Review – Carniepunk by Various (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: July 23, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-1476714158
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Swapped through Paperbackswap.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

“A star-studded urban fantasy anthology starring bestselling authors Rachel Caine, Jennifer Estep, Kevin Hearne, Seanan McGuire, and Rob Thurman, and including Delilah S. Dawson, Kelly Gay, Mark Henry, Hillary Jacques, Jackie Kessler, Kelly Meding, Allison Pang, Nicole D. Peeler, and Jaye Wells, whose stories explore the creepy, mysterious, and, yes, sometimes magical world of traveling carnivals.

Come one, come all! The Carniepunk Midway promises you every thrill and chill a traveling carnival can provide. But fear not! Urban fantasy’s biggest stars are here to guide you through this strange and dangerous world. . . .

RACHEL CAINE’s vampires aren’t child’s play, as a naïve teen discovers when her heart leads her far, far astray in “The Cold Girl.” With “Parlor Tricks,” JENNIFER ESTEP pits Gin Blanco, the Elemental Assassin, against the Wheel of Death and some dangerously creepy clowns. SEANAN McGUIRE narrates a poignant, ethereal tale of a mysterious carnival that returns to a dangerous town after twenty years in “Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea.” KEVIN HEARNE’s Iron Druid and his wisecracking Irish wolfhound discover in “The Demon Barker of Wheat Street” that the impossibly wholesome sounding Kansas Wheat Festival is actually not a healthy place to hang out. With an eerie, unpredictable twist, ROB THURMAN reveals the fate of a psychopath stalking two young carnies in “Painted Love.”

This is a collection of urban fantasy stories; they all have some sort of a carnival theme to them. Most of the collection was pretty good. Like with all of these anthology collections there were a few stories that were amazing and a few that I intensely disliked.

My favorites were “The Three Lives of Lydia” by Dawson (this is set in the world of Sang which I adore), “The Cold Girl” by Rachel Caine (just an amazing story), “Hell’s Menagerie” by Kelly Gay (this was set in the Charlie Madigan world which I love and was a great story), and “Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea” by Seanan McGuire (I am a huge McGuire fan and loved this story).

Overall this is a decent collection of urban fantasy stories from some of the most popular UF authors out there. I enjoyed the dark carnival theme throughout. You can see below for ratings and brief descriptions of each story.

“Painted Love” by Rob Thurman (4/5 stars)
This was an interesting story about an entity that likes to experience humanity. When he accidentally gets involved with a sociopath he takes matters into his own hands. I enjoyed this; it was creative and creepy.

“The Three Lives of Lydia” by Delilah S. Dawson (5/5 stars)
I always love revisiting the world of Sang…Dawson writes amazing short stories (I like them better than her full length novels). This was beautifully written and very dark. It follows Lydia and Charlie’s story. I absolutely loved it.

“The Demon Barker of Wheat Street by Kevin Hearne (4/5 stars)
A great short story featuring Atticus and Granuaile going to a carnival that is not what it seems. Very fun and well written. This was a great addition to the Iron Druid Chronicles

“The Sweeter the Juice” by Mark Henry (2/5 stars)
I didn’t really like this one. It was set in a post-apocalyptic zombie world and features drug addicted trannies tracking down a new drug that is supposed to truly transform them. It was weird and hard to read and not enjoyable.

“The Werewife” by Jaye Wells (4/5 stars)
I liked the irony of this story; it was darkly humorous and interesting. It’s about a guy who is exasperated with his wife-turned-werewolf.

“The Cold Girl” by Rachel Caine (5/5 stars)
This was a really good story about a girl stuck in a relationship with an abusive boyfriend. When she finds out about some very dark secrets of his, her life is in danger. However, the boyfriend gets exactly what he deserves in the end. This was a very good story and I really loved it.

“A Duet with Darkness” by Allison Pang (4/5 stars)
This was a decent urban fantasy story about a woman who has magic powers related to hearing music. She is apparently bound to a demon already but is tempted with a magical violin by another demon. This was beautifully written and a well done story.

“Recession of the Divine” by Hillary Jacques (2/5 stars)
This is about a woman named Olivia who is trying to eke out a living as an insurance adjuster. However it ends up Olivia isn’t exactly mortal. I didn’t really like this story much it was boring and I almost stopped reading it a couple times.

“Parlor Tricks” by Jennifer Estep (3/5 stars)
This is a quick story about Gin and Bria going to a carnival to find a missing teen. What they find is an expert Air Elemental. This was okay; this set in the Elemental Assassin world.

“Freak House” by Kelly Meding (4/5 stars)
This is about a half djinn heroine who goes to a super expensive freak show to find her djinn father. I assume this is some background around how the heroine got into Para law enforcement but I am not sure. This would have probably been better with some more background on the heroine. It was a well done and entertaining story though.

“The Inside Man” by Nicole Peeler (4/5 stars)
This was a super creepy clown story that I enjoyed. It features some of the side characters from the Jane True series as they go to investigate a case for a manticore who hires them.

“A Chance in Hell” by Jackie Kessler (3/5 stars)
This story was okay but definitely not my favorite. It’s about an ex-succubus who has to save her friend from a demon at a carnival who is trying to steal her friend’s soul. Lots of sex in this one and not all that easy to read. I was a fan of Kessler’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse series but this story wasn’t great.

“Hell’s Menagerie” by Kelly Gay (5/5 stars)
I love the Charlie Madigan series and it was wonderful to revisit this world. This story features Emma (Charlie’s daughter) and Emma’s “father” Rex. They venture into Charbydon to rescue some Hellhound puppies. This was a bittersweet story that I really enjoyed. It was great to watch Emma coming in to her own powers.

“Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea” by Seanan McGuire (5/5 stars)
I also loved this story. I am a huge fan of McGuire and really enjoy her writing style. This was an excellent story about a teen who is fighting against becoming a mermaid. Her mother is part of a traveling carnival and has already succumbed to mermaidism. This was beautifully written.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge