This was the book that almost made me stop reading the October Daye series the first time I read it, still hated it the second time I read, and the third time is no better. It’s not just that this is one of the most dark and depressing books in the series (though it is), it’s not just that the entire book comes across as Toby being constantly behind the eight ball; it’s just bleak and disturbing and not the least bit fun to read about someone getting kicked almost constantly in the teeth, metaphorically at least. I can appreciate how truly Irish a lot of Toby’s world is; this book is where it truly becomes apparent how much of the Fae lore Seanan is drawing from is from Irish folklore. I also love the continuation of McGuire pulling out the more obscure Fae; not only are there tree dryads, but now there are rose bush dryads.
The one thing that kept me going through this book was the fact that I know how the story goes from here, so I know that there’s light at the end of the tunnel; it’s a while before that light becomes an incoming train again.
Pros of this book:
This is the book that introduces Raj.
More Luidheag; never enough Luidheag.
No matter what may occur in the next couple of books, this is where I truly believe Toby and Tybalt started their march to Endgame.
Toby, as beaten down as she is, stays the sarcastic woman who punches higher than she probably should.
The appearance of May.
Cons:
What the appearance of May means for Toby.
Blind Michael.
Everyone gets kicked in the teeth
Connor; why does there have to be Connor.
The beginning of the end of any tolerance I ever had for Luna.
The beginning of my dislike for Sylvester.
The first breaking of Quentin’s heart.
The slow beginning of the tragedy of the Brown Family.
The continuation of the belief that Toby is apparently a Timex watch, she “takes a licking and keeps on ticking”. There is a really bad habit of some people in this series to take that just because Toby is a Hero of the Realm, she doesn’t feel, she doesn’t bleed, and she most certainly doesn’t have any lasting emotional scars from what she does.