67) The Shambling Guide to New York by Mur Lafferty

The Blurb :

A travel writer takes a job with a shady publishing company in New York, only to find that she must write a guide to the city - for the undead!

Because of the disaster that was her last job, Zoe is searching for a fresh start as a travel book editor in the tourist-centric New York City. After stumbling across a seemingly perfect position though, Zoe is blocked at every turn because of the one thing she can't take off her resume --- human.

Not to be put off by anything -- especially not her blood drinking boss or death goddess coworker -- Zoe delves deep into the monster world. But her job turns deadly when the careful balance between human and monsters starts to crumble -- with Zoe right in the middle.


My Thoughts :

Just looking at the cover for this book made me want to read it.  The dragon on top of the Empire State building and that guy with a tail are just some of the little clues to what lies inside the pages of this debut in the Shambling Guides series.  If you read the blurb there is no going back because the promise of a monster world in New York is just too good of a thing to pass up on.

The world the author builds in this book is just amazing and on many occasions I found myself thinking of Shanna Swendson's Enchanted Inc Series which is also set in New York and has some cool fantasy aspects and creatures.  However this book isn't as romantic and doesn't have a chick-lit feel to it.  The Shambling Guide has a sophisticated fantasy feel with a 'it could be me' leading lady being swallowed up by a world she knew nothing about.  Zöe falls into a "rabbit hole" and finds out that vampires, golems, dragons and much much more exsist among normal human beings.  Finding out everything with her is exciting and gripping.  I couldn't put the book down.

I loved so much about this book!  From the interesting characters, strange and wonderful supernaturals and the location, it just had a bit of everything that I like and crave in a book.  The well thought out plot kept me reading and the small snippets from the Shambling guide at the end of each chapter sometimes made me giggle (NYC visitors will get the refrences better than others) and often made me go 'Ahhh' because it just all fit together so nicely with the story.

While the story developed I found myself getting pulled further into the world.  The idea of a monster world hiding among us is plausible and could just be real.  The author did a great job of making it realistic by adding details of the city and paying attention to how everything would fit together.

Now I will patiently wait for the next installment.  The ending promises a next Shambling Guide and I hope there will be one.  The author has created a very special place within New York and it would be great to see what she does with other cities.  It will also be good to see what Zöe gets up to next and how her relationships with both the coterie and her fellow humans develop.

If you haven't been to NYC yet then you certainly will want to pay it a visit after reading the Shambling Guide.  However I don't suggest using this guide when you go there, unless you are in fact coterie.  The Guide releases later this month and is a fantastic read that I can only highly recommend you give a go!