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A review by brokenrecord
The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire
4.0
This was sad in some ways but really good. I loved seeing April's perspective and her relationship with Li Qin. The fun thing about the novellas in this series is getting more from characters there just isn't really time for in the book series unless they're directly relevant to the main plot, which waking everyone at Tamed Lightning wasn't. But at the same time, like, I get why this is a novella, but it seems like it's going to be a very weird thing in the main series to be like, "Oh yeah, January and the others got woken up between the last book and this one, surprise!" I don't see how there would be time for a story like this in the main books, but it also just seems like a huge thing to gloss over like that (unlike previous novellas which included things like Toby meeting Quentin's parents/Quentin and Dean starting their relationship, and Nolan being woken from elf-shot — all of which I enjoyed reading about but didn't feel vital to the series to actually read). In any case, this was good, and I'm glad I read it.
Merged review:
4.5 stars. This was really good! Better than the last book, which I definitely still liked (I don't think it's possible for me to dislike a Toby book), but this one seemed to move the plot forward a step in a really interesting way. I was worried when it became clear Tybalt was going to be gone for like the entire book since Toby/Tybalt has always been my favorite part of this series (but not my only favorite part — I truly love everything about this series), but after like 4 straight books of them being together plus Ashes for Honor, I can deal with one book where Tybalt is massively sidelined. And it helped that we got so many answers — I think I'm starting to see where the endgame of the series might be with Oberon and the prophecy about Amandine's line (although I could also be completely far off). I loved Simon's redemption so much, and I never thought I would have Simon feelings, but he made me teary on like two separate occasions, and it was heartbreaking that he sacrificed himself for August. August was interesting and not at all what I expected, and I hope that in time she and Toby are able to become allies (I have less of a hope about her mother, who was also not what I expected, since I always thought Amandine cared about Toby in her own way, but… maybe not, I guess!). I also loved the pixie stuff, and how after 11 books, we're still getting insight in different parts of the fae world. I particularly enjoyed Poppy and hope she shows up again.
I always will also love how Seanan leaves breadcrumbs and things that don't seem important at all have huge effects later on, like mentioning August in Ashes of Honor when we don't realize she's August. And I like how, with a cast as huge as it is by book 11, characters show up when there's a reason for them to be around, but there isn't the need to visit every single side character for an update in every single book. And I also liked how the plot in Ashes seemed somewhat unrelated to the overaching storyline at the time, but having a changeling teleporter who can break into Awnwn actually ends up having an impact on the story here because it allowed August to escape.
Basically, this series is comfort food to me. It's not perfect, but it's my favorite thing, and I will read as many books in this series as Seanan has in her to write. Also, two sidenotes: 1) I will ship Raj/Quentin forever, I don't care (even though Dean and Quentin are cute enough), and 2) are Tybalt and Toby ever going to get married??? I swear they have been engaged for like 3 times as many books as they were dating, and with each new book, I expect we're going to finally get their wedding, and then… nope! Oh well, maybe the next one!
Merged review:
4.5 stars. This was really good! Better than the last book, which I definitely still liked (I don't think it's possible for me to dislike a Toby book), but this one seemed to move the plot forward a step in a really interesting way. I was worried when it became clear Tybalt was going to be gone for like the entire book since Toby/Tybalt has always been my favorite part of this series (but not my only favorite part — I truly love everything about this series), but after like 4 straight books of them being together plus Ashes for Honor, I can deal with one book where Tybalt is massively sidelined. And it helped that we got so many answers — I think I'm starting to see where the endgame of the series might be with Oberon and the prophecy about Amandine's line (although I could also be completely far off). I loved Simon's redemption so much, and I never thought I would have Simon feelings, but he made me teary on like two separate occasions, and it was heartbreaking that he sacrificed himself for August. August was interesting and not at all what I expected, and I hope that in time she and Toby are able to become allies (I have less of a hope about her mother, who was also not what I expected, since I always thought Amandine cared about Toby in her own way, but… maybe not, I guess!). I also loved the pixie stuff, and how after 11 books, we're still getting insight in different parts of the fae world. I particularly enjoyed Poppy and hope she shows up again.
I always will also love how Seanan leaves breadcrumbs and things that don't seem important at all have huge effects later on, like mentioning August in Ashes of Honor when we don't realize she's August. And I like how, with a cast as huge as it is by book 11, characters show up when there's a reason for them to be around, but there isn't the need to visit every single side character for an update in every single book. And I also liked how the plot in Ashes seemed somewhat unrelated to the overaching storyline at the time, but having a changeling teleporter who can break into Awnwn actually ends up having an impact on the story here because it allowed August to escape.
Basically, this series is comfort food to me. It's not perfect, but it's my favorite thing, and I will read as many books in this series as Seanan has in her to write. Also, two sidenotes: 1) I will ship Raj/Quentin forever, I don't care (even though Dean and Quentin are cute enough), and 2) are Tybalt and Toby ever going to get married??? I swear they have been engaged for like 3 times as many books as they were dating, and with each new book, I expect we're going to finally get their wedding, and then… nope! Oh well, maybe the next one!