Daring You To Read...Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

I've enjoyed Seanan McGuire's writing since I first discovered ROSEMARY AND RUE, the first book in her October Daye series. I was immediately drawn into this amazing world populated by some really cool characters and filled with some truly brilliant mythology. Toby is a fae half-breed who's lived a hard life. She's spent time on the street who became a knight-errant from the Duchy of Shadowed Hills. She was turned into a fish but finally got back to her changeling self, only to find that life had gone on without her. She ends up in a self-imposed exile in San Fransisco, stocking shelves in a grocery store, until she's called back to the fae world by the murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the people she knew before her transformation.

Here's the scoop on the October Daye world, in the author's own words (from her website):

Faerie has always been with us. The fairy tales, ballads, and folklore of the mortal world are only shadows of the true, sometimes terrible reality of the fae. They survive in secrecy, keeping their Courts in the places where the light doesn't fall, existing in parallel to the world we know. They aren't human. They don't want to be. But sometimes they take human lovers, and sometimes, those unions are fertile ones. Changelings aren't stolen children; they're the mortal halfbreeds born where the fae and human worlds collide, never able to fully belong to either, outsiders from birth.

October Daye knows too well how cruel Faerie can be to its changeling children. Born in San Francisco and carried to the Summerlands by her pureblood mother when she was just a child, she was raised in a world that never seemed capable of understanding her. She ran away the moment the opportunity presented itself, only to find that the human world wasn't any better.

Things have been going downhill from there.

She describes it way better than I could have so I figured it was far better to borrow her words. :)

Other reasons I adore this book and series? Strong characterization, fantastic world building, genius plots, and brilliant writing. There are all these bits of humour amidst the danger and stress, which I always enjoy. And all of the Toby books are named from lines in Shakespeare plays, which is really cool (and honestly something I didn't realize until I read it on her website because I'm not that fancy). I swear, if I ever get to meet the lovely Ms. McGuire, I'm going to fangirl squee in a most unbecoming way because I adore her work. The Toby Daye series is by far my favourite but I think you could try anything by her and love it.

Want more? I bet you do! Here's the cover copy for ROSEMARY AND RUE:

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.

Read an excerpt

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

And here's the rest of the series. Some of the covers are hotlinked to my posts. :) Note that CHIMES OF MIDNIGHT won't be available until September.

Daring You To Read is a weekly feature here on Tynga’s Reviews where we dare you to read some of our favorite older releases (at least 6 months old). All the books/series we choose to feature are titles we adored and think you should give them a shot! We think it’s a super awesome way to discover that special book who might have slipped off your radar!

What do you think? Have you read this series? Are you willing to accept my dare?

Posted by jenn at 06:07

 Daring You to Read, Fey/Faeries, Penguin, Seanan McGuire  6 People left their mark

Born and raised in the Toronto area, Jenn moved to St. John's, Newfoundland, eight years ago for school. She's still in school (thankfully on another degree!), now trapped in her dissertation. When she's not dissertating, which happens more often than it should, Jenn spends her time reading, watching movies, playing volleyball, travelling, and enjoying the local music scene. Her latest addictions: yoga and Almond Crunch cereal.