Late Eclipses by Seanan McGuire

Reviewed by Ginny!

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Synopsis:

October “Toby” Daye, changeling knight in the service of Duke Sylvester Torquill, finds the delicate balance of her life shattered when she learns that an old friend is in dire trouble. Lily, Lady of the Tea Gardens, has been struck down by a mysterious, seemingly impossible illness, leaving her fiefdom undefended. Struggling to find a way to save Lily and her subjects, Toby must confront her own past as an enemy she thought was gone forever raises her head once more: Oleander de Merelands, one of the two people responsible for her fourteen-year exile.

Time is growing short and the stakes are getting higher, for the Queen of the Mists has her own agenda. With everything on the line, Toby will have to take the ultimate risk to save herself and the people she loves most—because if she can’t find the missing pieces of the puzzle in time, Toby will be forced to make the one choice she never thought she’d have to face again…

Late Eclipse is the fourth installment of the highly praised Toby Daye series.

Synopsis from Goodreads

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What I drank prior: plenty o white wine. I didnt end up drinking at book club because I was driving. But I arrived home to find Sam and Linz chatting away and rushed to catch up (with the caveat that Ive leatned not to keep up with Sam because I will have a unplesant dat afterwards). (Editor’s Note: tee hee. Imagine how drunk WE were if she had to drink a bottle of wine to “catch up”)

Spoiler-free Overview: lily, toby’s friend is sick, than another friend gets sick. And dumb pepple think Tiby did it (thanks dumb queen). Shes on the run from the queen trying to solve the problem (as Toby does).

Spoiler-free Thoughts: Dear god this book made me ship so hard. And also wonder why everything happens in like two days. I wouldnt mind if things unwrapped a little slower, but there were so many things to enjoy in this book.

Characters: Toby has grown a lot since the furst book. She no longer has a death wish which is really nice. She also has this amazing cast of people thats been building up behind her for the other three books and they so much fun. Her fetch, May doesn’t have as large a role in this book as previous ones. Tybalt remains so charming that I texted Sam in the middle of the book to faint over the leather jacket (Im not going to get into it here but if youve read these books and need to fawn over the leather jacket, please let me kbow). Old favs like Quentin make sure to show up and somehow it made this book feel both like a beginning, a contuation, and an end. This many characters can feel forced or unnecessary but this is a cast thats built up over ,now ,4 books and I love them.

Plot: the plot is, as many urbam fantasy books are, verh fast paced. I would love if they calmed down a bit. Im mot a huge fan of everythi g happening being the biggest thing ever. Bit this plot has been building for a while and I really wnjoyed Tobys creative work with what she has. I also love the way the deus ex machinas have been removed. Ill explain more in the spoilers

Writing Style: its Seanan McGuire. Its great

World Building: beautiful and did a lot to add to the world

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Spoilers

I love the fact that its clear the kuidaeg has her own life. I love that Toby calls ger hecause shes an amazing resource and it would be dumb not to ask. I love that these characters are smart and think about the resources as hand.

I also r3ally enjoyed finding out what Toby actually was. The weakness 9f her abiliyies never quite seemed to fit with the strength of her character so the transition mid-book made a lot if sense to me. Internally I was thinking “FINALLY.”

Omg I ship Tybalt and Toby so hard. Connor is sweet but hes the past. Tybalt borrowed his old peather jacket so that when Toby got it back it would smell right. It set my heart aflamr.

End Spoilers

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What to pair it with: this has got to be a few shots of decent vodka. Goes down relatively smooth but its a while ride when it hits.

Rating: 4.5/5

Goodnight. Sleep well. Dream of books, and let me know id you beat me to this series and have thoights.

Ginny