Rosemary and Rue

An October Daye Novel, Book 1

By: Seanan McGuire

Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal

Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

great author

I love this author! her books are full of neat characters
narrarator will make sleepy

An excellent addition to UF genre!

Set in the modern-day San Francisco Bay area, October ‘Toby’ Daye is a PI who investigates the normal, but also the supernatural. Being half-fae herself, she has quite a few tricks up her sleeves when it comes to detecting the truth. Toby Daye is also a mother and a fiancé. But then a case goes tits up and Toby is turned into a fish in Lily’s garden for the next 12 or 14 years. Afterward, she doesn’t want to live a fae life and she’s doing her best to cut all her fae connections away. The death of a friend pulls her back into the world with a binding curse.

Toby is awesome, for a lot of reasons. She has this whole backstory that we only get pieces of in this book and that past definitely affects the choices she makes. She isn’t perfect and sometimes she willingly lies to herself in an attempt to capture a few moments of happiness. She’s flawed and interesting, courageous and humble, clever and distrusting. All this makes her a great lead character.

When Countess Evening Winterose is murdered, a curse is set upon Toby to find her killer. She also has to keep an unusual and powerful item safe. In attempting to do both these things without being killed herself, she has to reconnect with her old fae life. She once swore fealty to the Duke of Shadowed Hills, who has tried to welcome her back since her fishy experience ended, only to be politely rebuffed by Toby. Then there is her old flame Devin of Home, who has a variety of unwanted half fae kids hanging around running odd jobs for him. Tybalt of the Court of Cats has stayed in her life, whether she likes it our not. Lily only has sway in her garden but has made it clear Toby is always welcome there. With this curse upon her, Toby must reconnect with all these fae characters and more to solve the case.

Toby isn’t the only one with an interesting past. The Duke’s wife and daughter also underwent an ordeal about the same time Toby was gone. It obviously changed them but we only find out enough to entice us to learn more. I loved Luna’s rose garden because it’s beautiful and a bit eerie. I love the amount of mythology pulled into the tale. It’s a great mix of the San Francisco that exists today and these bits of mythology. The story has a solid murder mystery feel to it also, taking itself seriously. There is definitely a price to be paid to find the answers Toby seeks. The story has a great mix of fae magic and detective seriousness. I’m looking forward to reading Book 2.



The Narration: Mary Robinette Kowal did a pretty good job, and was spot on for Toby herself. She had distinct voices for all the characters, though her Spanish accent was a bit forced. It became smoother as the story went on. I loved her gruff voice for the taxi driver and Tybalt’s pissed off voice.

Slow start, but ends with excitement

Is there anything you would change about this book?

It felt like there should be a prequel to explain Toby’s history with turning into a koi, how she became human again, and the first few years afterward. A lot of that situation is only referred to offhandedly, and is a bit confusing.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favourite character was Tybalt, but he’s one of the least utilized people in the story. Every glimpse of him was exciting, and I wanted more. I fully expected to see the hate relationship between him and Toby develop into something else, and I was surprised when it didn’t.

Any additional comments?

Romance actually plays a very little role in the story at all, which is quite refreshing from most urban fantasy stories. Also unique is the fact that Toby gets hurt, a lot, and doesn’t instantly rebound. Yes, she does recover with some magical assistance, but she has realistic limitations, and can’t push herself past them with no consequence. It makes the action scenes more interesting because this is definitely not the typical action story where only the good guys land bullets with every shot.

Very good story, but...

It was quite heavy, I thought. The writing is wonderfully done with a new world, which she fills out creatively and without excessive descriptions that sometimes break the flow of a story. The plot is well defined. All in all it was a great book and an excellent narrator. My only problem was that I could only listen in small amounts because the subject and protagonist were ripping out my heart! From the first event to the last, my heart hurt at every cruel development of the story. With an amazing performance and a fascinating world, I recommend this book. However, be certain you turn down your identification with the protagonist!

Awful narrator

The story was fine, but the narrator was so bad. Her slow, monotone voice made me fall asleep every time, even when I sped her up and everything. It took me forever to finish the book.

Great Book, Good Performance

I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to continue the series. My only issue was the narrators “Spanish” accent didn’t sound any different than the accent of the Japanese character. The other voices and cadence of the story telling were highly enjoyable.

Good read.

Good read. I liked it and the voice actor was good.. now I'm trying to get to the mandatory 15 words required for a review.

Well written with strong story and narration, but.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I really like this author and the characters she creates, so the book was well worth listening to. I will not read another in this series, however. One book where nothing good ever happens to the main character is enough for me.

Would you recommend Rosemary and Rue to your friends? Why or why not?

The main character is well drawn and likeable. The world is well thought out and interesting. Not sure if I would recommend it. One catastrophe after another, with one major injury after another, with one major loss or death after another, isn't for everyone. I prefer that my hero gain something along the way.

What about Mary Robinette Kowal’s performance did you like?

Her voice is easy to listen to and she did a very good job with the narration,

Any additional comments?

Not a book for people who want a happy or even a hopeful ending.

Meh...

Overall, this book was not my cup of tea.

October was a horrible detective. It was shocking how much sleuthing she didn't do. I'm sorry but stumbling around town looking for answers by while wielding a snarky, bad attitude with no magical skill to back it up does not a cool heroine make. She didn't even ask good questions; just cashed in on favors. Though I found it pretty hilarious how much she got her butt kicked throughout the book. This did nothing to make me root for her, or feel sorry for her. I wanted October to have or find some kind of strength - moral or physical; but alas, neither was found. So in the end, I found October to be a dissatisfying lead.

A large contributor to this was because of how fickle I found October to be when it came to romance. Was I really to believe she was so torn up about her circumstance with her ex-fiancé, when she was in the verge of falling into bed with practically every magical ex-lover she'd ever encountered? It left me scratching my head and not understand where she was coming from.

What I did like was that this book was full of fairy lore, and it did a decent job of laying the framework for the magical system in the series and did enough world-building to make the fantasy come alive. That said, you would have already had to be knowledgeable about fairy lore to keep up. There was tons of magical information thrown at us with no explanation.

I could go on picking apart this book, so I won't. I also won't be reading anymore of the series.

Fantastic story, unbelievably awful narrator.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I absolutely adore this book and all of the books in the October Daye series. The protagonist is tough, smart, a little bitchy, and tenacious. The secondary characters are completely enchanting and the plots, while often centering around a "normal" mystery like kidnapping or murder, are always incredibly inventive and full of twists and turns. So it is with GREAT sadness that I listened all the way through this book only to be more and more disgusted with the narrator. I can't believe she was allowed to read ALL of these books after this performance.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She spoke with none of Toby's bite or sass, and the over-accented voice she put on to speak as other characters was oftentimes horrifying. (Tybalt was the worst offender, but none of the characters were given a good "voice.") It was read INCREDIBLY slowly and legitimately sounded like the narrator had no idea what she was talking about - like she hadn't understood the story or characters at all, and maybe thought they were all a little stupid. It was a super disappointing listening experience.

Was Rosemary and Rue worth the listening time?

No. Read the book and hear the characters in your head - they are so much sharper, funnier, colder, and more lovely than this terrible narrator gives them credit for.