![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
This review comes with two disclaimers and a warning. The warning is that I got to read a copy, but the book I'm writing about isn't due out until September first. The first disclaimer is that I know the author, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
seanan_mcguire, and consider her a friend. And the second is that I can only try to produce a coherent review; I normally don't post about the books I read, or if I do, just short 'enjoyed X' or 'just finished X' or 'reading X' things; nothing useful. The exception is a rare book so thoroughly, horribly awful that I can take a perverse joy in shredding it.
I can't fall back on that skill here, because Rosemary and Rue is not only not horrible, it's incredibly good. It's a modern urban fantasy, or perhaps urban myth; Toby Daye is a changeling, belonging neither entirely to the human world nor to the faerie world. It's a murder mystery, one that Toby would rather not have had to work on. And if you want a better description of it, the writeup on Seanan's website has the back cover writeup, which is ever so much more coherent than I am.
I enjoyed this book a lot. Toby - for want of a better way to put it, Toby strikes me as very, very real. (Yes, I appreciate the irony of saying that about a changeling. It is nonetheless very true.) She's strong, she's capable, but she's not superman. And she's in a deep pile of you-know-what and trying to somehow get through it. Watching her struggle with everything she faces is fascinating.
The other characters - I'll let them introduce themselves to you - are just as well drawn and believable. The world of faerie, and those who occupy it, is intricate and fascinating. And seeing it through Toby's rather disaffected eyes is both informative and entertaining.
Some authors manage character or plot. In this case, we've got both; the plot is just as well-handled as the characters are, and it's amazing what I spot on a re-read once I know what was really going on.
If you like urban fantasy, if you like the fae, if anything I've said intrigues you - check with your favorite bookstore (either in advance, or come September). This one's worth stalking. (Note: stalk the book. I am not suggesting the book merits stalking people. Please do not creep out your friendly neighborhood bookstore. :)
seanan_mcguire, and consider her a friend. And the second is that I can only try to produce a coherent review; I normally don't post about the books I read, or if I do, just short 'enjoyed X' or 'just finished X' or 'reading X' things; nothing useful. The exception is a rare book so thoroughly, horribly awful that I can take a perverse joy in shredding it.I can't fall back on that skill here, because Rosemary and Rue is not only not horrible, it's incredibly good. It's a modern urban fantasy, or perhaps urban myth; Toby Daye is a changeling, belonging neither entirely to the human world nor to the faerie world. It's a murder mystery, one that Toby would rather not have had to work on. And if you want a better description of it, the writeup on Seanan's website has the back cover writeup, which is ever so much more coherent than I am.
I enjoyed this book a lot. Toby - for want of a better way to put it, Toby strikes me as very, very real. (Yes, I appreciate the irony of saying that about a changeling. It is nonetheless very true.) She's strong, she's capable, but she's not superman. And she's in a deep pile of you-know-what and trying to somehow get through it. Watching her struggle with everything she faces is fascinating.
The other characters - I'll let them introduce themselves to you - are just as well drawn and believable. The world of faerie, and those who occupy it, is intricate and fascinating. And seeing it through Toby's rather disaffected eyes is both informative and entertaining.
Some authors manage character or plot. In this case, we've got both; the plot is just as well-handled as the characters are, and it's amazing what I spot on a re-read once I know what was really going on.
If you like urban fantasy, if you like the fae, if anything I've said intrigues you - check with your favorite bookstore (either in advance, or come September). This one's worth stalking. (Note: stalk the book. I am not suggesting the book merits stalking people. Please do not creep out your friendly neighborhood bookstore. :)