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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
The urban fantasy setup is great, but stuff isn't explained all that well--I could handle the magic rules being a bit vague, but the relationships don't really make sense and/or the main character just keeps getting herself into trouble unnecessarily.
I actually am giving this book 2.5 out of 5 stars! This book irritated the hell out of me!
1.) What was the point in turning her into a fish at the beginning of the book if you were just going to speed up time anyways?!?!?!? Like why?!? Was it just to separate her from her husband and kid?!? Because if so Why even give them to her in the first place?!?!
2.) This book did a lot of “let’s tell the reader instead of showing them”!! I hate when books do that!
3.) Oh yeah we have magic so let’s use something that was never discussed in the book before to help solve the “who is the killer” plot in the 3rd to last chapter of the book! Convenient!
4.) Did I miss something or did this book drop hints and talk about events like we should already know what happened?!?!? Like is this a Spin Off? No? Then don’t just drop things to make it easier to get out of things! Like really? She helped the Bridge Trolls sister years ago (in a way like we should have already known about) so now she has a Taxi Driver for life? Convenient.
5.) And lastly Let’s just throw things at the Main Character sooooo much that it seems like every single page she is fighting off something in a way where it proves how strong and Feminist the Character is! Like she didn’t need stuff to happen every single page to prove who she is!
P.S. I also don’t like the Main Character at all!
On a lighter note there were things about this book that I found interesting. Very few but still!
1.) The Mystery in the book still pulled me towards it in a way that I kept wanting to know who did it.
2.) She introduced some really interesting characters (that unfortunately were under utilized or killed off to easily but still). I loved Dare, Lily, Luna, Sylvester, Tybalt and The Luidaeg all intrigued me to want to know more about them!
1.) What was the point in turning her into a fish at the beginning of the book if you were just going to speed up time anyways?!?!?!? Like why?!? Was it just to separate her from her husband and kid?!? Because if so Why even give them to her in the first place?!?!
2.) This book did a lot of “let’s tell the reader instead of showing them”!! I hate when books do that!
3.) Oh yeah we have magic so let’s use something that was never discussed in the book before to help solve the “who is the killer” plot in the 3rd to last chapter of the book! Convenient!
4.) Did I miss something or did this book drop hints and talk about events like we should already know what happened?!?!? Like is this a Spin Off? No? Then don’t just drop things to make it easier to get out of things! Like really? She helped the Bridge Trolls sister years ago (in a way like we should have already known about) so now she has a Taxi Driver for life? Convenient.
5.) And lastly Let’s just throw things at the Main Character sooooo much that it seems like every single page she is fighting off something in a way where it proves how strong and Feminist the Character is! Like she didn’t need stuff to happen every single page to prove who she is!
P.S. I also don’t like the Main Character at all!
On a lighter note there were things about this book that I found interesting. Very few but still!
1.) The Mystery in the book still pulled me towards it in a way that I kept wanting to know who did it.
2.) She introduced some really interesting characters (that unfortunately were under utilized or killed off to easily but still). I loved Dare, Lily, Luna, Sylvester, Tybalt and The Luidaeg all intrigued me to want to know more about them!
3.5 stars.
I enjoyed the writing but it was a tad dark for my current mood.
October Daye "Toby" is a changeling (half-fae) and she is being forced to investigate the murder of her friend Evening.
**Review to come later
I enjoyed the writing but it was a tad dark for my current mood.
October Daye "Toby" is a changeling (half-fae) and she is being forced to investigate the murder of her friend Evening.
**Review to come later
I enjoyed this book in general, but realize that by the amount of times Toby gets her ass kicked, I'd like to say this is more noir detective novel than urban fantasy. Not even Harry Dresden takes this much abuse in the course of one novel (well ok, there was that ONE ;) ). It happens over and over and it's a little repetitive, which also makes it so that knowing that Toby is destined to be kicked repeatedly by the PTB leads to easily guessing that . argh. This chick cannot catch a break.
I will indeed read the next one and see how it goes.
Spoiler
Devin is behind the murder once she gets all *stareyes* about himSpoiler
weirdly, I also felt her reaction to seeing the doppelganger dressed in Gillian's skin was stilted and weird, especially since there at the beginning she really thought it was her. I'm absolutely certain that her family is going to play a key role in later books, I just hope it's handled better.I will indeed read the next one and see how it goes.
This is about as close as a book gets to pure perfection for me these days. The writing is flawless; clever, smooth, and engaging from the very first page. I adored Toby, and would have gladly followed her through Fairie forever. The plot fizzled for me just a bit at the end, and I was left with a couple of questions. Also, maybe I'm just slow, but I still can't figure out what the title has to do with anything. Still, none of those issues were significant enough to detract from how much I enjoyed this book.
I'm greatly looking forward to the next in the series, and rooting for Toby to get together with Tybalt. I've always had a thing for cats...
I'm greatly looking forward to the next in the series, and rooting for Toby to get together with Tybalt. I've always had a thing for cats...
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Seanan McGuire has introduced me to another world I am eager to visit - fae both hidden, and seperate, from the mortal world. While there were a lot of details to absorb I think McGuire managed to weave the rules, inhabitants and information quite skilfully into the story.
Suprisingly magic plays less of a role than I expected, but there was non stop action and while i did really enjoy it, I also think it overwhelmed the plot, particularly the mystery, a little too much. Poor Toby gets shot on 3 different occassions, beat up, nearly drowns, nearly suffocates etc all in a just a few days.
Toby is an interesting character, more flawed than many heroines of the genre but still very likeable. I would have liked her to be a bit more proactive in her "quest" and take definate action instead, as Toby admits, simply reacting to the situations she finds herelf in.
We are introduced to a raft of other characters - some vital to this story, while others seem to be set up for later books.
I think there is a lot to like about this new series, enough that I've ordered the second
Suprisingly magic plays less of a role than I expected, but there was non stop action and while i did really enjoy it, I also think it overwhelmed the plot, particularly the mystery, a little too much. Poor Toby gets shot on 3 different occassions, beat up, nearly drowns, nearly suffocates etc all in a just a few days.
Toby is an interesting character, more flawed than many heroines of the genre but still very likeable. I would have liked her to be a bit more proactive in her "quest" and take definate action instead, as Toby admits, simply reacting to the situations she finds herelf in.
We are introduced to a raft of other characters - some vital to this story, while others seem to be set up for later books.
I think there is a lot to like about this new series, enough that I've ordered the second
I've wanted to read this book for the longest time. When I finally got my hands on it, I didn't jump right into reading it, like i thought I would. Instead, it took me a ridiculously long time to do so, but I'm so glad I finally picked up this book, because it's one of the strongest UF debuts I've read.
The main character of this series is October Daye, but everyone calls her Toby. Half-human and half-faerie, she doesn't belong to either world. As if this isn't enough, she got turned into a fish for fourteen years at the beginning of this novel, and lost everything she'd worked so hard for, including her little girl and fiancee. I felt so bad for Toby, but aside from being vulnerable at the appropriate times, she also gets things done, even when she's unwilling to do so. I loved Toby's character in this book, and am definitely looking forward to some more development as the series continues.
The side characters were interesting to read about. There was Sylvester, the surprisingly generous and down-to-earth Faerie ruler of Shadowed Hills. He was the lord whom October served as a knight for in her previous life, and also her friend. I really liked him, and was surprised to see such human reactions from a Faerie. Then, there was Devin, Toby's first love, mentor, and the man whom she turned too after leaving home as a teen. I hated him, because he was nothing more than an abusive jerk, and I really didn't understand Toby's love for him as an adult. Finally, there was Tybalt, the King of Cats. Just from this first book, I really like him. Mysterious and cunning, I definitely can see something between he and Toby, even if it is farther along in the series that I may like. There were other side characters too, ranging from two of Devin's kids Manuel and Dare, Toby's friend Lily, and Connor, Toby's childhood sweetheart. But the three I mentioned above made the biggest impressions on me.
The plot of this book was all about October trying to solve the murder of her friend Evening Winterrose. Seeing as how she was cursed to do so, Toby didn't have much of a choice, since if she failed to find the killer, she would die too. There was lots of action, a bit of mystery, and a crazy-good world that I loved reading about. The world was probably one of the best things about this book, and I'm really excited to see it expand.
Overall, this book was really, really good. It had everything that I look for in my UF. It was dark, with a great main character, and awesome world. There were mysterious side characters, general craziness and lots of excitement. If you're a fellow UF reader, don't pass this book up.
The main character of this series is October Daye, but everyone calls her Toby. Half-human and half-faerie, she doesn't belong to either world. As if this isn't enough, she got turned into a fish for fourteen years at the beginning of this novel, and lost everything she'd worked so hard for, including her little girl and fiancee. I felt so bad for Toby, but aside from being vulnerable at the appropriate times, she also gets things done, even when she's unwilling to do so. I loved Toby's character in this book, and am definitely looking forward to some more development as the series continues.
The side characters were interesting to read about. There was Sylvester, the surprisingly generous and down-to-earth Faerie ruler of Shadowed Hills. He was the lord whom October served as a knight for in her previous life, and also her friend. I really liked him, and was surprised to see such human reactions from a Faerie. Then, there was Devin, Toby's first love, mentor, and the man whom she turned too after leaving home as a teen. I hated him, because he was nothing more than an abusive jerk, and I really didn't understand Toby's love for him as an adult. Finally, there was Tybalt, the King of Cats. Just from this first book, I really like him. Mysterious and cunning, I definitely can see something between he and Toby, even if it is farther along in the series that I may like. There were other side characters too, ranging from two of Devin's kids Manuel and Dare, Toby's friend Lily, and Connor, Toby's childhood sweetheart. But the three I mentioned above made the biggest impressions on me.
The plot of this book was all about October trying to solve the murder of her friend Evening Winterrose. Seeing as how she was cursed to do so, Toby didn't have much of a choice, since if she failed to find the killer, she would die too. There was lots of action, a bit of mystery, and a crazy-good world that I loved reading about. The world was probably one of the best things about this book, and I'm really excited to see it expand.
Overall, this book was really, really good. It had everything that I look for in my UF. It was dark, with a great main character, and awesome world. There were mysterious side characters, general craziness and lots of excitement. If you're a fellow UF reader, don't pass this book up.
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced