Title: The Brightest Fell
Series: October Daye Book #11
Author: Seanan McQuire
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Blurb: For once, everything in October “Toby” Daye’s life seems to be going right. There have been no murders or declarations of war for her to deal with, and apart from the looming specter of her Fetch planning her bachelorette party, she’s had no real problems for days. Maybe things are getting better.
Maybe not.
Because suddenly Toby’s mother, Amandine the Liar, appears on her doorstep and demands that Toby find her missing sister, August. But August has been missing for over a hundred years and there are no leads to follow. And Toby really doesn’t owe her mother any favors.
Then Amandine starts taking hostages, and refusal ceases to be an option.
Favorite quotes: “That’s the Luidaeg, singing ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’. In a karaoke bar. In front of other people.”
“I love your mother. I love my wife. But no one would ever mistake her for kind. She never had to be. I don’t know where your kindness came from. I don’t care. Hold close to it, and never, never let the world take it away.”
“There’s no such thing as being too human, and anyone who ever told you that was lying, because they were afraid.”
“I’ll have you know I used to solve a lot of problems with a baseball bat. Just because I’m more refined now doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten my roots.”
Thoughts: Mortality sucks….and even more so for poor October. October remains one of my favorite characters – I am always excited to pick up a book in this series. Always. Reading this one was a little rough for me, but not because the book was bad – far from it! I’m going to try not to give too much away in my review, but it’s going to be a little hard. So much happens in this book! October’s fae mother, Amandine, finally makes an appearance which brings in a lot of bad memories and angst with it, and is really how poor Toby gets roped into another long quest. Amandine takes hostage some of Toby’s most loved friends – I won’t give away who – in order to get what she wants. Which is for October to find her long lost sister, August, and bring her home. I was a little conflicted about this as I was sure there would drama in that reunion and could go either really, really good or really, really bad. I don’t think anything prepared me for the truth of it – and I have to say I despise August to her very core. There are only a couple of characters that I can remember reading that I despise more than August. Every word out of her mouth only made me angrier. The only redeeming feature here was that we also get to see Toby give her a beat down and shake up the girl’s reality a little bit. Go, Toby!! LOL
I also want to warn that this book also is a bit of an emotional roller coaster ride. More than a few times I was almost brought to tears – and I am not a crier. But I have never loved and sympathized with a character more. As a fan of this series, and having read every book in it, I have to say that we have been on many a journey with Toby – but none of them have been quite like this one. Toby is one of those characters I love, and this really emphasizes just how much I love her and why. If you are new to the series, I recommend picking the whole series up and reading them in order – it is so, so worth it!
I also want to add that I loved the beginning (we start out with Toby’s bachelorette party) – it’s rare that we get to see our favorite characters relax, unwind, and have a little fun without having to be on their guard and looking for shadows at every corner. Not to mention the fact that the whole scene will bring out a giggle or two! Which brings me back to my point – an emotional roller coaster ride! But it’s totally worth the ride. Trust me.
Rate: A+
