Customer Reviews

Rosemary and Rue (October Daye, Book 1)

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Many and several moons ago, my housemate asked me if I'd be interested in reading a new book. This is something similar to asking a cat if she would like more catnip. After receiving my enthused yes, she gave me more details. The author needed people who were not already familiar with her work to do a quick, but thorough, read-through and provide feedback, all inside of a week.

This lay well within my skill-set, and was my first introduction to Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire. I caught one small continuity detail, but beyond that I was fairly limited in feedback beyond: Book good. And it was.

Well, I'm not sure how many revisions there have been between that version and the version I received in ARC form, but let me tell you, this book has gone from "Book good" to "Book AMAZING!"

For those reading this who like comparisons to other series. Quality-wise, I believe that Rosemary and Rue compares favorably with both the first book of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, and with the first book of the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton.

The main character, October 'Toby' Daye, is a changeling. This leaves her caught between the realms of Faerie and the mortal world, with obstacles and craziness from both being heaped on her head throughout Rosemary and Rue. Toby's journey through this book is precipitated by the murder of an old friend, and a very pressing obligation to solve that murder.

It's difficult writing a review, because I want to talk on and on about all the twists and turns, all the fascinating secondary characters, and the delight I had in seeing so much being set up for the subsequent books. At the same time, I don't want to give any spoilers, simply because Rosemary and Rue brings wonderful discoveries of Toby's world on every page. The degree of detail going on in the background, as she is moved forward by action scene after action scene, is just lovely.

Toby and her world feel real to me. I can picture her San Francisco, with Kelpies lurking on corners, and knowes hidden in the most unlikely of places. If someone had asked me before this book about doors into Faerie existing within a city, I would've scoffed. However, Seanan strikes the right balance between the gritty, mundane world of mortals and the otherworldliness of Faerie, and makes it seem natural and right where the two intersect.

Honestly, I can't say enough good things about the world-building. How the rules of Faerie make sense, and how you glimpse threads of the broader tapestry. I believe that Toby is dealing with a world of immortal beings, with complex and intertwining stories, loves and hates, jealousies and loyalties. Toby struggles, and I believe both in the struggles and that she will find a way through, with the help of her friends, and by relying on her own wits. Toby has been hurt by her past, but she is strong, and is capable of change to face her new realities. Seanan has me rooting for Toby throughout this book, gasping and cringing and wincing and cheering by turns. I think that is the biggest change, from the previous version I read to this one, that I can and do believe that Toby will hold her own in this precarious and deadly world.

So, September 1st, get thee to the nearest bookstore and buy a copy of Rosemary and Rue. If you love story, strong heroines, and a very folklore-based take on Faerie, you'll adore this book.

I am a great fan of writing and reading stories about protagonists in a heap of trouble digging themselves out to win the day. Rosemary and Rue is exactly that kind of book. In less than the first 100 pages, October "Toby" Daye, a half-breed Daoine Sidhe and former street kid, is cursed twice, loses everything she holds dear, winds up in a job she hates and has an unpleasant encounter with the King of Cats. Frankly, if I were Toby and I met Seanan on the street, I would punch her.

Yes, I really loved this book. Toby is a flawed protagonist in all of the right ways. She is scared, hurt, angry, and forced to do things she would have done anyway but resents the power that is forcing her to do exactly that. Every person Toby turns to for help she knows she cannot trust. Every person who loves Toby is hurt by this lack of trust. But, honestly, the reader cannot fault Toby. She is acting in a logical and emotional-if reactionary-manner to everything that is happening to and around her.

One of the best parts about Rosemary and Rue is the fact that while it is one step into the world of the Fey, changelings, pixies, trolls, and goblins, there is still a true sense of reality. Having once lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the story is set, I can imagine the world of Oberon's court just beyond visible sight. The places are real. The emotions are real. The pain, loss, and infrequent joys are real. So real that sometimes this is a hard book to read. Fortunately, it is a harder book to put down.

Seanan McGuire's funny, raw, and engaging style of writing has put her at the top of my "new favorite authors" pile. I highly recommend Rosemary and Rue as a fantastic debut novel and eagerly wait to see what comes next both in this series and from the author.

I walked away from this book with conflicting feelings. The idea for the plot was great, but the execution was somewhat flawed. October Daye is a changeling - a half blood Dioine Sidhe with fairly weak powers inherited from her mother's powerful line. She built a good life for herself in the mortal realm, living with a man and her little girl, and doing PI work for both the regular people and fey. When her liege lord's wife and daughter suddenly disappear, she is on the case to find them, but gets caught and cruelly punished by being turned into a fish. The spell holding her prisoner lasts 14 years and when she finally awakens, she finds that the world has moved on and without being able to fully deal with what happened - shuts herself out from everything and everyone. That all changes with a frantic call and subsequent brutal murder of one the closest people from her past, Evening Winterrose. Now, Toby is on the case to find her friend's murderer, which leads her straight into the cruel and wondrous world she tried to forget. But did it forget about her?

As I mentioned above, for anyone who likes Urban Fantasy, the storyline is bound to draw you in. Unfortunately, there were a few problems that made this book difficult to read at times. Some of my explanations are a bit detailed, but I tried not to give away any spoilers:

1. Being a respected PI, Toby did not appear to be very good at detective work. Throughout the book she visited multiple people/locations to try to find some clues for her investigation, but she literally learned nothing new for the majority of the book. All the while, random creatures kept trying to kill her, which should've added to the suspense if she actually learned anything prior to being shot. For example, her visit to Evening's knowe was completely useless, other than for the weird encounter with Connor, and those pages didn't add anything to the story. Also Luna's subsequent insistence that she visit Luidaeg next, was too convenient considering that Toby just ran out of ideas. Due to these issues, the story did not flow as smoothly as it should have.

2. Toby appeared to waste more time explaining the story than living it. She seemed to know or understand everything about almost every creature she's encountered, hence it felt like I spent more time listening to her detailed explanations on habits/traditions/behavioral patterns than following Toby's story. I realize that this book needed a lot of back-story to introduce us to this new world, but I wish it was presented differently and Toby was not all-knowing all the time.

3. Most main characters were well developed, but some of the supporting characters felt more like filler material than interesting plot devices. Julie was one such, where we were briefly introduced to her, got two pages worth of back-story on how she knew Toby and then she became useless for the most part. I wish there were more characters like Dare and Manuel instead.
Also, there was too much repetition at times. For example, when Toby was talking to Connor in the garden, she changed the subject from an uncomfortable topic saying that she was hoping he would take the hint, and then a few lines down reiterated that he did take that transparent hint. I might be nitpicking, but due to these numerous repetitions the story did not flow smoothly for me.

4. Toby's personal relationships were a bit strange and inconsistent. First she says Connor and she separated because his family did not approve of changelings, but then a few chapters later she said she had her chance with Connor but refused it for Cliff. Why the inconsistency? Then her passive-aggressive relationship with Devin was odd as well and her confusion on the subject did not speak very highly of her. Considering that he used and abused her for most of the time they spent together, I couldn't understand why she went to him with open arms and almost no reservations. The tenderness she displayed from the start was difficult to comprehend.
Also, I could not understand why her human boyfriend turned his back on her after her miraculous reappearance. Considering that she said that she had amnesia and was missing for 14 years, I would expect a very different reaction. Same goes for her daughter.

Overall, I was intrigued with this world, and the ending definitely redeemed the story in my eyes (it was quite good). The author certainly dedicated a lot of time to world building, so hopefully the next book will have more consistent execution.

I am thrilled to have had the privilege to read and review an advance copy of 'Rosemary and Rue'.

Toby Daye is a 'changeling', the child of a fae mother and a human father. These mixed-race people, not fully accepted by the fae world, use magical disguises to pass as human and live quiet, 'normal' lives in a world that doesn't know they even exist.

Toby was a private investigator, working on cases that affected full-blooded fae and changelings. This career came to a sudden end when a case went horribly wrong and ended with Toby being enchanted and removed from the world for 14 years. In that time, her human husband moved on with his life, her changeling daughter grew up without her, and Toby has returned to a world that she barely understands.

She attempts to build a new, quiet life working menial jobs and living hand to mouth, refusing to return to doing the investigations that destroyed her life. This situation changes when a fae friend is murdered and Toby agrees (under some duress) to solve the case and avenge the death.

I don't want to say more because this is a story you should discover for yourself. The world is so real, the characters so well-written, that you will feel like you live there.

The book is the first in a trilogy but don't worry, the story didn't end with a cliffhanger. The story was complete in itself, the mystery was solved...and future occurrences were hinted at in a manner that lets me think I may have an idea what's coming without leaving me hanging. Knowing that this is book one in a trilogy means only that I came away smiling in anticipation, knowing that I will have two more opportunities to immerse myself in this fabulous world with these wonderful characters.

Lucky you, you have THREE opportunities. You will get to meet Toby for the first time in September, and then you will anticipate the future books with the same pleasure I do.

I'm pretty picky with series books. Combine a serious case of Too-Many-Books syndrome with a general preference for originality over "comfort" reading, and you get a reader who'll happily abandon a series after one book if that book can't evoke any reaction beyond, "Yeah, that was pretty good."

Happily, Rosemary and Rue, the first published novel by Seanan McGuire, is more than pretty good. (Full disclosure: Seanan's a friend, but I'm trying my best to not let that affect my judgement.) R&R is the first book featuring private investigator October Daye. October - Toby to her friends - is a changeling, daughter of a human father and a powerful Daoine Sidhe mother. In the Prologue, a case goes horribly wrong, with disastrous consequences for Toby. When we see her again, she's abandoned her career and withdrawn from all her friends, scraping by in the human world, wanting only to be left alone.

You can't, as the song says, always get what you want. An old friend (if that's the right term), Evening Winterrose, Countess of Goldengreen, is murdered, and uses a dying curse to force Toby to investigate and bring the killer to justice. (Which means Evening is Sidhe Who Must Be Obeyed, Daoine think?) So the story is both urban fantasy and a detective story, and succeeds at both.

The things that most matter to me in a book, that draw me in if done well, are world building, characterization, and humor. McGuire is strong in all of those areas. Toby's fae-riddled San Francisco, and the Faerie lands and courts she visits, are rich with detail, often beautiful, sometimes frightening. There are different races, and mixes of races, at every turn, and McGuire has obviously not only done plenty of research, but thought about the personalities and interactions within this diversity. (I hope that at some future point, she explores the politics of pure-blood vs. mixed-blood lines within the courts.) It gave me a moment's pause when I encountered a Kitsune among this mostly European-derived population, but then, if the Sidhe could cross the Atlantic and the North American continent, why couldn't a Kitsune cross the Pacific?

The characters are varied, interesting, and often sympathetic. Toby herself is, by turns, noble, prickly, snarky, guilt-ridden, smart, and very, very foolish. I don't know that I'd ever care to meet her, but I liked reading about her, and by the end, I cared what happened to her. And there are a number of supporting characters I'll be happy to encounter again.

The humor comes mainly from the snark. A number of the characters, Toby in particular, know how to turn a funny/sarcastic phrase. I didn't actually laugh out loud until I read Tybalt's note in the preview of A Local Habitation, the second Toby book, but I smiled and chuckled several times. It's a welcome bit of leavening in what's often a grim story. (I admit, however, to a bit of skepticism that a Selkie noble, who has apparently lived his entire life in the Summerlands, would use the word "semiprofessionally" in casual conversation.)

Another strength is the richness of Toby's backstory. As of the start of this book, she's already had a tumultuous, accomplished life. She has a set of friends, enemies, and those in between who'll no doubt continue to affect her life. A number of past events are alluded to, with the indication that we may learn more about them in future books.

Finally, R&R is about more than the detective plot. It's about re-establishing connections, dealing with guilt, and (to steal a phrase from the book) finding the way home. This adds a depth, a feeling of meaning, that far too many series books lack.

R&R isn't a perfect book. McGuire (via Toby's first person narration) sometimes includes recaps of what's just gone before, which isn't necessary. I wish Toby had been a bit more active at times, less willing to have others tell her what to do. (Granted, there were reasons for it, but still.) I wanted to know more about (excuse the vagueness) how the villain of the piece knew about the existence of the MacGuffin and performed a key bit of magic. I didn't quite accept the delay in following the final key piece of evidence.

But the bottom line is simple: I'm going to buy A Local Habitation when it comes out next March. I want to spend more time getting to know October Daye and her world. Which is more than I can say for either Harry Dresden or Sookie Stackhouse.

Someone needs to make an "Urban Fantasy Map" showing where all the "convergence points" are... where Faeire realms touch our world and heroes (sometimes reluctantly) protect we mere mortals from supernatural dangers. There's Harry Dresden in Chicago; Connor Grey in Boston; Kate Daniels in Atlanta; and many more.

Add a new pin to the map. Meet October (Toby) Daye, resident of San Francisco. She's a changeling... half human, half faerie. She's an ex-Private Eye. Or at least she wants to be. After her last case went horribly wrong, Toby wanted to leave the Faerie world behind, and fade into obscurity. Just be human.

But she finds being human isn't so easy. Especially when she listens to a message on her answering machine and gets pulled into the middle of a mystery. And she has to solve it. She has no choice. If she doesn't... she dies.

Author Seanan McGuire has built a very rich and complex Faerie world. The fey have always been here. But they live in secret, disguising themselves with spells so that they appear human. And they come in many forms and flavors. I'm familiar with Celtic and Fairy mythology, so I was familiar with many of them. But some of McGuire's races are unique, and all of them are interesting.

I enjoyed this book a lot, and look forward to reading more by this author.

Welcome to the map, Toby.

Things this book does not have:
-swashbuckling
-sordid details of intimate encounters
-an upbeat viewpoint character
-easy magic that does sparkly amazing things
-wholesome, warm notions about home, family, and trust
-teenaged hero/ine/s who lament how nobody understands them
-a tangible, ever-present, evil protagonist
-stickin' it to the man
-a romance that stands the test of time, distance, or cross-species barriers
-a comfortable resolution in which everyone is happy

Things I like about this book:
-The author has obviously lived in the urban setting she's turned to Urban Fantasy. The city lives in the book, and the flavor of San Francisco is in every page.
-This is not an epic YA drama, a romance in disguise, or a soap opera. It's fairytale noir, no swooning included.
-The plot went new and unexpected places without trying to shock the heck out of me. That may sound vague, but I would actually prefer it if more books could manage plot twists without being suddenly horrifying or distasteful.

Sure, it's a fairly easy read. A page-turner, even. But it's not comfortable, or fluffy, or cut-and-dried. And it's not done. Though it moves fairly well and reaches a satisfactory end, it's one of those books where you're likely to go, "Well, crap" when you're reading rather than giving a contented sigh. Bad stuff happens. The world doesn't work easily for Toby. [I must note here that the book's world, though not fair or simple, operates stringently within its own rules. I didn't find any continuity errors or anything that stretched the bounds of the world consistently described within the pages.] As books go, I'm not ready to say that Rosemary and Rue is unmitigated awesome or redefining in its genre. It's good, it's worth reading, and it's of a higher caliber than a lot of the things out there. But I don't think we'll really see the breadth and depth of the world and its protagonist until more books come out. I hope March gets here soon.

Normally I can't say I hate a novel. Usually I just put a bad book down and never come back to it. Life is too short to read crap. I hated this book. I hated it because it didn't have to be hateful.

October Daye is stupid. She's weak. She has a good heart and a wannabe smart mouth. Unfortunately for her, the later two are par for the course with modern novel heroines. There is no excuse for the first two.

The weakness you learn from the Prologue when she utterly fails as a private investigator - a job she was supposedly rewarded for being good at. There is no evidence that she was ever good at her job throughout the book. A good PI is cynical, or at least open minded enough to believe that people are lying to them. October or Toby is a trusting fool. She's good with a telephoto lens, but again you'll have to take Toby's word on that.

She stinks at fighting and magic. Neither of those is enough to make her a bad character. In most novels a protagonist who's powerless would get a compensating factor, like an agile mind to make up for their shortcomings. Toby is lacking. She is such a bad judge of character that even though you should have suspicions about the bad guy's identity starting with his introduction (and should be positive of his identity half way through the book) October doesn't get it until the end.

There is a lot of "faffing about" in this book where the narrator wanders from one place and then back again slowly spiraling towards an answer that was obvious. Even here she's a lousy detective. Partly this is the author's fault. In an attempt to keep the action moving the heroine gets her ass kicked every time she goes somewhere new, leaving no time to actually search and discover.

The thing that ultimately makes the book such a heartbreaker is that it is all so unnecessary. The author clearly has a brain, she just doesn't want to give her character one. There is an interesting bit about how October can't learn to deal with a cell phone and we as the reader know that the bad guy keeps giving her one so he can track her via the GPS. That was a bit of brilliance, but it ends there.

McGuire's prose is easy to read and flows along nicely. Little details like the cell phone show a level of intelligence on her part. I just can't figure out why she thinks anyone would want to read about a weak, stupid protagonist. She's a fine writer but a terrible storyteller.

I kept thinking that the mistakes would lead to learning and character growth. It doesn't happen. October is just as dumb at the end as the beginning.

The conclusion is simply execrable. The pacing is off. Toby's lack of wit shines brightly. We are supposed to buy it because of what amounts to the author's because-I-said-so. It doesn't work on children. Why should it work on adults?

Rosemary and Rue is the first time I have read a SM novel. My feelings are mixed. I loved the world she created. The beginning of the book was excellent and held my attention. SM's world building skills are very good, as is her character development. The book is very detailed and easy to understand and read.

In the begging I liked the fact that October was not a gun packing, knife flinging warrior. She has human frailty that I could identify with. As the book progressed, I felt as though October was way out of her league. The full blooded fairies she is fighting are stronger physically and have a great deal more magic. They are so powerful and she is powerless. This leads to her getting changed into a fish for 14 years. She gets shot and beat up more times than I would care to count. October gets hurt too much. In addition to getting herself hurt, she gets others hurt and killed.

Also, I was uncomfortable with her relationship with Devin. I could completely understand that she had ties to this halfway house, and she went to Devin for help. October was abused by Devin as a teenager. What I did not like was her sexual arousal around Devin. He continues to abuse the youth in the halfway house, and October gets all sexually excited with him. It just did not sit well with me. The fact that a woman returns to her abuser for help was not the problem because she has no where else to go. The fact that she gets aroused around him was just unacceptable to me.

When I finished reading the book, I had mixed feelings. I did love the way SM wrote. I loved the world she created and the characters. I did get so frustrated with all the attacks on October, she was defenseless. And the Devin relationship made me uncomfortable. I still have not decided if I am going to read the next book in the series.

My first thought when reading the forward to Rosemary and Rue was "Oh no, this is going to be another cliche urban fantasy". I could not have been more wrong. That bad first impression, set-by a half-elf waiting around on a stakeout in a large modern city (been there done that in other books), is shattered at the end of the prologue by an event that is as unexpected as it is bad. You know immediately that the author is comfortable introducing likable characters and that really bizarre bad things happen to them.

The fantasy world is very close to our own. So, if you are looking for primarily a complex "parallel universe" (like Simon R. Green's Nightside) this is not the book for you. That is not to say that the elf world is not memorable and unique. The magical parts of the book are vivid and very unique.

If you are a fan of urban fantasies, know that the building of the lead character is what sets this book in a league of its own. There are some very memorable characters in this genre, Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden is the obvious leader of the pack because of his witty dialog and there are some good books where you follow an interesting outsider making their way around an urban fantasy world (like Thurman's Cal Leandros books) but no author crafts an interesting outsider this well. Because the author is paying attention to what is going on inside of the character's head, the pace is a bit slow compared to a typical urban fantasy, but it still scoots right along and you will be up half the night to find out "who done it."