Previous book here. Review goes below the spoiler cut. Four stars.
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Where do I begin with this book? I kind of felt like it was a bit of a slow start in some respects, which doesn't make sense since the kickoff quest starts pretty quickly. I think it was because I was all, THIS IS THE ONE WHERE THEY FIND YOU KNOW WHO, RIGHT????? and well, that didn't go about like I expected. I sort of feel like this book was just going along like normal-ish in some respects, but then the end of it had some big fun surprises that I really enjoyed that finally made it for me.
There's gonna be the "I'm trying not to spoil that much" section of the review and then there's gonna be the "yup, I'm talking about the spoilage" section of the review. Here's the not-so-spoil-y section:
So Toby's been dragging arse on this whole wedding thing for a while. It's been a lot of books. I've learned after the whole selkie thing to stop wondering when something big is going to go down like that (also, I feel kinda sad at the idea of Tybalt quitting his job, I like his job), but it's interesting what doesn't motivate Toby vs. what does on wedding stuff. In this case, it's being politely told by Patrick Lorden that by the rules/custom/what have you of Faerie, it could cause some serious potential vindictiveness from Simon's liege if Toby doesn't invite Simon to the wedding. Like "if anyone officially Takes Offense, this could set off some jerkass Firstborn/god knows what" levels of drama. Tybalt was apparently trying to go with an ignorance defense on that one. I guess that's the reason to force Toby to go look for Simon in this one when she wasn't exactly in the mood. Then again, proving to your fiance that you do want to get married, on some level anyway, is important. Poor Toby, she seems so conflicted on this stuff. (But that conversation is for my other blog...)
This kicks off an interesting seeking experience, involving another not-too-fun visit to Shadowed Hills (at least Raysel seems to be doing better?), finding the magical oubliette that Simon trapped Luna and Raysel in, Spike being an adorable little hero who pops in and out at will, and Toby having a cool encounter with Maeve....of sorts. Love it. When Toby and her compatriots find Simon, the "lost home' spell has had some sad effects, as as far as he knows, he's lost or never had everyone he ever cared about except for "my lady." When Simon drinks Toby's blood to see if she's lying , he's cheered to see Patrick is alive (that's how this spell warped him), but, well, he sees some other stuff and kinda snaps and runs off with Quentin....
Anyway, I was a wee bit bothered that this book hadn't turned into OBERON QUEST 2014 (book time) because obviously if you go looking for Simon and attempting to solve his lost "home" issue before he does more shitty stuff under bad magical influence, you're gonna have to deal with that. And Toby, kinda like the marriage thing, is a bit in denial about things she's conflicted about. And it's probably about half the book-ish before we get to mentioning that one. So this wasn't going the way I expected.
And then. AND THEN THERE IS A SWERVE. I definitely didn't feel like I figured out what Toby had (I may like mysteries but god knows I can't figure 'em out), but she picked up some clues and then DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, there was a SWERVE. This is Evening Winterrose level of swerve, and I am delighted when something like this happens. Much like the Quest for August, this went unexpectedly in a whole new level of unexpected, and the surprise was very squee for me. GOOD JOB. I had a shitty fucking day the day that I finished reading this book--like "I'm going to bed at 6 p.m. with a book and a bottle of booze" level of shitty--and this improved the night very much. So, good job!
In milder surprises, I'll say that Patrick and Dianda ended up having more going on in this plot than expected, and there's a surprise happy revelation related to them that, in true Seanan McGuire style, is both a "That came out of nowhere and yet was totally foreshadowed!" So, nice job there. The included novella at the end, "Shine in Pearl," tells the story of how they got engaged and how Simon moved the pixies, and that's all very sweet.
So that's what I can say on the "only spoiling shit to about the halfway mark" review. For more shit getting real, there's going to be another spoiler space....
Spoiler space
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So Oberon was literally under the Luidaeg's nose the entire time?!?!* CRAZY!!!!! Yes, I just had to go reread a few books after this one to see if any of this was foreshadowed (not too much, I'd say, but again, will cover it in the other blog). I admit in retrospect/after rereading the other books, it's a wee bit of a stretch for me to think that one repeated phrase by two very different people is the one thing that led Toby to deduce his identity. She was planning on taking a giant gamble anyway even before she figured that out--Tybalt is totally legit in objecting to that--and it's a good thing her plan worked. DAMN THAT WAS COOL. Nobody would have guessed that that guy.... just DAMN. I am probably going to go reread the book again before I post this review because of that alone.
* Even I don't want to spoil this surprise, but I'll leave a hint.
I am very curious to see how this is going to go. I'd also love to find out more about how Maeve is in a bunch of roses and wait, Titania was banished? Well, that sounds quite appropriate for her :P
In other news, I was genuinely surprised that Patrick and Dianda not only bugged Simon to get a D-I-V-O-R-C-E (if you ever wondered how fairy divorce works, you can see it)....so he could marry them. I never got a particular sexy vibe between Patrick and Simon (I'm on the author's Patreon, I forget how many Patrick/Dianda stories are just there as opposed to have being posted on her website, but it's good to check those out) before, but I guess him being taken by Amandine might have been a buzzkill for such things. And Dianda is lovely enough to be all "I'm not in love with him, but I will totally welcome him into this relationship."
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