, George!), but she has never made a pledge against character deaths when it serves the story.
Unfortunately, this is one of those stories. I was sure that I had physical bruises after finishing this one (and the bonus at the end). I felt eviscerated when I finally stopped staring into space and put the book down, and yes, I can still feel something soft and dangerous nestling in my torso, even now weeks after finishing. I need the next book to know whether this blooms into something beautiful or explodes outward, destroying whatever is in it’s path. Sadly, I have more than a year to wait. That is the unfortunately consequence of reading advanced copies — you have to wait even longer than everyone else for the next one.
Seanan McGuire has published close to 100 books under her own name — more if you count comics, graphic novels, contributions to short story anthologies, her Patreon, the free work available on her website, and her two pen names. If you haven’t read anything she’s written by now, you’ve chosen to remain willfully ignorant of this phenomenal author who has won multiple awards. In which case, I can only pity you and hope you rectify the situation soon. Aftermarket Afterlife is book #13 in the series and will be available on March 5th.
