That Ain’t Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire

March 28th, 2019 Kimberly Review 19 Comments

28th Mar
That Ain’t Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire
That Ain’t Witchcraft
by Seanan McGuire
Series: InCryptid #8
Narrator: Emily Bauer
Length: 12 hours and 23 minutes
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Goodreads
Rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Narration: 5 cups Speed: 1.3x

Crossroads, noun:
1. A place where two roads cross.
2. A place where bargains can be made.
3. See also “places to avoid.”

Antimony Price has never done well without a support system. As the youngest of her generation, she has always been able to depend on her parents, siblings, and cousins to help her out when she’s in a pinch—until now. After fleeing from the Covenant of St. George, she’s found herself in debt to the crossroads and running for her life. No family. No mice. No way out.

Lucky for her, she’s always been resourceful, and she’s been gathering allies as she travels: Sam, fūri trapeze artist turned boyfriend; Cylia, jink roller derby captain and designated driver; Fern, sylph friend, confidant, and maker of breakfasts; even Mary, ghost babysitter to the Price family. Annie’s actually starting to feel like they might be able to figure things out—which is probably why things start going wrong again.

New Gravesend, Maine is a nice place to raise a family…or make a binding contract with the crossroads. For James Smith, whose best friend disappeared when she tried to do precisely that, it’s also an excellent place to plot revenge. Now the crossroads want him dead and they want Annie to do the dirty deed. She owes them, after all.

And that’s before Leonard Cunningham, aka, “the next leader of the Covenant,” shows up…

It’s going to take everything Annie has and a little bit more to get out of this one. If she succeeds, she gets to go home. If she fails, she becomes one more cautionary tale about the dangers of bargaining with the crossroads.

But no pressure.

urban magical twisted friends

We’ve come to the Crossroads and things are about to get crazy! That Ain’t Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire takes us to rural Maine where they will face the Crossroads, a persnickety Covenant member and a warlock.

Some time has elapsed since Antimony (Annie) Price and her misfit crew of friends left Lowryland and her deal with the Crossroads. It begins with them Annie & Sam hunting a murderer in a corn maze before they settle into a property in New Gravesend, Maine but trouble hasn’t stopped following them.

James Smith is on a quest for revenge. His friend made a crossroads deal, and it requires researching books from his Uncle’s house…but people are renting it. Annie catches him, and I enjoyed what transpired.

The Crossroads are calling in Anne’s favor but not before they take Mary (babysitter ghost and Aunt from the Price family) from her. Oh and guess who’s in town…. Leonard Cunningham, aka, “the next leader of the Covenant,” Yep, he wants Anne to join him. Fun times!

This was an intense storyline. The Crossroads are scary and Anne has herself in quite the pickle, but she is a Price and they never quit. I loved the growth we saw in Anne. She has come along way since she infiltrated the Covenant in Magic for Nothing. She was a loner and a bit of brat but she has come full circle. We see development between her and Sam, the fūri trapeze artist and her boyfriend. Cylia and Fern are her loyal friends bringing luck to the team and helping in more ways than expected. Together they make a great crew. I enjoyed the dynamics of their friendship.

I love the world McGuire has created from the history of the families to the cryptids. Each story deals with a case or problem that a Price must face. We’ve gotten stories from each of the siblings, but there is more to be learned and battles to fought.

Fans of the author are in for a treat, we see Rose, a hitchhiker ghost and another familiar ghost from the Ghost Roads series. It all tied in perfectly. McGuire treats us to the history or the story of how the Aeslin Mice and Price family came to be. All hail the Aeslin Mice! I miss them, but hope we see them in the next book! McGuire hinted that we would.

Emily Bauer rocked the narration. I could not imagine the series without her. She creates unique voices and captures the intensity of the scenes. We got some nail-biting moments and tear-jerking scenes which were only enhanced by the audio.

Anne Price must outwit the Crossroads and Leonard if she hopes to get Mary back and have a normal life…well normal for her. After all she is a Price.

That Ain’t Witchcraft was brilliant from beginning to end. If you haven’t stepped into the mind and imagination of Seanan McGuire you are missing out!

That Ain't Witchcraft was brilliant from beginning to end. If you haven't stepped into the mind and imagination of Seanan McGuire you are missing out! #UrbanFantasy #iloveaudiobooks #MustListen Share on X
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About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

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19 Responses to “That Ain’t Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire”

  2. Olivia Roach

    Wow it sounds like you were able to really love this one so much! I think that the world building sounds absolutely amazing and it seems like you really fell in love with the characters as well, which is wonderful ^.^

    Olivia Roach recently posted: American Dreamer [Book Review]

  14. Lindy@ A Bookish Escape

    The intensity of this story, along with the world-building, great imagination of the author, and awesome narration makes this sound like a great read! Wow 5 stars! Wonderful Review Kim!

  15. Heidi

    I have got to get caught up on this series! It sounds like it is getting better and better.

  17. kindlemom1

    For some reason I think this series by her is new to me. I don’t know how I missed it or maybe I’m just not remembering it. Either way, I kind of want to look it up now.