SPFBO 10: The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids by Stephanie Gillis

Welcome to the Final stage of SPFBO 10! As you know, the 10 blogs all picked their champion who advanced into the finals, including ourselves. Check out our SPFBO 10 page for more info! SPFBO 10 ends on April 30th, and so we’ll post our finalist reviews every two weeks or so until then.

Our 8th SPFBO 10 finalist review is for The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids by Stephanie Gillis. The order of the reviews within a post will be in alphabetical order.

A quick reminder about how we are proceeding in the Finals: our judges had the freedom to opt out of reading any of the books due to personal interest, time restrictions, unforeseen life events, etc. Our aim is to have at least 4 reviews/scores for each finalist.

Both in the Semi-Final and Final stages we have a DNF rule in place: if a judge reads a book (either semi-finalist or finalist if they didn’t opt out beforehand), they have to read at least 25% of it. If they decide to DNF between 25%-50% they’ll have to give a score but can opt out of writing a review, and if they DNF after 50% (or not) then also have to score AND write a review.

For The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids we have 3 reviews and 3 scores for your reading pleasures.

So, without further ado, let’s take a closer look at our seventh finalist!

Table of Contents

• About the Book
• Book Blurb
• Reviews:
  • Drew
  • Timy
  • Tru
• Our Judgement

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.

Drew

Read: 100%

The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids is, at its core, a family story. The POV switches between each of the three Lambros sisters, Melpomene, Calliope, and Thalia, gradually learning about their lives, hopes, and secrets, many of which they are scared to share with each other. 

Mel, as she prefers, is the most practical and grounded of the trio. She is the one responsible for the upkeep of their home, something which is getting harder to accomplish with their limited finances. Calliope is the one who bonds the most strongly with the animals, particularly the very protective sasquatch, Harriet. And Thalia, the youngest and most rebellious, desperately wants to leave home and find her own path. 

Thalia wish to get away is hampered somewhat but the arrival of Asha Singh into her high school class. The attraction between the two is evident pretty quickly and, since there are also sections from Asha’s POV, we get to see their relationship develop from both sides. It’s quite sweet, with some of the typical teenage trials and tribulations balanced with the more plot specific issues they have to deal with.

All three sisters are given love interests during the novel, something which does strain probability, but I will admit that this didn’t matter as much while reading, standing out more when thinking back. And, in a book which has a number of the titular creatures and cryptids in it, that’s hardly the biggest ask. 

The various creatures inhabiting the sisters’ house and grounds were my favourite part of the book. From the sabre-toothed wolves, to the teleporting hedgeguins and an ancient owl who speaks in rhyming couplets. Some are given greater page time than others but the little journal entries with sketches and descriptions inserted between chapters helps highlight some of the ones that receive less plot focus.

However, the book does have its flaws. As mentioned above,  did feel like many convenient coincidences were happening to and keep the sisters’ story moving. To me this became particularly apparent in the last ⅓ of the novel, where things shift from the more steadily paced family drama to a more frantic action thriller, with surprise introductions, betrayals, double-crossings and conspiracies. It also left me feeling this latter section was trying to cram so much in that everything felt rushed and although there are a few threads left dangling, the resultant wrap-up felt just a little bit too neat and easy.

Timy

Read: 100%

The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids was another one of the finalists I was curious about, solely based on the title, because, well, let’s face it, it’s super intriguing. And the setting does not dissapoint.

In this book we meet the Lambros family who manage a sanctuary for magical animals such as a bigfoot (Harriet), saberwolfs, hedgeguins, hummingdrakes, etc. With their father dead, their mom absent, always running around hunting for creatures, the Lambros sisters are mostly left to their own devices – Mel is responsible for running the places and taking care of her sisters, Calliope has a knack for caring for the animals and Thalia, the youngest, mostly helps out, makes creams and potions using ingredients from the animals and tries to get through high school. But not everything is as great as it seems. All three girls have their own secrets, worries, fears and the people of Pandora does not help things.

And then the girls make new friends and things really get going. I obviously won’t go into the plot, but let’s just say, all three of them conveniently get a love interest around the same time – which felt a bit…I don’t know, uninspired? Like, I really would have liked if at least one of them had a settled relationship, especially as all three has a bit of insta-love feel to them in the beginning. Although I’ll give to Gillis that all three relationships have a nice arc to them, so I can’t complain much. I also liked the sisterly bond and how it played out throughout the book. And their personalities came through very well.

While The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids is an easy read, even if it could have done with some whittling down. The first half feels more like a teen drama with Thalia and Asha’s relationship rippling waves, but things get a darker turn later on. Unfortunately, the last quarter or so has a lot to desire. For a while, I thought I might give this one the highest score yet, but the ending was a bit disappointing. For one thing, a lot of things are happening and it feels like there was a genre switch somewhere along the line with the action ramping up. There are also a lot of inconsistencies, conveniences to push the plot, and some uncharacteristic choices that does not match with the already established personality. It really felt a bit rushed in terms of writing/editing, especially when it came to the very ending where everything ends up being clear cut, no repercussions for certain actions and overall just a touch too unbelievable.

And let’s not even talk about the fact that the girls who have a Greek heritage, knowledge in all kinds of myths due to their profession, are absolutely clueless what’s waiting for them even after receiving pretty clear visions (just a hint: big hairy bloke with a club). Like. Come on. You don’t have to be terribly knowledgeable to figure out what’s waiting for them.

Despite my criticisms, The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids is a fun read with themes of love, coming-of-age, dealing with abuse, found family, friendship. I loved the animals, and I kind of wish there would be more of them, because they are more interesting than some of the characters, frankly. The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids could have been my favorite out of the SPFBO 10 finalist, but sadly, the execution fell a bit short. Alas, I wouldn’t write it off entirely, and apparently there is going to be a sequel, so there is still room to improve.

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Tru

Read: 100%

The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids is part cozy family, part family drama, where the family in question is the Lambros sisters, three sisters that run a secret sanctuary for mysterious creatures (not monsters!) in a town that consider them to be weird at best, possibly witches at worst. The older sister, Melpomene or Mel, is the one in charge, and helps maintain the sanctuary in place of their mother and late father. She’s down to earth and does her best to not only fix problems around the sanctuary, but also keep her younger sisters out of trouble. The middle sister, Calliope, is a homebody who shares a special bond with the creatures and handles most of their care, but the creatures are also overly protective of her to a somewhat dangerous degree. The younger sister, Thalia, is a typical teen who helps brew potions, but really wants to leave to live her own life. The story switches between all three sister POV’s.

All three sisters have a lot to deal with, especially when the town distrusts them, but the story begins when their adventuring mother gets in touch regarding the new arrival of a magical bear. There are plenty of whimsical moments throughout as we’re introduced to the various magical creatures that the story is centred around, and each chapter ends with a description and illustration of these creatures, which I really liked.

Though of course, what this story is REALLY about is the family drama, and the sisterly-bonds that are tested and built on. As they prepare for this new arrival, the three sisters find themselves caught up in drama around the town, as well as in their personal lives, as each become entangled in budding relationships, which cause clashes within the family. There were moments in the story where I felt that conflicts were handled a bit too neatly, and all three sisters finding love at the same time felt a little far-fetched, but this is meant to be a cozy fantasy… Or is it?

The second half of the book leaves the coziness behind and becomes more of a mystery thriller adventure, which I’d not expected, but it certainly livened things up if you find that cozy fantasies lack excitement. Again, the ending felt a bit too neat for me.

But if you love stories about magical animal shelters and conservation, as well as tight family bonds, then I think you’d get a lot out of this story.

Our score for The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids by Stephanie Gillis:

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