The Unkindest Tide (October Daye, #13)

by Seanan McGuire

Now in hardcover, the thirteenth novel of the Hugo-nominated, New York Times-bestselling Toby Daye urban fantasy series!

Hundreds of years ago, the Selkies made a deal with the sea witch: they would have the sea for as long as she allowed it, and when the time came, she would call in all their debts at once. Many people assumed that day would never come. Those people were wrong.

When the Luidaeg--October "Toby" Daye's oldest and most dangerous ally--tells her the time has come for the Selkies to fulfill their side of the bargain, and that Toby must be a part of the process, Toby can't refuse. Literally. The Selkies aren't the only ones in debt to the Luidaeg, and Toby has to pay what she owes like anyone else. They will travel to the fabled Duchy of Ships and call a convocation of the Selkies, telling them to come and meet the Luidaeg's price...or face the consequences.

Of course, nothing is that simple. When Dianda Lorden's brother appears to arrest Dianda for treason against the Undersea, when a Selkie woman is stripped of her skin and then murdered, when everything is falling apart, that's when Toby will have to answer the real question of the hour.

Is she going to sink? Or is she going to swim?

• ISBN10: 0756415071
• ISBN13: 9780756415075
• Publish Date: 3 September 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: DAW Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780756415075

Reviews

[llamareads]

Content warnings: fantasy violence and murder, PTSD, panic attack

For some people, the beginning of September means pumpkin spice lattes, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, and an end to summer. For me, it means a new October Daye book. I’ve been reading this series since the very first book and, finally, at lucky number 13, we get the book I’ve been waiting for – the Luidaeg and Toby settling their debts.

“It’s sort of like going on vacation, except for the part where it’s not going to be restful and we’re all going to die.”

The Luidaeg is calling in her debt, and Toby and company must travel to the Duchy of Ships and restore the Roane. Sounds like a good thing, right? But it soon becomes clear that the end of the Selkies isn’t as cut and dried as Toby thought, and there’s more political intrigue going on in the Undersea than anyone expected. Add in the presence of her daughter Gillian and, well, it’s no surprise that Toby’s having yet another bad – and bloody – day.

“No spears for you,” I snapped. “No swords or tridents or anything else, either. You don’t know how to use them responsibly.”
“Rowan and thorn, you’re such a mom,” said Quentin.

Families – the ones you’re born into and the ones you make – are a continuing theme in this series. Tybalt, Quentin, May… Toby’s surrounded herself with family and friends that she loves and is loved by, a family that spans Fae prejudices and probably common sense. October’s daughter Gillian is there as well, of course, as the only cure for her being elf-shot was to take on a Selkie skin, and her anger at being forced back into the Fae world and continuously used as a pawn against Toby is understandable. We also get more of the Lordens, as the local Undersea delegation to the Luidaeg’s shindig, both of their sons, and an exploration of what being a family is like to the Merrows.

“When the time comes, you and I will stand alone.”

But the best part of the book is the Luidaeg, the sea witch we’ve all loved and hated since she first appeared back in the first book. This book is really about her family – her Firstborn sisters, her Roane, and the other Fae, like Poppy, that she surrounds herself with. In a larger sense, the “family” theme extends to who the Fae see as their own. Selkies belong to the liminal fringes of Faerie, not quite Fae and not quite human in a way that even changelings, despised as they are, aren’t. They also don’t belong to either land or sea, leaving them stranded in between multiple worlds, but even so, they have a vibrant way of life and culture that will all be eradicated. Which leads into the next theme – the balance of justice and mercy. The Selkies are generations distant from their ancestors who slaughtered the Roane, and Toby has been drug into fixing this by virtue of being the only non-crappy Dóchas Sidhe. Why does this fall to them?

“I fell in love with a hero, October. I fell in love with you. I would never dream of asking you to change that essential part of who you are. I don’t want you to stop fighting. I just want to be fighting with you.”

The romance between Tybalt and Toby is just *chef’s kiss.* I love how understanding – if worried – he is about her propensity for ending up skewered and bleeding all the dang time. I love how Toby loves him for being, well, murderous. There’s a few particularly sweet conversations about their future that just about melted me. There’s also, of course, plenty of the usual humor involving Toby poking people with pointy things, Quentin making fun of Tobey for being a pincushion, and Poppy being, well, Poppy.

“It’s terrible to be the one who has to set things right when you didn’t play any part in breaking them.”

Overall, another great book that moves forward both the characters and the plot. This remains one of my all-time favorite series!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of The Unkindest Tide through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Unkindest Tide is the thirteenth novel in the October Daye series, and once again we find Toby up to her neck in trouble. What a shock, we know. At least this time we know it's because Toby is keeping a promise, instead of just having a talent for causing trouble.
The Luidaeg has called in Toby's debt. It's time for the Selkies to pay their debts. Generations ago, their forefathers slaughtered the children of Luidaeg. Now it's time for the final price of that slaughter to be paid. And October is needed to see things through to the end.
This novel also includes an all new novella, titled Hope is Swift. And it follows the one and only Raj. Here we see what he's been up to, while his uncle and Toby were busy dealing with the Selkies.

“My family tree has a lot of thorns, and a tendency to draw blood.” (Seanan McGuire, The Unkindest Tide)

The Unkindest Tide is a tale we all knew was coming. The Luidaeg herself warned Toby that her debt would be paid off when she helped her deal with the Selkies and their final punishment. But it's still hard to accept that the time as finally come.
This was a fast-paced read, and in any story involving Toby, it ended up being a lot more complicated than one would originally expect. What had started out as a quest to conclude the payment and punishment of the Selkies evolved into something much larger.
But that makes sense. Nothing is ever done lightly in the world of the fae, and there are always consequences. There are also people who will always try to interfere. And people who won't think past themselves when making a decision. That's just the way of this life.
And it's all something that Seanan McGuire perfectly captured here. That's part of the reason that this read was just so intense. The emotional ties didn't hurt either – if you take a moment to think about the Selkies and the named characters in that group, you'll know exactly what I mean by that one.
Seeing more of the water side of the world of fae was fascinating. We already had an idea of how they worked, but seeing them in one court versus seeing them in another setting truly does change things. And it gives us a broader scope to work with.
Looking back on it, I can see some new crumbs and hints left out along the way over the course of The Unkindest Tide. I know that Seanan McGuire will pick up the threads in time, the real question is how long we'll be left waiting on those bits.
While there was a lot going in this novel, there was also a lot to love. I couldn't even begin to list out everything, even if I wanted to do something like that. And as per usual, I loved the inclusion of some of the side characters, mainly Tybalt and Quentin. Especially Tybalt, if I'm being honest.
I should warn readers – this book is going to be hard to put down. I was lucky enough to be reading it over the long weekend, which allowed me to stay up a bit later. I actually stayed up past three, in order to read the whole thing in one sitting. And it was totally worth it.
The Unkindest Tides was an amazing whirlwind of a read, one that I do not regret reading. Though I'll confess that I'm sad to be finally caught up with the series. At least I still have all of the novellas to read through. That's something.

Hope is Swift is the novella included at the end of this book, and it focused on Raj and what he was up to while everyone else was away. As it turns out, the Prince of Cats has been working hard on getting ready to take up the throne.
Since he's been getting left out a lot lately, it was both delightful and refreshing to see more of the little cat. And his adventure was unexpected, though in some ways much calmer than what Toby had been facing.
And of course, it was so much fun to see the world through his eyes. Especially seeing how he felt about all of the characters we know and love. And of course, this novella made me desperate to read the rest of the novellas in the series. And now that I've read all of the novels, I think I'm going to do just that.

For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks