The Unkindest Tide by Seanan McGuire (Review)

Title: The Unkindest Tide
Author: Seanan McGuire
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: DAW
(Penguin Random House)
Published: September 3, 2019

A physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Note: This book is part of a series, so there may be spoilers for a previous book/books in the synopsis below.

Hundreds of years ago, the Selkies made a deal with the sea witch: they would have the sea for as long as she allowed it, and when the time came, she would call in all their debts at once. Many people assumed that day would never come. Those people were wrong.

When the Luidaeg—October “Toby” Daye’s oldest and most dangerous ally—tells her the time has come for the Selkies to fulfill their side of the bargain, and that Toby must be a part of the process, Toby can’t refuse. Literally. The Selkies aren’t the only ones in debt to the Luidaeg, and Toby has to pay what she owes like anyone else. They will travel to the fabled Duchy of Ships and call a convocation of the Selkies, telling them to come and meet the Luidaeg’s price…or face the consequences.

Of course, nothing is that simple. When Dianda Lorden’s brother appears to arrest Dianda for treason against the Undersea, when a Selkie woman is stripped of her skin and then murdered, when everything is falling apart, that’s when Toby will have to answer the real question of the hour.

Is she going to sink? Or is she going to swim?

⤖ My Review ⬻

(Please note that this is book 13 of the October Daye series and that if you haven’t read my spoiler-free reviews for book 1 here, books 2-6 here, books 7-10 here, book 11 here, and book 12 here.) This is one of the longest series I’ve ever read and I wanted to point that out because I normally don’t have patience with series that go over 4 books! It goes to show just how much I love the October Daye series so far (and that I won’t be missing any of the upcoming books either, that’s for sure)! I find it difficult to review the books on their own sometimes because I always find myself thinking of the series’ overarching plot and then find that the books kind of blend together because of it.

The setting of The Unkindest Tide, The Duchy of Ships, was one of my favourites in the series for sure! And I love how McGuire described it (the way I love how she describes everything really, haha). I also liked some parts of the story but found that overall, I wouldn’t consider this to be one of my favourite books in the series. I’m not saying I hated it or anything like that (heaven forbid!), but more that there are other October Daye books that I just enjoyed a lot more. That being said, as I mentioned before, I won’t be missing the next book…or the next or the next! I highly recommend this entire series (and may have to pick up one of McGuire’s many other books to tide me over until the 14th book, The Killing Frost …and omg I have to ramble just a bit more because that title alone has me super excited)!

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Seanan McGuire is a native Californian, which has resulted in her being exceedingly laid-back about venomous wildlife, and terrified of weather. When not writing urban fantasy (as herself) and science fiction thrillers (as Mira Grant), she likes to watch way too many horror movies, wander around in swamps, record albums of original music, and harass her cats. Seanan is the author of the October Daye, InCryptid, and Indexing series of urban fantasies; the Newsflesh trilogy; the Parasitology duology; and the “Velveteen vs.” superhero shorts. Her cats, Lilly, Alice, and Thomas, are plotting world domination even as we speak, but are easily distracted by feathers on sticks, so mankind is probably safe. For now. Seanan’s favorite things include the X-Men, folklore, and the Black Death. No, seriously. She writes all biographies in the third person, because it’s easier that way.