Review: Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire ★★★★1/2

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

Genre: Urban Fantasy (romantic elements, Celtic mythology, faeries, murder mystery)

Series: Book one in the October Daye series

Original Language: English
Publisher: DAW
Country: USA
Publication Date: September 2009
ISBN: 978-0756405717
Page Count: 368

My Rating: ★★★★★

Summary

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.

REVIEW

This was a very easy book to get into. From the opening scene I knew I would like October Daye. She's funny without being an annoying smart ass. She's brave but knows her limitations. And although she doesn't like all the pomp and circumstance of the Faerie courts, she knows how to be respectful when she needs to be. She was just very likeable.

The world-building an plot were a little harder to wrap my mind around. It seems quite complex, and we've only just scratched the surface. And some of the ideas were a bit weird, too. Still, it well-written weirdness, and I imagine the richness of the world-building once I'm better used to it will only serve to make this series one of the greats.

It was predominately a murder mystery plot, but with lots of seeds of intrigue planted throughout involving October's own back story. In particular one major event that happened six months prior to the start of this book which was very intriguing, to put it mildly

There was no romance involved per se, but I see potential so this may be something that develops as the series goes on.

4.5 stars! ★★★★1/2