Rosemary and Rue Review
Aug. 30th, 2009 06:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
judifilksignI bought Rosemary and Rue, Seanan Mc Guire's new book at Context. I started and finished it in a sitting. Fair warning before my comments: I am aquainted with Seanan through filk convention circles, and I've followed her LJ. I bought her book because I enjoyed how she writes about her daily life online, and I love her poetry and music. She did not disappoint me.
The book is rich in detail and description of faerie races and culture. McGuire does a fantastic job of creating an alternate reality that is consistent, believeable and not a copy of other writers in the genre. She's done her research into old faerie stories, and it shows, but they all have a tweak to make them her world's alone.
The main character, October ("Toby") Daye, is a well rounded out character, reeling from the pain of a case gone wrong that ripped her life apart. She's bitter and rude, and pushes away all of her former friends and aquaintances, determined to be left alone. October is a prickly character, but I came to really understand why she turned out that way, and was really rooting for her by the end of the book.
When she is literally cursed to solve a murder, October must find her way amidst faerie again. I think my one complaint about the plot is that October lets herself be bear-led about by others an awful lot, being reactive rather than proactive. Perhaps we can chalk that up to her getting over her traumatic past, and trying to survive her traumatic present. It certainly does not stop McGuire's book from being a page-turner.
The mystery plot is presented in a way that gives the reader a fair shot of solving it as October does. (This is a critical point for me in mysteries, and McGuire plays fair.)
There is a teaser for the next installment in the adventures of October Daye, and I find myself impatient for spring, so that I can get the next book. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to those of you that like a good fantasy mystery.
The book is rich in detail and description of faerie races and culture. McGuire does a fantastic job of creating an alternate reality that is consistent, believeable and not a copy of other writers in the genre. She's done her research into old faerie stories, and it shows, but they all have a tweak to make them her world's alone.
The main character, October ("Toby") Daye, is a well rounded out character, reeling from the pain of a case gone wrong that ripped her life apart. She's bitter and rude, and pushes away all of her former friends and aquaintances, determined to be left alone. October is a prickly character, but I came to really understand why she turned out that way, and was really rooting for her by the end of the book.
When she is literally cursed to solve a murder, October must find her way amidst faerie again. I think my one complaint about the plot is that October lets herself be bear-led about by others an awful lot, being reactive rather than proactive. Perhaps we can chalk that up to her getting over her traumatic past, and trying to survive her traumatic present. It certainly does not stop McGuire's book from being a page-turner.
The mystery plot is presented in a way that gives the reader a fair shot of solving it as October does. (This is a critical point for me in mysteries, and McGuire plays fair.)
There is a teaser for the next installment in the adventures of October Daye, and I find myself impatient for spring, so that I can get the next book. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to those of you that like a good fantasy mystery.
