Review – Spectacle (Menagerie, Book 2) by Rachel Vincent (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: MIRA
Release Date: May 30, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-0778318200
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Menagerie series
Source: Gift
Rating: 4/5 stars

“When their coup of Metzger’s Menagerie is discovered, Delilah and her fellow cryptids find their newly won freedom brutally stripped away as they are sold into The Savage Spectacle, a private collection of “exotic wildlife.” Specializing in ruthless cryptid cage matches, safari-style creature hunts and living party favors, the Spectacle’s owner, Willem Vandekamp, caters to the forbidden fetishes of the wealthy and powerful. At the Spectacle, any wish can be granted—for the right price.

But Vandekamp’s closely guarded client list isn’t the only secret being kept at the Spectacle. Beneath the beauty and brutality of life in the collection lie much darker truths, and no one is more determined than Delilah to strip the masks from the human monsters and drag all dark things into the light.”

This is the second book in the Menagerie series and I enjoyed it quite a bit. This is a very dark story, set in an alternate world where cryptids exist and are persecuted by the rest of humanity.

This story picks up where the first one left off. Delilah and crew are running their own Menagerie and dodging authorities by pretending certain members of their troupe are human. When they are discovered, many of their member are captured and sold into The Savage Spectacle.

This is definitely an adult book; there is quite a bit of abuse, torture, and sexual assault in here. I continued to enjoy all the different races of cryptids and was on pins and needles waiting to discover what would happen to our beloved characters.

The story was fast-paced, the characters were engaging, and the book is well written and easy to read. I enjoyed it a lot, I think this has been my favorite series from Vincent yet.

Overall a great addition to this series. This has been a well written alternate world paranormal urban fantasy about a world where the monsters aren’t necessarily the real monsters. I would recommend to those who enjoy dark paranormal/urban fantasy reads. I definitely plan on continuing the series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
– Paranormal Reading Challenge