Untitled

In no particular order, here are my thoughts:

Quentin is going to have a ROUGH time in book 19. I think he was the person who was least like himself in Titania's world - October was pretty different too, and Sylvester also wasn't having a great time, but there were still pieces of Toby that peeked out and Sylvester's *been* the Mad Duke before; it would've been unpleasant but not unfamiliar. Quentin never had the chance to be that person because Toby got to him first, and it must be pretty sobering for him to realize how bad he could've been.

I wanted to smack Etienne when he showed up and I'm glad Chelsea gave him an earful after she got her memories back.

I'm really glad we're getting a book from Tybalt's perspective, because he was not doing so good in this one.

I really feel like Team Original!Faerie could've gotten Toby on board a lot faster if they'd told her Titania was hurting kids. Toby was hesitant to help them fully even up to finding Luidaeg; the SECOND she met Raysel and Dean in Blind Michael's lands, she started back-talking Luidaeg and investigating things herself.

I'm so glad I re-read An Artificial Night before I read this book; I picked up so many things about the Ride I probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

Speaking of An Artificial Night, I was SO happy when Dame Altair popped back up; Seanan McGurie is So. Good. At callbacks and bringing back characters. I do hope we get to meet her in Real!Faerie; I feel this wasn't the best situation to judge her character.

Jessicaaaaaaaaa. She still calls Toby Aunt Birdie!

Grianne! I've loved Grianne since Late Eclipses, and I was so happy that she had such a big part in the book.

I honestly really loved August here? Growing up with someone clearly did a lot to cut through her mother's influence. I'm glad she got to keep her Lorden siblings *and* Toby.

The further we get in the series, the more I realize how much of a failure Amandine is; she fails as a wife she fails as a mother, she fails as a hero, I would even argue she fails herself because she can't seem to understand how to get the things that would make her happy.

Arden and Nolan's AU childhood was amazing and I hope a million fics come out of it (honestly I hope a ton of fics come out of Titania's AU in general; it's such a fun What If? scenario to play with).

Chrysanthe and Theron were awesome! I hope we see them again in another book.

So the baby's going to be named after a month, right? My bet would be June for May (and maybe Gillian?), but like - it has to be *one* of the months, right? (No one's popped up named after a month in AGES I'm dyyiiiiinnnnnggggg please please PLEASE let the baby be the next one!)

Literally the only complaint I had was that May didn't show up; I'm hoping she has a big part in Tybalt's book.

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

Tybalt and May's relationship is another one I would be interested in seeing how it developed over the two months Toby was missing.

When Toby mentions that Amandine could've saved up to help save her, Tybalt says that Amandine had disappeared *again*. That could mean that she's disappeared more than once, but I took it to mean that she'd been around recently. I can't remember if we got confirmation that the answers Tybalt was looking for re: Toby came from Amandine or not. Did he find her at this time and then she disappeared right after?

'Maybe the long pause had been good for my magic, because it felt like my illusion came together more easily than normal.' Is this a hint that undergoing the transformations shifted Toby's blood slightly?

'I wound up between Connor and Tybalt. They kept glaring at each other over the top of my head. I had a pretty good idea of why, but I didn't want to deal with it.' I'm not sure you do have any idea why they're doing it Toby; in fact, given that you continue to insist that Tybalt doesn't like you for another, like, two and a half books, I'm pretty confident that you don't!

May mentioning how hard it was for her to get Spike to eat vs. Toby telling Acacia it wasn't that hard to look after him (right after Acacia told her how hard it was to keep rose goblins alive) makes me think about Toby and her almost endless capacity to care about people, and how Toby probably doesn't understand that about herself at all.

I forgot how unpleasant Rayseline was in the first few books.

First time Toby drinks the Luideag's blood.

Chapter Thirty:

I don't have anything to say about this chapter, but *man* Seanan McGuire's prose is SO good.

Also her writing is really cinematic and I want a TV show so so sooooooooooo much.

Chapter Thirty-One:

Toby actually thanked Sylvester for loaning her his sword, but I'm pretty sure that was a mistake given that three pages later Sylvester thanked her and Toby acted like it was a big deal.

I think this is the last book that Toby needs her injuries bandaged.

Thirty-Two:

Every time Toby mentions that Luidaeg doesn't need to worry about robbers, I imagine a mortal thief breaking into her house and both the thief and the Luidaeg being just. SO confused about what's going on.

This chapter's so sad; Quentin loved Katie *so* much. I know that it never would've lasted, for a lot of different reasons, but Katie (and Quentin) deserved better than this.

I think Quentin choosing to let Katie go hits a little harder when you know that he's the Crown Prince. He's not just letting go of a mortal lover; he's acknowledging that he never would've been able to be with her forever. (This might also be why he's willing to date Dean; he already knows that he's able to give someone he loves up when he needs to.)

Thirty-Three

Every time Jessica turns up in this book, it makes me sad. She's just a little girl! She only has five more years! She never got to come into her own and get fully free of Blind Michael!

This chapter is giving me a lot of feelings about May and Stacey's relationship too, and how terrible the Stacy-is-Titania revelation would've been for May too. Stacy was the first person from Toby's life who accepted her without hating her first; that must've been such a blow to lose.

'As far as the state of California was concerned, I'd always had an identical twin sister. Bet Amandine would be surprised to hear that one.' I don't think she'd be as surprised by that as you'd think Toby.

Neither Tybalt or Connor have talked to her since she came back from Blind Michael's: It's fine. It's fine! It's fine. It's. Fine.

Even knowing what comes in the future, this is still a lovely ending. At least they got to have this moment.

Chapter Twenty-Four:

I think Toby's gotten better at keeping hold of her weapons during a fight; here she lost her knife in like two seconds.

Is it couples bonding if Tybalt and Toby both frequently end up with bloody clothing? I feel like it's couples bonding.

'"The Luidaeg called me," [Tybalt] said.' How did Luidaeg call him? I'm pretty sure the Court of Cats doesn't have a phone. Did she call Marcia and get her to find Tybalt like Toby did in the last book? Did Luidaeg insist that she needed to get in contact with Tybalt and something in his vicinity started working as a phone?

Moving Day reference! As far as I remember, this is the first of three times that Moving Day has come up in the books: here, in The Unkindest Tides when Luidaeg calls in Toby's debt, and now Sleep No More (and presumably The Innocent Sleep) are set around it. Given that (I'm pretty sure?) it represents the changing of the Queen's Courts, I bet that there are certain types of magics/rituals associated with it. We'll have to see how relevant the Day is!

The way the Shadow Roads work is fascinating to me. So in this book, I'm guessing that some combination of the distance and the fact that the Roads are pretty hostile to Toby is enough to kill Tybalt. Fast forward to Be the Serpent, and Toby is able to handle the Shadow Roads *by herself*, both while Tybalt's unconscious and when he's not on the Roads with her at all. Partly this is because Toby's gotten stronger, and partly it's because she's learned to trust Tybalt to keep her safe. I wonder if it's also a form of, like, spousal privileges? Like Tybalt choosing Toby as a partner means that the Shadow Roads aren't as harsh to her?

Chapter Twenty-Five:

Tybalt's been a King of Cats multiple times. Does the amount of lives he has resets every time he becomes a King of Cats again, or is he still working with the same amount of lives he had the first time he was a King?

Luna said that this is the second time that Blind Michael has ridden since she escaped, so Amandine must've refused to do anything the last time. I wonder if August was alive then? Maybe she'd was already missing by then?

Chapter Twenty-Six:

"You let me take your skin. I found... I know how the Selkies did it. Let me be Kitsune. Let me go free." First: I don't think I fully understood the implications of what Luna did when she took Hoshibara's skin until we learned more about what happened to the Roane. Eira had the mortals skin them so that the night-haunts wouldn't be able to find them. So Hoshibara's not just dead, she's *gone* - no peace, no living on through the night-haunts, nothing. I understand why Luna did it, but that's a lot to just sweep under the rug and pretend never happened. Second: how did she find out what happened to the Selkies? Who did she find it out from? My first thought was Eira, but why would she do it?

"Because your existence offends me, daughter of Amandine." I just realized that this is probably a reference to Janet. Toby's actually pretty likely that Luidaeg likes her so much, isn't she?

"Our word has always been our bond, and [BlindMichael's] blood was older than mine. His word would be more binding." I don't know, Toby, Titania and Eira seem like they're really good at going against their word.

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

"Once, when I sang a song about a woman named Janet and the white horse her lover rode, He started hitting me and almost didn't stop." I think this is the first overt reference to Tam Lin and Janet we got in the series.

It ended up being a good thing that Acacia didn't escape with Toby, but it's still a little sad that she did such a brave thing and came out with nothing.

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Has Seanan McGuire ever mentioned which version of the Ballad of Tam Lin she used? I have a version that I really love, but it doesn't have a Ride or Maeve in it.

Luidaeg went from wanting to keep Toby from May for as long as possible to letting May not only have a claim on Toby when they broke the Ride, but also let her be the one to hold onto her. What *happened* in the two months Toby was gone?

'Someone screamed, and I heard Cassandra chanting, "I am not afraid of snakes I am not afraid of - oh God, I think she's poisonous - snakes -" Cassandra might be my favourite Brown kid. I love her so muuuuuuuuch

'May removed her cloak and threw it over me, pulling me further into the circle as she stood.' May was definitely the most useful one for remembering to actually bring some clothes with them.

I don't have a lot of love for Luna anymore, but I love Acacia and I hope they've managed to repair their relationship now.

Chapter Seventeen:

How much must May showing up have felt like a slap in the face for Luidaeg? Especially after August was lost? Toby appears in her life, not just the future saviour of Faerie, not just Luidaeg's salvation in particular, but also the first friend that Luidaeg's had in decades, potentially centuries... and here's this physical proof that Toby's going to die before she does any of it, and the Luidaeg can't do anything about it. No wonder she was so angry about it.

I know Fetches wouldn't be able to compare notes, given that they, you know, tend to die pretty quickly, but can you imagine if they could ever compare the people they're Fetches of? The fact that they have Fetches in the first place puts them in the category of Makers of Unhinged Choices. I think that they would be a *fascinating* group of people to learn more about.

'[May] obviously didn't get my survival instincts when she inherited my memories. I would never have brushed the Luidaeg off like that, at least not if I wanted to keep my head attached to the rest of my body.' Toby, May *absolutely* inherited your survival instincts. You just came back from breaking into a Firstborn's lands to steal a bunch of kids from him! You have! No leg! To stand on!

Jessica's reaction to May being terror is completely understandable, but I do appreciate Andrew's reaction of just needing everyone to know who everyone else is or isn't in the situation.

I don't really think that May was looking forward to dying, but I do think that she had fun with the jokes.

Chapter Eighteen:

This book is making me more curious about what Sylvester and Luidaeg's relationship is like. I know that Luidaeg told Sylvester that Amandine was shifting Toby's blood so he'd intervene, but did they know each other before that? Did she know him because Amandine grew up with the Torquill twins, or did she know him during his hero days?

Was Sylvester expecting Luna to send Toby on the Rose Road? Was that the 'safer way' he thought she could use?

I forgot how *big* a deal it was that May showed up as a death omen, given that she's been around for 13 books and Toby, well, hasn't died, but nearly everyone who meets May is terrified when they see her for the first time.

Chapter Nineteen:

Toby picks up on spells by using mirrors quite a few times; I can't tell if it's a Thing, or if it's more like a useful trope.

I feel very sympathetic for May during this car chase. If I was ever going to get into a car chase, this is the kind of car chase it would be.

Poor Spike is NOT having a good trip.

So this is the third car in three books that Toby's totaled. I'm *pretty* sure that she's a lot nicer to cars from now on; now it takes several books to destroy her car.

Chapter Twenty:

Okay, so Toby straight up says that she saw Karen's ghost; I wouldn't have thought that ghosts were a Thing in Faerie, given how the night-haunts work. (I know I've already made this point before but I think this should be talked about more! What has Toby seen!)

May keeps saying that she's breaking the rules by helping Toby, but nothing really happens after she breaks them, even before her existence stopped being tied to Toby's. Are there actually rules about how Fetches are supposed to act, or are they self-imposed?

Chapter Twenty-One:

Honestly Raj handles himself pretty well in this fight; I'm not sure if that says more about Raj or Julie.

I'm not sure why Tybalt humors Julie's revenge 'quest' as much as he does? I can't imagine that Julie would be able to justify it in any court, given that the situation was 'your lover died doing something everyone involved knew was serious and didn't take seriously'. If Luidaeg couldn't claim offense for the slaughter of her children because it didn't happen directly to her, there's no way Julie should be able to argue this.

Aaahhhhhhh, Raj already likes Toby SO much. I wonder if Samson isn't just threatened by how Tybalt acts around Toby; he might also be threatened by how much his son respects her.

Toby and Tybalt talk a few times about Tybalt looking for answers. Was he trying to track down Amandine? I think we get confirmation of this in a later book, but I don't totally remember.

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Okay, Toby, you can't get mad at Marcia for recognizing and not recognizing you. I know you've had a long day, but that's still not very fair.

'"Once you arrive, events must play to their logical conclusions. I hope you don't mind my hating you."' I feel so bad for May this read through. She has memories of loving all of these people! She loves them to some extent too! And they all *hate* her because of what she represents.

You know, I've always been a little curious about what Lily and Luidaeg's relationship was like - and then Lily will sneak attack Toby to heal her and I'm not sure that Luidaeg would've considered them *friends*, but she must've liked Lily at least a little bit.

The Tidal Road is awesome and I'm sad that it hasn't come up again.

Chapter Twenty-Three:

'"Aw, fuck. You mean Lily wasn't being obscure to piss me off?"' I *love* the idea that typically obscure/cryptic characters like Luidaeg and Lily are sometimes that way to each other and it also irritates them.

I want Luidaeg's four poster canopy bad so baaaaaaadly.

There's something really heartbreaking about Luidaeg having to reassure Toby she's not a child killer.

Chapter Twelve:

Man, Quentin really threw himself into the deep end re: quests, didn't he? The last book he was only supposed to tag along to figure out what was going on with January, and then just refused to leave when people started dying; this one he snuck into Toby's car and made the Luidaeg let him tag along. (Also, *how* did that meeting go?) Toby might've honed Quentin's bullheaded heroic tendencies, but they're definitely all his.

Spike is the *best* sidekick; I hope he gets the best fertilizer after this.

Chapter Thirteen:

This book has made me more interested in Amandine than I've ever been before, if only because I'm very curious now about a) the specifics of the prophecy about Amandine's line and b) when she started hiding that she was a Firstborn. Acacia says that Amandine was 'very... visible, once. Before her choices were made.' I'm guessing that this doesn't refer to Amandine becoming a Faerie Bride after August disappeared, because Acacia didn't know that Amandine had had a second daughter. Could this possibly refer to refusing to stop Blind Michael's Ride?

@figmentera mentioned that the 'road' Blind Michael (in chpater 11) said Amandine set aside was referring more to the prophecy about her bloodline than a literal road, which feels more and more likely the more she gets brought up. Which makes me a little curious about when the last Ride happened; I assume that it would've had to have happened while August wasn't in the picture, because then the prophecy wouldn't have depended on Amandine filling it.

Chapter Fourteen:

I'm not sure why Toby's so mad about Quentin sneaking into her car to follow her to the Luidaeg's; that absolutely sounds like something teenage Toby would've done. (On second thought, that might be why she's so mad!)

Quentin's a great squire; even when he's confused by what Toby's doing, he'll back her up when she needs it.

Oh, Jessica's so *happy* to see Toby in this book; I'm so sad that she died still being scared of Toby.

Chapter Fifteen:

'Spike trailed us to the edge of the trees before stopping, clearly intending to stay where it was most needed.' Seriously, Spike is the BEST sidekick.

'[Quentin] was Daoine Sidhe, and the smell of mortal blood was strong enough to be almost choking. He should have smelled it before I did. So why didn't he?' More hints that Toby wasn't what she thought she was!

Reading about Katie's partial transformation reminds me that Seanan McGuire can be SUPER terrifying.

Chapter Sixteen:

'Five of the older kids were busy lashing bundles of sticks together as they finished Helen's litter, and there were sentries posted in the trees, almost invisible through the leaves until you walked under them.' Raj did SUCH a good job organizing the kids. I hope Tybalt makes sure that Raj knows how well he did.

''...I almost envied [Helen]. Whether we lived or died, the pressure wasn't on her. She was taking care of the children and leaving the heroics to Raj - and to me. Lucky us.' Honestly I think this is pretty unfair of Toby? Calming that many kids down in such a stressful situation is HARD, especially when she must've also been freaking out, and Raj definitely wouldn't have been able to rally the kids if the youngest ones were panicking. Helen was doing more than enough to make sure everyone made it out.

'[Karen] gestured frantically, and i realized with dim horror that I could see through her. In my experience, see-through people are usually dead.' I have two questions about this. 1) Toby mentioned in Be the Serpent that the older Karen got, the more time she would spend sleeping. Does this mean she can project herself so people can see her when they're awake? Or will she only be able to visit people while they're sleeping? 2) Can the fae be ghosts/spirits, or is Toby referring to her mortal side re: see-through people?

'The Luidaeg was on the other side, white-eyed and frantic, with ashes in her hair.' WHAT was going on on the Luidaeg's side???

I'm not gonna lie, Toby pushing the kids through the door felt very '101 Dalmatians' to me.

I bet all of these kids hear that the Luidaeg is supposed to be a terrifying monster and just. Refuse to believe it. Nope, that's the nice lady that let us cry all over her kitchen floor, she's not scary!

'"You need to get these brats out of here. I can't stand kids."' This is somehow the truth (because the Luidaeg can't lie) and the biggest lie we've ever heard her say.

I *love* that Danny's voice message already has info about Barghest rescue.

Chapter Seven:

'The odds are against me ever having a knowe of my own' I don't know, Toby, I think there's at least a non-zero chance at this point.

Toby's definitely gotten better at eating whenever she can than she is in this book.

I wonder if Fetch's names are always connected to the person they've copied.

Did Sylvester mention Amandine because he thought she wouldn't like Luna sending Toby into danger, or because he thought she'd be able to stop Blind Michael?

Okay, it makes more sense that Toby was so blase about Blind Michael in the first book if most of the time he was 'old man yelling to get off his lawn' levels of nuisance.

I'm honestly super curious about what Luna's relationship with the Luidaeg looks like. Luna's Blind Michael and Acacia's daughter, so does Luidaeg fight with herself about liking a descendant of Titania, or is Luna being a child of her favourite brother enough to make her at least neutral to her? Luna seemed okay enough with her that she wasn't worried about sending Toby to the Luidaeg for help; have they interacted with each other at all? Or do they politely pretend that the other one doesn't exist?

Chapter Eight:

Can we talk about how Toby and Luidaeg have only known each other for, what - two years? A year and a half? - and Luidaeg already feels comfortable enough with Toby that she doesn't assume that Toby's calling because she needs her? I know Luidaeg is terrifying, but her capacity to love is pretty awe-inspiring.

Also Luidaeg has to help kill her brother! Her favourite brother, one of her only siblings left, because she knew her brother would eventually become a monster and she's the only one who can make sure Toby has a chance to do it.

Luidaeg calls Toby a child of Oberon and Toby ignores it. Luidaeg might not have given the most direct hints, but she really did try to tell Toby about her heritage when she could.

"He'll hold them until Halloween night... and then they'll Ride. It's [Blind Michael's] way of remembering our mother. Her Rides were always held on Samhian night." This is kind of surprising to me, given that we just learned in the latest short story that part of the reason he became Blind Michael in the first place is because he went to his mother for vengeance after his children were murdered and she turned him away.

I have to try to pay attention to when a fancy knife is described now, just in case the knife Luidaeg commissioned to kill Eira with shows up.

Chapter Nine:

Raj!!!! I forgot how many characters we were introduced to in this book!

OOF, Raj is having a *bad* day. Have Raj, Dean and Chelsea argued over who was having a worse time when the met Toby?

Chapter Ten:

"The Luidaeg is the only Firstborn I've ever dealt with on a regular basis, and her power is subtle, damped down until she can seem human to the casual observer. [Acacia's] power wasn't hidden at all." Given that Toby's regularly been around *two* other Firstborns at this point, this makes me wonder how Amandine and Evening were able to hide what they were for so long. I could see Amandine being able to hide her power through some type of blood magic, but what about Eira? Part of it could've been explained by Toby just not having a good grasp on what a normal Daoine Sidhe's powers looked like compared to Evening, but Evening hid it from *everyone*. Were her illusions just that good?

"It's Raj. I... the forest is very dark." Oh noooooo Raj would HATE it but I want to bundle him up in a blanket and hug hiiiiiiim

'"My father says Uncle Tybalt's friend October is an adult." He paused. "And a hussy."' I realize there's no way I could've appreciated this enough the first time I read this, given we hadn't met Samson yet, but this is seriously SO funny. I desperately want to know what Tybalt's behaviour looks like from his Court's perspective during this time period.

Chapter Eleven:

"[Blind Michael] hadn't just changed them on the outside. He'd changed them all the way down to the bone." Do we know what Blind Michael's first children were/what they could do? What Toby's doing here sounds like some kind of blood magic, but I don't think Maeve's descendants are really known for that; plus, everything Toby's ever about her powers are that you can take away a bloodline but you can't add one, which is exactly what it sounds like Blind Michael did. Is it just a really extreme form of transformation?

There's something extra brutal about Blind Michael taking one of the few Roane left, possibly during one of his first Rides. I wonder if that's what caused Luidaeg to try to kill him?

"You're Amandine's daughter, aren't you? You are. I can smell it on you. Why are you here? She never came, and once a road is set aside, no other feet should claim it." So THIS implies that Amandine had a road she could've used to save kids before, or at least used to visit Blind Michael's lands. I would've guessed it was the Blood Road, but as far as I remember the only issue was using that road was that Toby ran the risk of bleeding out before she got back, not that it was closed off from anyone to use. So if it wasn't the Blood Road, could it be a road connected to Janet?

Chapter Four:

I want to know how Cait Sidhe royalty works sooooo badly (Is it explained more in depth in Seanan McGuire's patreon stories? I still need to read those). Only certain Cait Sidhe seem to be able to be royalty; Tybalt says Raj is the first royal to be born in his Court in 60 years, and only one of Jolgier's daughters was strong enough to be a Princess. So there seems to be a certain threshold of magic that Cait Sidhe royalty needs. What do they need it for? I thiiiiiiiiiiink I remember Tybalt mentioning something about Kings and Queens being directly connected to the Shadow Roads, but I'm not 100% sure about that. Are they also responsible for anchoring their Courts to different physical spaces?

Something I'm curious about: Tybalt's old enough to have lived through at least one Ride, possibly several. I'm pretty sure he would've been a King of Cats during it too. Why doesn't Tybalt wonder if this was Blind Michael's Ride? Especially after he hears some of the Brown kids are missing too.

Lily's knowe sounds so pretty.

I know I've already said this, but I'm still holding out hope that Lily will come back - both because I love her (she was definitely one of the people most effective at calling Toby out), and because we still don't know anything about why she came to San Francisco/her relationship with Amandine. Given what we know about Amandine now, their relationship gets more and more confusing.

Chapter Five:

I think it's interesting that Lily changes Toby's clothes like the false Queen does, although a) she only does it after she's healed Toby and b) she does keep Toby's original clothes instead of transforming them.

At first I thought Toby was missing the *very* obvious by not realizing that Luna was who Lily was referring to when she said 'ask the moon'... and then I remembered that not everyone had a Sailor Moon fixation that gave them an instant (an permanent) association between 'Luna' and 'moon', and maybe it wasn't that obvious to everyone.

I'm very curious about how Lily's clairvoyance(?) works. When she told Toby to talk to Luna, I assumed she knew that Blind Michael was behind the disappearances. But then she hears that the smell of candle wax was left behind/saw the Roads in her tea leaves and was so shaken that she dropped her cup. Is she only aware of the general path that Toby needs to take, not the specifics? (I am also very curious about what/why Lily isn't allowed to talk about certain things.)

'I can't stand other people throwing my illusions on for me. It makes my ears itch.' I'm pretty sure this is hinting at how sensitive Toby is to magic.

I will give it to Tybalt this time; it wasn't really an unfair assumption that Toby wouldn't mind him avoiding her given that she keeps insisting that she wants him to leave her alone. (He doesn't get off that easy the other times he avoids her though.)

And even though she's still kind of mad at him, Tybalt's still the first person Toby trusts to tell about her Fetch!

Chapter Six:

Okay, so it is just the purebloods who send their kids to high school. That must really suck for changelings.

'I paused, amazement overwhelming my annoyance. "Etienne, is that you?" "Oh, blast. Hello, Toby," he said, wearily. "Please don't start." "Was the phone in danger? Did they have to get a big, brave knight to guard it?"' Is this the first time we meet Etienne in the books? He's been mentioned before but I don't think we've seen him on screen. The more I re-read the more I kind of want prequel stories? Pre-series Etienne and Toby must've been hilarious.

This book, even more than A Local Habitation, demonstrates that Toby didn't corrupt Quentin; he's just Like That. Getting shot could/should have been a wake-up call for him about how potentially dangerous associating with Toby could be - instead, he's *very* upset that she won't bring him along to investigate a situation that's starting out even more dangerous than the last investigation he helped her with. (I know that it would've been really bad in the long run, but can you IMAGINE if Eira had gotten her wish to have the Crown Prince of the Westlands under her thumb - and it turned out that he's just Toby without the healing powers to get him out of messes? He would be SUCH a headache for her.)

'[Luna's] laughter died, taking the light in her eyes with it. "I rather thought you might," she said, quietly. "I'd hoped that someone else would... but it's no matter. Come along." This is the moment that Luna accepts she's going to send Toby to die, right? She'd hoped someone else would show up on a fool's quest to stop her father, but it doesn't really change anything for her that it's Toby instead. (By the way if you haven't seen it before you should definitely read this meta on Luna and then go through @words-writ-in-starlight entire Toby Daye tag they have the BEST thoughts)

Chapter One:

Is Dame Altair ever mentioned again? I don't think so.

This might be one of my favourite openings. Low stakes job! Danny's trying to get Toby to have a life! The Brown kids!

I feel like Danny's reaction to the Barghests being 'awww! This thing that kill people a dozen different ways is so cute!' and to adopt them all demonstrates the biggest reason why Toby and Danny are such good friends.

We get an April mention! It's nice to see her enjoying herself, even (especially?) if its' at Toby's expense.

'I don't know. How about you call that King of Cats guy I used to see you with?' How often did Tybalt follow her around, even when they 'hated' each other, that Danny knew him? I don't think they met each other in the first book, and they didn't see each other at all in the second.

Do we know what age fae children typically start going to mortal school? Toby mentions that the only Brown kid that's currently living on a mortal schedule is Cassandra. Karen's eleven, so she should have control over her magic by now, so it's not learning how to hold illusions that means that hey can go to school. Do they just go for high school? Or is it just the nobility that sends their kids for a few years of mortal school?

I *love* that the Brown kids call Toby Aunt Birdie. And the Brown kids love her soooooo muuuuuuch.

'If I'd been juggling that many kids, I would have demanded whiskey and duct tape instead of offering them things bound to make them even more hyperactive.' Says the woman who's house is going to be a second home for, like, half a dozen kids? And I'm pretty sure routinely hosts pizza nights? Although maybe she thinks it's different 'cause all of her kids are teenagers.

Here's a mention of how little Stacy's aging and how much all of the kids look like her.

Andy's cake sounds amazing; I want Kerry to make me a cake with sugar dinosaurs.

Chapter Two:

Poor Spike; the cats are always ganging up on him. You would think the fact that he has *thorns* would make him a little harder to bully, but smaller animals seem to have a knack for intimidating animals who should definitely be able to handle them.

Re-reading has definitely made me feel much worse for Rayseline and Connor. Rayseline's nature was literally fighting itself, and she wasn't getting anywhere near enough support for what she'd gone through. And it was very unfair to expect Connor to be able to 'fix' her when he barely had any support of his own. I don't know if they would've been capable of being friends if Rayseline hadn't been tearing herself apart, but I'm sad that they never had the chance to try.

May's here!!!! Yayyyyyyyyy!!!!!

So here, May's says that the reason she's here is because Toby's going to die soon. In later books, Toby says that Fetches aren't *actually* portents of death, it's just that the people who'd create Fetches tend to be the type of people who have short lifespans (correlation does not equal causation). Wouldn't the Fetches themselves know that? Or does it normally work like that and it's just that Toby's an unusual case?

I am veeeeeeeeery curious about where Toby's met a Fetch before.

Has anyone ever written a fic of May trying things out and figuring out what she likes? I think that would be interesting to explore.

'Fragments of plate crunched underfoot, cutting my feet. I didn't care. It didn't matter. When you're waiting to die, you have bigger things to worry about than a little bit of blood.' I cannot believe I didn't pick up that Toby's pain tolerance/healing abilities were above average. Who just walks over *shattered plates* and is? Fine??

Chapter Three:

We're already getting into the quest and Toby a) hasn't slept enough and b) hasn't eaten enough. This isn't a great start for her this book.

Karen, Jessica, and Andrew were very lucky that Blind Michael didn't realize that they were Titania's children. It's interesting to think about how Titania would've reacted if she'd known who she was - I can't decide if she'd take it as an opportunity to get rid of them or be deeply insulted that a son of Maeve would Dare steal *her* children and just raze everything to the ground.

Spike reacting so strongly because he was created from a Blodynbryd is a neat detail I didn't pick up the first time.

Oh, poor Mitch. His kids keep getting sucked into things much bigger than them, and he can't do anything but watch.

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

It really is creepy thinking about April luring people out so Gordan could try to digitize them.

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

April's room being decorated so childishly makes everything soooo much worse.

"Damn. Just once, can't the villains look suitably villainous?" Give it a couple months Toby! You'll meet one soon enough.

I still think Jan's plan was to essentially put Faerie in the Metaverse. What would happen if the servers broke down? April had like a million failsafes and she still ran the risk of being turned off permanently if the power failed. I feel like, beyond the near impossibility of the task, there were a lot of issues everyone at ALH failed to consider.

The person in charge of the knowe being completely against you is a really scary thought.

Chapter Thirty:

'"Perhaps he'll stay dead this time," he said, nonchalantly. "Tybalt, I snapped. He gave me a look, as if to say 'what?' then began studying his nails.' I know that look. If he was my mom's cat he would've rolled on the floor to show how totally nonchalant he was feeling about the situation, which is maybe not as dignified as Tybalt was going for but would've gotten the feeling across the same.

I didn't think that Barbara was a very good Queen of Cats, but she might've been a *slightly* better one than I gave her credit for. Elliot said that Barbara was upset that the cats kept dying; if she wanted the testing to stop and ALH decided to keep going, that might explain why she decided to sell them out to Riordan. Which doesn't actually help the cats under her care, but it does explain why she'd 'bend at the knee' to a child of Titania.

Chapter Thirty-One:

Toby keeps saying that she's super paranoid about everything; if anything I think she's not paranoid enough.

'I was starting to see the blood trail on the floor, marking out the way in blotches and streaks. Only half of it was real blood. The rest was potential blood, ghost-blood, made visible by the magic I inherited from my mother.' I don't think that Toby's ever tracked someone through potential blood trails after this? I'm not sure if that's because everyone she tracks after this is bleeding enough she doesn't need almost blood, or because tracking people through their magic is more reliable.

"We go now, because there's no time left. Tybalt, can you-" "I'll guard him. I should be able to coax him back to human form." Tybalt really does understand what Toby needs. He knows that she needs to go save Quentin, someone who's her responsibility, and he knows she'll be able to focus on doing that if she's not also worrying about Connor.

Elliot's soapy tidal wave is actually pretty cool. I love the way that people stretch their magic to do things they technically shouldn't be able to do.

Chapter Thirty-Two:

If Gordan was always planning on experimenting/murdering Toby, why didn't she do it sooner to stop her from investigating? Or was there too big a risk that that would spook Jan into sending someone to bring Sylvester to Tamed Lightning?

Oh man, Gordan, if you think some type of hierarchy wouldn't be established in the digital world, then you don't know people very well.

Gordan makes me wish we got more changeling characters. I feel like we don't get a ton of them, and it seems like they tend to be unsympathetic characters instead of characters who have a lot of reasons to be bitter (but still don't default to murdering people).

'Then, quietly, [April] asked, "For right now, until they come and take Gordan's hardware... can we pretend that you'll take care of me?"' Oh nooooooooooo. Trust me, April, if it was even slightly possible, Toby definitely would've taken care of you.

I feel like this book was Toby's biggest failure professionally. One Salt Sea was probably her biggest failure personally, but she stopped a war from happening and rescued a kidnapped child then. In this book, only 2 out of 7 people actually survived (although to be fair, she did get to bring most of them back later).

Chapter Thirty-Three:

I know Tybalt stayed behind to avoid Toby until he could process what he'd learned about her (and to take care of the cats), but I'm still glad that April wasn't left alone with the dead. (Actually has anyone written that fic? Now that I'm thinking about it, Tybalt could probably give April a lot of advice on running her fiefdom and how to look after her people)

I wonder if Jin has a running tally of all of the ridiculous injuries she's had to heal when Toby gets involved. Maybe the healers have bingo cards and they win a prize if theirs gets filled up.

'No one knows exactly when Amandine went crazy; she collapsed a few years after I vanished, moving into an internal world far stranger than the Summerlands. She doesn't spend much time in the tower anymore. Most reports place her wandering endlessly through forests and standing, motionless, at crossroads. I wish I knew what she was looking for.' I remember feeling sorry for Amandine the first time I read this part, and hoping that Toby would eventually get her mother back. I no longer feel this way. I guess losing another daughter (and potentially her only chance at getting her other daughter back) is what caused her to snap. Also, I'm not sure if this is the intended association but 'wandering endlessly through forests and standing, motionless, at crossroads' is making me thinking of Tam Lin/Janet breaking the Ride.

"And Toby... he's not angry. You did the best you could. Both of you." This might be the last time we see Luna and Toby's relationship be uncomplicated/good. The next time we see them after this scene is when Luna's sending Toby to die for her.

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Oh noooooooo, the knowe led Toby to April because it knew that Jan would want someone to look after heeeeeeeeer.

This book is definitely more slasher/horror movie than the rest of the series. It's really well done, even if it's not my thing.

"Haven't you had enough minutes?" I don't know, Alex, haven't you had enough of not giving Toby all of the information she needs? She probably would've figured it out a lot faster if you guys had done that!

Chapter Twenty-Three:

I don't think we've seen Sylvester's Heroics firsthand yet? He's shown up as backup a few times (and then been possessed more than once), but nothing where he's at the forefront. I hope that we get to see it sometime.

I'm not sure Toby's reaction to Tybalt coming to help being 'oh no, he's just going to make things more difficult!' is warranted. Tybalt is one of, if not the most, helpful acquaintances she currently has.

Toby noticing invisibility charms because the charms don't account for mirrors is one of my favourite things.

Gordon probably made the right choice falling to her death. I don't think shooting the heir to the Westlands would lead to much mercy for her.

Chapter Twenty-Four:

'Poor impulse control' really? Is that what we're calling it? Toby should've punched Elliot too.

This is probably because of scope creep, but this feels like kind of an underwhelming situation to have 'we don't know if we'll get out of this alive so we have to passionately kiss as goodbye', especially considering that Connor's married to a woman who hates Toby's guts. I feel like the risks of kissing Connor didn't match the severity of the situation. Like, okay, people are dying, but people are always dying! No Firstborn are directly involved! There's not even a fraught political situation happening! I have to remind myself this is only the second book and Toby's not used to every situation being dire yet.

Whyyyyy can't anyone just *tell* Toby about Alex and Terrie?? Elliot doesn't need to be cryptic and make her wait to see the answer! These people! Are very! frustrating!!

Chapter Twenty-Five:

I really do like April and Quentin's friendship. I'm glad April got to keep at least a little of it at the end of this.

Tybalt showed up!!!!! Yaaayyyyy!!!!!! Also, he's been here for 30 seconds and he's already grabbed Elliot by the throat AND figured out that they were experimenting on cats. You can't say that Tybalt doesn't get results!

I forgot that Tybalt assumed Quentin was a prospective suitor when he first heard about him. These books continue to be unintentionally hilarious on a re-read.

Chapter Twenty-Six:

I'm not sure I'm going to have a ton to say on this chapter other than 'yeeeessssss Tybalt, slam him against the wall harder'

Oh April. This is a brutal thing to have to come to terms with.

I don't think Seanan had thought of Jan's wife Li Qin Zhou yet. Even if April was so focused on Jan that she didn't think of Li Qin Zhou as one of her caretakers (and I don't think that's true), Elliot would definitely have mentioned her.

I''m not sure why Terrie's death doesn't tell her that Gordan's the killer. They've established *multiple* times that it has to be an insider doing it, and Gordan was the only one who wasn't accounted for during this murder. The Doylist answer is probably that Toby had to do be established as capable of something very not Daoine Sidhe, but it does mean that she comes off as not a very good detective.

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

These poor cats; they're having a very rough go of it in ALH.

I do find it a little odd that Toby's so convinced that Gordan couldn't have done it because she lost her friend, given a) Gordan's abrasiveness in general, b) that Gordan and Barbara were fighting, and c) that Barbara had betrayed them. I know that Toby's missing the info about what ALH's goal is, but she still should've been suspicious of Gordan way before this point.

And even after Toby made Elliot swear to answer any question she asked entirely honestly, he still! Hasn't! Told her! About! Their project!!! Elliot do you WANT to die?!

"Oak and ash and will and thorn are mine; blood and ice and flowers and flame are mine. Mine in turn are those who hold me, hurt me, bend me to their ends; I have bled and burned here, and I demand the return of what is mine." I need to remember to try to compare Toby's 'spells' to see how similar they are, or if she does a different one every time.

Chapter Seventeen:

"Quentin, get something nutritious to go with your soda. A Snickers bar or something." Oh they were both SO lucky May showed up after this.

Oh, poor Luidaeg. She's finally met the person who will eventually be able to remove the geas on her, and she's a person who decides that summoning the night-haunts is an acceptable plan.

Of all the people at ALH, I might like Elliot the most (other than April). I respect a character that can just roll with with an unexpected situation.

Toby mentions that Raven-maids and Raven-men are skin shifters like the Selkies. Given how/why the Selkies were created, this makes me curious about whether the Raven-maids/men were created for similar reasons. In the story published with Be the Serpent, Luidaeg says that she cursed the Siren who murdered her love to join the Sky Kingdoms. Maybe that has something to do with how they came about?

I really do feel sorry for Elliot about Yui. I'm glad they got their wedding after everyone was brought back.

Chapter Eighteen:

Connor is noooooot equipped to help out with quests. You were going to take Toby's car back? *Really*?? You had ONE job, man.

Was Sylvester still the Mad Duke when Quentin started his fostering? I'm pretty sure it was mentioned somewhere, but I can't remember off the top of my head. If he was, that might be why Quentin thinks that 'breaking out into hysterical laughter' is a normal reaction in Shadowed Hills.

Connor's relationship with the Luidaeg is definitely something that I want to try to pay more attention to on this re-read. It would be interesting to see what I can pick up from it now that we know about the Selkies.

Okay, Connor, I understand that your marriage is unhappy, but you're still married. Gently resting your joined hands on Toby's cheek is not cool!

Toby was probably lucky that Alex showed up and distracted Connor; he probably would've gotten a lot angrier than that otherwise.

Chapter Nineteen:

Connor may not be equipped for quests, but he does know his role as coffee-provider.

"We need to talk to [the night-haunts], and this is the only way. Believe me, I don't want to. I'm scared stiff." Toby is the ultimate proof that repeat exposure works.

I think I'm appreciating the wistful 'what-could-have-been' of Toby and Connor's relationship more this time around. I don't think they would've worked out in the long run, but they might've been able to be better friends to each other. It's a little sad that they never got to learn how to be that for each other.

Fuuuuuuuuuck Aaaaallleeeeex. Just - SO many things wrong. First, I feel like he contradicts himself while he's explaining? Does it come naturally or does he not do it to every woman he meets? Second, is it supposed to be a *compliment* that he doesn't enchant every woman he interacts with? Like it means something that he liked her enough to give her no choice in how she felt about him??

I wonder why Gordan didn't sabotage the summoning; she and Elliot got all of the flowers together, she would've had plenty of opportunity. Was she that confident that the night-haunts wouldn't be able to tell Toby anything? Was she hoping that they'd come and eat her? Was she curious enough about the night-haunts that she wanted to see it play out?

The summoning ritual is SO creepy/cool. We don't see Toby doing any concrete 'spells' with her magic; she just forces her way through a situation until she gets a desired outcome. I wonder if having kids is going to make her try to find a more consistent way to do things so she can teach them?

Chapter Twenty:

As much as we learn about them in this chapter, I think the night-haunts are the longest running mystery in the series. I saw a meta a while back theorizing that, after the Roane returned, the night-haunts lost their most stable food source and were in danger of fading unless they found another way to sustain themselves. I'm not sure if this is the direction the series would take them, but it would be a good reason to call in Toby's debt to them.

This might be the first time Toby's ever been described than 'wiser than most who deal with [the night-haunts]'.

The mandrake doppelganger make me sad, and I'm trying very hard not to think that the 'created just to die' part is foreshadowing of any kind.

Forget all the blood magic; Toby's superpower is being able to connect with people so strongly that it affects them *after death*.

Chapter Twenty One

'Backups. They had backups for the backups in this place. It was amazing anything had been able to go wrong: they should've had backups for the people, too.' Funny you should say that, Toby!

'"Look, I'd hug you, but I'd get blood al over you." "I don't care," [Quentin] said, and threw his arms around my neck.' Oh, I'm so glad that Quentin and Toby found each other.

Whatever else you can say about Luidaeg, her bedside manner is still better than Gordan's.

Jan, at least, gets (minor) props for actually planning on telling Toby everything before she died. It is honestly a miracle *anyone* made it out of this alive given how willing everyone was to take their project to the grave.

Chapter Twelve:

Toby's line about sometimes wanting to drop illusions around mortals and try to find common ground with them has always made me wonder if the 'end of Faerie' that Toby will potentially bring about will be to expose Faerie to mortals. I don't *really* think that that's where the series is going to go, but it's interesting to think about.

Augh, it's too bad that Toby didn't leave Colin's Selkie skin in the hotel. She probably thought it would be safer with her, but.

Chapter Thirteen:

I didn't realize how bad this book was for Quentin; he sees his first, like, 5 or 6 dead bodies, he nearly blows up, he gets shot. It's a miracle that Quentin's parents didn't step in to keep him away from Toby (either that, or Eira's spell was still influencing them).

Poor Toby's car; I wonder if the mechanic who wrote off her car from the first book starts having a sliding scale for how damaged Toby's cars are when she tries to get them fixed.

You know, even with the exploding car, this might be the least amount of damage Toby takes in any of the books? I'm not even sure she gets shot by the end of it? That is the lowest of low bars, but we take our victories where we can!

Chapter Fourteen:

Uggghhhh, I know that in the grand scheme of Toby's injuries this is pretty low, but something about glass being embedded in skin is just extra gross to me.

Seeing Quentin and Toby's early relationship again is really sweet. She lets herself be soft with him, at a time when she wasn't really allowing herself to be soft.

Every time Toby talks about heroes and how they're not meant to solve complicated problems I think 'you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.'

'"We know the risks," said Jan. Before the fae grew soft and secretive, the look in her eyes would have sent armies to die. There's no stopping that kind of look; all you can do is stand back and hope the casualties will be light.' I wonder if this is what the Luidaeg thinks whenever Toby comes to ask her for help.

Chapter Fifteen:

Yay! They've finally realized that someone's tampering with the phones!

Tybalt!!! Oh I'm SO happy you showed up it's been getting dire!

I would love to learn more about how the Court of Cats works. We've gotten bits and pieces of it, but I'd really like to see how the different Courts deal with each other.

Tybalt being willing to play messenger to *Sylvester* of all people is a much bigger indication of how much he likes Toby than I previously realized.

I'm not normally big on fish, but hippocampi sound SO cool.

I really like April, like, assessing parameters on how to materialize in front of people so they don't get scared. If it'll stop people wasting time calming down from being scared, she's willing to change her approach!

Chapter Sixteen:

The relationship between cats and Faerie is really interesting; I hope it gets explored more if we ever get more information about the Court of Cats. (Maybe it has something to do with why all three Rulers had a Cait Sidhe Firstborn?)

Sometimes I don't give Toby enough credit; her straightforward detective work is actually pretty good.

You know, I was thinking that Colin would have the biggest whiplash after he woke up, considering that he wouldn't have a skin anymore, but Barbara might actually have the toughest time. Her best friend murdered her/is dead! The Duchess that she betrayed her boss/friends for has been kinda-deposed and was replaced by her boss's wife! Everyone knows that she betrayed them to their political enemy! Not to mention that she probably lost her Court/most Courts would probably be wary of letting her join them. Something tells me that she has a Rough Time after waking up.

LOVE the dramatic irony of Toby thinking 'maybe I should be more careful; if I was murdering computer programmers I would lure them in with typing' ... and then proceeding to be lured to the murderer with typing.

I can ignore most of Gordon's abrasive comments because she's trying to throw suspicion off of her, but fuuuuuuuck her for giving Toby shit for being distracted by Alex knowing he's enchanting her. (And she's technically the only one who gave Toby a warning about him! What! The! Fuck!!!)

I forgot it was Jan's idea to talk to the night haunts. It's probably a good thing that they didn't have enough time to become more friendly, because Toby does not need more help coming up with stupidly dangerous plans.