Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Following the events of Turnbull's No Gods, No Monsters, the whole world knows about the existence of monsters. Now, in this powerful and intricate sequel, they've started going missing. Could these disappearances be related to the rise of antimonster hate group the Black Hand? Nonhierarchical werewolf pack Laina Calvary, Ridley Gibson, and Rebecca Vázquez investigate. Meanwhile, young Dragon looks for a family with the rebel Alexandra "Alex" Trapp and shape-shifter Tezcat, and Senator Sondra Reed works to pass monster rights legislation while caring for her mother, who's recovering from a trauma. The interweaving plot lines are relayed by a multiverse-traveling narrator, Calvin, who, in his own story line, uncovers more about and the role of "small gods" in the ongoing interspecies struggle. It's a densely packed whirlwind of magic and social change, and Turnbull keeps readers on their toes throughout. The exploration of otherness, class, and race is as nuanced and robust as ever as Turnbull expands the scope of the "monsterverse," taking on--and reveling in--the political complexities of this supernatural world. Fans of book one won't want to miss this. Agent: Kim-Mei Kirtland, Howard Morhaim Literary. (Nov.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In Turnbull's universe, monsters are real, and the world is still reeling and dealing with the revelation. While some pro-monster activist groups are beginning to show that life really has not changed, others come together to highlight the threat to the world if a monster could be one's next-door neighbor. On top of all this, members of a werewolf pack have been disappearing, and as some search for answers, they will find even more threats to their existence. Those in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands face both natural and unnatural fears between political unrest about monsters' rights and an approaching hurricane. Meanwhile, in the darkest shadows, two old orders focus their sights on each other once again, using ancient knowledge of gods and magic, along with those who feel they have no place after the emergence. Characters both old and new continue to drive the action and emotion in this time-sliding tale as the tension builds to another heart-stopping ending--and a wait for the next book. VERDICT Turnbull continues to use his deft prose to tie themes of hate, social change, and backlash into an enthralling fantasy series in this sequel to the much-lauded No Gods, No Monsters.--Kristi Chadwick
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
In the second installment of The Convergence Saga (No Gods, No Monsters, 2021), the monsters--werewolves, witches, vampires, and other magical beings--have finally emerged from secrecy. The Cult of the Zsouvox is fomenting a war between humans and monsters for obscure, apocalyptic reasons. On the human side, the Black Hand escalates violence against monsters. Werewolves Laina Calvary, her husband, Ridley Gibson, and Laina's girlfriend, Rebecca Vázquez, don't know where to find support in this rising tide of hatred, since few other monsters are willing to reveal themselves and be exposed to attack. Dragon, a tween who can shift into his namesake, has escaped the Cult of the Zsouvox's basement cell but is being watched both by the Black Hand and a former CIA agent, Alexandra Trapp, who is only partially aware of who's pulling her strings. And weredog former senator Sondra is hoping her husband, a current senator, can push through a bill establishing legal protection for monsters; she's keeping a lower profile in hope of concealing her monster identity as well as her presence at a bloody pro-monster rally in Boston three years ago. Will more established pro-monster forces emerge from the shadows before large-scale tragedy strikes? Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, Calvin continues to escape his troubled personal life in sleep, where he secretly observes the events occurring in the "monsterverse" and other universes, a practice which may prove more dangerous than he knows. Turnbull packs a lot of plot and character development in a fairly compact set of pages, using his story to explore complex issues of prejudice, intersectionality, and personal identity, as well as the scars left by the darker parts of one's past. As in the first book, he also devotes considerable time to not-so-subtly endorsing the model of worker-owned, non-hierarchical cooperative networks. Rather than a jarring insertion into the plot, this helps highlight a key intersectionality issue: Even idealists may not be open to all ideas and varieties of people, particularly when they are afraid. Rich, brilliant, and often sad, because this contemporary fantasy pulls no punches; blood will regretfully be spilled. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
