October Daye #3: An Artificial Night Review

Title: October Daye #3: An Artificial Night

Author: Seanan McGuire

Date of Publication: September 7, 2010

Formats Available: Paperback, E-Book

Synopsis: When children, both fae and mortal, are being snatched from their parents in the dead of night October (Toby) Daye knows that she can't sit on the sidelines and watch. When the children of some of her closest friends are among the taken the assignment becomes personal, and Toby is determined not to fail. With the help of the Luidaeg Toby is sent to Blind Michael's lands, the home of the legendary Wild Hunt, to track the children down. Armed with only a knife and a candle to guide her way Toby must find the children and bring them home before her candle burns away, or she can never return to the real world. Toby's death seems more and more imminent as her fetch shows up on her doorstep, prepared to bring her to the other side. Between several near death experiences and the arrival of her fetch it seems like Toby isn't going to make it out of this one alive.

My Review:

An Artificial Night definitely takes the cake as my favorite one in the series so far! I absolutely loved this novel, one of the most original and exciting plots so far I found it nearly impossible to put this  book down! Along with the unique cast of characters ranging from dryads to selkies and everything in between McGuire has created one of the most creative and fascinating worlds I have ever encountered.

I adored the premise of this novel; horrifying and nightmarish Toby travels through a land of complete darkness, avoiding monsters while trying to rescue children who are slowly being transformed into the monsters she is trying to avoid. Blind Michael was a perfectly horrific villain, torturing everyone he comes across while he sees through the eyes of the children of his Hunt. Between near death experiences and kidnappings Toby's life is never dull and always hugely entertaining to read about!

As usual I have to just sit down rave about how much I love Tybalt! By far my favorite character I can't help but get a little thrill every time he shows up in the story. Despite Toby's constant claims that they are sworn enemies its especially obvious in this novel that they are more than that. Tybalt is willing to sacrifice anything, even himself, for Toby.

Toby isn't perfect, sometimes she even annoys me, but maybe that's why I love her so much. Toby is one of the most real characters I've ever read about, I just have this feeling that if we knew each other in real life we would be friends. She's a badass without being full of herself and she's brave without being cocky about it, making her the type of heroine I love most in paranormal novels.

I absolutely adore this series and highly recommend it to anyone and everyone looking for an action packed read. With unique characters and creative plot lines the October Daye series definitely should not be missed!

5/5