Indexing
By: Seanan McGuire
My Rating: Three out of Five Stars
Best for: 18 and up

These twisted fair tales are…twisted!

I’ve been trying to rekindle my love affair with Seanan McGuire’s stories since I read and LOVED Middlegame. Unfortunately I keep striking out–time to quit while the happy Middlegame memories are still fresh.

I enjoy fairytale retellings a lot! Naomi Novik does a great job. The Winternight Trilogy from Katherine Arden is fabulous. The Enchanted Forrest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede are so fun. I was hoping for more of that kind of magic with Seanan McGuire. And her stories do get close…

…ish.

Indexing is about a secret arm of government law enforcement whose job is to identify and intervene whenever fairy tale stories force themselves into the lives of modern-day you’s and me’s. Apparently, there are Sleeping Beauties and Snow Whites all around us, just waiting for the circumstances of their lives to get close enough to the stories that the stories start to take over their narrative. But it’s not really great when everyone around you suddenly falls into magic sleep or someone keeps trying to feed you poisoned apple sauce. And those are the tame scenarios!

Peter pans and Little Mermaids are suicidal. Pied Pipers can control others actions. A Frog Prince will trap you in deadly deals. And watch out for the murderous wicked step sisters! These twisted applications to twisted fairy tales were super creative, but were a little too creepy for me.

I felt confused much of the time. The fantasy logic didn’t hit for me, and so the decisions and end results felt odd and inconsistent. There were several unresolved loose ends, too!

I’m glad I started with Middlegame, because I don’t think I would have picked it up if the other Seanan McGuire stories I’ve read since came first.

Plenty of content watch outs, including strong and frequent adult language and violence. No sexual content, but there are situations of suicide and abuse. You might want to know there are same gender relationships and gender dysphoria represented as well.

This story is best for adults.

Happy Reading!