Early Review – The Innocent Sleep (October Daye, Book 18) by Seanan McGuire (3.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 384 pages
Publisher:‎ DAW
Release Date: October 24, 2023
ASIN: B0BX2KR1HH
Stand Alone or Series: 18th book in the October Daye series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

“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.”

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.