I had fallen off from reading Seanan McGuire's InCryptid series due to some grimdark happenings! (I really need to get back to them, to find out what happened.) But I decided to read and review Installment Immortality because Mary Dunlavy, ex-crossroads ghost and baby sitter to the Price-Healy family of cryptid researchers/conservationists is one of my favorite characters in the series. (Possibly not as much as I like Sarah or Verity though.)

Mary, having been brought back by the anima mundi is in an interesting position as of this book. She has to a) navigate the trauma her double death brought to her family b) reunite with same and get updated on all happenings c) deal (in many senses of that word) with the recovered anima mundi, the avatar/overmind/spirit of the earth. Mary's interactions with her family have all of the tensions and stress of a unexpected reunion, equal part relief and anger. (Lots of lovely complicated emotions--everyone is very surprised she's back! They're happy she's back! They're also mad she didn't turn up sooner!)

From there, Mary's given a mission from the anima mundi: the Covenant of St. George is up to no good (again). This time, they are kidnapping ghosts from their various hauntings, for some unknown purpose. (It is a bad, terrible, no good purpose.) The anima mundi would like this stopped, and feels that the solution is Mary Dunlavy shaped. This leads to some increased tensions because Mary does not want to be in a situation in any way similar to the one she had with the crossroads. (Hint: it was nasty and traumatic.) Joining her on this mission are Elsie and Arthur Harrington, neither of whom have been out in the field. Mary has her misgivings about Arthur, who is still recovering (or not recovering) from having his mind pieced carefully back together but the wrong way around by Sarah.

The tension shifts to a more horror/thriller/mystery vibe as Mary goes on the case. This leads to dangerous situations with the local ghosts, the local cryptids and of course the ghost hunters from the Covenant of St. George. (Who turn out to have personal beefs with the Price/Healy/Harrington families.) McGuire cranks up the tension in this book, as well as the intensity. Mary's having something of an existential crisis--and the anima mundi seems to have capital P plans for her.
I enjoyed the book! It's tightly written with lots of twists and turns. The characterization is great and I enjoyed the interactions of Mary with the various members of her family. There was some angst (Elsie dealing with grief over her mother's death, Arthur and his disintegrating mind/soul/sense of self. Both situations are written with sympathy and care for the characters personalities and personal arcs.

This review is based on a galley copy received from Netgalley. Said galley copy also has an excerpt for the next book in the series, which will feature Verity. (Who is barely coping with a combination of her pregnancy and personal tragedy. Fortunately, she has a good support system.)

5/5 stars: This is the fourteenth entry in McGuire's Urban Fantasy InCryptid series which features a babysitting ghost teams up with two of her grown charges after she's tasked by the anima mundi, Earth's living soul made manifest, to hunt down and stop those imprisoning America's ghosts or lose her freedom. With plenty of plot twists, McGuire has masterfully crafted a non-stop action packed yet heartfelt story with excellent and fascinating world-building. McGuire's writing and character work are excellent; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. This series switches POVs between the different members of a Cryptozoologists's extended family as they find love and fight to protect the creatures of the world against the forces determined to eradicate them. I love getting to read more about Mary and I love seeing her getting her own adventures. Additionally, I adore the extended Price family and everyone connected to it and love catching up with them. Also includes the short story, Mourner's Waltz, which features Verity. I love how McGuire uses shorts to expand the world-building and flesh out and catch up with the characters in the series. With tact and sensitivity, McGuire touches on some sensitive topics; so take care and CWs. While you could read this as a stand-alone, you'll gain so much more by reading the series from the beginning; so be sure to pick up book one, Discount Armageddon.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire, a great read that really helps tie more of the lose ends together. Does leave you wanting more but if you are a fan of this series you have to read this one.

As much as I love the Incryptid series, I found myself feeling a little burnt out on Installment Immortality. I think this has more to do with my ambivalence regarding the narrator than any other aspect of the story. I love the ghosts, especially Rose, but I don't find Mary to be as compelling of a narrator. There are moments where it feels a little more repetitive - I don't particularly feel as much of the urgency as I've felt in books narrated by Annie or Verity. I liked the book, and I like hearing more about the story, but I think that there are so many strong books in this series that this one just felt a little flat for me.

The latest installment of the Price family, the eccentric cyptozoologists, focuses again on Mary the ghost baby sitter, and also follows up with Arthur, who was damaged in Calculated Risks, and his sister, who are supposed to help defeat the Covenant of St. George agents who are killing ghosts in New England.

McGuire does a good job of summarizing the Price history at the beginning, which I admit I did need and in fact I didn't realize was so convoluted.

While I enjoy this world, I admit I ended up skimming the long passages that reiterate the complexities of feelings and the cosmology that are put in right during the middle of action.

If you follow this series, you'll enjoy this installment, although you'll still be wanting more at the end!

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for the early copy of Installment Immortality. Below is my honest review.

The second Incryptid novel from Mary's POV and the first to be released with new publisher Tor, Installment Immortality continues the excellent urban fantasy hijinks we've all come to know and love from the Price family universe. This one brings Mary's (after)life full circle and ties up a loose end or two with some minor players in the Covenant. I have a feeling there are some more big battles coming in the long run.

Highly recommended, but please remember this is well into the series, and you'll do yourself a disservice to jump right in without context. So read them all, as soon as possible.

There's no way around this - this book was bad. It felt like most of the content was either recapping other books, advertising McGuire's Angel of the Overpass series, or aimless ranting. Mary heads to Worcester, MA with Arthur and Elsie to deal with Cavenant ghost hunters, but neither Arthur nor Elsie gets to do anything other than get kidnapped. Mary pops all over the place despite long, boring discussions with the anima mundie about how she shouldn't do that anymore, picks fights with literally everyone, and all of the interesting characters get shafted in favor of yet another explaination of routewitches and the magic of the road. Incryptid hasn't been fun for a while now, but after this book I will be giving up entirely. Maybe it'll get better, maybe it won't, but I won't be reading to find out.

Told from the perspective of the family babysitter, caretaker ghost Mary Dunlavy, newly freed from bondage to the evil crossroads entity. Mary is sent to New England to deal with a Covenant field team targeting ghosts, trapping them in spirit jars and driving them mad with iron, salt, and rosemary, turning them into balls of rage. Things get awkward. (And somewhat gory at the end.) Probably not the best place to start the series.

With a bonus novella about Verity coping with widowhood and late pregnancy. (Badly.)

I just loved reading these stories! I love this series and I love Seanan McGuire's writing, and this latest installment to the series, after everything that happened in the previous volume, I had just to read it, and it was just that good! I really enjoyed following Mary as the protagonist, as a ghost, she has a very different mindset and skillset from the various Prices that we've followed in the previous books.

Mary has been through a lot, she was a Crossroad's ghost, and then she was a babysitter ghost. But she had existed in this gray area, where the rules weren't really defined. But after the events of the previous book, yeah, she has to figure out what her limits where, what she was capable of.

One thing that I loved about this book, is that we spend a lot of time with Arthur and Elsie, both of whom are having a tough time, between his personality cobbled together from the ones that loved him, and the loss of their mother. It's complicated, and I'm glad that we got time to just sit with it, because there aren't any easy solutions.

Mourner's Waltz hurt, it's another story of Verity and her grief, which is still a gaping wound for her, with her daughter safely away, but being heavily pregnant, and dealing with some goings on in the apartment building that she manages. It's a story of grief, and continuing to live life after a loss.

Loved reading these, and I can't wait for more from this series, and by Seanan McGuire!

I thought this was another great installment in the incryptid series. I was also excited for Elsie to have a bigger role in this adventure than in previous ones, she’s a character I always want to know more about.

Seanan McGuire always does a great story and I’ve been engaged from the first book in the InCryptid series, it had that element that I wanted from the previous books. It was great getting back to this world and the characters were just as good as I was looking for. It always works well in this genre and was glad I got to read this, I can’t wait for more.

If you read enough of Seanan McGuire's work (especially the long running series) you'll start to recognize patterns in the pacing. Aftermarket Afterlife was an event book, pushing the main plot forward and containing the resolution of some of the ongoing threads (or at least a resolution. In true Price family fashion there's always more drama to come). Installment Immortality is an aftermath book, where the family has to deal with the consequences of the Covenant attacks that killed two family members, as well as their own retaliatory attack on the Covenant headquarters. Our narrator this time is still Mary, back from six months in the ether and not quite sure where she fits in this new afterlife order. Of course this is right about when she gets a new mission from the Anima Mundi.

The Covenant isn't happy about the attack on their headquarters, and although they don't know exactly how it happened they do know that there was a ghost involved. As a response there is a Covenant team rounding up ghosts on the east coast, trapping them in jars, and turning them into weapons. It's Mary's job to stop this, by whatever means she can. Mary's first step is to find living allies who can help out, and after running down the list of available family members she ends up with Elsie (currently angry and lashing out at the entire world) and Arthur (who is also angry, still figuring himself out, and quite possibly losing what's left of his mind). The following road trip and quest solves a few problems while bringing others more into focus. I'm nervous to find out how things are going to end up with Arthur/Artie, since it isn't looking great at the moment.

It's nice to see Mary figure herself out a bit more, and good to spend some time with Elsie and Arthur/Artie, who are the family kids we've seen the least of so far. There are a few cameos from other family members, but overall they don't appear. I feel like after this book we're probably done hearing from Mary for awhile, and I imagine that next time we'll probably be back with Sarah, Elsie, or Arthur (though Seanan could always surprise me).

The story at the end of the book takes us back to Verity in New York as she continues to deal with losing Dominic. It was nice to check in with her and see her start moving a little ways back towards functionality. Maybe she'll be the first Price to end up dealing with the loss of a spouse in a healthy manner (we can always hope!).