Review: Transmuted by Karina Cooper (St. Croix Chronicles #6)

Transmuted (The St. Croix Chronicles #6)
Karina Cooper
Published: Jan. 27, 2015 (Carina Press)
Purchase: Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Margaret

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

Note: While review will be spoiler free, it does make reference to previous books in the series. If you haven’t started yet, check out VBC’s review of Tarnished.

First, can I tell you how much I love this cover art? I seriously want to frame it and hang it on my wall. I would buy Transmuted just for the gorgeous cover. But in case that’s not a good enough reason for everyone else, I guess I should also tell you about the rest of the book.

The Midnight Menagerie has been destroyed, but its mysterious head, The Karakesh Veil, is still at large. And a few of the werewolf-like “beastmen” the Veil created still terrorize London Low. But Cherry St. Croix is starting to settle in to a somewhat normal life with the family she once thought lost. Until she is approached by agents of the Crown who want her to do one last Collection.

Cherry and her friends must find a priceless diamond stolen from the Crown and catch the thief who appears to have disappeared into the Underground. The search that begins in those tunnels though, soon leads above the fog. Cherry believes that the Veil is connected to the theft and is hiding with a Society patron. So with the help of her brother-in-law Lord Piers, the disgraced Countess returns to Society to draw out the villain.

I loved the interactions between Cherry and the puckish Piers. But even though I know he doesn’t belong at a Society party, I wished there was more Hawke in the first half of the book. He and Ashmore both accompany Cherry into the Underground, which felt a little bit like worlds colliding to me. Though it is fun to see the two alpha males butt heads. But otherwise Hawke made himself scarce early on.

He still struggles with controlling his inner beast, just as Cherry still struggles with her opium addiction, but they seem to be coming to understand each other. In fact, I thought Cherry was quite introspective early in the book, gaining perspective on the role Ashmore and the rest of her friends play in her life as well.

I was also happy to see Cherry finally do some alchemy on her own. Early on, I kept wishing (along with Cherry) that she was making more progress in her studies. I really wanted to see some magic! Though she does have a wonderful, acrobatic fight scene that more than makes up for it.

I didn’t find Transmuted as emotionally exhausting as Engraved, though it certainly has its moments. I actually felt like it was quite sunny given how dark most of the series has been. And I’m happy with the way it ended. Transmuted strikes a nice balance between feeling like a complete journey and suggesting that these characters can return for another story someday. If I get a vote though, it’s actually for Lord Piers to get a spin off series.

Sexual content: sex