Book Review: "Rosemary and Rue" by Seanan McGuire

This is a debut novel and I always try to buy (and read of course) first books by authors, because I've been there and done that and I know how frustrating it is for a new author to simply get any kind of attention from readers. I suggest that everyone out there do the same for new authors: give them a chance.

And I'm happy to say that this time the chance was definitely worth it. "Rosemary and Rue" is the first book in an urban fantasy series that I think has spectacular potential. It's set in our world, but unlike nearly all of the other urbans out there, we don't have vampires, or werewolves, or any of those types of creatures. The main focus of this book is the fairy. They never really vanished, they simply went into hiding, keeping there existance a secret. If you know where to look, and how, you can see the pixies that live in your grocery mart for example.

I think the worldbuilding for this series is the best part of the book. The way the fairy world is incorporated into our world is great and obviously well thought out. And because it deals with fairies and not bloodsuckers and such, that world is much richer and more beautiful than the standard for urbans. I like that the book isn't all dark and gritty, with the subsequent atmosphere that usually develops from dark and gritty. Sure there are moments of dark and gritty, but they are well-balanced with moments of beauty. This gives the book and nice tone that isn't typically found in urbans.

I did have a few issues with the novel. There's a chunk in the middle half that seems to lose focus, where the main character, Toby, seems to simply be wandering around from one place to the next with no real motivation for why or with any idea of what she's doing there, and that got a little annoying. And when she finally does take action, it's something that she could have done much earlier (and actually suggests doing much earlier but doesn't follow through until much later), but in the end I still came away from this book with a strong desire to read the next book in the series. I want to learn more about this world and these characters and see where this develops. I'm chalking the uncertainty in the middle up to first book syndrome and I fully expect the author to improve as the series continues.

So, a great start to an intriguing series and I can't wait for the next novel, which I believe is going to be called "A Local Habitation."