October is very happy with her life as the second daughter of her pureblood parents, Amandine and Simon Torquill. Born to be the changeling handmaid to her beloved sister August, she spends her days working in her family’s tower, serving as August’s companion, and waiting for the day when her sister sets up a household of her own. Everything is right in October’s Faerie. Everything is perfect.
Everything is a lie.
October has been pulled from her own reality and thrown into a twisted reinterpretation of Faerie where nothing is as it should be and everything has been distorted to support Titania’s ideals. Bound by the Summer Queen’s magic and thrust into a world turned upside down, October has no way of knowing who she can trust, where she can turn, or even who she really is. As strangers who claim to know her begin to appear and the edges of Titania’s paradise begin to unravel, Toby will have to decide whether she can risk everything she knows based on only their stories of another world.
But first she’ll have to survive this one, as Titania demonstrates why she needed to be banished in the first place—and this time, much more than Toby’s own life is at stake.
“Sleep No More” by Seanan McGuire is simply stunning. It opens to a warped vision of October and yet throughout the story, October is still so much herself. The novel will be dissonant but necessary as October finds her way to the edges of Titania’s illusions. What makes it truly fantastic are the details in what Seanan has written that so completely map the changes and yet make a surreal amount of sense. I absolutely got chills over how the story unfolds.
Another intriguing aspect is how the magic functions, how totally believable each aspect is and how Seanan enfolds the changes to October into the magic. For me, it also engendered some deep and intense emotions over October’s situation, not just her own scenario but also everyone around her that loves her. The transitions on characters are unbelievably good. Seanan McGuire has completely flipped her universe around, made extremely believable changes and still manages to envelop her readers in the emotional weight of October’s life. To me, this book deserves all the awards and I can’t wait for others to read this novel. It changes everything, not just in the universe of the character but it is an eye opener if you have not yet realized the full weight and talent of Seanan McGuire. This book will convince you of her unbelievable talent. Do not miss this but do catch up on the entire series before you read this one. Trust me, it’s worth the read and simply stunning how the world is built, the characters are written and how much you fall in love with the story.
Rating: 5 out of 5 illusions.
