I LOVED THIS BOOK!
I didn't give it 5 stars because there were some parts where I felt it was a bit exaggerated, but I really really loved it!
There were witches, vampires, magi, demons, everything a fantasy lover could've asked for.
I actually loved how Sully, a lesbian witch, was written. You know, sometimes men tend to write awful lesbian characters, but Sully was AMAZING! I loved how powerful, career-driven, and loyal she was.
Boy did I get a crush on her...
I would love it if there was a movie about this book, honestly. But one that rises to the MCU level.

2.5*, not bad, but anticlimactic and somewhat confusing, with too much not explained/developed organically/at the right times. Also, the amount of times the main character maniacally laughed her way through committing violence weirded me out.

This is strange but entertaining urban fantasy with alternate history.

Sully is a top cop in the Imperial Bureau of Investigation (IBI). She is a tough witch who often uses her magical skills to help solve a case or take down a culprit. Her department is dragged into a grisly investigation in the American Colonies. Bodies seem to be possessed by an evil that sends them on a killing rampage leaving the message "It IS tHe YEAr oF the KNife." Sully's initial confrontations with the killers don’t go well. She keeps trying to save the civilians and even the possessed killers, but the results aren’t working out as she ends up with serious collateral damage.

Although Sully is strongly dedicated to her work chasing down monster criminals, she has issues with her IBI office recognizing the political problems that exist. The prior Director, whose name no one can remember, has been turned into a Macaw nesting in his office which has been commandeered by the current Deputy Director. Like the missing name spell, there is a key word that is hidden by powerful magic that is hindering the investigation.

Sully first seeks the help of a rather ghoulish (in a twisted fun character) coroner who loves experimenting with the corpses brought in for autopsy. When Raavi can only provide limited information, Sully pulls in a master magician and even consults with a demon trapped in a doll (shades of Chucky or Annabelle).

In her personal life Sully is trying to keep it under wraps that she is hooking up with her former lover who is now a vampire – a species generally killed off or exiled. Marie gives encouragement to Sully but also puts her mission at risk.

The story is full of action with magic and monsters. This is a bit zany as it bounces from murder scene to consulting scene. The dialogue is snarky and fun. Sully's sexual orientation is upfront and her relationship with Marie is an interesting side thread that is nicely handled. My favorite extra element is the alternate reality/history which is revealed slowly at first, emerging more strongly as the book progresses.

My last note on the reading was “How do authors think up this crazy stuff?” I do recommend this to readers who like urban fantasy and want something out of the ordinary.

Source: NetGalley 2017.

A fast-paced and fun read. The bad bits: the main character annoyed me a lot and is a self-righteous, insufferable know-it-all, ego. And the big reveal was a bit anti-climatic. The good bits: The magic and world building were imaginative and top notch. I would definitely read more stories set in this world.

I don't want to rate this book, it just wasn't right for me and I didn't finish it.

It was an entertaining ride, but I was disappointed with the resolution.

The heroine was very likable and I would probably read another book with the main character. I enjoyed the mystery. However, it seems like there was no way to have predicted the solution -- key information is withheld from the reader until the end. Essentially, a new character just appears and explains everything. Even that explanation had holes in it; it's impossible to explain without spoiling the story.

Overall, I'd recommend it -- it was entertaining. I just wish it had ended differently.

There are a lot of things I liked about this book - it was like a queer version of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files or Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London, which is pretty much a dream come true for me. Sully gets to be an unapologetically tough and cranky protagonist, and her relationship with her vampire girlfriend was cute. However, my favourite part of this universe was how the magic works - spellcasting in this world requires both raw power and careful calculations, and getting things wrong has serious consequences. The rules of magic made a lot of sense, and the book sticks to them all the way through.

What I was less enthusiastic about was the action-driven writing style. The narration seemed very impatient to me, like we were rushing through each scene to get to the next one, and I really just wanted it slow down every once in a while and linger on some moments a little longer. There were a lot of breathtaking magical battles, gruesome spells, and downright creepy demons, and I wanted to have more time to immerse myself in the atmosphere before we rushed to the next plot point. Since the narration focuses so much on the actions of the characters rather than what they are thinking or feeling, it sometimes felt like I was reading a movie script. However, it was a script for a very fun, queer urban fantasy film that I would go see in a heartbeat, and therefore overall I enjoyed the ride.

The world building in this book is impressive, and does take a bit of adjusting to. It is a modern day world with gay marriage, magic, swords, demons, vampires, colonialism, and an Empress of the British Empire. I'm a little confused as to when the universe broke off from ours, as we have never had an Empress of Britain, except for Victoria's additional title of Empress of India. And protests are met with violent oppression, so how did gay marriage pass without protestors to kick start the movement? Was it always legal? When did vampires make themselves known and why don't they simply bite any one who oppresses them and take away their magic?
The magic itself functions logically and makes a certain sense when it is explained. It is not given complex names or spells like Harry Potter, which I can get behind. I'm okay with just "she said a spell" so I don't have to remember Latin or something complicated. The plot was decent; I liked the main character and her open flirting with anything female. I liked that her ex-fiancee was bisexual, and they both admitted that it had little to do with their breakup, as they both like casual relationships. I especially liked the haunted doll trope being used to benefit the plot and our understanding of demons. I kept expecting angels to show up, but I think demons are non-biblical in this universe, and more of an inter-dimensional being?
A lot of interesting ideas are floated, such as bird transfiguration, and counter curses, and a world where the British Empire only continued to expand.It was a little frustrating that the characters kept focusing on whether the problems were demonic, when they find out early on that they aren't. If someone keeps telling you that they are coming back, and getting revenge for when they disappeared, maybe don't keep looking at demons or a rogue Magus, look for something that disappeared!
Overall, it was a fun read, and I enjoyed the world building, even if I had my questions.

This was actually a really interesting book and way better than I was expecting. It's set in an alternate version of America where we never gained independence from Britain so the British Empire is still the major controlling force in the world. I really enjoyed all the little details about the world and how things had changed because of this, it was very well-thought-out. The other half of the world-building area of this is that humans have magic and have apparently also been aware of / in contact with demons for several centuries. I really enjoyed the magic system in this because the magic users have to do calculations and things for their spells to work properly and it's always nice to see something more complicated than like 'point at something and say a word'.

The whole thing was just really fun. I loved Sully and it was also nice to see her relationship with Marie. I enjoyed that while there was romance present it didn't completely take over the book. I would definitely classify this primarily as urban fantasy but there is an F/F romance on the side, it's just not the main focus. My only complaint is that I think things moved a little too quickly after the big reveal at the end and I'm honestly surprised the author chose to wrap everything up instead of going for a sequel because there could EASILY be an entire other book for all of that. But I would still definite recommend it for urban fantasy lovers who are looking for something a little bit different.

I had a lot of fun in reading this urban fantasy book. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Meerkat Press, LLC

This was a fun urban fantasy. Agent Sully is one of those sometimes abrasive characters that you can't help but love. The book is written with wit and humor that had me chuckling. A demon sailor doll, a spell that turns the director of the IBI into a beautiful hyacinth macaw. A lesbian protagonist. What's not to love!

Buddy review at Binge on Books. See link below.

Key takeaway: "Wild imagination, sparkling prose, and absurdist fun. The worldbuilding, I mentioned above, is fascinating, but I agree with Alex that it’s the sense of fun that stays with me. The mind that thought up the aforementioned Eugene the Sailor Doll and Director Hyacinth Macaw is one worth following."

This was an EXCELLENT find... It vaguely reminded me in bits of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series, with a mystery at the heart of a magical alt-world - but the mystery in this one was handled even better than Aaronovitch's often are (and I *really* like his books), which made it even more enjoyable a read for me. There was a serial killer manhunt that felt a little like early Jim Butcher Dresden Files murder mysteries - and anyone who knows me knows that's a MAJOR compliment. And there was alt-history ala the best of Guns of the South-era Harry Turtledove - but with a fun slant that made it feel fresh and edgy. While TYOTK reminded me, faintly, of all of those books that I love - it was also a wholly original tale, and so much more than the sum of its parts...

There is a LOT going on here, and it's hard to describe it adequately without giving too much away. I'm not only talking about spoilers; I'm talking about the sheer enjoyment of reading a well-written tale. The characters are fascinating - layered and nuanced even when they proclaim not to be (Hello, Sully!). The mystery is mysterious, and there is a twist I never saw coming - despite a hint that clued me in to the general vicinity of the twist, its actual contours were wholly unexpected and an absolute delight to unfold. My only criticism is that said unfolding felt a little rushed. The build up here is slow - deliciously, tortuously slow. Not in a bad way. Merciful heavens no. In a teasing, pleasurable, drawn-out-to-extend-its-possibilities way - one that Sully herself would have wholeheartedly approved of... Which made the rather abrupt Big Reveal at the end feel a bit, well, abrupt. Again, not in a bad way, just in an off-kilter, unsettling way.

But maybe that was the point. Sully is, after all, nothing if not unpredictable, and that's one of the things I loved most about her. She's tough and logical, except when she's not. But its never a contradiction or out of character when she veers sharply left - you get the sense that it's all a part of a master plan, even if she hasn't consciously figured all the bits out yet. It makes her a delight to read and I truly hope this is not the last we've seen of her - she's simply too spot-on of a character to be a one-and-done!

What did I just read ? I have honestly not read anything quite like this before, I think it is hard to even fit it into an existing genre, is it urban fantasy ? Steam Punk? Alternative reality? I think its a mash up of all these maybe it is a new genre.I loved Sully the main character, I would have liked to see more of her vampire lover, and I laughed out loud at the idea that her boss had been changed into a bird, that was genius.I liked the humour and the ideas were original and mind blowing .I felt the pace of the book slowed a little in places and as an impatient reader I wanted the action to continue at a fast and furious pace, but other readers may well be more patient than me.I thought this was highly entertaining and great fun and I would love to read more.Good book thanks to the Publishers and Netgalley for an ARC.

This is one for fans of urban fantasy, especially if they like it with a dash of alternative history.
It's 2015 in New Amsterdam, and Sully, or Agent Sullivan, a witch of the Imperial Bureau of Investigaton as she is more formally known, finds herself at the heart of a mystery. Why are ordinary citizens committing grisly murders , and what is the Year of the Knife they all seem to be heralding?
Will her training with a hedge witch in Ireland be enough to figure out if this is demonic or some other form of magic?
This book is a great introduction into a ready built world of magic, with a history that is just different enough from our own to be intriguing, New York is New Amsterdam, the British Empire is still in existence and much of Europe has been lost to dark magic. While the reader enters in the thick of the action, the background information needed to understand what is going on is cleverly woven into the story for the reader to pick up as the story continues apace.
The real highlight of the book is Sully herself, unapologetically powerful and strong willed, with a strong streak of "divilment" as her hedge witch trainer might say, she likes to be in the thick of the action, but is also determined to protect and stand up for those she cares about, including her vampire girlfriend.
My only slight, and it is slight, gripe about the book was that the ending felt just a little rushed, the pacing in the rest of the book was so good that I was slightly surprised by how quickly it was resolved.
Overall I enjoyed this book immensely and look forward to more adventures with Sully, hopefully in the near future!
I read an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Loved this! I like the alternate reality and the world building that went on with this, and the characters were excellent! The story kept me guessing and wanting to find out more about this world and its history. Will definitely be looking for more titles by this author!

Agent Sully works for the IBI, the Imperial Beaure of Investigation in New Amsterdam. Based on what I gathered, New Amsterdam is in an alternate reality? I found this part of the storyline hard to figure out which made the entire story a bit difficult for me to read and enjoy. She uses her magic to help her solve IBI cases. Currently, she is trying to murders in which the killers seem to be possessed by something, but she is not sure if that something is a demon or something else. Along the way, we meet her past/current lover and vampire, Marie. We also meet her superior IBI agents, one who has been turned into a bird and resides in a cage in his previous office. I found this book easy to put down, mostly because it was difficult for me to follow. I am giving it a 2,5 star rounding up to 3.

Here is the first line of the book:

"New Amsterdam was a city the way decapitation was a paper cut."

I mean, what a first line, right? If that doesn't grab your attention then I don't know what will.

I really enjoyed this book. A LOT. It starts from that stunning first line, grabs you and does not let you go. I could not put it down.

This is a fantasy mystery novel. So if you aren't into that sort of thing, then this might not be your bag. However, if you like Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell - then I think you will really enjoy this.

The story focuses on Agent "Sully" Sullivan, of Imperial Bureau of Investigation. She is basically trying to solve the mystery as to what is behind the mass killings known by 'The Year of the Knife". I am 100% underselling it here because I don't want to spoil it for you.

I am always in awe of authors who create a universe and build on things that already exist. This book focuses on magic - Sully is of the able to perform magic persuasion. In the book, the author makes it about math and formulas and not just something one is born with.

Sully is also a lesbian. I mention it because I think it actually makes the book more interesting. She is a complex character - who happens to be in a relationship with a vampire. This adds a layer to the book and makes it not your run-of-the-mill fantasy type story.

The author did a great job of keeping the suspense up. There are lots of twists and turns, and you really can't figure out 'whodunit'.

It was a highly enjoyable book, and I am very glad that I read it.

I rated this 4/5 stars on Goodreads.

Full disclosure: I received this eARC from NetGalley for a fair and honest review. (Thanks NetGalley!)

ARC from Netgalley

It was not what I expected but I still gave it a change but did not enjoy it.

To start off: While I've read a large number of lesbian fiction books (656), and a large number of fantasy books (667; 108 of which have been lesbian fiction), I've rarely read lesbian fiction that fell into the urban fantasy genre. And even less often have I read one that could fall into the alt history genre. Which this book happens to fall into - urban fantasy, alt history, plus mystery, and general fantasy.

The book is set in New Amsterdam (for the most part, though brief 'pop-ins' elsewhere, like Nashville).. Though I am not sure why the city is called 'New Amsterdam', since the city is in British control, and it got renamed in 'our' time line to New York in 1664 when the British got control of the place.

No matter, let's move on to the story part. Isobella 'Sully' Sullivan (and don't call her by her first name or she'll act all shocked you actually know it) is an Irish immigrant to 21st century New Amsterdam. New Amsterdam, in turn, is in the American Colonies, and a part of the British Empire. Sully is a Senior Agent with the IBI (think FBI, but with magic users, and agents dressing in whatever they want to dress in - so don't think FBI, since FBI agents out of a suit would probably be instantly fired) - the IBI being the Imperial Bureau of Investigation. Wait, I think Sully's title is Superior Agent? Well, whatever it is, Sully is a high level agent for the IBI.

Sully has been given a case to investigate suspicious deaths - deaths where it appears someone has taken over people, and had those people commit brutal and fatal crimes. The book then proceeds to tell an interesting story. Until about 75% to 85% (or was it 91%?) when the last part of the book became an information dump.

As alternate history, it's not clear what the 'pivot point' would be (since that's important in alternate history stories - pinpointing when a timeline diverged from our own), and there are certain odd things tossed in there that do not really make sense - see New Amsterdam's name (or, you know, above where I mentioned that New Amsterdam instantly became New York when taken over by the British in 1664). Sure, there's that information dump at the end of the book that 'helps' pinpoint the 'pivot point' but things were already different at that point in time.

As a mystery . . . well, if you are reading the book because you like mysteries, and only for that reason, you might not specifically like this book. There is a mystery, and it is interesting, and Sully does investigate it but . . . things kind of unravel in non-mystery book like ways.

As a fantasy it is good. As an urban fantasy, ditto. As a romance . . . well, there is a romance, but there's a reason I haven't even mentioned it yet - it's an urban fantasy type romance - as in, the main character vaguely feels some attraction to one of the characters in the story, they are something of a couple, and . . . stuff, but there's no real romance between the two - it's just there as a sub-plot (there were hints that a real capital R romance might break out, but no, this is just a romance sub-plot, not a Romance book).

Despite what some of what I've written might suggest, I did rather enjoy this book, and if not for the information dump at the end, I'd probably have rated this a high 4.5 or so stars. Instead I rate it a solid . . . hmm . . . 3.88 stars.

Rating: 3.88

October 26 2017