Rosemary and Rue: An October Daye Novel, Book 1

I am currently on my third attempt to make it through this novel. I've put some thought into why Rosemary and Rue isn't working for me. I know that audible reviewers giving negative feedback are rarely appreciated, but here are my thoughts. It seems that McGuire has some fun ideas for her story line. In this case, however, they fall flat. From the opening scene, I found myself a little curious to see what would happen next but mostly completely unaffected by the main character. There is absolutely no character development and I kept thinking "Why is she doing this?" "Why should we care?" "Why so dramatic?" The narrator adds to this sense of blah. Its like watching a soap opera with monotone actors. You know there should be some drama in there somewhere, but can find it in the performance. I can only recommend this book if you are ready for a strange pity party. There are so many fun options in this genre. I would definitely recommend the Mercedes Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs, The Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris or Stray by Rachel Vincent long before I sent you to Rosemary and Rue. Good reading

An amazing beginning to a wonderful series. A fairy tale for adults. McGuire does a great job building this world and giving characters some nice depth, without sacrificing action or a nice pace to the story. The narrator was very good and enhanced McGuire's work. Very entertaining. I have already downloaded the second book (A Local Habitation) and look forward to the third book which should be released in September.

The woman who reviewed Rosemary and Rue and had only negative things to say about Mary Robinette Kowal couldn't be more wrong. I'm so glad I ignored her comments and gave both McGuire and Kowal a chance. What a fantastic novel. I'm downloading the next two books in the series as I write this. If you like faerie mythology, suspense, and a good detective story, then you've got to give the October Daye books a try. I'm not easily impressed, but this series has enchanted me. The characterizations are fantastic, and I've never heard a narrator successfully engage so many different voices, personalities, and accents. I really felt as though the characters were alive as Kowal read. Toby Daye has won my heart. I hope this is only the beginning for Seanan McGuire. She's a gifted and imaginative writer.

The structure of Rosemary and Rue is very formulaic. Overall, the audiobook presents a great mythical journey set in a modern-day fairy tale. You get gripped from the first of Toby’s mishaps. Although, I truly connected with Toby on the second part of the audiobook, after the awesome car scene over the Golden Gate Bridge. I loved the fantastic elements in Rosemary and Rue, such as the kelpie, a large black horse with glowing red eyes that just happens to smell like the sea. The rose goblin, a kitty cat covered with rose thrones that rattles them when it gets upset, is adorable. It’s also nice to see a few more tales, tiger stripes, and fox ears on characters outside of anime. However, I had this terrible feeling of sadness throughout the audiobook. It seems like the universe is out to kick Toby when she’s down. Even the title itself is a terribly sad reference in the book that you only understand at the very end.

On Narration:
Mary Robinette Kowal reading was very appropriate for the character. The narrative voice is light and young-sounding, but with enough of an edge to pass for what I would consider the voice of a half-fairy, tiny, light, bounty-hunting kickass woman. My only criticism is that some of her more interesting or intricate accents, for Tybalt and Lilly, for example, require her to slow down her reading and enunciate very carefully, which does drag out certain parts.

I love this story and the characters. I read a couple of reviews that found fault with the narration and the audio, but I found Mary Robinette Kowal's voice to be wonderful, and her characterizations fun (well, most of them. I didn't enjoy her Lily.). Seanan's text - the story itself - is engrossing and entertaining, and I will definitely be buying the rest. I love this series, and MRK's voice will forever be Toby's voice in my head.

This was the first book I bought from here ,I read all of them in a mouth I love October Daye the main lass of this tale ,a fairy detective with a fantastic group of friends and foes ,shes warm, smart, tough , kind and funny each sole has a story of there own and no one is forgotten I can not recommend this book and all that follow more please please give it a bash, I fell like I've found a new group of friends.I hope someone else has this pleasure .

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.

I am really glad I ignored the reviews on this site. The book was fantastic and I thought the narration was good.

Excellent series introduction.

Meeting Lilly. There is something very appealing about that character. Someone I'd want to be friends with.

Great way to get to know the world of October Daye... the descriptions sometimes drag, but for the most part the story moves forward. Some of the voices didn't seem quite right for the character, but I appreciated how clearly you could tell who was speaking by the way MRK changed the tones and speech.

Once again a book about the fey falls flat. But this time I'm pretty sure the reader is the problem. Mary Robinette Kowal does an adequate job of reading the story -- her voices, except for Lily, are decent, but there just isn't any intensity. The scenes where Toby is shot ect., are read with the same level of emotion as every other scene. Consequently, I felt nothing. It chugs along, but doesn't really entertain. I do have a feeling that reading this series would be a lot more interesting than listening to it.