cas_reads_anything 's review for:

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

3.5

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

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This makes me nostalgic for the urban fantasy boom a few years ago. The first installment of the October Daye series, Rosemary and Rue was unexpectedly dark from the very first chapter. The main character is knocked down, hurt, or almost killed nearly every chapter and while the main mystery of the book is resolved, there are no happy endings. I enjoyed McGuire’s version of faerie and the weaving of various myths throughout the story, and October Daye has a strong voice that makes spending time with her enjoyable. Still, the plot was repetitive throughout the middle third or so of the book and the pacing could be improved. It also felt very urban fantasy protagonist to have a half-human who can’t seem to stop themselves from stumbling into poor faerie based decisions. I’ve heard that this series gets a lot stronger from book 3 on & I enjoyed this entry enough to make me pick up the next to see if that’s true.