Strange Practice

Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. From the cover I thought this was historical urban fantasy, but in fact it's set in modern-day London. It's a fast-paced story about Greta and a group of monsters fighting off and outsmarting a murderous cult and its leader. It's something like a crime thriller, with a lot of action and only a very slight hint of romance.

The book didn't really absorb me until about halfway through, when we finally see Greta alone with some of her regular patients. At that point I understood why she's dedicated to helping monsters, instead of only seeing her complaints about her job. There are several point-of-view characters, including the villains, and I didn't really care much about any of them until then, although they're all intriguing.

I continued on because I wanted to know what would happen with the plot, and I did come to like most of the characters, except for August. He delivers most of the comic relief, in the form of blunt statements, confusion, etc. I guess he's supposed to be a reader stand-in, the guy who is not really a part of this world and has a normal human reaction to all the strangeness. But it's a better book than that - I did feel immersed in the second half and didn't need his perspective. Greta is also a human, and she's the character in the blurb and on the cover. And “monsters are people too” is definitely a theme here, so the other characters' perspectives are never alienating, even when they are alien. Fastitocalon is my favorite character and I love his close friendship with Greta. It's sweet and I feel it works really well as the emotional focus of the story.

Overall I liked this book, and I look forward to reading about these characters having another adventure.