4.5 stars
This is book eight in the October Daye series, and as such, NOT a great place to start reading the books. If you want to start at the beginning, Rosemary and Rue is the book you’re looking for. It is also, by this point, completely impossible for me to review the book without some spoilers for earlier books in the series. You may therefore want to skip this review until you’ve caught up, if you’re worried about that sort of thing.
You’d think things would finally be looking up for October “Toby” Daye, changeling knight, rescuer of lost children. There is finally a Queen of the Mists that actually likes her, she’s discovered the true identity of her squire and her relationship is just getting stronger. Then the man she’s feared and hated ever since he abducted her liege lord’s wife and daughter and transformed her into a fish for over a decade, ruining the life she once had, turns up on her doorstep and claims he needs her help. She also discovers that Simon Torquill is a much more significant person in her life than she ever imagined, and that he believes he was saving her life by merely making her a carp in the Japanese Tea Gardens. His mysterious employer actually wanted him to kill Toby.
Toby wants nothing to do with Simon Torquill and is terrified that his return means that her liege, Sylvester, or his family are in danger. As it turns out, unless she manages to identify who Simon’s sinister employer is, all those she loves might perish. Her enemy is someone from her past, but much more dangerous and ruthless than Toby ever imagined.
Full review.