Recently, I read Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire, the first book sharing the story of October “Toby” Daye.

I started reading fantasy books 3-4 years ago…all have been modern day fantasies. Whether that is a coincidence or not, I do not know. Anyway, this urban fantasy takes place in San Francisco and is captivating from the very beginning. Once you start reading, you cannot put this book down.

The faerie world is not as complex as you would think, which I was worried about at first but was soon at ease, especially since Seanan spells everything out for you in the pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book. Throughout the book, everyone and everything that is supernatural is explained in enough detail for the reader to understand, so everything flows together very well. In the prologue, there is a sense of adventure and it only picks up from there.

What I enjoy the most is that the writing calls for great imagery. I can imagine every single thing that goes on in my head as if I am the main character, Toby. I love when a book can take you in their world like that. Overall, the writing is very well thought out, so clever, and often funny. The emotions of Toby are so real and surprisingly very relatable despite Toby being half human, half fae. Toby goes through a lot in this story, especially loneliness as she finds out who she can and cannot trust.

McGuire’s character development is also incredible. In everything that Toby experiences, she definitely grows in the journey of finding her own identity. In the beginning, Toby is attempting to deny part of who she is until she is forced to do things she would have in my opinion had to have done eventually…hello fate. In her case, this way was better because it takes certain circumstances and events to really find yourself. “This way” being the murder of a friend, Countess Evening Winterrose, which forces her to solve the mystery of this death (and beating a curse that was placed on her). What an adventurous mystery this is!

There truly is never a dull moment in the book and I would tell you more but I do not want to spoil anything for you. In fact, now that I have read the book, I want to re-read it to see how the pieces to this puzzle came together and if I missed any of those pieces the first time around. I am excited to see what characters will appear in the next Toby story but I am getting ahead of myself, as this story has not even released yet! I definitely recommend that you read this book in September so pre-order your copy on Amazon today!

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire will be available in stores September 1, 2009.