When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire

When Sorrows Come (October Daye, #15)

by Seanan McGuire

Toby's getting married! Now in paperback, the fifteenth novel of the Hugo-nominated, New York Times-bestselling October Daye urban fantasy series.

It's hard to be a hero. There's always something needing October "Toby" Daye's attention, and her own desires tend to fall by the wayside in favor of solving the Kingdom's problems. That includes the desire to marry her long-time suitor and current fiancé, Tybalt, San Francisco's King of Cats. She doesn't mean to keep delaying the wedding, it just sort of...happens. And that's why her closest friends have taken the choice out of her hands, ambushing her with a court wedding at the High Court in Toronto. Once the High King gets involved, there's not much even Toby can do to delay things...

...except for getting involved in stopping a plot to overthrow the High Throne itself, destabilizing the Westlands entirely, and keeping her from getting married through nothing more than the sheer volume of chaos it would cause. Can Toby save the Westlands and make it to her own wedding on time? Or is she going to have to choose one over the other?

Includes an all-new bonus novella!

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

5 of 5 stars

Share

It's here! Toby's wedding is finally here! I bet we all thought that moment would never come around, huh? When Sorrows Come is the fifteenth (!!!) novel in Seanan McGuire's October Daye series. This series is by far my favorite fae series to date.

People like October Daye don't ever really catch a break. Even when off on the wedding of her dreams, Toby still ends up working. But let's take a step back. The wedding is finally here, though Toby got a very short notice on the matter.

However, not all is well in the High King's Court. So before the wedding can proceed, Toby will once again find herself bloody and neck-deep in politics. Just what she wanted. But as long as the wedding still happens, all will be well.

"I spent enough time very bitter indeed to understand that clinging to joy when I find it is the most essential thing in the world."

Pardon me as I squeal for five minutes. I don't normally freak out about weddings, but Tybalt is one of my favorite characters, so I am tickled to death that Toby is finally marrying him. That fact, combined with the long build-up, made When Sorrows Come such a welcome sight.

To be honest, I really wasn't sure what to expect from the wedding. Was Toby going to get her happily ever after? Was something going to happen to cause a split? I knew that something would happen – I can't think of a single book where Toby didn't end up covered in her own blood, after all.

As such, I pretty much went into When Sorrows Come with little to no expectations. I was still blown away. The politics, the scheming, the endearing moments! It was all so much, and it succeeded in making me smile on more than one occasion.

Yes, this is a wedding novel; that much is obvious. But it is a wedding that is very much Toby's. By that, I mean it is complicated and messy, with all her friends and family gathered around. Throw in a few bonus Tybalt scenes, and it is no wonder that I loved this book.

"If monarchs are that much against being overthrown, they shouldn't do things that would make it seem like a good idea."

If you haven't been reading the series up until this point, you won't have the faintest idea of what is going on. But if you're a fan of the series, please do take the time to read When Sorrows Come. And when you're done, read the attached novella, And with Reveling. You won't regret it.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 22 November, 2021: Finished reading
  • 22 November, 2021: Reviewed