This series was brought to my attention by the publisher Daw. Last month I got surprise book mail from them that included ARCs for books 17 and 18. Now I have never heard of this series, but I have heard of Seanan McGuire, last year I had attempted to read a short story by her that is in The Book of Dragons and unfortunately I didn’t like that short story, I actually dnf’d it. So I’ve never made my way to trying anything else by McGuire. But when I received the arcs for book 17 and 18 and I read their synopsis's, I was “hey, these actually sound kind of interesting” and then lo and behold I find out it's an 18 book series. So after having a very brief chat with McGuire on twitter and finding out I won’t understand anything if I start at 17 and 18 I decided I’d give the series a shot.

Toby has been forced back into a world that she has been trying to remove herself from, she feels burned by both the human side and the Fae side, she's just choosing to go with her human roots because it seems easier of the two to deal with in her opinion, that is until she has no choice but the come back thanks to Evening Winterose.

Now initially when I started the story I actually thought it was alright, it wasn't anything super huge and compelling. I will say the first scene where we get to see what happens to Toby that leads to the time jump was kind of funny. I know I was supposed to be taking it seriously but it was funny. It felt so out of left field and I kind of hope that randomness will be a going theme for these books.

The first half of this book had me thinking “man this girl is depressing” She was constantly going on about how she is a changeling, and how no Fae like them and are just mean and cruel to them all the time and how overall life as a changeling sucks. The repetition in the beginning was rough. I was getting frustrated because I kept being reminded about this information. Now it’s not to say that I don't understand where her depression and her thought process was coming from because I did. The changelings are definitely not treated the best, the Fae view them as lesser because of their mixed origins. But hearing about it over and over got annoying after a while.

Then the middle of the book hit and that was when I finally started getting more invested. We were finally meeting other Fae characters, minus the few in the beginning like Tybalt, Lord of cats, who I am actually very intrigued by, and can’t wait to see more of him in later books. Their interactions were honestly adorable in my opinion so I’m looking forward to seeing what transpires between the two of them. Seeing her reunite with Sylvester and Luna who she purposely kept herself away from was such an emotional scene. This was when I started to think McGuire would have the ability to make me cry (which is what I want in my books haha). The reunion scene was genuinely so heartfelt and full of emotion that it pulled on my heart and had me on the verge of tears. Seeing the anger, the happiness and the hurt all rolled into one scene was absolutely phenomenal.


Going through most of the book I had no idea who the culprit was, it wasn't until about page 300 that I started to figure it out and the book is around 340 pages. I actually really appreciated this because I don't like being able to predict my books, but what I do enjoy is being able to catch moments and phrases that characters say that make me go “wait a second, why did you say that” and that's what happens with the culprit, they started to say certain phrases when they were around Toby and I was able to catch those moments. So by the time the reveal came I wasn't angry I had it figured out because it took me most of the book to do so. Too often mystery books will have it way too obvious and by page 100 I have it figured out and I get frustrated because what am I reading for.

The ending is what solidified this book for me in regards to this series possibly becoming a favorite. The ending of this had no business annihilating my heart the way it did. And it was
all because of the characters that were involved in the ending scene. Seeing Toby go from
wanting to push everybody out of her life, to allowing new ones in and seeing her genuinely start to care for them was everything to me. The final scene was explosive and so gut wrenching that I was a crying mess, and then the nail in the coffin was the rift that was created from this big event between a specific bond she had formed with a particular character. I understand why this rift exists. It's a natural response but that doesn't mean it doesn’t hurt any less, and I can only hope in later installments I’ll get to see it heal.

The action is phenomenal and Toby just goes for it at times, she really takes a beating overall, she is by no means the best fighter but she has a will to survive and she will strive to do that even if it is reckless and could get her killed. I love all of the different kinds of Fae that McGuire brings into the story and I don't feel as if she over burdens the reader with too many, there is a good balance while knowing there are so many more we haven't met yet. This book scratches the surface of what is going to be in this world and I am definitely looking forward to the next book.