Carniepunk by Rachel Caine
My rating: 3/5 cats
this was a very educational experience for me. i have learned that i do not really care for the urban fantasy/paranormal romance genre.
i saw this collection on netgalley, and i eagerly clicked on the “gimmie” button, thinking “carnies!! carnies are scary! this will be a great, spooky read!”
but then i read the names of the authors included, and i realized it was not a horror anthology, which is fine, because i do always like to broaden my horizons and read outside of my comfort zone, but i kicked myself for getting caught up in the netgalley frenzy without taking the time to see what it was i was signing up for.
so the problem here is that a) i am not familiar with or “into” the genre, b) many of these stories are meant to stand as interstitial tales within series that fans of the genre would already know and have relationships with, but i was adrift and c) it just got to be really same-y to me: girls have powers because of magical-genetic circumstances, they are all badass and dress real cool and are dealing with relationships and murrrder and…carnies.
i didn’t hate it by any stretch, and i am grateful for any toe-dipping into new territory because in my line of work, it is good to have at least a passing familiarity with all types of books, and what the appeal would be for all types of readers.
and if i were a fan of the genre, and had read all the series from which these characters originate, i would be super-thrilled to have this collection, because i love it when authors give bonus material, like patrick ness or ann aguirre or mira grant. their little e-novellas rocked my world.
incidentally, one of my veryfavorites was both a standalone story and my mira grant in her other life as seanan mcguire. so i would consider reading her other books under that name, which is a positive side-effect from reading this one. so, DING, success!!
the stories are now available to read separately, and my favorites were:
the second half of delilah s. dawson’s The Three Lives of Lydia
many parts of the kevin hearne story, The Demon Barker of Wheat Street, but mostly the dog, because he reminded me a little bit of manchee
rachel caine’s The Cold Girl, which was definitely on the right side of horror.
much of hillary jacques’ Recession of the Divine
and the mcguire: Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea
and these stories are also (mostly) standalones. so maybe it’s not the genre so much as my needing more backstory to appreciate this collection. those of you who are familiar with these characters, have at it. it is for you!
read my book reviews on goodreads
