Rosemary and Rue

An October Daye Novel, Book 1

By: Seanan McGuire

Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal

The world of Faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie’s survival—but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October “Toby” Daye, rejecting it completely.

After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a “normal” life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas. The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening’s dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby is forced to resume her old position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only hope of solving the mystery...before the curse catches up with her.

©2010 Seanan McGuire (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Well researched, sharply told, highly atmospheric and as brutal as any pulp detective tale, this promising start to a new urban fantasy series is sure to appeal to fans of Jim Butcher or Kim Harrison." ( Publishers Weekly)

Narrator Notes

At first, I really didn't like the narrator, but grew accustomed to her voice. It helps that the story was so well done. This is a re-read for me, I did the series on my Kindle and have switched to audio for this re-read.

My only complaint is that I don't care for the vocalization of Tybalt. I hope the narrator changes the voice as the series (and his character) develops.

If you can in there it gets better

the first part of this book was reeeally slow and didnt make much sense but if you can hang in there thoough, it gets quite good about half way in.

Surprising good read

I wasn't expecting to get caught up in this book, but was very pleasantly surprised. It's a good book to listen to while working.

Excellent Read

Loved the book. interesting take on the fairie mythology. Loved the in-depth character development. "AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

a great story

I had this in my que for a while. I'm upset with myself that I didn't get to this sooner. Great story with a down to earth lead character that is very relatable

Not amazing but fine

The asian accent was a bit cringe but most of my issues were about the story.

Narrator did ok

I love Toby & gang. I have been (re-)reading since 2014. This was my first time on audio. Narrator did ok, Tybalt's voice especially jarred me.

Just wonderful!

I am an unabashed fan of Seanan McGuire's "October Daye" series and I can't tell you how pleased I am at Mary Robinette Kowal's performance. Her reading really brings the book to life. I will be happy to listen to this audio book again and again.

Awesome story - killed by the narrator

Would you be willing to try another one of Mary Robinette Kowal’s performances?

Nope. As long as she's just doing the normal voice and narration it's fine but her "voices" are horribly distracting. I almost turned it off during the "Japanese" accented conversation between Toby & Lily.

Any additional comments?

Oak and ash, the voices... please for the love of Maeve, just STOP with the Japanese accent. The narration just about ruined this book for me. I love love love this series, I own them all in print already, just got this so I could "re-read" the series during my commute. I shouldn't have bothered, since i just sit in my car in traffic and make horrible pained faces and yell at the iPod (who knows what the other commuters must think).

If you're thinking about reading this - and I highly recommend that you do - READ it in print, skip the poor narration and just read it yourself.

Y*A*W*N

Is there anything you would change about this book?

It started slow and stayed that way through most of the book. Lack of description of the types of Fae referenced. It had good potential.

Would you ever listen to anything by Seanan McGuire again?

Debatable

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

She was ok.

Do you think Rosemary and Rue needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No not really. Seemed to be a good enough ending. I never did understand the book's title as I never heard mention of Rosemary or Rue.