A Killing Frost is Toby's 14th book. Can you believe it? For us her loyal fans, we never want this series to end.

As it was expected, Toby and Tybalt are getting closer to that wedding we are all waiting for. What Toby didn't know is that in order to get married, she must invite her "father" to her wedding or face the consequences. Of course, there is the little trouble of Simon not remembering how much he actually does care about Toby and currently hating her.

Toby knows she needs to find Simon and he needs to get his memory back. She knows she can't postpone it any longer and so a new quest begins. In this quest, she will take with her only her squire and her Fetch. This will turn out to be a recipe for disaster. One where Toby will need to protect Quentin and keep May alive without dying herself.

This is one of my favorite fantasy series. Right up there with Mercy and Dresden. Seanan McGuire has done an unbelievably great job at world-building. These characters are so well-known to me and dear to my heart. I love Tybalt, he is perfect for Toby. He gives her balance and has saved her life more times than I can count. Quentin has grown in front of our eyes, to become a young man who hopefully won't forget everything Toby has taught him. May, her former Fetch, who is going to make sure Toby doesn't get too much blood at her wedding (hopefully). Diana and Patrick have always been favorite characters too. Diana will punch first and then ask questions. She is a fighter and I love how much she doesn't care for Amandine. Hands down, the Luidaeg, is my favorite character after Tybalt and Toby. Once again, she steals every scene she is in.

What this installment was missing was more Tybalt, Raj, Guillian (which needs to wake up and stop being a brat).

I wonder what will happen with August, Sylvester and his family with the events that happened in this one. I'm not a Sylvester fan and it makes me mad the way Luna behaves with Toby.

A huge reveal happened almost at the end of A Killing Frost. I'm 100% sure it will have repercussions in all the books to come. I can't wait!

If you are a true fan of this series, you're going to enjoy this one.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by DAW via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent addition to Seanan McGuire's lost list of great novels. I cannot thank Netgalley and the publisher enough for the E-arc copy of A Killing Frost. It is a wonderful read!

Poor Toby. Everything seemed to be going so nicely... You know that’s not going to last right?
It actually took me a while to get to this galley. I asked for All The Things from Netgalley when I realized just how long and bad quarantine was going to be a while back and that I’d run out of library books... I did not expect to get quite so much as I did. So I had to mostly read things in publication order to write the reviews before publication. I’m up to September books! It was hard to not read this one out of order!
So, we’re all in this series to the end right? No newbies here? Toby really needs to work on her issues a bit. And to be honest Tybalt does too... Seriously folks, talk to your romantic partner if you even think,something might be an issue before it becomes an issue... But hey, stable functional relationships are far duller to read about than disaster du jour relationships right?
I don’t know about you but I’m in this series to the end just to see how things go wrong before the final act!

A brand new October Daye' adventure that is worthy of the whole series!

The hero of the Mists is back and what more can I say than WOW!!! The main story is great, well paced and well written! I felt the fear and the frustrations as much as the joy and humor of October and her entourage!

A Killing Frost could have easily become my favorite book of the whole series, if not for the surprising characters' development at the end that came out of nowhere... I'm all for complicated entanglements but I felt like it was just too much - too fast, unfortunalety.

Well it's still a book that I strongly recommend. I seriously can't wait to see what'll happen next to the Hero of the Kingdom of the Mists and her King of Cats !

A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's always like coming home when I read this series.

Of course, it's a home with nasty Fae relatives, some brutal nice ones, friends who support me but who fully expect me to kill them ANY MOMENT NOW, and NO ONE WILL LEAVE ME BE ABOUT WHEN I'LL GET MARRIED.

Of course, I'm channeling October, but I figure if you're reading this review, YOU ALREADY GOT THAT. :)

Lessee... what can I say that isn't a complete spoiler?

Families SUCK. If it isn't divorce, it's marriage, and doesn't it beat all when the two get their grimy little paws on each other, ruining it for everyone?

This is a good book. It didn't leave me with as much of a gut punch as the last, but this one was solid and surprising (especially 1st born surprises) and the extra novella was actually rather sweet and helped round out the events in the novel. I likey!

Good stuff, ya'll!

I’m a huge fan of Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant. I’ve been working my way through the Mira Grant books and now I’m starting on the Seanan McGuire books. I like the way she blends in the more fantastical elements. Definitely need to read the previous books for this one to make sense.

October Daye is a knight of the realm and mostly fae, despite being more of a fae woman and a human man. She is also a dochas sidhe, meaning that she can change the composition in the fae’s blood, can read memories in blood, and can taste every fae’s magic through their blood. Over the series, this ability has gotten stronger due to Toby having to change the composition of her own blood and through training.

Toby is headstrong and often solitary despite having by her side a menagerie of young fae including a squire, a sister/Fetch named Meg, the King of the Cats, cait sidhe Tybalt, as a fiance, and the support of the sea witch Luidaeg (the OG bad a**). She has a strong protective streak and a bundle of mommy and daddy issues from her Firstborn mother who couldn’t give a damn about her and her human father who died forever ago, and is now saddled with stepfather Simon Torquill, who once turned her into a fish (long story).

Like usual, Toby must complete a quest for her life to move on and give her room to pursue her own happiness: She must save Simon from himself, despite him being lost to everyone and downright evil due to it. The question is rarely can she do it, but rather, will she make it out in one piece?

What I Loved:

The Worldbuild. McGuire’s ability to build a world has never ceased to amaze me. Toby’s world is filled with mythologies of all types (obviously mainly celtic, given where the sidhe come from), but the story still manages to tie in the fact that this fae kingdom is based in the US, and brings it into the 21st century with a tech dryad named April (how cool is it to think of cell phone services in Faerie knowes?!). Given that this is book 14, Killing Frost ties in a lot of the worldbuild from prior books, and readers of the series are fully invested and entrenched in high Fae society in western North America, from the sea to the land to the sky.

The Magic. What makes the Toby Daye series so interesting is that each type of Fae have very different magical powers that all interact differently, and Toby is no exception. She is constantly learning new things about her powers, since she has no teacher, so by extension, so are we. This series has potions, magical bargains, spells powered by will, and hidden kings. Every book in the series shows you a different facet of magical life, and it keeps the reader engaged and intrigued. Is there anything not possible?

The Luidaeg. The Luidaeg (pronounced Lou-shak), real name Antigone and known as the Sea Witch, is by far my favorite character. She is the mother of the Roane and Firstborn of the Selkies (not going into detail here; read the books!), and as cruel and kind as the sea itself. Throughout the series, the Luidaeg is shown having to make tough choices, since she is unable to lie and is also bound be a geas to make a bargain with whoever is foolish enough to come to her for one. She is as good of a friend and ally to Toby and the gang as she can be, but the bargain issue is a strong one. In Killing Frost, the Luidaeg finally gets some good news and it feels so redemptive and satisfying to see such a tormented character finally get some peace (that is all I can say on that without spoiling anything).

What Didn’t Work as Well:

October’s Lack of Survival Instinct. Toby is famous for running headlong into quests and problems without any regard of her own life, since she is dealing with a lot of underlying mental health issues and has slowly been healing. Readers of this series are heavily invested in her slow recovery, and love her whole support group (May, Tybalt, Quintin, etc). However, in Killing Frost, there felt like a step back from all of that good growth, and (without spoiling anything) she almost got her friends hurt. While I usually appreciate a female protagonist that goes off and saves herself and others without needing a “white knight,” Toby doesn’t even allow Tybalt (her fiance) in on the “secret” and to help as a partner. I am not sure if this is going to be a trend, but I hope that Killing Frost isn’t a portent to Toby doing more dumb stuff later.

Surprise ending. Given that this is an ARC and the fourteenth book in the series, there is not much I can say on this. What I can say is that I dislike when authors bring in odd relationships/plot points from “off page” that were never really apparent to the reader, and then make it a central point in a book. Killing Frost did just that, and it felt confusing and forced.

Bottom Line:

A Killing Frost was another excellent addition to the Toby Daye series, and while I am worried about some character development and weird plot twists, it does nothing to ruin the series as a whole for me. Four stars.

Another great installment of the Toby Daye series! October's wedding to Tybalt is in the planning stage, when a great big wrench is thrown in the works So once again, our intrepid Hero of the Realm must set off on an impossible task, with binding constraints, and a looming doom on the horizon. And yet these books are always a delight!

My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC copy of this book.

Another excellent October Daye adventure. October goes a-questing, but with just a small support group. The good news (for us) is that the support group includes her fetch-sister May, and Spike the rose goblin (who deserves a story of his/her own at some point.) We get to see a couple of nice continuing subplots concluded, but of course they open up other subplots for future books. Looking forward to seeing where next we go with 'Toby!

And then there's the "bonus" novella... Set in 1901, it gives a nice little backstory to how the relationships between Patrick, Dianda, and Simon came to be.

I do have one real quibble, and it has to do with October missing a possible disaster related to "reading blood". I'll say no more about it, but see if you can't spot it yourself.

I absolutely love this author's idea for the Fey. I have been reading these books for a while and I always wonder where the next book will go. The author never disappoints. I am surprised and delighted every time. I love that they are adding some backstories to some of the characters that are not in the starring roles. A must-read if you love stories of the Fey and kick-butt heroine with a slice of romance and mystery.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's no secret that I'm a huge Seanan McGuire fan. I love her Wayward Children series, Incryptid is just tons and fun, and Middlegame was top notch... but my greatest love is her October Daye series. This world is so developed and deep and expansive. There are schemes aplenty, with long-term payoffs for following the series. This one is no exception - it brings some long-running storylines to the front, reveals that you already knew some of those secrets the whole time if you were paying attention, and smacks you across the face with how blind you were to seeing them.

I really want to say more, but I'm afraid to spoil things. I mean, it turns out that we already knew *******, that you can't count villains out just because ******* *********, that the world of Faerie has strict rules about so many things but is completely okay with ******** ***********, that ***** really is *********. (please note that asterisks aren't indicative of number of letters. I'm not risking ANY spoilers!

I'm glad we have a few more books contracted, but I don't want to wait for the next one!!!

Highly recommended, but start at the beginning.

On average, this is a solid entry into the Toby Daye series -- and it really is an average, because there were some parts that were only middling, but then one component that walloped everything else out of the water. Much of the book has a bit of a meandering plot, and it's familiar territory. Toby has a quest, recklessly endangers herself, is grievously injured but recovers because Dochas Sidhe, gets someone *else* grievously injured with greater consequences, has to ask for help from various quarters, sallies forth again. The banter throughout is good enough to carry things along, but it's not extraordinary. Until The Thing happens, and unfortunately I can't say much more without hideous spoilers, but it's a Big Thing. Which McGuire then somewhat undercuts the importance of in the denouement? Something about the balance of the book felt a little off to me: the political and personal plots weren't in sync. I'm very much looking forward to the next installment, however -- the Big Thing will surely have ripples. A few plotlines have tied up, some others are on their way towards either resolution or synthesis into a new phase, and some new doors have been thrown very much wide open.

This book wraps up some long-standing threads and does go back to some earlier books. The wedding planning for Toby and Tybalt nuptials start the book and propel Toby to follow a piece of Fae Law that could give her issues if she doesn’t know about it. What it does do is set Toby on a new quest. I don’t want to even hint at what happens but it is great book for fans that have enjoyed the previous ones. Is it the best book to start, no since there is a lot going on but there is enough info weaved through the story that a new reader would not be lost. I really enjoyed the ending and the novella at the end of the book gives more depth to an event that happens in the very last part of the book.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

Fourteen books in, and we're uncovering time bombs left in plain sight earlier. October is disconcerted to learn that she has to invite Simon Torquill to her wedding or risk giving unpleasant people reason to claim offense. Trouble is, Simon is under a curse and quite thoroughly lost. Having been warned that taking too many companions will lead to disaster, she charges off without even telling anyone where she is going. As usual, this leads to trouble, and to blood. So much blood.

There are several surprising revelations here, one of which will upend Fae society. McGuire has said that this ends on a cliff-hanger. Not by my standards, but it definitely leaves a lot of room for more Story.

Heartily recommended, although new readers would do well to begin at the beginning.

FINALLY!! Oberon!! And once more, Seanan knocks it out of the park! This felt shorter somehow, a faster read than is typical, but this story was wrapped in layer after layer of October's past playing catch up with her future. What an amazing read!! And the short that comes with it, Patrick and Dianda's story meshes SO well and is a tale long waiting to be told, particularly with how Simon fits in...... overall, a wonderful read - two actually!

October is back, and this time she's looking for someone she never thought she would want to find. Although her wedding does seem to be somewhat dragged out, this book did have some twists and turns I did not see coming.

The latest in the adventures of October aka Toby Daye - knight to Faerie and desperately clinging on to her humanity. This was an excellent continuation of a story-line began 13 books ago and it has been a joy to see Toby grow and evolve as a character.
The laws of the Fey and Faerie are twisted, complex and a pain in the bottom for Toby who was denied her heritage, so now only coming to grips with this and the archaic laws of Faerie.
Toby must quest for her legal father Simon Torquill so that she can marry her love Tybalt, current King of the Caithe Sidhe. If she neglects to invite her father then dire consequences may follow, and thus Toby is propelled on a quest along the Rose Roads involving conflict and of course much bleeding.
A good mix of action and reflection. I enjoyed the development of character and found the pace perfect with a compelling narrative. Several story threads are woven to a satisfactory if unexpected conclusion, but definitely further adventures with Toby to come! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and all views are my own.

Thank you for a copy of this arc! i requested this as i love Seanan McGuire/Mira Grants writing! Little did i know that this is the 13th book in a series, a series that ive never heard of which is my bad. I was convinced that it was a stand alone but i read it anyway. The writing was great and for the most part it did read like a stand alone but i do want to back and read from the beginning now. Ive now added 12 new books to my TBR. Thank you Netgalley!

Pub date: Sept 2020
I adore Toby and her self-made family and their Bay Area adventures and this 14th book in the series was no exception. This time, Toby has to go find Simon before she can get married, and of course runs into some big troubles along the way. There's a big turning point at the end and I can't wait to see how things will change from now on! I love these characters so much--thank you, Ms McGuire, for keeping them coming!

Since A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire is book fourteen in the October Daye Fantasy series, it’s kind of hard to review. If you haven’t read the series (and you really should if you enjoy Fantasy) then you will have no idea what is going on since there are too many characters and backstories to even begin to explain.
And if you’re a regular to the series, I really don’t want to give anything away.

I can say with any series there are some books that are not as good, but A Killing Frost is excellent. A lot of storylines are settled (or as settled as they can be in the Realm of Fairie) and one major one is opened even wider and I am very excited to see how it’s going to go in future books.

Besides being a fantastic addition to the October Daye series, there is also a short story afterwards that gives greater insight into three of the characters. It’s a wonderful addition, and I’m interested to see how these characters' relationship is going to progress.

I highly recommend A Killing Frost, and if you’re new to this series, I suggest you start with Rosemary and Rue.