Review: One Salt Sea- Seanan McGuire

Title: One Salt Sea 

Author: Seanan McGuire  

Series: October Daye - Book 5

Release Date: September, 2011

Publisher: DAW 

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 5 Hoots- Top Pick

Reviewer: Shannon 

October "Toby" Daye is settling into her new role as Countess of Goldengreen. She's actually dating again, and she's taken on Quentin as her squire. So, of course, it's time for things to take a turn for the worse. 

Someone has kidnapped the sons of the regent of the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist. To prevent a war between land and sea, Toby must find the missing boys and prove the Queen of the Mists was not behind their abduction. Toby's search will take her from the streets of San Francisco to the lands beneath the waves, and her deadline is firm: she must find the boys in three days' time, or all of the Mists will pay the price. But someone is determined to stop her-and whoever it is isn't playing by Oberon's Laws...  (Goodreads)

Wow! Was the first thing that comes to mind when reading this fifth installment of the October Daye series! Emotional, action-packed, funny, and just a great story from start to finish, One Salt Sea will take readers into a world combined with reality and fantasy and have them begging for more even as the story progresses from triumph to loss, Fae to mortal, and everything in between!

Seanan McGuire truly knows how to pull readers in and keep them enthralled with her characters and storylines! Toby is definitely a character readers will identify with on an emotional and personal level. She has many of the same qualities and issues most people deal with every day and yet she has much more on her plate as she tries to balance her life between both worlds which truly makes her unique. This book really gave insight into the mind of the half mortal, half Fae Countess of Goldengreen and readers truly experience her life and her emotions from beginning to end. Although all the books have this quality, this book really has some very emotional and surprising moments that will affect Toby and her friends' lives permanently and not all of them were pleasant; that in and of itself makes this read different and unmistakably wonderful. The author also introduced readers to some new characters and new Fae realms while keeping updates on some of the other characters previously introduced into the series and allowing them to blend into the story without overwhelming readers with too many characters and places. Many authors fall into the trap of too much information that totally drowns out the overall story, but Ms. McGuire was very good at keeping her story base and making everyone and everything work to perfection!

In the end, this book was phenomenal! It had it all: romance, humor, action, betrayal, redemption, death, life, and, of course, Fae! Fans of the series will be stunned, excited, saddened, and ultimately thrilled with the story as a whole and where this series is headed. Although this book can be read as a stand-alone, it is strongly recommended to begin with the first four novels before starting One Salt Sea. The author does give background that will help readers understand most of the story, but readers would truly miss out on Toby's previous adventures thus far and would also miss some other important background that is not really pertinent to this installment but will give insight into all the characters and the world Seanan McGuire has created. Definitely a must read for fans of Toby Daye and Urban Fantasy alike.