Love Will Tear Us Apart: (The Stranger Times 3)

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Only 4 stars this time because It took a little while to really get into it but I'd still recommend this series to anyone in need of a good laugh.

The story moved at a fast pace, darting us from location to location, twisting and turning until everything was uncovered, and we had a warm, satisfying end. As I said above, with each book McDonnell drags us deeper and deeper into his magical version of Manchester, allowing us to learn more about the creatures that live along side us, as well as giving us a deeper insight into The Founders, a council of magical beings who control all those who live here. We understand more about why the previous agreements that kept the magic hidden are breaking down and the threats posed to inhabitants of the city. Poor Grace takes a bit of a backseat, buried under boxes of paperwork, and Reggie and Ox team up to chase unlikely conspiracy theories (mainly about the royal family). There is serious creativity here and if you are looking to escape the chaos of today’s society, then these books might just tick the right boxes for you.OK - third book in this Stranger Times series and stuff has happened in and around the team at Stranger Times. And if you've ever had to deal with company audits, there's a great moment in this book where Grace is having to haul in boxes of documents for an audit. In this time of crisis, is her decision to swan off to a fancy new-age retreat run by a celebrity cult really the best thing for anyone? These are fun satirical urban fantasy novels that don’t take themselves too seriously and offer a refreshing take on the genre. The newspaper’s owner sends a very strange lady, Betty Cavendish, to replace Hannah and Betty promptly asserts her rule by fending off easily editor Banecroft’s bullying attitude and keeping poor Grace occupied (or rather distressed) by requiring a financial inventory.

The Institute is a strange place, to say the least, run by plastic-faced personnel that are just a half-step short of being robotic, and poor Hannah is subjected to the strangest remedies that go from hot yoga to other… ahem… intrusive therapies that should help her “find herself” but sound too weird even to someone used to the madness of the Stranger Times. We dive straight in to the mysteries, as we find that Hannah has left The Stranger Times to go back to her ex-husband. Definitely not a standalone so if you’re looking for a funny SF/F book start with the first book ‘The Stranger Times’. Vincent Banecroft, the irascible editor of The Stranger Times, has never believed his wife died despite emphatic evidence to the contrary. The Stranger Times is a newspaper under the stewardship of it’s editor-and-chief, the petulant and bitter Vincent Banecroft.His obsession with finding out more about his wife is taking over and visits from his friend in the night (trying to avoid spoilers here) are only exacerbating the situation.

It does sound like the author knew exactly how to handle all these different character adventures to allow them to grow individual and on the reader.And as this is the culmination of one of the series’ overarching plot threads, you need to know about Banecroft, his wife and Simon Brush. One of the best things about this book is it continues the intrigue surrounding the different factions vying for power or advantage in this magical world of the Founders and Folk. Saying that strange things are afoot at the offices of The Stranger Times is a bit like telling someone that the Pope is a Catholic but bear with me because they are weird even by Banecroftian standards.

Because I find them a bit too over the top and frankly quite tedious, except for that one grand lady, giving me huge Maggie Smith vibes. And as always, Love Will Tear Us Apart is funny, as expected from McDonnell, at times reminiscent of the late great Sir Terry Pratchtett. The characters are as quirky and endearing as ever, even as they are growing and changing; the dialogue is witty; the plot is gripping and a perfect balance of humour and pathos, intrigue and action.I received a free ARC of this book, with thanks to the author, Transworld Books – Random House UK and NetGalley. And, if for no other reason, the dedication for the bonus short story at the end, makes it a solid five.