The latest October Daye book sees Toby dealing with the late stages of pregnancy (and the hovering, anxious husband that comes with it) as well as handling some of the fallout of four months in Titania’s alternate reality. Some dangerous artifacts have gone missing, and they need to be found urgently – so urgently that it can’t wait until after the baby comes. What’s the harm in just asking a few people some questions, right? Cue mortal peril.

I love this series but sometimes it does feel a little repetitive. Which is only to be expected in a series that’s run this long, I suppose. How many times has Toby been tied up? Or how many times Tybalt been captured at this point? I get that sometimes for Toby to be in real trouble he needs to be out of the picture, and it ups the emotional stakes considerably, but it gets to feeling a little bit “oh no, not again.” That being said, the story is well paced and propulsive, with a lot of my favorites coming into play, and a few baddies we haven’t seen in a while popping up to cause problems (and a new one I don’t remember seeing much from up to this point.) And it’s not so formulaic that it doesn’t have some surprises and interesting new developments come up. But in retrospect I think one of the things I really liked about the last two books was how different they were from the rest of the series. Hopefully the author continues to find ways to shake things up.

CW: Blood and gore and injury detail (if you can’t handle that then there's no chance you’ve made it to Book 19 of this series, but I thought I’d mention it anyway because it’s especially gruesome) and child endangerment (nothing too harrowing)

Toby is 8 months pregnant and feeling trapped by her overprotective husband when she is asked by the Queen to find some missing treasure. How hard can it be? Another fun romp in the October Daye series. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC- my opinions are my own.

This series is one of my all-time favorites! Toby Daye is such a realistic personality wrapped in magic and mystery. She leads with her heart and wants the best for everyone, even her enemies. But she will fight for what's right to the detriment of herself - which in this book becomes a real problem because she and Tybalt are expecting their first child. The fight for right is extra dangerous when her magic is trying to support two lives. But throughout the series, Toby has constantly learned how to balance out her life and her loved ones, so she spends a significant amount of time in this book deciding what that looks like now. The danger and adventure are exciting as always and I spent the whole book with my heart pounding for these characters I love so much. (And now wish I had time for a reread of the entire series!)

Thank you to Tor Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Book 19 of Seanan McGuire's October Daye series begins with Toby being far into the pregnancy revealed at the end of book 16, and going stir-crazy at her family doing everything to keep her from going anywhere after the scare of the events of Titania's curse in books 17 and 18.

But then goods are revealed to have gone missing from the Royal Treasury at Muir Woods during the curse and Queen Arden Windermere needs her hero of the realm to look into the dangerous missing goods, which have been used to attack a specific noble of the Mists.

Can October protect herself, her baby, and her family when she's called back to action?

Really enjoyed the change up of characterization in this one. Everyone is clearly still suffering some emotions over the big curse they were under and it shows in small and understandable changes in how they react to the situation. The changes were especially there in how Toby is reacting to the usual level of danger she throws herself into.

Since I first read Rosemary and Rue, I've really enjoyed McGuire's mix of faerie and San Francisco. This one was no exception

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This series has been one of my top 3 for as long as I can remember. I keep expecting it to get old and honestly, I skipped Tybald’s book but I’ll go back to it someday. This book has a ton of call backs. It isn’t quite as good as I’ve become accustomed to but it is satisfying and real for more!

This the 19th book in the series. NINETEEN! And you'd think that by now I'd start to get bored with the setup, but nope. Yes, there are some constants - October Daye, Hero of the Realm, is always going to get into a Situation. She is probably going to be the one to save the day, with help from her found family. The people of Faerie are likely going to muck things up. Someone is out to get her.

Aaaannnnd I don't care. It still great. (The fact that she looks like my sister on this cover doesn't bias me at all. Hey Monica, look, you're a changeling hero! Whoo!) The fact is that McGuire has, over the course of 19 books, built a deep and rich world that feels familiar but still gives us something new each time. I think there's an appeal to these long series (much like her Incryptid series) where we have time to grow with these characters over years. It's familiar, it's comfort food, and by god, don't we all need a little of that these days?!

I don't know exactly where the story is going to go, but I do know the broad strokes I'm going to see when I start a new Toby book. And I LIKE that. Sometimes it's nice to meet new people and new worlds, to look around in awe and wonder at The New Thing. And sometimes I just want a mug of hot coffee, a warm blanket, and the people I know and am comfortable with. That's what these long series represent to me.

I don't want to spoil any plot points; after all, this far in, anything I say will be a spoiler if you're starting out! But if you like urban fantasy, you like Faerie living and hiding in the modern world, and you like a big, diverse cast of characters and found family, then you will never go wrong with this series, and I think Silver and Lead is probably in my top 5 favorite books of this series.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books, for this digital ARC in return for my honest opinions. Love it.

The absolute chokehold this series has on me is impressive. I loved this book, I love this series, I love the characters. I will qualify, every time there's a new book I wonder if this will be the one that loses me, and nope. This book follows McGuire's pitch perfect recipe, but because her writing, worldbuilding, and character development is so strong you just don't care. It's *so* good. Go read it, but before you do read the other 18 of the series.

The 19th book in the October Daye series!
October (Toby) Daye is pregnant and she's been confined to the house and it's driving her crazy. When a chance comes to leave, she takes it, even though it is a potentially very dangerous mission for the Queen, and even though Toby is getting close to her due date.

Some valuable artifacts have been stolen from the Queen's vault. Artifacts, which, in the wrong hands, could mean a lot of trouble for everyone in the realm. Of course this is a job for Toby - it's just the sort of thing she does on a regular basis, but she's not usually 8-1/2 months pregnant.

With her usual combination of skill and recklessness, Toby tracks down both the artifacts and those involved in stealing them, putting both herself and her unborn child in mortal danger.

Just as I was beginning to wonder if it was time to stop reading the October Daye series, author Seanan McGuire pulls some magic out of her word processor and delivers another exciting story in the ongoing Daye saga.

One of the reasons I think about stopping my reading of the series is that there has been, in my mind, a lot of 'sameness' to each book - in order to save the realm, a group of people, her family, or whatever, there's something that only Toby can accomplish. She shouldn't go. She's not at full strength. But she does it anyway, coming close to death, but someone she knows (her husband, the queen, someone with a vested interest, someone who owes her a favor), steps in to help. Want to guess which that book is from? All of them maybe?

But in the hands of master craftsperson Seanan McGuire, it doesn't matter too much. They're a heck of a lot of fun. McGuire keeps us on the edge of our seats waiting and wondering - not so much about whether or not Toby will succeed, but HOW she will succeed, and how damaged she'll be with the outcome.

But what also makes it interesting is that there are very few clear-cut 'good' or 'bad' people. You're never quite sure if person 'X' is going to be helpful or harmful in the story. Not because they switch allegiances (though that's possible) but perhaps they've been enchanted, or perhaps they're just people and looking out for themselves. This definitely keeps us on our toes and, as I say, helps to keep the series fresh and interesting.

As with all the October Daye books that I've read, this includes a short story/novella at the back of the book, and like, usual, it's from someone else's viewpoint. This time it's Baron Torquill - a voice new to me, but I liked his tale every bit as much as Toby's. I hope we'll see more of him in future volumes.

These books are very entertaining for fans of fantasy or urban fantasy or contemporary fantasy (I'm not sure of the current, correct term for this genre). McGuire is a master storyteller. It may be hard to jump right in to this book without knowing more of the history of the character. However, I think that McGuire does a very good job of keeping the reader caught up on anything important that may have gone on before. Reading the previous books in the series may not be essential, but would be helpful.

Looking for a good book? Silver and Lead is the 19th book in the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire. You don't get to 19 books in a series if you aren't doing something right. If you haven't read anything in this series and you claim you like fantasy, you need to try these books. If you already like Toby Daye, this will likely 'wow' you.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

"Seanan McGuire's New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated October Daye series continues as Toby Daye is thrust once again into danger... and this time she has more than ever to protect.

Something is rotten in Faerie. In the aftermath of Titania's reality-warping enchantment, things are returning to what passes for normal in the Kingdom in the Mists - until it's discovered that the royal vaults have been looted, and several powerful magical artifacts are missing. None are things that can be safely left unsecured, and some have the potential to do almost as much damage as Titania did, and having them in the wrong hands could prove just as disastrous.

At least the theft means that Sir October "Toby" Daye, Knight errant and Hero of the Realm, finally has an excuse to get out of the house. Sure, she's eight and a half months pregnant, but that doesn't mean she can't take care of herself. But with the sea witch offering to stand godmother to Toby's child, maybe there are greater dangers ahead for Toby and her family than it appears....

Old enemies will resurface, new enemies will disguise themselves as friends, and Queen Windermere must try to keep her Hero on the case without getting herself gutted by the increasingly irritated local King of Cats. Sometimes, what's been lost can be the most dangerous threat of all."

I like that usually in a series when the lead gets pregnant that's the death knell. Here it's just a fact of life and a heist is a good excuse to leave her house and get out of her confinement.

This took a while to write. I finished Silver and Lead back in June, and there was just so much to unpack. You've read the blurb, but that barely scratches the surface of everything going on in this book. Yes, Toby is VERY pregnant. Yes, despite all this, Queen Windermere STILL requests that she go out and Find the missing things looted from the royal vault because they need Finding and Toby is the best Finder in the Kingdom. Yes, it is most DEFINITELY a trap, or else it could've waited two weeks for Toby to have the baby and recover with Deadpool-like speed.

But in the aftermath of Titania's mess, Toby has been on family-imposed lockdown these last few months and it is slowly driving her mad. She wants to get out of the house. She NEEDS to get out of the house. So, of course she jumps at a quest to get out of the house, over the objections of EVERYONE. If you've been following along for the last 18 books, then you know things get out of hand relatively quickly. Toby really should've seen this coming.

HOWEVER. This book also answered what many of us were probably wondering. Every four books, we get a WHAM! Something is not what you thought. WHAM! Emotional damage. As this is Book 19, the next book should be WHAM! but did giving Tybalt a POV book throw that off? The answer is no. The ending of this book seems to hint that the next one will be a WHAM! of epic proportions.

The short story included, Seas and Shores, is a Simon POV that takes place roughly concurrently with and just after the novel.

Silver and Lead is the latest installment in Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series, and this one was all action. October is called to court under the guise of the sentencing of the false queen, only to discover that the royal treasury was cleared out during Tatiana’s spell. The next day she and Quentin go to investigate only to be immediately kidnapped by their witness. The bulk of the book has Toby working to free herself and reach her friends and ends with her giving birth—which was her grandmother’s plan after all: to steal Toby’s baby in retaliation for Faerie’s continual kidnapping of her own, the latest of which was Gillian’s four-month disappearance which Janet attributed to Toby.

This series keeps the story moving with bigger and different evils, which is great, but a story so packed with action leaves little space for character connections and development. McGuire writes October as going stir-crazy under the traumatized eyes of Tybalt and her friends, but readers don’t see it as the action starts immediately and separates them all. Toby gives birth (in a near-death way) at the end of the story, but the book ends before readers see her interact with baby Miranda. At this point, readers see more character development in the end novellas than in the full-size novels.

Overall, Silver and Lead was a good series installment but not a great story.

Fantastic as always! It was great to see the whole family again and to see Toby being Toby even while pregnant. The mystery kept me guessing the whole way.

I enjoy the Toby Daye books and will keep reading them, but so many books into the series, it does feel like each one's getting a bit thinner. The first quarter of this one is spent summarizing the action of the last couple, and then the book itself has a rather circular, repetitiveness to it. There's still a lot to like, and this book does eventually come around to a major development -- but with the last few books in the series, it's sort of felt like one book's worth of material gets stretched and spread out over several.

Thank you so much to Tor for the e-ARC! Wow, this is the nineteenth installment of October Daye, and I couldn't imagine anything else for my favorite hero of the realm. Seeing Toby get into mischief, even when she's not meaning to, is always a fun time. I also loved the bonus short story at the end. It's always fun in the Kingdom of the Mists.

I will admit, I am a fan of both the author and series. Silver and Lead is no exception. The story takes off following the previous two books. The world is reeling from the issues caused by Titania's meddling to create a perfect Fae world. Toby is now dealing with the aftermath with only a couple weeks left in her pregnancy. Queen Arden calls her to investigate missing items, only to have it turn sideways. As all things in Toby's life, nothing is ever easy, but she has the support and affection of others wo help her through. As a mother, I really loved the fact that Toby is experiencing and expressing the realities of pregnancy. That is what really made me love this book! Overall, a fun read and a great addition to the October Daye series.

Couldn't resist reading this one even though pub is still a bit away. Will also put other reviews out closer to pub. This was a delight! You can bet that Toby's birth plan is going out the window and there is going to be blood everywhere.

So I had not read most of the previous books and couldn’t remember much from the first section of the series which I read a long time ago, before starting this one . Why? Because I like to go in and see if it can be picked up/ read as a stand- a-lone especially when series are getting high in number. This one is a toss up. While I think one can glean enough of the history to enjoy it on its own, it (the series) definitely needs to be full read to get the full benefits.

So I paused and backed tracked, speeding my way through several previous books to give me a bit more context , and started again. It was definitely worth doing as the world that was created builds in each book along with the adventure the characters take. However, it really can be enjoyed if it’s simply picked up. The author has the skill to draw someone in and you don’t know you’re missing information.

This book is well written and well paced as is usual from the author and I think fans with eat it up. All of my specific thoughts would cause spoilers so I’ll leave it at the above!


I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary eARC from Tor through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My general rating system is below. Since I primarily read ARC books I rate according to how I think like minded readers will receive the book. I will round up or down depending on many factors and try not to let my personal wants affect a books ratings.

⭐️ Hated It but pushed through as so don’t DNF ARCs I have received.
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, content issues, poorly edited.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but it had something that stopped me from rounding up. Usually the book may have much more potential than what was given. I recommend it but with reservations.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I Really enjoyed it or think others will. These are solid reads that I definitely would recommend for a variety of reasons.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! These are books that remain rent free in my head for well after unfinished the book. It can be for a variety of reasons from being very well written or just the vibes that captured my mind. These books are also ones I would probably read again.

Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire

A marvelous book, a tad smaller in scope than the last two but no less impactful.

I love Seanan McGuire’s body of work. (Note: I review a bunch of her books so I am copying part of some of my other reviews here to save time.). She has quickly become my favorite living writer and I feel very lucky that she is so prolific. I was first introduced to her work when her book Parasite, written as Mira Grant, was nominated for a Hugo Award. I loved it and quickly devoured the Newsflesh series before I realized that Mira Grant and Seanan McGuire were the same person.

I started reading her works under her own name, starting with Sparrow Hill Road, which is amazing, but I picked it because I was intimidated by her long running October Daye series. I had read some Urban Fantasy before, and I fondly remember Mercedes Lackey’s Diana Tregarde books, but my tastes run more to science fiction and then secondary world fantasy, so I was hesitant to dive into such a long series. I picked up the first book, Rosemary and Rue, when it was on sale as a kindle daily deal, and I found it somewhat disappointing compared to her other work. I reminded myself that it was her first published novel, so I cut it some slack. Then Incryptid was nominated for the Best Series Hugo in 2018 and I dove into that instead. I loved it! So I vowed to give Toby another chance. And I was so glad that I did! It is now one of my favorite series.

October Daye is perpetually on the top of my best series Hugo ballot - she deserves to win. This type of excellent in a long running series is what this award was designed for and none of the other nominees come close.

I was overjoyed when Tor and NetGalley awarded me an eARC of their first October Daye book after the series switched publishers because we have been waiting a long time to find out what the fallout of was of Toby and a large chunk of Faerie was totally ensorcelled. This was another amazing entry in this series and I cannot wait to devour the next one!


This book picks up several months after the end of the last one. It felt a little bit like when your favorite sitcom picks up after summer break and the characters tell you that not much has happened in the past few months. Toby is a few weeks from her due date and has been effectively sequestered by her family, who are concerned about her safety and the safety of the pregnancy. I would’ve had a lot of harder time reading this book if I didn’t trust Seanan McGuire so much as an author. I know that she is never going to have her characters be raped, and I believed that she would not hurt or kill this baby.

This book had a couple of blasts from the past show up again to cause trouble, and it really made me wish that I had done a complete reread before this book. My plan is to get all of the audiobooks and listen to them before the next volume comes out. But she did a good job catching people up on what was going on. Is it bad that one of my favorite parts of the book was a tease for the future? Once again, Marcia popped up in a very tiny role and I can’t wait to find out what that reveal is going to be.

Many of the secondary characters got a moment to shine in this book, though I would have liked to see a little bit more of Jazz. I feel like she is often sidelined.

But that is a minor quibble. This book was a fantastic page turner from beginning to end.

Toby has recovered from the chaos that was books 17-18, and is getting ready to have her baby!

. . .But of course, Toby's life as a knight and hero of the realm mean she's never left alone for very long, and she is recruited/ordered by Arden to investigate some shady stuff going on. It's not supposed to be very complicated or dangerous since everyone is aware she's super pregnant. And. . . let's just say it doesn't go to plan. I love that Toby now has a very deep bench of talented friends she can call on when she has to go on these quests, as well as some old nemesis that we can immediately dislike.

This is another excellent installment in the October Daye series. I enjoyed reading it, and did not expect some of the plot twists! Even after 14 books, McGuire is keeping us on our toes, and I think Toby's fans will like this one.

First Review:
I was so lucky to get an ARC of this book. I've loved this series since I found it around the time of Once Broken Faith, and this latest installment, what with the 2 year wait after the double release and publisher change, the wait was pretty hard, but now it's been reset, for the next book!

Toby is so close to delivery, and is almost out of her mind, what with how everyone's treating her like she's glass. I mean, we expected it from Tybalt, but everyone else, you'd think they'd know better, May has Toby's memories of being pregnant with Gillian. But with the missing artifacts,

I think we're all agreed that Marcie is Maeve, right? I mean, she isn't affected by Evening's magic, either here in The Winter Long, or later on in The Brightest Fell. That October can't get a read on her fae bloodlines? Like, is it meant to be obvious in hindsight with a bait and switch, or what?

Seas and Shores was really great, I loved the perspective, and what happened, with that one reveal. And that one reunion. I mean, with this reread, there was that one interaction, but that was on the phone, so they hadn't seen each other in person in who knows how long, but that was just so heartwarming! Can you guess what reunion, or have I been vague enough?

It's been a while since I reread the early books in the series. I've reread the later half a few times with the more recent books, but I haven't gotten to the beginning since 2018, so it's been a while. So I'd forgotten things like her reliance on coffee before her blood changed and the goblin fruit got rid of the craving. She's really come a long way, and everything that she's done since, and still has to do, yeah, I'm so excited for more!

Absolutely loved reading these books and I can't wait to continue with my reread!


Second Review:
I had to reread this book! I know, I just read it last month, but since it had been so long since I'd read the whole series, and there were a few things that I wanted to confirm, I need to reread. Which meant that I was loving being in this world, and wanted to spend more time-and why not reread it?

I feel for Toby, she's only remembered and processed she's been pregnant for 4 months, but the later 4 months in pregnancy, she's close to delivering. She's so close to the finish line when her services are required with the missing artifacts. Here's hoping that Arden builds out her court more so Toby's not the only Hero of the Realm, because if Toby was a different person, she would've had to wait another month in a quickly escalating situation.

It was so interesting to see Toby still carry on being a hero, while trying to take things easy, to keep her baby safe. Because her tendency is to just throw some blood into the situation, even when it seems crazy to do so, that's her line's strength. The question mark is what qualities the baby is going to get, which parent's line they'll more closely follow.

One big question that my reread answered, was whose magic Toby was smelling in that final scene. Because it was pretty important, and I had been thinking it was one character, but the reread told me, if I understood things correct, who it is, which has me really excited to see what happens in the future of the series!

Loved reading these stories and I can't wait to continue on with this series!