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A review by booksthatburn
Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Rosemary and Rue is drenched in blood and magic; October's path is filled with death as she races against time to solve a murder before it kills her.
I love urban fantasy, stories with the fae, and murder mysteries, so I had a great time reading this one. It's so fully centered in the convergence of those genres that if that combination doesn't sound like a good time then this maybe isn't the book for you, but it was perfect for me. Stories with the fae have to decide how relatable or inscrutable they'll be, and I especially liked this book's take on changelings as a way to bridge the reader's understanding of the other supernatural creatures. While many of the tropes were familiar, the way the Faerie elements are treated here was a great mix of leaning into the genre and building something fresh and new. The resolution was surprising while also fitting the story that led up to it. A lot of ground was laid to sustain a long-running series (at the time of my review the 14th book in this series has been published), so I'm excited to dig into this one. The main story in this book was wrapped up to my satisfaction, but it's obvious that the world traced here can hold so many more stories.
I love urban fantasy, stories with the fae, and murder mysteries, so I had a great time reading this one. It's so fully centered in the convergence of those genres that if that combination doesn't sound like a good time then this maybe isn't the book for you, but it was perfect for me. Stories with the fae have to decide how relatable or inscrutable they'll be, and I especially liked this book's take on changelings as a way to bridge the reader's understanding of the other supernatural creatures. While many of the tropes were familiar, the way the Faerie elements are treated here was a great mix of leaning into the genre and building something fresh and new. The resolution was surprising while also fitting the story that led up to it. A lot of ground was laid to sustain a long-running series (at the time of my review the 14th book in this series has been published), so I'm excited to dig into this one. The main story in this book was wrapped up to my satisfaction, but it's obvious that the world traced here can hold so many more stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gun violence
Moderate: Child death and Gore
Minor: Ableism
CW for gun violence, gore, description of wounds, major character death, child death, death.