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patchworkbunny's review against another edition
5.0
The Shifting Price of Prey is the fourth book in Suzanne McLeod’s Spellcrackers series and therefore this review will contain spoilers for the previous books. I'm not sure they would hold up as standalone reads but the world is amazing once you get into it.
Genny thinks she’s finally got her life back; Sylvia’s pregnant and living in Between in a talkative wardrobe. Business is good at Spellcrackers with the contract for Harrods and the Carnival Fantastique, which brings with it a host of supernatural creatures. But it would seem that all the pent-up fertility in the fae’s necklace is backfiring and Genny finds herself in a compromising position with her cousin Maxim. As she tries to calm her libido, a diplomat’s wife and child have been kidnapped at London Zoo and the police need her help in bringing them home safely.
Suzanne introduces some creepy characters into the mix, and they can’t all be blamed on the carnival! In the opening pages, Genny is investigating a gnome who is dealing in garden fairy penises, a popular magical aphrodisiac. I loved that the garden fairies where the magical equivalent of insects, dead after one mating cycle and it added a little credible mythology to the world. Whilst Genny and Katie are poking around fairy bits, they notice they are being watched. Katie is convinced the man changed into an animal, Genny is not so sure, but soon she is finding out more than she ever knew about shifters.
Along with the diplomat’s family, Suzanne also gets her publicist kidnapped. It’s a little inside joke but it made me laugh when Jonathan Weir’s name popped up. I started to get a bit concerned that he’d been forgotten about and what had he done to deserve being killed off in a book?! On top of that, there are loads of small touches of humour which really make this an entertaining series, in a many layered world.
Once again, there’s a lot going on but it all ties up at the end. The Autarch has always been the bogeyman in Genny’s mind but we start to learn a little more about him. By the end, I found him really entertaining and looking forward to seeing more of him in future. Even if he is very much still the bad guy. Genny has some haunted tarot cards leading the way in her mission to get to the bottom of the fae’s fertility curse. The curse that never ends! They lead her to believe that The Emperor holds the answer, another ancient vampire that might even be scarier than the Autarch.
We get to see a different side to Malik. OK, maybe several different sides and a glimpse into his murky past. Genny has finally admitted to herself that she fancies him but he seems to be keeping her at arm’s length. Is he not interested, up to no good, in trouble or could it just be that he doesn’t want his relationship with Genny to be a quick fling?
I know I’ve been charging through these books back-to-back but the previous three books weren’t particularly cliffhangery. I was just so wrapped up in the world that I carried on reading. However now that I’ve got to the end of the currently published books, there is a big stonking cliffhanger ending and I want to know what happens now! Argh!
Genny thinks she’s finally got her life back; Sylvia’s pregnant and living in Between in a talkative wardrobe. Business is good at Spellcrackers with the contract for Harrods and the Carnival Fantastique, which brings with it a host of supernatural creatures. But it would seem that all the pent-up fertility in the fae’s necklace is backfiring and Genny finds herself in a compromising position with her cousin Maxim. As she tries to calm her libido, a diplomat’s wife and child have been kidnapped at London Zoo and the police need her help in bringing them home safely.
Suzanne introduces some creepy characters into the mix, and they can’t all be blamed on the carnival! In the opening pages, Genny is investigating a gnome who is dealing in garden fairy penises, a popular magical aphrodisiac. I loved that the garden fairies where the magical equivalent of insects, dead after one mating cycle and it added a little credible mythology to the world. Whilst Genny and Katie are poking around fairy bits, they notice they are being watched. Katie is convinced the man changed into an animal, Genny is not so sure, but soon she is finding out more than she ever knew about shifters.
Along with the diplomat’s family, Suzanne also gets her publicist kidnapped. It’s a little inside joke but it made me laugh when Jonathan Weir’s name popped up. I started to get a bit concerned that he’d been forgotten about and what had he done to deserve being killed off in a book?! On top of that, there are loads of small touches of humour which really make this an entertaining series, in a many layered world.
Once again, there’s a lot going on but it all ties up at the end. The Autarch has always been the bogeyman in Genny’s mind but we start to learn a little more about him. By the end, I found him really entertaining and looking forward to seeing more of him in future. Even if he is very much still the bad guy. Genny has some haunted tarot cards leading the way in her mission to get to the bottom of the fae’s fertility curse. The curse that never ends! They lead her to believe that The Emperor holds the answer, another ancient vampire that might even be scarier than the Autarch.
We get to see a different side to Malik. OK, maybe several different sides and a glimpse into his murky past. Genny has finally admitted to herself that she fancies him but he seems to be keeping her at arm’s length. Is he not interested, up to no good, in trouble or could it just be that he doesn’t want his relationship with Genny to be a quick fling?
I know I’ve been charging through these books back-to-back but the previous three books weren’t particularly cliffhangery. I was just so wrapped up in the world that I carried on reading. However now that I’ve got to the end of the currently published books, there is a big stonking cliffhanger ending and I want to know what happens now! Argh!
blodeuedd's review
4.0
Did it end with a cliffie, yes and no. It made me scream for more, but no one was falling off that cliff. They were just close, and getting closer. But that does not mean anyone will fall down. But you get idea. This book makes you crave more. Of course I told the author how evil she is ;) The best authors always are. They make delicious cliffhangers, not irritating ones. And she does know how to write a book.
Genny is like Genny always is. Lusting over Malik (you and me both girl!), misses Finn as he left (I never lusted after him anyway so no worry for me there), and trying to solve cases. And there is Tavish too, oh I can’t help liking him too, sometimes even more than Malik. It must be what he is all about, luring people down into the river and drowning them. Anyway enough with the men (like I could get enough). Seriously the attraction is oozing out of the pages in this one. There is this build-up, both good and bad for Genny.
Creepy Autarch is back, and new player. She must find the Emperor to finally crack the lost fertility of the Fae. This is not easy. And we get more that we bargained for. I shall not spill it all, but it’s good. And again poor Genny. She does not have any easy job.
And how about those revelations in the last book! Wow, messed up. This is the series to read, wicked vampires, lots of nice and bad Fae. And a heroine that has to tread carefully between the different worlds.
Genny is like Genny always is. Lusting over Malik (you and me both girl!), misses Finn as he left (I never lusted after him anyway so no worry for me there), and trying to solve cases. And there is Tavish too, oh I can’t help liking him too, sometimes even more than Malik. It must be what he is all about, luring people down into the river and drowning them. Anyway enough with the men (like I could get enough). Seriously the attraction is oozing out of the pages in this one. There is this build-up, both good and bad for Genny.
Creepy Autarch is back, and new player. She must find the Emperor to finally crack the lost fertility of the Fae. This is not easy. And we get more that we bargained for. I shall not spill it all, but it’s good. And again poor Genny. She does not have any easy job.
And how about those revelations in the last book! Wow, messed up. This is the series to read, wicked vampires, lots of nice and bad Fae. And a heroine that has to tread carefully between the different worlds.
mercyblue's review
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this novel but there were some moments that were a bit frustrating for me, mostly about Genny's character. She was constantly bringing up how "unfair" it was that other people had the ability to do magic and she didn't, and quite frankly that got irritating after a while. But I'm hoping that since she's supposed to be only 27 that the author will make her increasingly more mature over the course of the next few books. She just comes across as very childish sometimes. Hopefully this will get better as the series progresses. But I do very much look forward to reading the next novel, especially to see what happens with her and Malik their dynamic is great.
veronica87's review
2.0
This series just continues to feel discombobulated to me. The magic seems to be one deux ex machina after another and the romance angle...just seems to center on whichever male is standing in front of Genevieve at the time. Why I've continued reading it is unknown to me but at this point, with only one book left in the series, I may as well see it through to the end.
mcummings's review
5.0
I have loved this series since the first book, but I found this to be the absolute best in the series (so far!). If you have not started this series, I highly recommend it to everyone. The world building, characters, plot are all fantastic. I am not going to be able to review the first 3 books in the series here, but please read them first. Do not start the series at book 4, you will miss too much.
The series is set in London. The main character, Genny is Sidhe Fae, but since her mother was Fae and her father was a vampire, she cannot perform magic herself. She can however "crack" magic, hence the name of her company, spellcrackers.com. Whenever magic is performed in the committance of a crime, she is usually called in to help track the criminal.
Most of this book revolves around a kidnapping, and the fact that the fae of London's fertility has been trapped for a number of years in an amulet. Genny is trying to help release the fertility from the amulet, which takes her on a tarot card quest.
What I really loved about this story was that while Genny and the people in her life, have varying magical abilities, and histories which she is slowly learning about, and while misunderstandings sometimes ensue, they are all played out very realistically (albeit magically) and she really stands up for herself, and what she wants out of life. She does not run off half-cocked when those she loves are in danger (which always annoys me in other books, when it is done to drag out a storyline). And she doesn't let misunderstandings simmer to her detriment.
I cannot wait for the next one in the series!
The series is set in London. The main character, Genny is Sidhe Fae, but since her mother was Fae and her father was a vampire, she cannot perform magic herself. She can however "crack" magic, hence the name of her company, spellcrackers.com. Whenever magic is performed in the committance of a crime, she is usually called in to help track the criminal.
Most of this book revolves around a kidnapping, and the fact that the fae of London's fertility has been trapped for a number of years in an amulet. Genny is trying to help release the fertility from the amulet, which takes her on a tarot card quest.
What I really loved about this story was that while Genny and the people in her life, have varying magical abilities, and histories which she is slowly learning about, and while misunderstandings sometimes ensue, they are all played out very realistically (albeit magically) and she really stands up for herself, and what she wants out of life. She does not run off half-cocked when those she loves are in danger (which always annoys me in other books, when it is done to drag out a storyline). And she doesn't let misunderstandings simmer to her detriment.
I cannot wait for the next one in the series!
tashachowdory's review
5.0
Probably the best one of the lot so far - if only because we get to know a bit more about Malik and Bastien and we also get introduced to a whole host of new characters. The procedural element is still there but it's nice that now Helebn Crane is out of the picture the police side of things is actually more enjoyable to read. The addition of lycanthropes to the mix is great and I like the explanation of how they came to be. The over-arching plot with the tarot cards etc I could have done without and I'm getting tired of trying to guess who's holding allegiance to whom. But the ending. Brilliant. Finn is probably my least favourite character in all the books just really bloody annoying.
I can't wait for the next (and last) one in the series!!! Roll on next October :)
I can't wait for the next (and last) one in the series!!! Roll on next October :)
lindaunconventionalbookworms's review
4.0
*I received an e-ARC from the author in order to write an honest review of this book*
This and other reviews can also be found on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews.
The Shifting Price of Prey picked up a few months after the end of The Bitter Seed of Magic, and Genny is herself – business as usual. There is a lot of humor in this book, and I love the laugh-out-loud moments it helped me have :) even if it’s sometimes a little weird trying to explain to people why I’m laughing when I’m sitting with my kindle…
The story isn’t all light and romance, though. Genny has to face her strongest fears, both in dreamscape and in the real world. She also has a lot more emotional and romantic tangles than in previous books, and it has something to do with the trapped fertility, even if she and everybody else thought that part was already dealt with.
This and other reviews can also be found on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews.
The Shifting Price of Prey picked up a few months after the end of The Bitter Seed of Magic, and Genny is herself – business as usual. There is a lot of humor in this book, and I love the laugh-out-loud moments it helped me have :) even if it’s sometimes a little weird trying to explain to people why I’m laughing when I’m sitting with my kindle…
The story isn’t all light and romance, though. Genny has to face her strongest fears, both in dreamscape and in the real world. She also has a lot more emotional and romantic tangles than in previous books, and it has something to do with the trapped fertility, even if she and everybody else thought that part was already dealt with.
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