Reviews

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

zombiejinxy's review against another edition

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4.0

Really like 4.5 stars. One of the best and most excellent urban fantasy novels I've ever read. Thank you so much for a fantastic read Megan!

stormblessedtt's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

dijeye's review against another edition

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3.0

While I did enjoy the overall faery universe beginning to take shape in Rosemary and Rue, and appreciate we needed some backstory and explanation in this first book of a long series, I found myself frustrated throughout and ultimately disappointed in the ending.

Honestly, I'm finding it hard to articulate my final thoughts about this book. It felt mostly slow-paced and that nothing really happened, but that's not really true - the heroine, October "Toby" Daye, did a lot, went places and saw people. She got cursed (twice), was attacked and shot (numerous times), got into fights, lost her family, had audience with a faery queen, traveled to multiple hidden faery locations and investigated a crime. The problem I had, even though there was action, was that none of it seemed to really matter. The overall premise of the book was to solve a murder, so Toby went from place to place, apparently searching for clues, but never really found anything. Instead, she goes to place #1 and is turned away, goes to place #2 and is shot, ends up in place #3 and is patched up, goes back out to place #4 and is shot, ends up in place #5 and is patched up...you get the point. The problem is, she doesn't find out anything about the murder, have any clues or any suspects - so why have any of this happen?

True, we get backstory and Fae lore throughout, which was interesting and well-done, but the point of a mystery is to solve the mystery. Perhaps I missed it, but I felt Toby didn't get any nuggets (readers got one hint, but it didn't register at all with Toby) until close to the end when everything got figured out - pretty much by happenstance. She sees one person, who tells her to visit another person, who essentially tells her who did it. She then performs an unnecessary faery feat of "riding the blood" to get the backstory on an event where blood was shed - I guess to verify what the other person told her. Though really, all she did was confront the suspected murderer at this point, which she could've done without this "riding the blood" ritual and it would've ended the same way.

Also, the plot points that were most interesting to me - why she was turned into a fish for 14 years (and how she got free), why the queen sent her away, what happened to her family and her relationships with Simon, Evening, Sylvester and Tybalt, all went relatively untouched.

Then there were the illogical pieces that kept me scratching my head. Evening's curse didn't make sense to me and it made even less sense that she wouldn't tell the people who were trying to help her that she was cursed. Why keep it a secret when it could help you to talk about it - and your life depends on it? Throughout the book, the author makes us want to believe that even though Toby is flawed and not physically very powerful, that she is savvy and street-wise. But then we see her make really stupid decisions like not telling anyone about the curse, not trusting people who really loved her and trusting people that she knew sucked - even acting surprised when they continued to suck.

In the end; however, I still give it a solid 3 stars because I feel like it has potential as a series and I still ended up liking Toby, despite the flaws. I'll give it another try with the next book in the series because I enjoyed the universe McGuire created. Hopefully the next one will be more cohesive and she'll develop Toby more.

tiarala's review against another edition

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4.0

Felt a little long in the middle, but I loved the mythology, the characters, and the mystery. Looking forward to reading the next in the series. These clearly came highly recommended from friends for a reason.

embereye's review against another edition

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4.0

Very fun book. Very detailed storyline and although I had hints of whodunnit before the end, I was a-ok with that.

lala_hawk's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

3.75

amnesiack's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5/5

A fairly by-the-numbers urban fantasy with some good moments. It's a head-and-shoulders above the first Dresden Files book (to name a similar series) but disappointing compared to Feed, the novel through which I was introduced to this author.

sungleberry's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

kristineqtl's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

briche1337's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5