Title: Rosemary and Rue (October Daye #1)
Author: Seanan McGuire
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: Sept 1, 2009
Review Date: March 29, 2022
Number of Pages: 346
My Rating: 4.5/5
Buy here:
The plot is really tight and fast paced throughout, and there isn’t a dull moment anywhere. McGuire has the skill to make any sort of scene interesting and suffused with emotion.
Book Blurb:
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.
Book Review:
I’ve come across Seanan McGuire and her lovely books in many recommendations, both online and via personal recommendations. I never got around to reading any though, till now. I picked up Rosemary and Rue and I was drawn in from the very beginning.
The plot is really tight and fast paced throughout, and there isn’t a dull moment anywhere. McGuire has the skill to make any sort of scene interesting and suffused with emotion.
October Daye is sometimes a passive protagonist, driven by what is happening to her. As the book proceeds we realise that it is integral to her growth as a character to evolve into taking a more active role in her life. The author handles this transition very well, and it made me feel even more invested in the outcome. By the end of the book, she’s grown as a person too, and just like Daye, I too, am anticipating the future – by reading the next book in the series!
The ending was quite satisfying in terms of the main arc. To be fair, it wasn’t a layered plot, if that makes sense, but that didn’t make it any less interesting or entertaining. The book did set up a lot of new threads that successive books will address and elaborate on, so it’s okay.
In my mind, since this book is the kickoff point for a long series, it makes sense to focus on worldbuilding and clarifying societal rules and the magic system. That’s why I was fine with the arc not being very elaborate, since I am sufficiently intrigued by the other plotlines that have been hinted it. Intrigued enough to get the next book immediately and kickoff my (very possible) Seanan McGuire fangirling. It’s about time.
Recommended for:
Fans of urban fantasy. A great starting point people who want to start reading Seanan McGuire and don’t know where to dive in (I was in the same boat). Fans of fantasy in general, especially if you love FAERIES!
A very well written review! Keep it up!
Thank you so much! Have you read Seanan McGuire?