The Innocent Sleep

October Daye #18

by Seanan McGuire

The 18th novel of the Hugo-nominated, New York Times bestselling October Daye urban fantasy series.

For one bright, shining moment, Tybalt, King of Cats, had everything he had ever wanted. He was soon to set his crown aside; he had married the woman he loved; he was going to be a father. After centuries of searching for a family of his own, he had finally found a way to construct the life of his dreams, and was looking forward to a period of peace—or at least as much peace as is ever in the offing for the husband of a hero.

Alas for Tybalt and his domestic aspirations, fate—and Titania—had other ideas. His perfect world had been complete for only a moment when it was ripped away, to be replaced by hers. Titania, Faerie’s Summer Queen, Mother of Illusions and enemy of so many he holds dear, has seized control of the Kingdom, remaking it in her own image. An image which does not include meddlesome shapeshifters getting in her way. Tybalt quickly finds himself banished from her reality, along with the Undersea and the rest of the Court of Cats.

To protect his people and his future, Tybalt must find the woman he loves in a world designed to keep her from him, convince her that he’s not a stranger trying to ruin her life for no apparent reason, and get her to unmake the illusion she’s been firmly enmeshed in. And he’ll have to do it all while she doesn’t know him, and every unrecognizing look is a knife to his heart.

For Tybalt, King of Cats, the happily ever after was just the beginning.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fae, Fiction, Paranormal, Magic, Romance

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 24, 2023

About the author

Hi! I'm Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things. I'm also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline.

Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).

I do not check this inbox. Please don't send me messages through Goodreads; they won't be answered. I don't want to have to delete this account. :(

Reviews

[Sheyla ✎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was like a Christmas gift! Being in Tybalt's head was great!

Despite knowing what was going to happen after reading Sleep No More and following Toby's journey of self-discovery, The Innocent Sleep shouldn't have surprised me, right? Yet, Seanan McGuire was able to pull it off.

McGuire gave us enough changes to make it worth it. I'm not going to lie, it was painful seeing Tybalt suffering not knowing what had happened to Toby, and then when he found out where she was and what happened to her, he realized that nothing could be done for several months.

Tybalt embarks on a journey of his own. He needs to find enough allies who will be ready to help and fight for what is right and real.

I can't wait for what is next. but at the same time, I know this series is ending and I will be so sad when it is all done. Toby is an amazing heroine.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

[Brok3n · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twice-told tales

In Sleep No More Seanan McGuire tells the story of Toby's fight against Titania's attempt to rewrite all of faerie the way she wants it to be. In Sleep No More this story is told in the first person by Toby herself. The Innocent Sleep tells the same story from the first-person point of view of Toby's husband, Tybalt. (By the way, I assume you have read Sleep No More. If you haven't, this review will contain spoilers.)

McGuire has made rather a habit of writing books in which the essence of the plot and the outcome have been given away prior to publication. For instance, several of the novellas in her Wayward Children series have plots that were thoroughly spoiled in Every Heart a Doorway, the first book of that series. And the most egregious example of this strategy occurs in the Newsflesh series (published under her Mira Grant nom de plume). Book four, Feedback, recounts the exact same events as the previous three books, but from the point of view of a different team of reporters.

Of course, McGuire is not the first or most famous of the story-tellers who have used this approach. The idea that a story is different depending on who tells it is valid and often leads to interesting results.

This, in my opinion, is not such a case. Any long-time reader of the October Daye series knows Tybalt quite well and can predict fairly accurately how he will react to the events of Sleep No More. There is a little bit of story that he knows and Toby doesn't, but for the most part the story as told by Tybalt is as a fan of the series would predict. And of course any suspense about outcomes is vitiated by the reader already knowing all the important ones in advance.

Strictly edited, Tybalt's point of view during the events of Sleep No More would have made an excellent bonus novella for that novel. As an entire novel in its own right, it is padded and predictable.

DOUBTLESS AND SECURE

Like all McGuire's novels, The Innocent Sleep is followed by a bonus novella, Doubtless and Secure. Doubtless and Secure is another twice-told tale, but a better one than The Innocent Sleep. It is told from the point of view of Helmi, a Cephali (that's a type of fae that looks like a cephalopod/human chimera). We have long known Helmi as the chief retainer of the Merrow Dianda, the Duchess (i.e., ruling monarch) of the Duchy of Saltmist, an undersea kingdom off the coast of California. We have never heard directly from Helmi before. Also, the story she tells spans centuries and puts together a long list of stories about Dianda, and how she came to be Duchess of Saltmist, and her husbands Patrick and Simon and their children. There is little here that hasn't been told elsewhere, but since much of the tale was scattered in short stories that a reader would have had to seek out, since we've never heard direct from Helmi before, and above all since this is just a novella, and no attempt has been made to stretch it out to a full-length novel, Doubtless and Secure skates clear of the worst problems of The Innocent Sleep.

Thanks to NetGalley and DAW for an advance reader copy of The Innocent Sleep. This review expresses my honest opinions.

Blog review.

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart

Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

4.5 hearts

The Innocent Sleep is the 18th book in the  October Daye series.  Told from Tybalt's PoV, we get to experience the events in the same timeline as book 17 from the other group of characters working to free those captured in Titania's illusion.  While the shift in PoV took a little time to become accustomed to, eventually I got used to it and seeing the world not from October's perspective but that of Tybalt.

One minute October was there and she and Tybalt were having one of the happiest moments of their lives and then...The world is re-written by Titania, who is ever the sore loser and October is nowhere to be seen.  Tybalt needs to find his wife, figure out why the court of cats is locked and no one can get in or out unless they are Royalty, save his people, find the Sea Witch and if he sees Titania, figure out how to kill her for causing this mess.  It is daunting.  Tybalt never thought he'd fall in love again after loosing his first wife and he has fallen in love with a woman who always seems to happen into messes and chaos.  This time it is his turn to save her.

Love is a knife forever suspended an inch from your heart, and if it falls or you stumble into it, you can all too easily find yourself impaled and bleeding.

Because this story runs the same timeline as the Sleep No More, there are a few points in the story that overlap.  In the beginning while Tybalt is trying to figure out what is going on in this new illusion Titania has made, I wasn't as engaged in the story because I had already read an entire book on it.  But his journey was much different than Octobers and eventually, after his location of October, the story started to diverge enough that I was more engaged.  It was actually eye opening in some ways to be in Tybalt's head to see how he sees the world around him and know the why behind a few of his actions in Sleep No More that were a bit extreme.  I liked getting to know a few of the other characters a little better.

Between seers and all the other characters pulling together Tybalt has a shot at saving his wife, but the only catch is the perfect timing is four months away.  This is testing all the patience he has, but never go against a seer who has told you the terms of your one shot.  Tybalt and team get everything in place for the big day when all the stars will align and they get their shot to save Faery from being rewritten permanently.

Overall this is a great story and while there is a little repetition, it isn't too much overlapping with the previous book. If you are into this series and have made it to book 18, I think it will have so many of the things we all love about these stories.

“Do you think they just haven’t been letting her do blood magic?”
“Would you, if you were trying to keep her under control?”
Ginevra scoffed. “I wouldn’t try to keep that woman under control. Even if you wouldn’t kill me for even thinking about it, it would be like trying to wrestle a blizzard into compliance. Not the sort of thing you do when you want to keep all your fingers attached to your body.”

Bonus Story: Doubtless and Secure

Helmi is a Cephali from the undersea and this story is told from her PoV on the life of one of my favorite characters Diandra.  Helmi has been there through it all, the courting of Diandra's mother, the births the deaths and everything in between.  It was such an interesting story of the unique underworld and how it is a bit different from the Faery of the land.  Helmi was an interesting character by herself, but I really enjoyed how she watched Diandra grow and become the woman she is in the stories today.  The Undersea is pretty brutal, but I particularly liked seeing Patrick and Diandra's courting along with some of their day to day life.  This story spans centuries and takes us right up to the rewriting of Faery by Titania.  A very interesting glimpse into the undersea and the creatures in it.

[h o l l i s · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I'm calling it. Time of death? Way too far into a series I barely tolerated.

We were warned but still : retelling the events of the book before, even from a different POV, was so unnecessary. Especially as not a lot really happens despite the separation from the main characters for a good chunk of time. This would've been fine ish as a novella but was agonizing as a full length story and just reinforced all my dislikes and turned them up to eleven. Everyone (e v e r y o n e) was insufferable, more so than normal, or childish, or petulant, all of which happened alongside Tybalt throwing a little hissy catfit constantly, and it takes so long for anything of note to happen; I'm sure this isn't unique to this instalment but everyone decided to use six paragraphs to say something that could've been said with six words -- and worse because of all those slow long stretches we rehash a handful of arguments endlessly on end but even worser we do that even during some less slow stretches -- and I'm just.. over it.

Later Toby. You didn't live up to a single expectation I had and I will not miss you -- I will miss the sea witch of course but it's just not worth it anymore.

---

This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is fine, I guess... It's the exact same story as was told in the preceding book, Sleep No More, except that one was told from October's point of view and this one is told from Tybalt's. It's an interesting exercise, but I expected a few more differences, one of the pair doing something cool and the other one not finding out about it or something like that. (The spoiler is that there are no spoilers.) It's a long novel, but the viewpoint shift could have been accomplished just as well and more economically by alternating chapters in a single volume. As it is, I'd recommend reading Sleep No More (because October gets the best and most clever lines, as usual) and passing on this one unless you're a real hardcore fan. This one also includes an original novella that quite good and presents cool details and history of the undersea kingdom.

[Gali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the author and have read all the books in the October Daye series. I was lucky enough to get ARCs of books #17 and #18. The Innocent Sleep" by Seanan McGuire is #18 in the series, recapping the same events as "Sleep No More" but in broader strokes.

While book #17 told the story from Toby's POV, this one is narrated in the first person from Tybalt's perspective. You need to read the previous book before this one, as this book complements the story and reveals what happened behind the curtains - things Toby and we, the readers, were unaware of at the time.

In the previous book, Toby was whisked into another version of reality, one without Tybalt or other cared-for family members. At the same time, Tybalt was ripped from his home and lost track of his wife, and a section of the Undersea (Saltmist) was sealed off from the land kingdoms. Titania has rewritten the world in her image, eliminating all the elements she deemed "undesirable" such as shapeshifters.

In this version of reality, The Cait Sidhe are believed to be extinct, but they are actually confined to their court, with only the royal cats able to travel through the shadow roads. Changelings are intentionally bred to serve the noble houses, and October lives with August in Amandine's tower, serving as August’s companion. Tybalt wants his family back, and now! This is his story.

Tybalt is one of my all-time favorite characters, so I enjoyed reading the story from his perspective and gaining insight into his emotions. His feelings about his missing wife and the entire wretched situation make him seem human and vulnerable. In fact, Tybalt is further developed here, as the author delves into his inner thoughts and emotions, making him feel authentic. I also appreciated meeting characters who were absent in the previous book, such as May and the librarian

The first section of the book was somewhat slow, repeating events we were already aware of, but the second section flew by. Oh, how it flew. Although the book lacks the tension of book #17 (since we already know how it will end), it still captivated me. The characters are well-drawn, and I felt like I was right there in the story. At the end of the book, there's a bonus novella titled "Doubtless and Secure", narrated from Helmi's POV. Helmi is a Cephali and the chief retainer of the Duchy of Saltmist.

As a companion book, it serves its purpose well, providing clarity on many aspects that may be previously unclear to some. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style. Moreover, it kept me engaged and never bored, so I rate it 4 out of 5 stars. A good story creates an emotional connection, and this book managed to achieve that admirably. If you are a fervent fan of the series, you will certainly enjoy it. I recommend the book to fans of the series, and I am already looking forward to reading the next installment.

* Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

* Review in my blog: https://galibookish.blogspot.com/2023...

[Mallory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t quite finish the re-read, but there was no way I would wait. Ok, it’s true the basic plot is the same of the book that came out last month just told from another perspective. Let me be clear…I DON’T CARE. It was fabulous to get to see things from Tybalt’s perspective and i loved the nuggets of what some of the other characters were doing during this time frame. A couple of my questions were answered, but mostly I loved getting to sink it’s Tybalt’s perspective. I love Toby, she is one of my favorite characters ever, but I will never say no to a bonus book with Tybalt’s perspective because seeing all sides deepens my love for them both. The bonus novella was more a series of scenes or vignettes and while I like Helmi and loved to see her perspective it was a bit slower for me.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last volume of the October Daye series (Sleep No More) cooled my love of these books somewhat (despite my irrational loyalty to the authors I love). Although I eventually enjoyed that book, I had no idea why McGuire would write the same story again from Tybalt's point of view. Perhaps because I've had a long break, this installment pleased me the way all the older volumes did. Tybalt made a powerful narrator.

Separated from his new wife, who has just informed him of her pregnancy, Tybalt is beside himself. He wakes in the Court of Dreaming Cats, where all except the royals are confined. The Shadow Roads are closed to those non-royal. There are food and hygiene problems that Tybalt's heir Raj and regent Ginevra have been struggling to deal with. Responsible for both his court and his wife, the King of Cats must work smart and hard to solve things.

I knew from the previous book that they were fighting a massive illusion, put in place by Titania, who has made over Faerie to suit her prejudices. Tybalt starts to chart the edges of the illusion and to gather allies, just as October would if she knew who she is/was. During this mission, he gets clonked on the head in true October fashion, and reflects, My last coherent thought was that I would need to apologize to October: it was much more difficult to carry out heroism-adjacent acts without being knocked insensate than I had ever anticipated.

Now I am caught up and can begin to optimistically anticipate Silver and Lead.

[☕️Kimberly (Caffeinated Reviewer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was delighted to hear we were getting Tybalt’s perspective of events as they unfolded in Sleep No More with The Innocent Sleep. It allowed us to see what Toby’s love and friends were doing to restore Faerie and get her back.

I was shocked when I began listening and was greeted not by Mary Robinette Kowal, but by another narrator. Fine, fine, I’ve listened to him before. I’ll roll with it.

Dear reader, I did not roll with it. I hated it. With a fiery rage. Now, to be fair, Raphael Corkhill is a good narrator. I’ve enjoyed other works by him, including his pseudonym. But I am sure he did not even listen to previous audio sample in this collection. Audible Studios blew it when they changed narrators. Yes, I get that it’s from the male’s perspective, but Mary has done ALL the voices since the beginning, and Corkhill didn’t even get Tybalt’s accent right.

I felt like Toby must have felt in the pond. Like a fish out of water. Mispronounced words and no one sounded liked themselves. It absolutely ruined the story for me. I ended up buying the book, so that I could hear the characters as they should sound in my head. I highly recommend that those who listened to the entire series do the same. So disappointing.

Now, the story once read was brilliant, and I loved seeing the other side of things. McGuire is clever. I appreciated the gift of this perspective giving us a wonderful, complete story. Just don't listen to it! This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for gifting me an early copy of this SECOND October Daye book releasing this year!

This one, best read immediately after SLEEP NO MORE, is the first full length novel in the series that isn't Toby's POV. It's Tybalt's POV, following the same events leading out of BE THE SERPENT.

We've been in Tybalt's head before, in some of the Patreon shorties and some of the freebies, but this one really gave us some deeper insights into our favorite King of Cats. We get to see his true feelings on the people around him, the people in their lives, whether friend, acquaintance, or begrudging ally.

While the end of this one is a quick recap of the end of SLEEP NO MORE (just through Tybalt's eyes), the rest was a glorious glimpse into the catman we love so much.

Yet again, McGuire finds a way to keep me on my toes waiting for the next one to come out. It's one series I really hope continues a long, long time.

As has become the trend lately, this one includes a novella that adds to the Octoberverse, this time from Helmi, Dianda's Cephali handmaiden, and jumps through time, tracing life in Saltmist from before Dianda's birth up until the events of SLEEP NO MORE/THE INNOCENT SLEEP. It's a cool peek into more of Saltmist and their traditions and peoples.

Highly recommended, but please do yourself the favor of reading the rest of the series first. You won't regret it.

[Betül · Rating 4 out of 5]

**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review**

The Innocent Sleep follows Tybalt, King of Cats, who loses his perfect life when Titania, the Summer Queen, takes over. Banished and unrecognized by the woman he loves, he must convince her to see through the illusion and reclaim their reality. The story delves into Tybalt's struggle for a new beginning after his happily ever after is shattered.

I anticipated a completely new storyline following the events of the previous book, Sleep No More. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that it unfolds concurrently, but from Tybalt's viewpoint instead of October's.

The Innocent Sleep pleasantly surprised me, as I'm typically not a fan of revisiting the same story from a different point of view. However, in this case, the characters were apart majority of the book, giving it a fresh feel akin to a new story altogether.

Exploring Tybalt's perspective while October pursued her own path provided a unique depth to the narrative. It was heartbreaking to see Tybalt powerless to make things right. I could feel his frustration in having to wait for some things to fall into place.

The side characters were a highlight, and their dynamic added richness to the tale. Ultimately, I found myself enjoying this book much more than I initially anticipated.

[Ash25leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so I basically skimmed this since I read the previous book. This is basically a retelling thru Tybalt’s prospective of Sleep no more. Yes, there were some other details that were good to know,and slightly different from the previous book. However, for the most part, this was the same book. Thus, I already knew how it ended. I really wish this would’ve been made as a Novella not a full novel because it kind of felt like a rip off considering how I literally just read the previous book but even still, I’ll give it four stars because I love this author!!

[Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley

Look, I obviously enjoyed this book and I love Tybalt so I'm glad that we are getting more of his POV but in much the same way that 'this meeting could have been an email', this novel could have been a novella and it would have been better off for it. The first half is very good and gives us a lot of new information and shows us things that weren't in the previous novel but once we hit a certain point in the narrative it's just rehashing the exact same plot points with not much new being added. If you're a huge fan you'll probably still enjoy it regardless - I know I did - but if you're more of a casual reader you could definitely put this down at a certain point and not miss much at all.

[Juliette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating : 2,5 ⭐
The beginning was interesting, I enjoyed being with a different narrator than usual and seeing what happened right after the curse. The audiobook narrator did a great job in that regard, he definitely injected a lot of personality in his narration. However, when we caught up to the events of Sleep No More, too much of it felt like copy/paste. It just proved my intuition that this story did not need to be told in two novels. It could have been a single book, with alternating points of view, which would have kept every important plot point while removing the unnecessary repetitions. I hope the author will not do this again with subsequent books.

[Monica Hills · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to think of this one since it was not going to be from Toby's point of view and the previous book was basically the same story. I was blown away by how good this book was. Even though it was a similar story I loved hearing Tybalt's side of events and the book never lost my interest. I was sad when I finished the book because I just absolutely adore this world. I always enjoy the novellas at the end as well. I can't get enough of this series and I hope it never ends!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I didn't love this universe so much that I wanted to know what was happening with everyone Toby did not encounter on her quest but Tybalt did on his separate path ... I'm not sure I could have made it through this book. Tybalt's possessiveness is quite frankly disturbing. His personality rings so many alarm bells for "this is going to be an abusive partner, run as far and fast as you can", that having spent a whole book in his head I'm quite sure I'll never be able to see him as a good partner for Toby again. Toby is portrayed as strong enough to defy his shenanigans, but that seems so close to "if only you stay a little longer you'll fix him" that it's just scary. I know this is a common trope in urban fantasy where a human woman falls for the dangerous werewolf or vampire and it works because she's strong enough to change him - but it doesn't mean these are stories I enjoy reading.

All that said, I did enjoy seeing what May, Raj and the Lordens were up to while Toby was once again saving the world.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure what the point of this book was. It was just a retelling of the story from the previous book, from a different character's POV. It certainly had some interesting moments, but I didn't feel it actually added much to the series.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved getting Tybalt’s point of view, and I always love these books, but overall I’m not sure having this and Sleep No More was really necessary. I feel like the same could have been accomplished in one book with dual POVs. Or maybe not, idk - Sleep No More depended a lot on being in Toby’s head in an unfamiliar setting, I get it - but in terms of plot there was just a lot of retread between the two books.

LOVED finding out that Tybalt is a bisexual icon, though. Go off, king.

[Karissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Series Info/Source: This is the 18th book in the October Daye series. I got a copy of this through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: I was a bit disappointed in this book (similar with book 17, "Sleep No More"). Some of the beginning of the story was intriguing, but then once Tybalt catches back up with October it is basically a repeat of "Sleep No More". The fact that you already know how everything turns out if you have read "Sleep No More" takes a lot of the urgency out of the story.

This book follows Tybalt and starts right before Titania rewrites fairy to her liking. Tybalt wakes up confused in the Court of Cats and is forced to unravel the mystery of where Toby went and why things have changed so much.

There were a couple things I enjoyed at the beginning of this book. I loved learning more about the Court of Cats and Tybalt's past. I also enjoyed being able to delve into the Library of Stars and learn more about that. Additionally, getting to meet some of the monsters in the deep of the Saltmist kingdom was fun.

Unfortunately, once Tybalt meets up with October, the book is basically a copy of "Sleep No More" but with a couple of different scenes when Tybalt isn't with October. It's fairly boring. I am not sure what McGuire is doing here, but I didn't enjoy "The Innocent Sleep" much either and this was even worse. I hope this series wraps up soon before I start to really dislike it.

My Summary (3.5/5): Overall this was fairly disappointing. There were some aspects in the beginning of the book that I enjoyed but once Tybalt meets up with Toby this is a copy of "Sleep No More". I guess it is somewhat interesting to know Tybalt's thoughts on what is going on, but at this point in the series we know him pretty well and hearing from Tybalt didn't really give more insight into his character, I actually liked him less by the end of this book.

I plan on continuing with the series because I have stuck with it this long, but I have been enjoying each book less and less. Hopefully this series will wrap up soon because I am not sure where McGuire is going with all of this.

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay then. Here is how I saw The Innocent Sleep. It was nearly a copy of Sleep No More, but from Tybalt's point of view. This book could have been a longer novella. Somewhere in the two hundred pages or so range.

I will amend that a bit-it is Tybalt's point of view right from the very first month of when October was missing. That means that the first half of the book (or a little more) really had nothing to do with what October was going through. The first half was sad for me because I am a crazy cat lover, and to know that the cats were in big trouble and why, made me very upset. Not all of these cats were magical shapeshifters. The first half was a bit bland and boring. Enough said.

The second half of the book picks up a bit but then eventually starts getting bogged down near the end when the two books really are 'copied.'

We do know that anything bad that happened to October and Tybalt will never permanently go away -so there you have it.

*ARC supplied by Daw, the publisher, the author, and Edelweiss.

[Ricky · Rating 4 out of 5]

"'I hate prophecy,' muttered Ginevra. 'It's never a clear set of steps. It's like trying to assemble an IKEA bookshelf using an instruction booklet that's been translated from Swedish to Japanese to English without a human double-checking the translations.'

Reminding me of how Jim Butcher surprised the readers of The Dresden Files in 2020 with a double feature of novels, Peace Talks and Battle Ground, is the latest pair of novels in Seanan McGuire's signature October Daye series. This time, though, she takes a leaf out of her InCryptid books instead by switching to an all new POV, a first for a full-length October Daye novel.

While the previous novel Sleep No More followed October being stuck in the alternate Mirror-type universe where Titania rules the roost, here we get the POV of our favorite princely Cait Sidhe, Tybalt, as he gathers forces in the real world to lay waste to Titania and set things to rights once again. A plan which, naturally, won't come together without a few break-ins at several Bay Area Costco warehouses. As inventive and shocking as Sleep No More was, The Innocent Sleep brings its own freshness to the table, a throwback to the style of the earliest books in this series from a new POV, and some seriously good quote - see above, of course.

It's hard to say where McGuire will go from here, but I wouldn't be surprised if she took a bit of a hiatus after this one.

She's earned it.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The more I think about this book, the more it bothers me. I was really looking forward to reading it, because the alternate universe storyline is so intriguing and because Tybalt is one of my favorite characters in the series, but it was underwhelming. Tybalt felt inaccessible most of the time even as a POV character. Given his stakes in the story, it fell weirdly flat. We got some interesting lore drops, but for the most part it was a lot of info dropping, a continual survey of what everyone was doing in any given scene ("character x stood here, character y holding onto their arm, while characters z and t were talking to one side" etc etc), and just not very interesting. It feels like a big missed opportunity. I think this would have been better served as a set of novellas, where we explore what a handful of characters were going through when they have the biggest stakes in any given setup--Raj in the Court of Cats, Arden and Nolan in their new reality, the Undersea, etc--rather than just Tybalt giving us glimpses into everything. Then Tybalt could have had a novella, too, but for a segment of the story that affected him the most, rather than being the one kind of on hand to oversee things.

The best part of the book was easily the bonus novella. Dianda as a character often feels one-note in a way that wastes a lot of her potential, so getting to see more aspects of her background and character and her getting more to do besides every other line out of her mouth being about how angry she is/how she wants to do violence/etc was great.

[Mackenzie (mackenziespocket) · Rating 5 out of 5]

hard to review the 18th!! book in a series but some thoughts: this was more pleasant to read than Sleep No More, i think because i wasn't actively angry at [redacted] the entire time. i love tybalt, and it was exciting to read from his POV - i've enjoyed the previous short stories that Seanan has written from his POV. it was also fun to have Ginerva be a bigger character. as always, reading an installment in this series feels like coming home. so comforting to be back with my favs.

REP: queer main character, queer side characters [queer author, disabled author, neurodivergent author]

QUOTES:

"Really, all of Faerie was better when we came together, when we didn’t split ourselves with artificial boundaries and pretend that we weren’t meant to be connected."

"I wouldn’t try to keep that woman under control. Even if you wouldn’t kill me for even thinking about it, it would be like trying to wrestle a blizzard into compliance. Not the sort of thing you do when you want to keep all your fingers attached to your body."

[Meredith Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For all the October Daye fans out there this book is everything!!! I never realized how badly I needed a Tybalt story!

🐈‍⬛About 🐈‍⬛
This book takes place at the same time as the previous book, Sleep No More but told through the eyes of Octobers husband Tybalt.

Shortly after learning that his wife is pregnant with his child, Tybalt awakes to find himself in the Court of Cats surrounded by hundreds of subjects that are no longer able to travel the shadows roads. Only Royal cats still have the ability to travel and bring their people resources so they don’t starve.

At the same time Tybalt is determined to find his love and the rag tag family he and October created. What he finds is that no one remembers him. Everyone thinks his people were killed off centuries ago and October is no longer a Hero but a docile worker in her mothers home.

🐈‍⬛ My thoughts 🐈‍⬛
This book was impossible to put down once I started. While some events overlap with the previous book and were repetitive it was so cool to see into the mind of Tybalt and his true thoughts of the people around him and the events taking place.

Throughout the past 17 books we’ve learned bits and pieces about the Cait Sidhe but this story spent quite a bit of time within the courts and talking about their politics and abilities. A lot of the side characters in previous books had a chance to shine! I always love going to the undersea!!

If you’re a fan of the series this book will not disappoint and if you’ve never read Seanan McGurie’s October Daye series go pick up the first book Rosemary and Rue! This series is one of my favorite Fae series and I know you’ll love it!!!

[Meredith Katz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a perfectly lovely "b-side" to Sleep No More, following Tybalt's POV through the same stretch of story. It's a great addition to have to see more of what was going on that October wasn't privy to, and interesting to dig more into the people who the illusory world rejected. That said, it also didn't feel necessary; there was no tension and little drama, because we already knew what was going to happen at the key points the story intersected, and it ended at the exact same place. So it was a nice to have but it didn't really feel like a new and unique story; I wondered if it might not have been better as a single 2-pov book or perhaps an addition of a novella to cover just certain key parts about what he was doing behind the scenes.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is pretty impressive how Seanan McGuire can publish a book two months after the book with the same basic story and it really works. This is what is going on with Tybalt while the previous book was about Toby. I find Tybalt's narration mostly good, though I did find being in his narration a little bit boring for a whole book. Some of the previous shorts with him as the main protagonist were more interesting.

Still I enjoyed seeing a lot of stuff in faerie from his view.

Also there was a bonus novella at the end from Helmi from Saltmist's point of view and I really enjoyed that.

[Jasmine]

I'm so sad to be caught up on this series, but I'm so glad we got to read the events of the previous book from Tybalt's point of view! I think I read that there is going to be a hiatus for this series, and I think this book does a good job wrapping things up and not leaving a cliff hanger while also leaving the series open for Seanan's return to the world.

[Marzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed reading this Tybalt POV of the events in "Sleep No More," and looking forward to the next novels as Toby and Tybalt deal with the aftermath of defeating Titania's illusions.

[Tomer · Rating 3 out of 5]

{2.5 rounded up} This was a bit of an odd read for me. Officially it was published only a month after the previous and they basically deal with the same events, that is to say not a continuation but rather a different point of view. Some parts are separate but concurrent, while others overlap when the two main characters are both present, making it into some weird deja read moment. They both reach the same outcome, which makes the second book possibly a bit redundant. It is a tough call deciding whether it should have been a single longer book with alternating PoVs {requiring in overlapping scenes to choose the perspective} or as was chosen here to lose the suspense in the second book. It could have even been read in reverse order.
I do hope there will be some time jump for the next book in order to allow... {spoilers, sorry}.

[Dorte Thygesen Schmidt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Repeat, rewind, repeat

This is just awful. I mean, it's the same story as in the previous book, but from Tybalt's point of view. The language is meant to be archaic but fails miserably and ends up being tedious and longwinded instead. There is so much filler. Endless ramblings, trains of thoughts, and repetition of previously given information from other books in the series. It gets even worse when Tybalt begins to tell the other characters what they use to be like in the previous books. Or when a character retails conversation or events that has just happened to other characters not present when it did. At this point it's just mind numbingly borring. We all know what has happened before - both in the previous books in the series and five pages ago, there's absolutely no need to retell any of it, and the only reason SM stretches material, hardly able to fill one book, into two books is to make more money. The previous book was bad, this one is worse. Tybalt was in no way involved in the plot in the last book, and yet this book is retold from his point of view. It's like a Bond movie from the point of view of the janitor that cleans M's office, and hence it becomes utterly uninspired. Did I mention how much I hated the faux Shakesperian vocabulary.