Rosemary and Rue

I enjoyed this book and the world. I enjoy stories of the far end look forward to delving into it further with the series.
I almost gave this a 3 star do to the number of questions I had that were just brushed by about the workings of the world. I gave it the benefit of the doubt (and the 4th star) because this is a long series and I hope these issues are addressed in later books.
Toby was an interesting character reaching maturity (well after she became and ‘adult') and I look forward to following more of her journey.

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

October (Toby) Daye is a changeling ??? half fae, half human. She???s been living in the mortal world, trying to avoid nasty faerie politics, but she???s suddenly been thrust right back into it when a pure-blood faerie countess is murdered and Toby has to solve the crime before succumbing to a curse.

I don???t read a lot of this type of urban fantasy, so I can???t compare Rosemary and Rue to most of its peers ??? I can only compare it to what I normally read. Coming from that angle, my opinion is that Rosemary and Rue is a well-written novel with some fine world-building and characterization, but it???s not an excellent novel.

The world-building is quite extensive and heavily based on faerie lore. I loved the way that San Francisco was divided into faerie duchies. This was innovative and interesting and I learned a few things but, unfortunately, it often felt like we were walking the pages of a faerie encyclopedia because there were frequent descriptions and explanations of every imaginable fae creature: selkies, peris, pixies, sprites, redcaps, hobgoblins, etc, etc. This does make October Daye???s world feel real and vibrant and creative, but it was also a lot of information to give us which means less plot and slower pace. This is likely to get better in subsequent novels ??? once we feel established in October???s world.

I sympathized with October???s situation and found her likable enough, though I didn???t quite understand why other characters thought so highly of her. There???s nothing wrong with October Daye ??? but she???s not particularly compelling as a heroine. She made a few moves that were supposed to be brave, but I just thought, ???Hey! What are you doing? That???s a good way to get yourself in trouble!??? And guess what? Yeah, she got in trouble. Trouble is fine, but not when you should have seen it coming.

Toby???s voice is slightly sarcastic ??? not in a caustic way (thankfully), but in a flippant way. I know this is common with urban fantasy heroines, but it???s just not my type of humor. In fact, I don???t think I laughed or chuckled even once during this novel which means that there was no relief from the tension for me. I???d much prefer to have a grimmer novel that at least had some real humor to give us some bright spots (Joe Abercrombie???s so good at that). This is likely an issue with my own personality and humor preferences.

I also couldn???t relate to Toby???s attachment to Devin, the creepy caretaker of the changeling half-way house. I think this is what disappointed me most about Toby ??? she really should have been disgusted with him from the beginning, but she was half disgusted and half in love. Yuck. This is probably the main reason I couldn???t embrace Toby ??? I just couldn???t understand what she was thinking.

I listened to Brilliance Audio???s version which was read by Mary Robinette Kowal. Ms. Kowal did a truly excellent job with Toby ??? it was perfect. However, I must say that her voices for most of the other characters where cringe-worthy. Her male voices especially were unpleasant and several of the voices that were supposed to sound ethnic were just strange. Ms. Kowal is an accomplished voice performer and her voice for Toby was wonderful, so I???m willing to believe that these strange voices were chosen because of the faerie theme. I wouldn???t hesitate to pick up another audiobook performed by Ms. Kowal, and I certainly plan to try her own novel which releases in a few weeks.

In the end, I think Rosemary and Rue stands up pretty well (probably better in print than audio), but it???s nothing particularly exciting.

3 1/2 stars

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