When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire


Amazing, satisfying, full of joy! The worst part of this book is the title - no sorrows here, only happiness!

I love Seanan McGuire. (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 no one of my favorite series.

I was overjoyed when The publisher and NetGalley awarded me an eARC of When Sorrows Come (I had already preordered a copy beforehand). Minor spoilers: this is the wedding we have been waiting for! October and Tybalt! And it’s everything you could want. Bringing back old characters, royal coup hi-jinx, so much stabbing, so much blood, and just marvelous character work. And the bonus novella just kept on bringing the joy! It’s all character work, with some long simmering tensions starting to thaw in a way that is incredibly satisfying.

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

I eagerly look forward to the October Daye books just because I have loved this series since the beginning, and I finally got to read this latest. This book is the one we’ve all been waiting for: the marriage of Toby and Tybalt. Of course, Toby can’t do anything without a little blood, attempted king-slaying, and worrying Tybalt, and this has that and more. I found this to be an appropriate lead-up to the wedding, and I’ll leave the rest for you to read. I can’t wait to see more of all the characters, and I realized just how many are in this series as most come to the festivities. LOL! I loved getting to see all the characters again, and I’m anxiously awaiting what comes next after this. Highly recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Well, we finally made it to the altar. Or at least, the book about the altar. No spoilers on if we actually get there or not. ;)

Toby and her motley crew (at least, a big chunk of them... someone has to hold down the fort at home!) make their way to Toronto for "the big day!" which obviously means that she's walking into trouble and stabbystabs and bloody clothes.

We've got intrigue. We've got danger. We've got elfshot and blood and poison and disguises and royalty and deception and meeting new kinds of Fae and pomp and ceremony and SO MANY CHARACTERS in the same book!

And most importantly.... THE LUIDAEG - one of my favorite characters of all time, ever, EVER.

You definitely should NOT start with this one. This is 15 books and countless short stories worth of history and plot and character development leading up to a wedding. Please don't do yourself a disservice and read this without the depth of all of that backing it up. :)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

(Also includes a fun novella, With Reveling, that takes place immediately after the final scene of the book!)