I knew this one was going to be special when I saw the title - a play on 'lilitu', a siren/succubus-esque creature from Sumerian mythology. It promised that a) the author was going to draw on myths we don't see utilised for urban fantasy very often, and b) there would be plenty of tongue-in-cheek moments.

And Catch Lili Too delivered!

I admit that the beginning felt a little heavy on the info-dumping, but once the basics had been established the book moved along quickly, balancing the explanations with action very well. And although I'm almost never a fan of first-person present-tense, I really loved Lili's voice and felt that the present-tense really helped to keep the story moving and make it more immersive for the reader. It's always a nice surprise when an author can make you enjoy something you usually don't!

All in all Catch Lili Too is a pretty fun, very diverse urban fantasy, an easy, light read that draws from myths that will be new to most readers. Definitely recommended for urban fantasy fans or anyone tired of reading about the same handful of myths and monsters over and over again.

[Content warnings: death, blood, gore, cancer, murder, HP reference, attempted arson, drug abuse, vaping, alcohol (recreational)]

This is a whimsical story with a very funny and entertaining narrative. I love all the jokes threaded throughout even though a lot of important things were happening and I couldn’t really keep up with them all. I do think there are scenes that do not line up or are a tad bit confusing, but that might just be an ARC issue.

Told in the first-person POV, the story follows an immortal, asexual, depressed Siren, Lili, who is haunted by her past and sick and tired of living, seducing people, and killing. Yes, you read that correctly: an asexual Siren. She arrived at Gamin after two murders of humans—a young girl Anna Snow and a poet Byron López (gay). After stumbling upon Byron’s body and his ghost (whom she fails to seduce because, ta-da, he’s gay), Lili is persuaded to help the town solve this murder mystery. But then supernatural beings start getting murdered, too.

I love all the random references to everything paranormal, mythologies from around the world, pop culture, etc. They are funny and ridiculous, and even in a dreadful and horrifying crisis like having an unknown killer in town, the main characters don’t lose their spirits, jokes, or attempts of having fun in life. There are Biblical references that work well with the theme, too.

Oh, how precious are the mystical misfits:
Lili, the depressed asexual Siren with her deadpanned narration filled with sullen jokes,
Byron López, the gay, Mexican-American ghost who carries a note pad to write poems,
Jason Sweeney, the buff transguy who is an eager necromancer and co-owns the Sweeney Inn with his twin sister,
Patty Sweeney, the sapphic twin sister of Jason’s,
Detective Ikiaq, an Ijiraq, and
Jo Kim, a jiangshi who died from cancer.
This mismatched group forms a lovely found family even though they don’t completely trust each other. But in a time where a serial monster killer is running loose, stay together to keep each other safe. And I just love how pure that is!

I did not anticipate the story to have romance subplots but was pleasantly surprised to find both sapphic and achillean relationships develop (albeit very quickly) during the murder mystery. Despite all the morbidness of the theme, there were cute moments and a lot of hilarious scenes.

CATCH LILI TOO is a paranormal story with a predominately queer cast and little to no queerphobia. It has a wonderful mix of morosity and humor, and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

DNFed at 40%.

This was decidedly underwhelming... I am not sure where all the raving 5 star reviews come from. Yes, we have gay characters and even a trans character, but other than that sexual orientation, they have no personalities. I am not giving stars for inclusion, I'm giving stars for believable characters and good stories.

For an immortal Siren, Lili sure loves to talk smack and think that she is better / more powerful than anyone else. She looks down on a necromancer, she is condescending to a brand new ghost who already figured out how to move things around. Her whole narrative is that she is more baddass than all of them... yet she hasn't done anything remoty baddass and awe inspiring yet, and I'm halfway through the book. She just gets dragged along and whines about it.

Nothing is happening, even the search for the serial killer, in any type of hurry. And that particular investigation could have been done better by a pair of blind, deaf mute 5 year olds than by our group of protagonists. Ugh.

I was looking for a new UF series, but this is decidedly not for me.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters were interesting, lovable and sufficiently fleshed out. I am also a big fan of the casual representation in the book (Character on the ace-spectrum, two f/f relationships, a trans character and a m/m relationship, all accepted).

While I do wish the lore and its history was explored a bit more, the information that was revealed throughout the story was quite interesting and definitely added to the story.

Speaking of interesting, the actual lore/ fantasy elements were done quite well. I love how seamlessly the fantasy was woven into the real world and how it was acknowledged and explained.

The overall mystery element in this book was also something that I should commend. There were hints dropped throughout the book that didn't outright reveal the twist but made once the twist actually happened. I loved how the hints took different forms, like characters feeling something was off or a description of a scene. The actual plot twist itself was also pretty great.

Finally, the actions scenes. While there were only a few action scenes in this book and they weren't actually very long, they were all adrenaline-inducing and flowed seamlessly into and out of the calmer scenes.

I got an arc of this book for an honest review from Netgalley.

This book was amazing. I absolutely loved every minute of it. There are not a lot of books out there that feature asexual characters so when I saw this book featured an asexual siren I just knew I had to read it. And let me tell you this book did not disappoint.

This book is what a series like True Blood failed to be. It's a cool mystery featuring creatures that are in all different types of cultures. This makes the world of the book feel very rich and deep. Plus it was nice that not all the cultures featured were euro centric.

Lili though was the star of the book for me. I identified with her so much. While immortal she still suffers from very human problems. She is tired of people only see her for her beauty and suffers from depression. But she is also a compassionate person who cares about the people she meets. I really loved her.

The rest of the cast was also great. I really adored them all. Byron was amazing. Patty and Jason were the cutest sibling duo that I have read in a while. And while he joins the party a little later on Detective Ikiaq was a great addition as well.

If you are looking to read a cool interesting paranormal fantasy that is filled with good LGBTQ+ representation then I highly suggest this book!

3.50 Stars. This was an odd book but I enjoyed it anyway. It kind of reminded me as if Effie Calvin’s Daughter of the Sun had a baby with Casey Matthews’ The One Who Eats Monsters and ended up living in Charlaine Harris’ Midnight, Texas. While I’m using that to give people a slight idea of the feel, it was still weird, unique, and different enough from anything that I have read before. Sophie Whit’s imagination is impressive and I’m definitely intrigued to read more.

I’m a huge urban fantasy fans and I love when a book has such a wide range of supernatural characters. Sirens’, vamps, weres, witches, zombies, ghosts, and those were just the common supernaturals. There were also beings from myths and legends from other parts of the world. I love supernatural creatures and I have a pretty good encyclopedia of them going on in my head. But, from this book I actually learned a new being and a new name for a being I already knew. The geek in me loves this stuff so that made me a happy camper.

I was also happy with the diversity in this book. A woman who is still learning if she is ace or demi, a trans guy, a lesbian, and some gay and bi characters. There is a light and sweet MLM romance between secondary characters, and a WLW romance that is just at the beginning stages. I was a little disappointed that the WLW romance didn’t build more. While I like the two as a potential couple, I needed to see more feelings actually develop before they just announced that there were feelings between them. This was definitely a time that the book needed more show and less tell. I’m hoping this will be made up for in future books.

I didn’t really get into the premise yet but there is a ragtag crew of humans and monsters, that get together to hunt down a serial killer. Is the killer a human monster or a supernatural one? So while this book has some action and monster fights, this is also a bit of a murder mystery. The mystery was good because it hooks you right into the first pages of the book. And while you think you may know who the killer is, it is almost impossible not to question yourself over and over which was pretty fun.

As other reviewers have mentioned, I was not big on the ending either. It wasn’t bad or anything but I think the big climax most people were expecting was much smaller. It’s funny but the crew has a big fight scene a little over half way and that action scene was more exciting to me than the big finale was. I also was not crazy about a few things left hanging, but I noticed that this is a book one. I’m so happy that it clearly states that and knowing that this is a series, I know I will get my answers eventually.

This is an oddball book, which is pretty different, so I know it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. I would recommend this to fans of urban fantasy, paranormal, and mythology. The story is kind of weird but I think it’s the kind book that will stick with me for a while. I’m going to remember this and when book 2 comes out, I know I will be excited to read it.

A gay ghost, a trans necromancer and an demi-/asexual siren...
... try to solve a murder, aided by a lesbian witch and a whole lot of other mythical creatures.

This book is awesome! It has everything I want and more. Queer representation! Mythical creatures! Funny, really funny chapter titles! Relatable characters! An incredible plot! A culprit who was not out in the open the whole time!
This book was such a funny read! I was a bit sceptical at first but as soon as the ghost showed up and they formed their own detective sqaud, I was sold for good. I can't wait for the next book; I really hope there is going to be a next book, because it would be horribly dissapointing to realise these awesome cast would have to vanish after their first case.
The only issue I had that I at some point lost track of the characters, beside the main ones. There were a whole lot of them and I couldn't really remember all of their names and roles in the narrative anymore.
I hope the follwing book gets told from a different perspective, maybe Jason's or the ghost's, whose name I have forgotten...

I received a free copy by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cover is what made me want to read this book. No regrets! Great plot and characters. I found myself devouring this book because I wanted to know what was going to happen next!

I apologize, I did not finish this book.

I read the first four chapters and did not form a connection to the characters.

Thank you to NineStar Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

Catch Lili Too was a delight-- an ace sapphic siren, a murder mystery, found family, and a cast of unforgettable characters sure to stick in minds. While there was one reveal that I was unsurprised by (and I think other readers will be too) there are certainly others that are delightful surprises.

Lili is depressed. And God, does her depression feel real. If Sophie hasn't had personal experience, they've certainly done a great amount of research into it, and it's heavy, and there. Lili picks up a handful of friends, all while pretending she doesn't want them, and isn't that so much the dream?

Gamin is a mysterious town that seems to drag in immortals and magical beings, much to Lili's confusion: she can't remember why she's there, or a reason why she's staying, until she makes her friends: Byron, the gay poltergeist (no, not that Byron), the siblings Jason (trans necromancer) and Patty (lesbian witch), Jo the jiangshi, and Ikiaq the ijiraq. There's a romance there that's beautifully done and balanced, with Lili's sexuality taken into full consideration and handled greatly. I can't wait to meet those in the next book!

The book "Catch Lili Too" by Sophie Whittemore is about the siren Lili who is on the hunt for a killer with a bunch of paranormal friends.
The book is set in one of my favorite genres. I am always up for all paranormal or urban fantasy! Unfortunately this story could not really win me over.
The story felt partly rushed and took little time to explore the emotional world of the protagonists. Various characters accepted situations and fates very quickly, which I would have expected to throw them off track more or at least keep them more absorbed. I also had the feeling while reading that the relationships among the characters established very quickly without going through a real development.
What I found very positive about the book are the funny chapter names. Here I could smile every time.
This book will not be one of my favorite books, but it can be interesting for friends of this genre.

I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for a an honest review.

I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review
A Macedonian Siren. Thats a concept I have actually never come across in a novel before, which raised my expectations. Alas, it did not reach the level I was expecting.