Sleep No More | Seanan McGuire | a review

Spoilers for books 1 - 16, only read if you're up to date with the October Daye series

This series is one of my all time favourites and after the cliffhanger ending of Be The Serpent, I could not wait to dive into Sleep No More*. As with all Toby Daye books, Sleep No More is very easy and compelling to read, I devoured it over two sessions. Unlike the previous instalments, we follow a very different, pared down version of the kickass Toby we know and love. Titania's revenge rewrites the histories and present day lives of nearly everyone living in the Mists and two neighbouring Kingdoms, meaning we get a look at what life for these characters could have been in an alternate timeline. I did not care for it. It makes you appreciate how brilliant and vibrant a world McGuire has created so far and leaves you desperate for Toby to break the spell and get us all back to where we were. It felt very strange reading about a Toby who knows, and doesn't chafe too much, at her lowly place in the Summerlands hierarchy. But luckily we soon starting meeting familiar faces who challenge her. April, as always, is a delight to read!

I really enjoyed the interactions between the characters who remembered and knew the original Toby (and timeline) and those who were fully under the spell, I only wish there had been more Tybalt. I know he has his version of events in The Innocent Sleep, but I wonder if the story would have worked a bit better if it was formatted with alternating view point chapters rather than two separate books. I would have *loved* more Tybalt / Toby angst, but still, I very much enjoyed the ride. I also missed other key characters from the series, I know a few more pop up in Tybalt's story but their absence made me desperate to go back and reread the whole series from the beginning again to see them and watch them become a family. That said, it was nice to have more August and Simon. I love Simon's character, he's been through so much and watching him grow and change has been wonderful. I thought the way he got his memories back sounded fun so I'm looking forward to witnessing that whole interaction in Tybalt's book.

I felt the ending wrapped up a little quickly, I'd have loved to have seen Toby meeting Sylvester again and how he dealt with the aftermath as well as some of the other characters, but I guess that's to come next time! Overall, McGuire can do no wrong. Even a story in alternate timeline where our heroine is no longer the Knight of Lost Words is addictive, fun, shocking, heartbreaking and full of magic. I will never stop loving this series.

*Huge thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for providing the advance readers copy!*