Boy, does this book start out on such a high note and then crash shortly thereafter. I absolutely loved Toby’s “Party With Friends to Celebrate Her Engagement to Tybalt” (I hate both the terms “bachelorette party” and “hen party”) at the local bar, especially when it entails the Luidheag singing Disney at the karoake machine.
The music started. I felt the blood run out of my face, leaving me cold.
“Oh, oak and ash,” I said. “This isn’t happening.”
I wasn’t the only to have that thought. Quentin pushed through the crowd to stand on my other side….
“That’s the Luidaeg,” he said, sounding dazed.
“Uh huh,” I agreed.
“That’s the Luidaeg, singing ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls.’ In a karaoke bar. In front of other people.
“Uh huh,” I agreed again. Doing anything else seemed impossible. Well, except for maybe drinking my beer. Drinking my beer, I could do. I drank some of my beer.
The Luidaeg did not disappear. The Luidaeg remained on the stage, belting out the sea witch’s song from Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid.’ Given that the Luidaeg IS the sea witch according to every legend I’ve ever heard, the overall effect was more than a little jarring.
“We’re gonna need more beer,” said Danny.
Truth be told, this is the scene that got my mother convinced to read the series; my laughing that hard got her curious. But of course, as soon as Toby has a shot at having a good time, Amandine has to come along to ruin it; that woman has to be one of the most detestable people in the series, and that’s saying something. What kind of woman kidnaps her future son-in-law and he daughter’s Fetch’s partner to blackmail said daughter into finding her eldest daughter? I know the Fae aren’t always perfect, but surely they can occasionally stop being jerks (I’d quote Deadpool about Ajax in the movie right now, but I know Cannonball really wants profanity at the minimum). And of course, to be able to find August (the aforementioned daughter), Toby has to go to Shadowed Hills to wake up Simon. Which sets off Luna (wow, another one!), which of course upsets Sylvester, who’s entire life is making Luna happy at the expense of practically anyone else (the loathed characters just keep adding up, don’t they?), so he does something reprehensible. If you had told me at the beginning of the series that the Torquill brother who turned Toby into a fish and stuck her in a pond in the Japanese Tea Gardens would be not only the more likable but the one who treats Toby far better, I would have laughed in your face. But during this book that fact comes closer and closer to the surface. Which is great, because it then evens out the family: Toby and Simon are likable and actually reasonable, Amy and August are spoiled brats who need to get slapped like their mamas never slapped them. August has caused more problems for people (and more death) than anyone would think, and all in the end she thinks about is how it all affects her.
Which doesn’t take away from the fact that the book, while not my favorite, is still enjoyable. Amy, Sylvester, Luna and August aside, there are appearances from a lot of old favorites: Dianda, May, Quentin, Raj, Etienne, Jin, Acacia. And another familiar face makes a reappearance: Officer Thornton, whose reappearance brings far more headaches in the future than Toby can see now. One new one though is a mixed joy: Poppy the Pixie is the manic innocent who is great here but would probably get real old in small doses. I appreciated how McGuire weaves in all the times Toby and August either ran into each other, or almost did over the course of the series, that now the reader and Toby can see looking back.
And the ending to this tale, once August is back and Jazz and Tybalt are free from Amy? Well, to put it bluntly, no one can fuck you up quite like family.
Much as it pained me to admit it, I would probably have been even happier hitting her with the baseball bat again, sending her into a serene slumber. She deserved a little hitting. Sadly, it would just have distressed Simon, who didn’t seem to appreciate me beating his child to a pulp. Amateur.
Sometimes I wonder what it would feel like to have a normal family. Not that anyone I know actually has one.