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katieinca's review against another edition
4.0
I remember (from looking at some brief 6 month old notes) that this one moves important things along, but was occasionally frustrating.
tunnelrat47's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
accidentalspaceexplorer's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
So much plot in this one, I've got major theories about things but the main plot took me completely by surprise.
songwind's review against another edition
3.0
The lastest October Daye book was enjoyable but felt a bit rushed in many places.
We learn more about the background of faerie, the Firstborn and Toby's life. All quite good. The characters have noticed something I had been wondering about, neatly taking it from the realm of "scope creep" and into "planned event." A conspiracy of sorts of uncovered - I look forward to seeing what, if anything, comes of it.
On the downside, major changes took place in interpersonal relationships that felt rushed, forced or out of character to me. There were major plot elements that got touched in passing, lending the book an eclectic, "checklist" feel.
All in all, I enjoyed it and I like where the overall arc of Toby and the San Francisco faerie is going. However, this book should probably have been longer, or been two different stories of about the same length.
We learn more about the background of faerie, the Firstborn and Toby's life. All quite good. The characters have noticed something I had been wondering about, neatly taking it from the realm of "scope creep" and into "planned event." A conspiracy of sorts of uncovered - I look forward to seeing what, if anything, comes of it.
On the downside, major changes took place in interpersonal relationships that felt rushed, forced or out of character to me. There were major plot elements that got touched in passing, lending the book an eclectic, "checklist" feel.
All in all, I enjoyed it and I like where the overall arc of Toby and the San Francisco faerie is going. However, this book should probably have been longer, or been two different stories of about the same length.
shawniebooks's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, I love this series.
Side note: My paperback has Daye spelled "Day" on the cover.
Side note: My paperback has Daye spelled "Day" on the cover.
stephanie063025's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.25
elllljayyyy's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
kenzee06's review against another edition
3.0
Alright y'all. I've got to get some things off my chest before I continue with this series. Despite what I am about to say, I do like the series. Really, I do. But there are some things that are starting to get real, real old.
Toby. Yes, the main character. Honestly - I would be totally okay with her not being in the series anymore. After Connor got axed (praise!), I realized something awful. I can't stand the main character. Without hating the weakling Connor to distract me, I had time to realize that Toby is annoying and more importantly, very stupid. She literally does the same stupid things over and over and over. And she talks to everyone (loved one or otherwise) in the same tone. That bothers me. You don't speak to strangers the same way you do your best friend, or your boyfriend, or your squire. She doesn't feel like a real person.
And maybe it's just me, but none of her injuries even phase me anymore. She got eviscerated? Eh. Someone chopped off her head? Shot her three times in the stomach with iron? Poked her eyes out with a fork? Yawn. I mean, she gets "on death's door" injured so often and she gets magically all better (in three seconds flat), it's lost it's value. And to top it all off, she's gone and become crazy powerful. And not in a reasonable way which was how it started with the hope chest and the changing of blood. Fine. You can have new powers. I actually liked that part. But seriously - bringing back people from the dead (which I will accept only because I love the Luidaeg), "breaking" someone else's magic, and also throwing it back at them. How do those second two even really relate to blood? It's a stretch. Too much of a stretch. Though convenient of course.
Then we come to how wishy washy she is. "I hate Rayseline. I can never forgive her for abducting my beautiful wonderful child I never see and only casually mention when I want pity"...two minutes later..."I hope Rayseline gets the chance to be saved and have the wonderful life she deserves." "I hate Simon, I'm going to gut him for the crimes against me"..."He got shot, oh no, but in those last two minutes he helped and that's good enough for me, he's my ally now." Girl, wth? And yet, Sylvester didn't tell her about one thing that happened 100 years ago because he promised not to and she's not sure that he should be forgiven. Really? Like, I mean...REALLY? I know we expect more out of those we love but come on now. That's ridiculous.
Speaking of ridiculous, what's with suddenly making characters evil? Case in point - Raj's dad and Luna. I'm going to let Evening slide - even though her whole helping with Devin's kids doesn't really make sense in light of what we know now. Raj's dad goes all evil out of nowhere - pretty sure when she rescued Raj, his dad was appreciative and normal. And Luna. Huh? I mean, the part where she sends Toby off to face her dad - okay. Yes, that's reasonable. But now she's so rude and basically hoping Toby dies? Like, straight up, she's a total B. Since when? She loved Toby earlier in the series. It's like the author is looking for evil characters because she's run out of them.
The rules also get broken way too often and conveniently. Toby's daughter anyone? How nice is it that only Toby doesn't have to kill her own kid? What really got me though was that there was no agonizing over it. Toby just got to "fix" her. Boom! No internal struggle or dismay over the fact she might have to kill her own daughter. Things have just gotten really convenient lately..."breaking" spells -__-.
And has anyone but me gotten a little uncomfortable with how the author treats changelings and those of "mixed" blood. It's one thing to have some of the characters look down on them, be prejudiced against them ("they all go crazy"). That's a common theme in many books, fantasy or otherwise (Harry Potter, for example). But it's another to actually make those prejudices a REAL thing. Raysel is crazy because she has mixed blood. So is the former Queen, Oleander, Devin, that one lady who's name I forget who was digitizing people...I'm sorry, but it's almost like the author isn't just saying people THINK mixed blood is a bad thing, but that it actually IS a bad thing. In Harry Potter, we see that those who aren't pureblooded are just as capable - Hermione, Lily, etc. In this book...we have Toby breaking stereotypes, that's true. But we see a lot more crazy people and even our main character, our hero, blames their blood. I know it's explained in the lore (blood fighting itself), but it also just doesn't sit right. Sometimes it makes me cringe.
Toby. Yes, the main character. Honestly - I would be totally okay with her not being in the series anymore. After Connor got axed (praise!), I realized something awful. I can't stand the main character. Without hating the weakling Connor to distract me, I had time to realize that Toby is annoying and more importantly, very stupid. She literally does the same stupid things over and over and over. And she talks to everyone (loved one or otherwise) in the same tone. That bothers me. You don't speak to strangers the same way you do your best friend, or your boyfriend, or your squire. She doesn't feel like a real person.
And maybe it's just me, but none of her injuries even phase me anymore. She got eviscerated? Eh. Someone chopped off her head? Shot her three times in the stomach with iron? Poked her eyes out with a fork? Yawn. I mean, she gets "on death's door" injured so often and she gets magically all better (in three seconds flat), it's lost it's value. And to top it all off, she's gone and become crazy powerful. And not in a reasonable way which was how it started with the hope chest and the changing of blood. Fine. You can have new powers. I actually liked that part. But seriously - bringing back people from the dead (which I will accept only because I love the Luidaeg), "breaking" someone else's magic, and also throwing it back at them. How do those second two even really relate to blood? It's a stretch. Too much of a stretch. Though convenient of course.
Then we come to how wishy washy she is. "I hate Rayseline. I can never forgive her for abducting my beautiful wonderful child I never see and only casually mention when I want pity"...two minutes later..."I hope Rayseline gets the chance to be saved and have the wonderful life she deserves." "I hate Simon, I'm going to gut him for the crimes against me"..."He got shot, oh no, but in those last two minutes he helped and that's good enough for me, he's my ally now." Girl, wth? And yet, Sylvester didn't tell her about one thing that happened 100 years ago because he promised not to and she's not sure that he should be forgiven. Really? Like, I mean...REALLY? I know we expect more out of those we love but come on now. That's ridiculous.
Speaking of ridiculous, what's with suddenly making characters evil? Case in point - Raj's dad and Luna. I'm going to let Evening slide - even though her whole helping with Devin's kids doesn't really make sense in light of what we know now. Raj's dad goes all evil out of nowhere - pretty sure when she rescued Raj, his dad was appreciative and normal. And Luna. Huh? I mean, the part where she sends Toby off to face her dad - okay. Yes, that's reasonable. But now she's so rude and basically hoping Toby dies? Like, straight up, she's a total B. Since when? She loved Toby earlier in the series. It's like the author is looking for evil characters because she's run out of them.
The rules also get broken way too often and conveniently. Toby's daughter anyone? How nice is it that only Toby doesn't have to kill her own kid? What really got me though was that there was no agonizing over it. Toby just got to "fix" her. Boom! No internal struggle or dismay over the fact she might have to kill her own daughter. Things have just gotten really convenient lately..."breaking" spells -__-.
And has anyone but me gotten a little uncomfortable with how the author treats changelings and those of "mixed" blood. It's one thing to have some of the characters look down on them, be prejudiced against them ("they all go crazy"). That's a common theme in many books, fantasy or otherwise (Harry Potter, for example). But it's another to actually make those prejudices a REAL thing. Raysel is crazy because she has mixed blood. So is the former Queen, Oleander, Devin, that one lady who's name I forget who was digitizing people...I'm sorry, but it's almost like the author isn't just saying people THINK mixed blood is a bad thing, but that it actually IS a bad thing. In Harry Potter, we see that those who aren't pureblooded are just as capable - Hermione, Lily, etc. In this book...we have Toby breaking stereotypes, that's true. But we see a lot more crazy people and even our main character, our hero, blames their blood. I know it's explained in the lore (blood fighting itself), but it also just doesn't sit right. Sometimes it makes me cringe.