Late Eclipses (October Daye Part 4) by Seanan McGuire
Late Eclipses (October Daye Part 4) by Seanan McGuire
Oleander - the fae who got Toby trapped in a fish pond for fourteen years - is on the prowl again, poisoning fae people dear to Toby. Toby would love to stop her and save everyone, if she knew how, and if anyone believed her.
I thought this was an excellent installment of the series. Toby was a wonderfully unreliable narrator (even more so than usual), and the plot development was mostly impossible to predict. I liked it a lot!
* First things first: what annoyed me about the book was the heavy handed way October *did not* pick up on the fact that she herself was poisoned. All the headaches omg. Half the hints really would have sufficed.
* I liked that only Lily died and most everyone could be saved. (Well, the court of cats had losses, too. But almost no named characters.)
* The significance of her dream in the beginning was a bit watered down and felt like an annoying dangling end. Not sure what that was supposed to accomplish except remind us of who Oleander is.
* I am totally on board for Tybalt/Toby, but I can see how Connor is the better choice and makes more sense etc etc. Oh, well. :)
* I will say upfront that I *like* my books to have some romance. Whether it be several suitors vying for the heroine's attention (like here), or one plain romance, or triangles or whatever... I like it all. I also like how it is presented here in these books: it's not at the forefront, Toby always has "better things to do". It is getting ridiculous by now, but in a good way. I can empathize. :)
* That said, I hadn't expected Connor to become "officially available", and I'm hoping she won't simply pair them up now. That would be boring. More obstacles, please. :)
* I liked how Toby flipped between understanding and hating Oleander's henchmen. It was a very relatable confusion. :)
* Same goes for her being mad at Sylvester. It made sense! People can get mad at people they love for getting lied to! I thought that was a nice dynamic.
* I liked that Walther wasn't evil. He could so easily have been introduced as a one-off expendable villain (or at least henchman) and I kept expecting it. I am very happy I was wrong.
* Tybalt! Sexy cats ftw! There's some real nekomimi potential there. :D (Also, he cried. Yes, sexy crying cats! Even better!)
* Now for the thing I liked best: I loved how everything we thought we (and she herself) knew about Toby was proven wrong. I did not see that coming at all! I loved it, and am looking forward to what that means for Toby in future books.
* The only thing that I didn't love about it that it is such an obvious way to increase Toby's powers. A plot device like that always makes sense for a book series, but I am side-eyeing it for being a bit on the nose.
Almost the best one so far, to be honest. I thought part 2 was a bit lackluster, three was better again, but this one was really great! 4 stars.
1 - 5 stars - Brothers In Arms [DW]
2 - 3 stars - Rose Point [DW]
3 - 2 stars - Back to Sodom and Gomorrah [DW]
4 - 4 stars - First Among Sequels [DW]
5 - 5 stars - Ready Player One [DW]
6 - 3 stars - Treasure Island [DW]
7 - 4 stars - Ancillary Sword [DW]
8 - 3 stars - Spin Control [DW]
9 - 5 stars - Ancillary Mercy [DW]
10 - 4 stars - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time [DW]
11 - 4 stars - Laisrathera [DW]
12 - 4 stars - Late Eclipses [DW]
I WON MY CHALLENGE! Yes! On to 2019! I am definitely going to do it again!
x-posted from dw (comments:
)