The Innocent Sleep by Seanan McGuire is the 18th book in the October Daye Series, and I can honestly say there has not been a bad book in the series. In fact, I’ve loved each one of them.

In book 17, Sleep No More, we get October’s version of events after a major world change, and in The Innocent Sleep we get to see Tybalt’s side of the story. It was a wonderful experience getting the story from another point of view, and just goes to show how fantastic of a writer McGuire is.

Since this is book 18 in a fantasy series, you have either been reading from the beginning, so I don’t want to give anything away, besides you’re in for a treat. Or you haven’t read any yet, and whatever I tell you won’t make sense, so I’ll just say to start with book one, Rosemary and Rue… you can thank me later.

Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for gifting me an early copy of this SECOND October Daye book releasing this year!

This one, best read immediately after SLEEP NO MORE, is the first full length novel in the series that isn't Toby's POV. It's Tybalt's POV, following the same events leading out of BE THE SERPENT.

We've been in Tybalt's head before, in some of the Patreon shorties and some of the freebies, but this one really gave us some deeper insights into our favorite King of Cats. We get to see his true feelings on the people around him, the people in their lives, whether friend, acquaintance, or begrudging ally.

While the end of this one is a quick recap of the end of SLEEP NO MORE (just through Tybalt's eyes), the rest was a glorious glimpse into the catman we love so much.

Yet again, McGuire finds a way to keep me on my toes waiting for the next one to come out. It's one series I really hope continues a long, long time.

As has become the trend lately, this one includes a novella that adds to the Octoberverse, this time from Helmi, Dianda's Cephali handmaiden, and jumps through time, tracing life in Saltmist from before Dianda's birth up until the events of SLEEP NO MORE/THE INNOCENT SLEEP. It's a cool peek into more of Saltmist and their traditions and peoples.

Highly recommended, but please do yourself the favor of reading the rest of the series first. You won't regret it.

Hey, remember last book? Wonder how all that is for Tybalt, eh? (Bad. It's baaaaaaaaaaaad.) There's a bit of necessary repetition here (dialogue, certain events) from the last book, as we get Tybalt's side of how all of this went down, but Seanan also goes out of her way to expand on what went on outside of the POV constrictions of last book, and also good to get more of what was going on for what we couldn't see in the last book. (Plus, let's be honest, Tybalt is always going to be a fun POV character.) This gives us a little bit more time to breathe and absorb the big plot implication of last book, also through the POV of someone who Does Not have a good history with childbirth. (Admittedly, the last time he experienced it was back in Shakespearean England, which, let's be honest, was not great for anyone involved.) We also get a novella from Diana's lady's maid POV, through which we get more Undersea backstory and more of my new favorite triad marriage, which is always fun. I have admittedly been spoiled by two books so close to each other, but man, I can't wait to see where the series goes next.

When so much is going on in a series and the author decides to give you a book about the same story but from the POV of a character that has never been the main POV and you love it. Tybalt finds his world turned upside down with Toby missing, their home empty and her elderly cats locked out of the home. The Sea Witch is missing, and the Cait Sidhe locked in the courts with only the royal cats able to venture out and get food for them. Quickly he realizes that Toby and three of the fey kingdoms have been bespelled by Titania. And to make matters worse Toby doesn’t know she is bespelled isn’t her normal Hero self. This is an amazing companion book to Sleep No More and they fit hand in hand. So glad the author and the publisher took a chance on this.

Look, I obviously enjoyed this book and I love Tybalt so I'm glad that we are getting more of his POV but in much the same way that 'this meeting could have been an email', this novel could have been a novella and it would have been better off for it. The first half is very good and gives us a lot of new information and shows us things that weren't in the previous novel but once we hit a certain point in the narrative it's just rehashing the exact same plot points with not much new being added. If you're a huge fan you'll probably still enjoy it regardless - I know I did - but if you're more of a casual reader you could definitely put this down at a certain point and not miss much at all.

The Innocent Sleep is a companion novel to Sleep No More, the previous book in the October Daye series. It tells the story of the same events, told from Tybalt's point of view. While the two books combined don't paint an entirely complete picture of the events that unfold - that could never happen, no matter how many books were written - they form enough of a cohesive whole to answer most of the questions readers were left with after Sleep No Mor.e. It is also an outstanding book in its own right. I'd expected 300+ pages of Angry Man after the previous book, but I underestimated both Seanan McGuire as a writer and Tybalt and a character. That is not what this book is. I am, however, unable to quite say what it IS without spoilers. Suffice to say, it is a treat, and not a book to miss.

I 100% understand why she felt she needed to write a book from someone other than Toby's point of view. There was SO much going on. It was really cool to see more of the Court of Cats from an internal view, and a delight to see all the machinations behind the scenes of the previous book.

Some of this book felt a little repetitive towards the end because it was retreading the same events as the previous book, but it was still absolutely worth reading.

I love this series. The characters and world building are the best I have read. This book is about Tatiana's attack on Toby told from Tybalt's point of view. It clarifies the story of a few characters not featured in the previous book. For me the character interaction when one of them would realize that Toby didn't remember being a hero was really well done. The panic and disappointment of finding out the hero they counted on to save them would not happen seemed so real. The previous book wasn't missing anything, but this one rounds the story out in a way I didn't know it needed. The aftermath seemed very realistic. My favorite series and a great book.

Once again Titania pulled everyone into her spell to recreate faerie as she sees fit. I think this is absolutely the very best book in the series. There was so much action. It kept my eyes glued to the pages. I thought it was exciting and thrilling.i definitely recommend this book.

I was completely unaware of the intent of this book, knowing only it was the next in the October Daye series. It is to be published 1 month after Sleep No More. This book tells the same story from that book only from Tybalt’s point of view. That’s a tricky thing to pull off but it’s done here beautifully. What I love is that I found more plot depth here and a more comprehensive understanding of October and Tybalt’s trials during this siege.

The book is followed by a novella which details the history of Dianda and Helmi. It filled in a lot of gaps for me about one of my favorite series characters.

I found the book brilliant as it entwined Tybalt’s experiences into Octobers.

The Innocent Sleep is the companion piece to the previous October Daye novel, Sleep No More, and really, if I had both books in paper form, I would flip through them and tell you how to tandem read them. I personally preferred getting this story from Tybalt's point of view, because instead of dropping us smack in medias res, we get a little bit of context at the beginning. I found October's perspective in Sleep No More jarring, since she wasn't the Toby we've always known. But Tybalt here is his usual self, and we get a lovely sense of how deeply he loves Toby--this book is worth reading for the yearning alone. I also enjoyed seeing the Luidaeg through Tybalt's eyes, along with so many other characters (Simon, for example). I've subscribed to Seanan McGuire's Patreon for years, so I've read quite a bit in Tybalt's voice. It's really fun to see him narrating a full novel.

My advice: Wait until both books are out and tandem read them. You'll enjoy the story much more, and even reading the slightly repetitive scenes in which both Toby and Tybalt appear will be fun.

"The 18th novel of the Hugo-nominated, New York Times bestselling October Daye urban fantasy series.

For one bright, shining moment, Tybalt, King of Cats, had everything he had ever wanted. He was soon to set his crown aside; he had married the woman he loved; he was going to be a father. After centuries of searching for a family of his own, he had finally found a way to construct the life of his dreams, and was looking forward to a period of peace - or at least as much peace as is ever in the offing for the husband of a hero.

Alas for Tybalt and his domestic aspirations, fate - and Titania - had other ideas. His perfect world had been complete for only a moment when it was ripped away, to be replaced by hers. Titania, Faerie's Summer Queen, Mother of Illusions and enemy of so many he holds dear, has seized control of the Kingdom, remaking it in her own image. An image which does not include meddlesome shapeshifters getting in her way. Tybalt quickly finds himself banished from her reality, along with the Undersea and the rest of the Court of Cats.

To protect his people and his future, Tybalt must find the woman he loves in a world designed to keep her from him, convince her that he's not a stranger trying to ruin her life for no apparent reason, and get her to unmake the illusion she's been firmly enmeshed in. And he'll have to do it all while she doesn't know him, and every unrecognizing look is a knife to his heart.

For Tybalt, King of Cats, the happily ever after was just the beginning."

Speaking of the King of Cats, I have a knew theory as to how Seanan writes so many books in a year... And yes, it's because her cats are writing the books.

Reading the October Daye has been a journey in coming to terms with and ultimately accepting Tybalt as Toby’s love and her partner. Some of that journey mirrored Toby’s in the books, but something about Tybalt has never quite sat right with me. I’m in the middle of a years long series re-read which pauses each time a new book comes out so my brain is perpetually in a weird place with this series when we get to the summer and I begin reading the new October Daye for purposes of review (and for purposes of joy, because I am not remotely unbiased and I really love this series).

“You seem pretty possessive, and that’s me being nice about it. I could be a lot nastier if you wanted me to be.” - August Torquill to Tybalt

The Innocent Sleep is the 18th novel in Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series and unlike every other book in the series, it does NOT follow off the events of the preceding book but rather from the events of book 16, Be the Serpent (my review). The Innocent Sleep is a companion novel to Sleep No More (my review) and they each run through the same events but from differing perspectives. Sleep No More is Toby’s novel. The Innocent Sleep is Tybalt’s, which means that I spent a significant part of The Innocent Sleep annoyed at Tybalt because the more we’re in Tybalt’s head the less I appreciate the character.

“I know the way of ward and wording. I know the roads through riddle and restriction. Do you truly think my husband can stop me from doing anything I want to do?” - Titania

Readers already knew that Toby was caught up in Titania’s counter stroke and if they read Sleep No More first the way I think most will they will have already gone on this journey once to break Titania’s spell and restore the world back the way it was. I suspect the success of The Innocent Sleep depends on how invested particular readers are in Tybalt as a main character on his own rather than just as the romantic accessory of Toby’s heart that he is.

“Why not? You seem pretty possessive, and that’s me being nice about it. I could be a lot nastier if you wanted me to be.” - August to Tybalt.

I do a slight disservice to Tybalt, but I’ve always had issues with Tybalt as a character. He comes across as very self righteous but also borderline abusive and obsessive in a very controlling way. His anger at this particular situation makes sense and is reasonable. Everything is messed up. Badly. His words and actions about his “right” to speak for October and answer for her and make decisions for her is not reasonable, especially when October is not able to push back, which is truly half of their relationship.

“You don’t get to give people consent to hurt me,” said October. “No one gets to give people consent to hurt me except for me. Not you, not my family, not the damned Queen of the Mists, not even Fair Titania. *No one*”
Even in these magically adjusted circumstances, and perhaps because this is a false reality overlaid on top of actual reality Toby is who she is and that pokes through from time to time - enough to remind the reader that this isn’t exactly a medical case of altered mental status. This is who Toby is in Titania’s reality and Tybalt doesn’t get to dictate Toby’s actions and his rage is misplaced (and frankly concerning).

That’s really where my issues with The Innocent Sleep lie - being in Tybalt’s head is a frustrating experience and I fully expect that other readers don’t have the same problem with Tybalt that I do and everything is cool and this is how they want him to be. I don’t. Because of that, The Innocent Sleep is the novel I needed to get through in order to see the stage that McGuire sets at the end of this book and, likewise, at the end of Sleep No More. I want what’s next in this story. I want to find out what happens next, when the reckoning with Titania will fall (because there is no way that I believe she is off the board), if the next book is the one where Toby finds Maeve, and all the things.

Better yet, to spend a full book back in Toby’s head the way it should be.

The place to end, though, is with a threat from a Firstborn - which I always enjoy because they talk such a good game but don’t often smack down the ordinary heroes we love.

“Don’t think that just because I choose harmlessless now, you can afford the cost of offending me.”

The latest installment in the October Daye series is by far the weakest. Strictly in the "for fans only" zone, even lovers of the series may be tempted to skip over this one. Running though the same time and events as Sleep No More, The Innocent Sleep is told for the perspective of Tybalt, Toby's husband and occasional King of Cats. Tybalts is frantic when he discovers Toby missing and the world rewritten, and his sulking and possessiveness become overwhelming. While the peeks at goings on in the Undersea and the Court of Cats during Titania's control are interesting, so much of the material is recycled from Sleep No More that it all feels rather pointless. This is one novel that really should have been a novella, while the included novella is the best part of the book. I plan to continue with the series, but will omit The Innocent Sleep from rereads.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
Well, I somehow missed that there was a previous book about these same events from Toby's perspective, and so was puzzled why this one was from Tybalt's perspective. LOL. Totally not my fault. And once I figured out what was going on, I ended up immersed like usual. Enjoyed the story. Off to find the Toby perspective story.

Set in the fantasy world of October Daye. This story is from the POV of Tybalt King of Cats whose wife October and child have been ripped away from his world and replaced by a world made by Titania Faerie’s Summer Queen. Tybalt along with other shapeshifters must find a way to break through this illusion. Tybalt and friends most dangerous task is to reverse the illusion hoping their loved ones still remember them.
You should read the previous book in this series which gives a POV from October to really appreciate the stories involving different characters.
A very engaging fantasy world which really draws you in.
Thank you NetGalley and (publisher, DAW) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Tybalt is one of my favorite "book boyfriends" so The Innocent Sleep has been one of my most anticipated books of 2023. I was thrilled to get an advanced reader copy at the same time I got Sleep No More (Toby Daye #17) so I was rushing through Sleep No More because I knew Tybalt's POV was coming... and it absolutely delivered!

Although I don't know what's better, having his story or FINALLY having an official picture of him. It's a tie.

Fantastic, but who'd expect anything less? This book gives us a difference character's POV on the events of the previous book in the series, and it's entertaining, frightening, emotional, and a great read. It's hard to think of any other series that remains this strong after so many books -- the October Daye series is amazing.

Covering the events of the same four months as those in Sleep No More, The Innocent Sleep shows how Tybalt and others of Toby's allies were affected and fought through to break Titania's spell by getting Toby back. Tybalt's fight is so difficult because he knows what he is missing and might lose forever.

This series is one of my all-time favorites and just continues to throw beloved characters into unimaginable situations that show all their strengths. I especially appreciated seeing so much from Tybalt's POV and how the other species treat the shapeshifters at times. His choices in this novel show how much his relationship with Toby have changed him and made him part of her extended family.

Thank you to DAW for my #eARC.

I was desperate for this book to see Tybalt's POV of the events that happened in Sleep No More. I was a bit worried that it would be boring as it covered the same time period but it wasn't at all. I liked this just as much as Sleep No More. Tybalt's narrative is very different from Toby's, mostly because they have vastly different ways of looking at and interacting with the world.

I really enjoyed Tybalt's voice and seeing his perspective. It was also nice to get a more detailed look at the Court of Cats and the Undersea. We saw some elements of how the Undersea works and functions and it was fascinating. In terms of the court of cats, Raj has grown up so much since the first books and it's a little melancholy.

I'm still a little disappointed that we didn't get more closure from Quentin's side and that particular relationship will look going forward. I did really enjoy getting to know Garm and Grianne better, as well as Gin who is turning out to be a fascinating character.

There are some characters who are still 'missing' and I desperately want to know what happened to them and where they were during this four-month period. Their whereabouts weren't disclosed in either this one or Sleep No More, although Tybalt's ending did reveal more of the missing's whereabouts than Toby's did.

This is one of my favorite series and I keep worrying that I'm going to stop loving these books because it's been going on for a long time, 18 books and counting is insane but I'm still incredibly invested in this series. The world that McGuire has built and especially these characters is addicting.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it's going to be a long wait until book nineteen.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.