Thursday, July 18, 2013

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
2009, DAW BOOKS Inc
Series: Book 1 of October Daye

Synopsis: October "Toby" Daye, a changeling who is half human and half fae, has been an outsider from birth. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the Faerie world, retreating to a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, the Faerie world has other ideas...

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant and renew old alliances. As she steps back into fae society, dealing with a cast of characters not entirely good or evil, she realizes that more than her own life will be forfeited if she cannot find Evening's killer.


The Good: Rosemary and Rue had a few unexpected twists and turns in its story. Glamor taking a toll, magic working easier in the darkness of night, and things of that nature made the world take on a certain rule-following realism. I especially liked that Toby had been away from the world for so long, literally making her a fish out of water once she returned.

The Bad: The premise of the October Daye series is just too familiar. A fae changeling outsider, private investigator? If you change changeling to princess you have Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series - with less sex. Both series stick closely to the old fae myths and legends, which is good for storytelling, but makes the series remarkably similar. While I liked Toby, her life was almost the same as Merry's - if Merry was celibate. And unfortunately, there seemed to be a glaring neon sign above the killer throughout the novel, making the reveal bland.

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