booksandbreadcrumbs's review against another edition
4.0
I had so much fun reading this! Despite being more than a little frustrated with Toby because I thought something was very obvious, I really enjoyed this whole book and am very excited to dive right into the next one.
lizzy_22's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
This was just slow, slow, slow. On the bright side I really like Toby so I'll just keep on going and chalk this one up to series development? Book 3 is in my near future and here's hoping the plot is more peppy than this one! :)
This was just slow, slow, slow. On the bright side I really like Toby so I'll just keep on going and chalk this one up to series development? Book 3 is in my near future and here's hoping the plot is more peppy than this one! :)
nyx_hook's review against another edition
4.0
Liked this more than book 1, liked the whole Agatha Christie detective mystery vibe, and cyber dryad was pretty chill.
sadiqua_fatima's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jessies's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
susanatherly's review
4.0
The second book in the October Daye series, it isn't as good as the first book (Rosemary and Rue) but it is still a worthy followup.
elusivity's review against another edition
2.0
Wow. This was utterly stupid. All the tropes of a bad horror movie, jammed into one thin plot, without self-awareness or humor or intellect or suspense.
The basic premise is a locked-room murder mystery, with people dying left and right faster than you can sneeze out TEN LITTLE INDIANS gesundheit!!
It always stumps me when, stuck in a place with a hidden killer that picks people off whenever they go somewhere alone, why not (a) UNstick yourself, i.e. get the hell out and hike towards the nearest city asap, or (b) NEVER GO ANYWHERE ALONE?? How about you all stay in a locked room with a hoard of food, and wait for rescue?
Noooo, instead people had all kinds of stupid reasons to NOT leave the place, NOT ever tell the truth, NOT stop and think on clues, and NOT stick together. How does the claim, "I need to continue working!" not raise any suspicion when the company has been shut down, bodies are piling up, blood is everywhere, and there's a killer murdering people in mysterious ways?!
What a frustrating read. Not recommended.
The basic premise is a locked-room murder mystery, with people dying left and right faster than you can sneeze out TEN LITTLE INDIANS gesundheit!!
It always stumps me when, stuck in a place with a hidden killer that picks people off whenever they go somewhere alone, why not (a) UNstick yourself, i.e. get the hell out and hike towards the nearest city asap, or (b) NEVER GO ANYWHERE ALONE?? How about you all stay in a locked room with a hoard of food, and wait for rescue?
Noooo, instead people had all kinds of stupid reasons to NOT leave the place, NOT ever tell the truth, NOT stop and think on clues, and NOT stick together. How does the claim, "I need to continue working!" not raise any suspicion when the company has been shut down, bodies are piling up, blood is everywhere, and there's a killer murdering people in mysterious ways?!
What a frustrating read. Not recommended.
mooholcomb's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
witchivor's review against another edition
3.5
Good but not great. I enjoyed the continued worldbuilding and getting to know Toby a little more. The wider cast of characters was a strong point, though the mystery part of this one was less mysterious and the culprit became clear to me as a reader sooner than I might have preferred.
Still a fun entry to the series and I’m crossing my fingers for more of Tybalt in future books.
rhysciar's review against another edition
3.0
When I first started Rosemary and Rue (the first novel in the October Daye series), I thought it will be like her other books written by her pseudonym, Mira Grant.
Well, it wasn't like that at all. In fact, I kind of hated the first book, it was cliché, Toby was stupid, and everybody had a crush on her.
I mean EVERYBODY.
Even the King of Cats.
Anyway... I needed something light, and I made up my mind to finish a few series in 2021, so that's why I picked up this book. A Local Habitation follows October, the changeling private detective, who is again hired by her liege, Sylvester to check on his niece, January. (BTW these names... I swear if she will have a list of people/faerie named after the months, and it suits them, I... I... I don't know, it's crazy!!!!!) January works at a high tech computer company, AHL, but when October gets there, it turns out that something or somebody is killing the faculty one by one. So it's up to October to find out who or what is our killer, and to stay alive.
So the premise is good. Really good. In fact, after I started to read this book, I realized that I was enjoying myself! ENJOYING! After I hated the first book, this seemed so fresh, seemed interesting. The case was exciting, and it reminded me of the Raymond Chandler books. For a long time I had no idea who could be the killer, which got me to read more and more. Even the romance was okay, Alex was irritating at first, but eventually all made sense; Connor... I do have my problems with him, but Tybalt. For Oberon's sake, Tybalt is the greatest! The King of Cats and Toby has this cool, sarcastic chemistry which I really like - it's not instalove, but I can hope it will mature itself, and something will happen between them. It has to, all the signs are here. I mean... Here, kitty, kitty!
But back to the story. Catching a serial killer in a confined space shouldn't be so hard - for Toby, and his assistant, Quentin, it is. I loved the idea, that Toby is not a superpowered changeling - that she has her limits. She couldn't do much magic without consequences, and the constant headache that followed her magic was a nice touch. She seemed human in an inhuman world, and that made me like her much more. She had her faults, her bad ideas that she unfortunately followed through, but those made sense, and that made the book really good.
The world expanded: in this book we get to know a lot more about the faeries' world, about dead bodys, about the different species. It made the series much more coherent, and added a really dark twist to it, which I absolutely loved.
So what is it I didn't like? Well, for instance Toby never ate anything. A few days passed, probably a week, but she never ate anything apart from a donut - and she didn't finish that either. She always wanted coffee, but you can't sustain yourself with that. That's a huge no-no for me - it's illogical, it's lazy. No matter how addicted you are to coffee, everybody eats, everybody gets hungry.
The writing is fast paced, it's story-driven, so there's not a lot of descriptions - which is not bad, but made the overall experience lack depth. Not that I was saddened by this, I read this book because I wanted something light, and that's exactly what I got.
Overall, I really liked this book, and my rating is actually 3.5 stars. A Local Habitation is much better than the first book, and I can't wait to see if this trend will follow or not. Anyway, this book gave me high hopes for the series, and I'm definitely going to continue with it.
Well, it wasn't like that at all. In fact, I kind of hated the first book, it was cliché, Toby was stupid, and everybody had a crush on her.
I mean EVERYBODY.
Even the King of Cats.
Anyway... I needed something light, and I made up my mind to finish a few series in 2021, so that's why I picked up this book. A Local Habitation follows October, the changeling private detective, who is again hired by her liege, Sylvester to check on his niece, January. (BTW these names... I swear if she will have a list of people/faerie named after the months, and it suits them, I... I... I don't know, it's crazy!!!!!) January works at a high tech computer company, AHL, but when October gets there, it turns out that something or somebody is killing the faculty one by one. So it's up to October to find out who or what is our killer, and to stay alive.
So the premise is good. Really good. In fact, after I started to read this book, I realized that I was enjoying myself! ENJOYING! After I hated the first book, this seemed so fresh, seemed interesting. The case was exciting, and it reminded me of the Raymond Chandler books. For a long time I had no idea who could be the killer, which got me to read more and more. Even the romance was okay, Alex was irritating at first, but eventually all made sense; Connor... I do have my problems with him, but Tybalt. For Oberon's sake, Tybalt is the greatest! The King of Cats and Toby has this cool, sarcastic chemistry which I really like - it's not instalove, but I can hope it will mature itself, and something will happen between them. It has to, all the signs are here. I mean... Here, kitty, kitty!
But back to the story. Catching a serial killer in a confined space shouldn't be so hard - for Toby, and his assistant, Quentin, it is. I loved the idea, that Toby is not a superpowered changeling - that she has her limits. She couldn't do much magic without consequences, and the constant headache that followed her magic was a nice touch. She seemed human in an inhuman world, and that made me like her much more. She had her faults, her bad ideas that she unfortunately followed through, but those made sense, and that made the book really good.
The world expanded: in this book we get to know a lot more about the faeries' world, about dead bodys, about the different species. It made the series much more coherent, and added a really dark twist to it, which I absolutely loved.
So what is it I didn't like? Well, for instance Toby never ate anything. A few days passed, probably a week, but she never ate anything apart from a donut - and she didn't finish that either. She always wanted coffee, but you can't sustain yourself with that. That's a huge no-no for me - it's illogical, it's lazy. No matter how addicted you are to coffee, everybody eats, everybody gets hungry.
The writing is fast paced, it's story-driven, so there's not a lot of descriptions - which is not bad, but made the overall experience lack depth. Not that I was saddened by this, I read this book because I wanted something light, and that's exactly what I got.
Overall, I really liked this book, and my rating is actually 3.5 stars. A Local Habitation is much better than the first book, and I can't wait to see if this trend will follow or not. Anyway, this book gave me high hopes for the series, and I'm definitely going to continue with it.