Another amazing yet infuriating book in this series. I feel like I've been saying that about the last three books, but the villains are all so horrible and incredibly easy to hate lol. Amandine is the literal worst and it is entirely incomprehensible to me that she doesn't understand why Toby hates her, but I guess purebloods just be like that sometimes all the time. Also Seanan, how dare you make me fall in love with Simon???? What is this??? I didn't sign up for Simon Torquill feels and yet you've given me more than I can handle. I mean I never really hated him, but that was more like 'ok he's the silver tongued asshole twin and he's a total douche but he's probably fun at parties' kind of thing and not like ...actually making him relatable. You never know what to expect with this series lol

Just when things seem to be normal, the doorbell rings and in walks your mother. The next thing you know, two of your inner circle are taken hostage and you have to find your missing sister, August to save them. Only August has been missing for a hundred years… where to begin?

Amandine the Liar is wickedly scary…like mommy dearest scary. She rips people out of Toby’s life and demands she find her true daughter. From the first chapter, I was all in and devoured this in just a few sittings.

It was hard. People we care about get hurt, Toby will have to pay, and some who harmed her are redeemed. We will travel the road by candlelight again and there will be danger and bargains met before it is all done.

McGuire’s work has made me grow attached to these characters. Not all those in fairy are to be feared, but their games and nonsense hurt the innocent. The more we learn, the more I understand why Toby stepped up and became the hero she is.

The story wraps up nicely, but we know danger is just around the corner. Mary Robinette Kowal has become the voices of these characters, from the Sea Witch to Quentin. She enhances this already brilliant storyline and I highly recommend listening. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

4.5

This series just gets better and better! I rather liked getting to see Simon in a new light and to learn more about the Torquil history. This book did leave a few questions unanswered and I'm hoping future books will delve into those areas. I'd love to find out how August survived all those year on her own for instance. Looking forward to reading the next book!

I love the series, but this particular book really didn’t resonate with me. It feels to me like there’s typically some light in a Toby Daye book to balance the darkness, but I didn’t see that in this book.

ETA: After finishing the next book in the series, everything that started here really plays a huge role in the flow of that book, so it all makes more sense now.

4.5 stars happily rounded up.
Damn have I missed being with Toby and the gang. I last read a book in this series back in 2017, I was caught up once I swear! I appreciated that the start of the book had a what has happened so far kind of intro. Made it easier to remember what was going on after my hiatus from the series. Also helpful was that this one started with Toby's bachelorette party so I got to see a bunch of people early on. The Sea Witch singing poor unfortunate souls at said party made my day!

"Being your friend is like trying to get up close and personal with a natural disaster," she said. "Sure, we have some good times, but we spend half of them covered in blood. We just want to spend an evening making you as uncomfortable as you keep making the rest of us."

Toby has a messed up blood family, but her made family is a rather special one. She's learnt to rely on people and I enjoyed this quest even if I hated the need for it. We got a lot of details about certain characters and why people do the things they do.

"What I did, I did for the best of reasons. That doesn't forgive it. If anything, that makes it worse, that a good man might become a villain thinking himself a hero in his heart."

The April O'Leary novella at the end was also good and changes a bunch of things. Its an important one and I am glad it was added to the end of the book as it isn't one that should be missed. It was neat being inside the head of the AI type dryad. Love getting different view points and stories existing outside of October's crazy life.

The only thing keeping this from being a true 5 star book for me was I missed Tybalt. Having him taken so early in the book was sad as I love having him on page. Jumping straight into the next one.

Ok, this one was more exciting to me than many of the previous ones. I liked 1) quests, 2) learning more Luidaeg backstory, 3) more showing-not-telling of Amandine's jerk-faced-ness, 4) a legit redemption arc for Simon, 5) exploration of Toby's humanity/faeness, 6) August's existence, and her mastery of magic.
I did not like 1) people keep calling her Amy, and that is not new in this book but it seems historically and characterizationally inappropriate and I hate it, 2) I still do not get most of Toby's knee jerk reactions, 3) I still don't care about any of the romantic relationships, 4) August's personality.

Things I loved: The April novella tucked at the end of the book. DANG.

I loved this book, but I already loathed Amandine, and have yet to come across a character that I hated more than August. What a stupid, spoiled, Stone-cold b***h!
Damn good writing to get me to have such strong feelings about the characters though.

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Having read the first book and skipping the next 9 books in the series, I was a bit worried about being lost in terms of backstory and characters. Turns out, this book is a standalone in many ways. Anything of import from previous books are given a brief explanation as to the who, whats, whys, etc... The grand adventure in this book has Toby apart from many of the other characters in the book.

I do have to say that this book was far more enjoyable for me than the first one. I guess I'm more ok with expository backstory than I am with expository set up for a series. But the former is often needed in the story being read and the latter almost reeks of desperation. I do also think that it has a lot to do with the author really getting better at her craft. She's built up a pretty incredible world and cast of characters.

It's a rollicking adventure story that had actual consequences for characters.

It's hard to say how hardcore fans will feel about the story, since I haven't read the 9 books in between. But I can say that if you haven't read the series before, you're not missing much if you jump right in here. If anything, it makes you want to read some other books within the series.

I suppose my biggest issue is still Seanan's love of telling instead of showing.