Title: The Humane Society for Creatures and Cryptids
Author: Stephanie A. Gillis
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Fantasy / Urban / Paranormal
Format: Paperback / Hardcover / Ebook / Audio
Release Date: September 18, 2023
Star Rating: 6/10
*Disclaimer*
Everyone is different and likes and dislikes different things. Reading is no exception. One person’s all-time favorite might seem too bland or too high stakes for another. That being said, the opinions of our judges in this contest are just that, opinions. Just because we let a book go, doesn’t mean it isn’t good. It could be your next favorite, who knows?
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you can learn more about the contest here.
Today we are reviewing The Humane Society for Creatures and Cryptids, which was Kitty G Books’s pick for this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off.
You can see the finalist spreadsheet here.
*Blurb*
The Lambros family has never fit in with the town of Pandora, even from the very beginning. Since their ancestors immigrated from Greece with magical creatures in tow, the townsfolk have never trusted them and that hasn’t changed in the centuries since. Now, Melpomene, Calliope, and Thalia struggle to live their every day lives. When new girl, Asha Singh moves to town, everything changes. Thalia, once determined to escape Pandora upon graduation, finds herself growing closer to the heiress of the new resort in town and puts her plans on hold as their relationship develops. All the while, a man has entered the grounds, sent by their mother to help prepare for the newest creature en route to the house. His intentions come into question as he tries to befriend the distrustful Calliope, whose own abilities with the animals seem something out of a fairytale. With their mother missing, Melpomene struggles to keep the house together amidst the changes in the town, the newcomers to their lives, and the impending threat of their secret life being exposed to the community and the world. As the three sisters deal with their own personal problems, the divide between them grows wide when they need to band together the most or else it may end with one of them in the hands of their greatest enemy.
Our Thoughts:
Julia: This is a hard one for me to rate and review. I really, really liked the start. I would probably have gone for an 8/10 in the first half. However, in the middle I simply ran out of steam. While I was happily chugging along in the first half, I found my mind wandering off in the second half, and to be honest for the last 50 pages or so I just wanted to have finished it. This is quite unfortunate, as I was enjoying it in the beginning, and really loved the idea behind it all.
Magical creatures in a secret rescue? Count me in! I also liked the sisters who were different and each had their own character traits.
But, and sadly there has to be a but, it was mostly the characters that lost me over time. Some bits just didn’t feel organic to me, and so I lost my connection to them. Like going from no friends at all, and being ostracized, to trusting random strangers in what feels like a finger click?
The romances, as well as some friendships, all felt a bit too quick and out of the blue, considering how cast out they were before. Or having had bad trauma, and then just ”deciding” to get over it? Not even in cosy fantasy does this work for me.
That’s another point, most of this is cosy and comfy popcorn, but then there’s something from the past that just doesn’t fit in with the cosy. Not wanting to spoil anything, I won’t go into more detail, but if you actually want to add this sort of trauma, then I think it should have been written differently. Because to me, it did not feel handled well.
That’s my biggest complaint, so many big things just kinda go *poof* and are all of a sudden solved. There’s a few quite dark moments and pieces, and then it all goes back to fluff.
This can work, if you don’t try to add those serious topics, but the mix of those, and then the almost casual way people got past it just felt unrealistic. More unrealistic than crystal bats, a Sasquatch and a bear with stars on her pelt…
So why was it so much better for me at the start? Here we were just learning about all the problems, and it wasn’t yet just waved away.
Also, I just adore the setting and all the creatures, pardon, magical animals! The running of the rescue was fascinating, and I would happily have spent more time there.
There are super cute illustrated entries for the creatures, which added a lot to the book as well.
Overall I still liked it, but I’m unlikely to read a sequel.
Kerry: I don’t really need to add anything as my fellow judges, Adawia and Julia have both succinctly expressed what I too thought of this book. I enjoyed the setting and the creativeness of the creatures (& as Julia said, the drawings were a great touch) but the romances and the ease of problem solving all felt a bit trite. For me, this was an ideal book for those times you just want something “light and fluffy” to read.
Adawia: This book is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I really, really like the premise – the sanctuary in the woods, the isolation (ostracism) from the local community, and the rest of the world, and the fascinating creatures (or animals) with amazing, and really cool, abilities, plus the sisters struggling to manage all this and navigate life. These things made this story enjoyable to read.
On the other hand, the love interests kind of annoyed me. The sisters go their whole lives with pretty much no friends, minimal contact with the outside world – what contact there is is mostly negative – but then they each find their forever person within a few days of each other??? Plus the romances were a little saccharine for my taste.
Also, I’m not generally the “why didn’t they just fly the eagles to Mordor” type, but there were a few occasions where they had solutions to problems that they just didn’t use, for some reason. Plus,
*** skip the rest of this paragraph to avoid spoilers ***
……. I thought it was odd that Calliope went straight to violence when it came to the Minotaur. Her ‘thing’ throughout this story is to communicate with and understand all animals/creatures without violence. She administered her charms – or her gift really – and subdued some very wild beasts, but immediately chose the sword when it came to the Minotaur. That didn’t quite sit right with me……. (end of spoiler)***
Overall, I enjoyed reading this story, there’s plenty here to like. Unfortunately, there are a few aspects that brought my enjoyment down, though I’m sure there are many readers who will likely enjoy the romances in particular.
