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.) ( )

Since this is my by the bed book, it's taking me some time to travel through this book. Matthew Swift, and beings like him, make the book echo A Madness of Angels. But those parts are interspersed by the brilliantly matter-of-fact Sharon Li and her magical misfits. Kevin, the germ phobic vampire, is the first to appear. Yay! ( )

Very nice. Love the unique view of urban fantasy. ( )

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.

'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.'

( )

I love the Magicals Anonymous Books. They are fun, fast paced, not to deep, not to silly. They are a perfect book to read on a slow, rainy day when you have lots of time and no where to be.

Sharon Li, Shaman, group leader to Magicals Anonymous - is suddenly the most important person in the city when Matthew Swift disappears, only leaving an umbrella. It is up to Sharon an her self-help group to solve the day - and Sharon does it, using whatever she has available.

Honestly, the plot is fairly standard. What makes these book awesome is just how well written they are, taking a fairly standard trope - and turning it just slightly so that is both familiar, and new at the same time. ( )