Reviews

The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire

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okevamae's review against another edition

5.0

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a fantastic addition to the already-amazing October Daye series. We *finally* get to properly meet Amandine in this book, (and wow, she is... something.) She sends Toby on a quest: to bring back her long-lost half-sister August. If she fails, she and those closest to her face dire and possibly deadly consequences. And one of her companions on this quest is probably the last person you'd expect - and certainly the last person Toby would want to spend time with, or trust to watch her back.

I'm not sure what I expected from Amandine to be honest, but she turned out to be way crazier and more evil than I would have thought. She's been described by others in previous books as being "off" and much different from what Toby remembers from her childhood, but this was a whole other level of crazy and negligent evil.

I found the character development from

Spoiler

Simon Torquill

to be fascinating. And in some ways, in better understanding him and his complexities, Toby grew as a character as well. I actually felt really sad for both him and for Toby at the end. It will be interesting to see where the character goes from here.

Overall, I really loved it and I can't wait to see where Seanan McGuire - who at this point is one of my favorite authors - will take Toby next.

zapdara's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

katieinca's review against another edition

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4.0

Opens with an absolutely absurd karaoke bachelorette party, then proceeds almost in road movie fashion through some pretty dark sad stuff (Tybalt and Jazz as Amandine's hostages, in tiny sharp cages) and some delightful bits (like pixies!).

accidentalspaceexplorer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Oh, I hate Toby's mom! Such a tense book because of the set-up. I also sort of expected that Simon would be more sympathetic here but he very much was.