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gavinsteyn's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
ceeej56's review
dark
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
theaurochs's review
3.0
Very disappointing to have to downgrade this to three stars; I remember loving it deeply the first time around. It's no exaggeration to say that this book series changed my mind on London. Being a country person at heart (or maybe a small town person), the overwhelming nature of such a huge conglomoration of people and concrete and noise was always pretty offputting for me. The magic written in to these books by Kate Griffin (A.K.A. Catherine Webb/Claire North) opened my eyes to the magic of life around me. There can be a joy in the rhythms of a city, and these are the rhythms of modern life. There's a very real point at which we have to take things in life as they are, and do our best to enjoy life, every element of it. Even the grimy bits, or the confusing bits, and especially the uncomfortable bits. Life may well be a bit shit, but we can always choose to find the goodness in things. So was London; a slowly lumbering beast, the likes of which I'd always tried to avoid. By following in Matthew Swift and Sharon Li's footsteps I did my best to mantle the city- I walked like it until it walked like me. And as Sharon in particular would be at great pains to point out, even great lumbering beasts are often just misunderstood. So before I knew it, I was finding the pockets of good things in London- enjoy the rare green spaces, immersing myself in the lights and sounds, and going to a board game pub on Tuesday nights. Without Kate Griffin and this series, I'm not sure I would have managed it.
What an utter shame then to return to this last entry in the magical London series and find that it limps rather pathetically across the finish line. The overall feeling is rote; maybe the publisher needed just one more book in the series, and Griffin obliged. Gone is the deep pathos and empathy of the previous entries; characters replaced with straightforward character traits, oftentimes at odds with how they've previously been portrayed. Not a single character in this book is treated to an arc- they are all unfortunately static. Missing are the sumptuous descriptions of London, the treatment of the streets and boroughs with so much detail and evocative language, that made the City feel like a beautiful fantasy land and yet also entirely real. The humour falls flat far more often than it succeeds. The plot is perfunctory and predictable, and short; prolonged by far too frequent episodes of characters recapping the plot up to that point to each other. One of the main mysteries of the novel ultimately sorts itself out without any input from the characters, and feels decidedly weak.
The plot, such as it is, follows one Sharon Li (Hi, Sharon...); leader of the mystical self-help group Magicals Anonymous and budding shaman. When one day the Midnight Mayor (mystical protector of the city) goes missing, she finds herself reluctantly deputised and needs to find out where he's gone, as well as why shoes keep appearing tied to phone lines, and why there is an unsettling stench of decay in the city's graveyards. She bumbles around London with her bungling IT support/druid friend Rhys, following the clues and attempting to unravel the mystery. It's a familiar setup, allowing us to tour London and the magical underworld thereof, meeting bizarre characters and mysical creatures. Perhaps this familiarity is part of the problem; it feels too close to previous books and almost paint-by-numbers. It seems like we at times revisit bits from previous books and therefore lose out on the wondrous discovery, and at others the sheer volume of magical stuff going on in every street in London makes you question somewhat how the world hangs together. This isn't an issue I've ever had with another Griffin/Webb/North book before or since- she is usually magnificent at creating fully realised worlds, where the consequences of everything extraordinary are fully explored.
In summary, re-reading this mostly made me sad. There are still glimmers of that Webb/Griffin/North brilliance, but this entry feels distinctly phoned in.
What an utter shame then to return to this last entry in the magical London series and find that it limps rather pathetically across the finish line. The overall feeling is rote; maybe the publisher needed just one more book in the series, and Griffin obliged. Gone is the deep pathos and empathy of the previous entries; characters replaced with straightforward character traits, oftentimes at odds with how they've previously been portrayed. Not a single character in this book is treated to an arc- they are all unfortunately static. Missing are the sumptuous descriptions of London, the treatment of the streets and boroughs with so much detail and evocative language, that made the City feel like a beautiful fantasy land and yet also entirely real. The humour falls flat far more often than it succeeds. The plot is perfunctory and predictable, and short; prolonged by far too frequent episodes of characters recapping the plot up to that point to each other. One of the main mysteries of the novel ultimately sorts itself out without any input from the characters, and feels decidedly weak.
The plot, such as it is, follows one Sharon Li (Hi, Sharon...); leader of the mystical self-help group Magicals Anonymous and budding shaman. When one day the Midnight Mayor (mystical protector of the city) goes missing, she finds herself reluctantly deputised and needs to find out where he's gone, as well as why shoes keep appearing tied to phone lines, and why there is an unsettling stench of decay in the city's graveyards. She bumbles around London with her bungling IT support/druid friend Rhys, following the clues and attempting to unravel the mystery. It's a familiar setup, allowing us to tour London and the magical underworld thereof, meeting bizarre characters and mysical creatures. Perhaps this familiarity is part of the problem; it feels too close to previous books and almost paint-by-numbers. It seems like we at times revisit bits from previous books and therefore lose out on the wondrous discovery, and at others the sheer volume of magical stuff going on in every street in London makes you question somewhat how the world hangs together. This isn't an issue I've ever had with another Griffin/Webb/North book before or since- she is usually magnificent at creating fully realised worlds, where the consequences of everything extraordinary are fully explored.
In summary, re-reading this mostly made me sad. There are still glimmers of that Webb/Griffin/North brilliance, but this entry feels distinctly phoned in.
travelgirlut's review
4.0
I've really enjoyed this series and I'm sad I've come to the end of it. I love the quirky characters of Magicals Anonymous, and I hold out hope that another will be written some day.
kennydied's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
rosemary_quintet's review
4.0
Wonderful book, nice twist ending, very easy to keep track of characters.
cupiscent's review
4.0
I enjoyed this second outing from Sharon Li and Magicals Anonymous even more than Stray Souls - as is often the case when characters and concepts don't need to worry about introduction and can just (at the risk of sounding rather a lot like Sharon herself) be.
Also, there's lots of Kelly Shiring and I dig her the mostest.
But, to get back to the point: I felt like this one managed a finer, sharper, more serrated edge to the still somewhat fluffier approach of Sharon; the final scene puts a ringing capstone on this impression, and left me going, "Yes. YES. like THAT." Still Pratchettarian around the edges, but it's Pratchett at his most canny and ruthless, and really, there is no bad there. No bad at all.
(Logistically, I'm not sure about some aspects of the finale, but dramatically it's majestic, so all good.)
Also, there's lots of Kelly Shiring and I dig her the mostest.
But, to get back to the point: I felt like this one managed a finer, sharper, more serrated edge to the still somewhat fluffier approach of Sharon; the final scene puts a ringing capstone on this impression, and left me going, "Yes. YES. like THAT." Still Pratchettarian around the edges, but it's Pratchett at his most canny and ruthless, and really, there is no bad there. No bad at all.
(Logistically, I'm not sure about some aspects of the finale, but dramatically it's majestic, so all good.)
majaingrid's review
5.0
4,5 stars
While I still hold the Matthew Swift series higher than Magicals Anonymous, I really felt this book you know?
I really love this wonderful, magical London that Griffin has created, and I will miss it and all its inhabitants (and also pray for the day she may return to it).
Please read these books, starting with [b:A Madness of Angels|6186355|A Madness of Angels (Matthew Swift, #1)|Kate Griffin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1305861910s/6186355.jpg|6366640]. You will thank me.
While I still hold the Matthew Swift series higher than Magicals Anonymous, I really felt this book you know?
I really love this wonderful, magical London that Griffin has created, and I will miss it and all its inhabitants (and also pray for the day she may return to it).
Please read these books, starting with [b:A Madness of Angels|6186355|A Madness of Angels (Matthew Swift, #1)|Kate Griffin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1305861910s/6186355.jpg|6366640]. You will thank me.
wealhtheow's review against another edition
3.0
A little while ago, Sharon Li developed the unexpected and not particularly welcome ability to walk through walls. When self-help books and mantras couldn't offer any more guidance, she started a support group for other people experiencing strange or supernatural phenomena. After defeating spirit-enslaving hedge fund managers in [b:Stray Souls|13526154|Stray Souls (Magicals Anonymous, #1)|Kate Griffin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1343935864s/13526154.jpg|19086861], Sharon and the group have settled into a comfortable groove. But then Matthew Swift disappears, and Sharon is appointed deputy Midnight Mayor. She only has one clue to Swift's disappearance: an ordinary blue umbrella. But despite her complete lack of experience, eventually she stumbles onto the truth.
Here's the thing. I really want to like Sharon Li, who is good-hearted and good-natured and tries hard. But she, and most of Magicals Anonymous, are SO ANNOYING. They ramble and babble and never get to the point without first spouting a good three paragraphs of tangents. The first few hundred pages of this book were painful to read, because I love the magical London Griffin has created, and all the different types of magical systems and supernatural beings trying to live in an urban environment, but I was very frustrated by the characters. But I have to admire that when it really comes down to it, Sharon and her compatriots can shut up and do some serious damage. The epic battle near the end of the book had me reading furiously fast. (Griffin writes action very well, and magical battles even better.) I thought this section of Sharon's dialog, near the end, demonstrates both what I really like and really dislike about this series.
Here's the thing. I really want to like Sharon Li, who is good-hearted and good-natured and tries hard. But she, and most of Magicals Anonymous, are SO ANNOYING. They ramble and babble and never get to the point without first spouting a good three paragraphs of tangents. The first few hundred pages of this book were painful to read, because I love the magical London Griffin has created, and all the different types of magical systems and supernatural beings trying to live in an urban environment, but I was very frustrated by the characters. But I have to admire that when it really comes down to it, Sharon and her compatriots can shut up and do some serious damage. The epic battle near the end of the book had me reading furiously fast. (Griffin writes action very well, and magical battles even better.) I thought this section of Sharon's dialog, near the end, demonstrates both what I really like and really dislike about this series.
'You know,' she murmurs, 'if this whole deputy Midnight Mayor thing sticks, and I, like, get lumbered with this job forever, then people are gonna talk about me and Swift, and how we worked all that. And everyone's going to be like, "wow, Matthew Swift, he's such a bad-ass, such a firebrand, look at all the stuff he blows up" and they're gonna go "jeez, Sharon, she's so like 'let's work through our issues' and shit and so kinda 'cuppa tea in the afternoon' and that" and they'll be right, of course, because that's what I'm like and that's what I think people should do.
But the thing is, you gotta remember that all this doesn't make me the good cop.'