Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of “The Unkindest Tide” by Seanan McGuire. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Full disclosure: I had already preordered this book. I love this series so much and was so excited to get to read it early!!

One thing I noticed was there was a lot of recap but I actually found it helpful as it had been a year since I read the last Toby book. I imagine it might be a lot more noticeable if you were binge reading the series but I appreciated the reminders. I fully forgot who Luna was for a long minute.

The Luideag is one of my favorite characters in the series (I wish I could give her a hug even though I’d probably be turned into a barnacle or something it I tried). It was great to get so much insight into her character for an entire book.

Most importantly: can we talk about THAT conversation between Toby and Tybalt??!?!!? No spoilers but oh man I cannot wait to see how that plays out in future books.

I love this series and will continue to preorder and read Toby’s story as soon as I can get my hands on the books.

4/5 stars!

October Daye is another one of my favorite heroines. And Seanan McGuire manages to make me cry in just about every October Daye novel. But The Unkindest Time may be the most heart-wrenching of all.

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. The time has come. And the Luidaeg requires that October “Toby” Daye must be a part of it. But of course when it comes to faerie, there's always more happening. So when unexpected arrests and murder occur, of course Toby ends up having multiple competing roles to fulfill.

The Unkindest Tide has all the intrigue and lies and adventure, but it also has love, loss, betrayal, and a lot of anguish. It's about doing what's right, even when it hurts. It's about sisterly love, even when it seems wrong. And through it all, we have Toby and her chosen family (and of course the incomparable Tybalt) standing strong, even when the hard choices need to be made.

With each successive novel, Seanan McGuire manages to build and grow the mythology, introduce us to new species, and continue to make us anxious to see what will happen next, even if it means more heartbreak. The Unkindest Tide may be my favorite book in this wonderful series, at least until the next one.

For everyone who has not reached this point in the series yet... you are in for a treat. Do not read past this point because here, there be spoilers, mateys.

THIS BOOK. THIS BOOK. This book is the book I have been waiting for since Seanan revealed the origins of the Selkies to us.

While Night and Silence revealed much of the heart of the series to us readers, this book is the book of my heart. It's about the sea, October's family, both blood and chosen, and the tenuous bonds she has to each. It's about sisters and who chose each other over blood. It's about finding compromise and kindness in cruel and unkind situations that were put into motion centuries ago. I can't help but feel like there are so many parallels to the world we live in today.

I love the Luidaeg with abandon. I love her relationships with everyone around her, but especially with Quinten. I love seeing her interact with new people, especially when we meet new siblings of hers. Or other people she has history with. It always adds so much more depth to the world and the story.

And I'm a Canadian Maritimer. I teared up when Seanan named the duchy closest to me, Beacon's Home. My heart felt too big for my chest. My new headcannon is that the seals who visit the harbour are Roane or Selkies enjoying the sun or our misty gray days.

The Saltmist storyline felt squished in, or like it didn't quite fit, but needed to be there because there wasn't quite enough with just the Duchy of Ships and the Selkie-Roane conflict. Or that Seanan needed all of the Saltmist royal family to be there for some reason. It was still an enjoyable romp... just felt a bit out of place with everything else.

In the end, I was so happy with this book, and am so sad I have so many other books to read because I really want to read it again, it was so good.

The Fae aren't known for being kind and eventually debts must be paid. The Unkindest Tide is the 13th book in the October Daye series and in it we see Toby's debts to the Luidaeg called in. The Luidaeg is a child of Oberon one of the First (and most powerful) among the fae. Toby will enter the sea realm and in the process of finding justice for the Luidaeg and her murdered children she will also work to prevent a war, solve a murder and keep her estranged daughter Jillian alive. It's an intense book that features some of my favorite characters (hello Tybalt and Quinten!) and I think anyone who's followed the series will be fascinated by the storyline. I highly recommend.

Short Summary: The Unkindest Tide, the thirteenth installment, when the Sea Witch decides it’s time for the Selkies to finally fulfill their promise and Toby must be there to help her bring the Roane back.

Thoughts: This installment was the most tedious since this series began and I’m not sure if it was my expectations of awesomeness, the plot, the marshmallow ending, or Toby’s proclamations like “Someone call for a hero? I asked, and punched her in the face, but reading this was like slogging through quicksand.

Verdict: This installment felt like a whole lot of filler and did little to nothing to progress the actual storyline. Or maybe not, maybe the small moves in this series will amount to something far greater later, but as it stands, I was simply expecting more from this.

At the end of Night and Silence, October Daye has managed to save her daughter’s life by convincing the sea witch to give Gillian one of the few precious Selkie skins, thus giving human Gillian the fae immunity to a fatal poison. But the terrible story behind the Selkie skins and the massacre of their original owners, the Roane, is rapidly drawing to a climax. Gillian’s life depends on the fae protection of her Selkie skin, which is now at risk. More exotic locations and fascinating characters mark this latest chapter.

I am a total October Daye fan and I look forward to every new novel! Who could have said that after so many volumes the series would be more awesome than ever? Yes, because it is the case and I was delighted to meet all the characters for a new adventure!

Toby finally thought that life was quiet, at least a little bit, so she could get on after all these tragedies. Yet, as always, something will turn everything down. The Luidaeg goes to her house to collect the debts she owes her. It’s time, and she decided to bring Toby in so that the Selkies would finally disappear and the Roanes would be reborn. It’s a pretty terrible event for everyone, but no matter what happens, The Luidaeg can’t change what she said, she can’t lie and all that has to happen.

It was a great novel, I loved seeing all the characters I love again! Tybalt will be there to accompany October and help her in everything she does. Once again, her life will be put to the test and I found it fascinating to learn a little more about the people we have seen so much about in the novels. Of course, there are also intrigues, and our heroine will have to show once again her ability to save everyone. We also see Gillian, but it is always very sad to see the interactions between her and her mother, to see that the girl rejects her every time, crushing her hope little by little.

It was another great volume and I was carried away from beginning to end! As always I am looking forward to the next step! It’s really a great series!

Toby has been accumulating debts with The Luidaeg for almost as long as we've known her and now the time has come for her to pay up. The selkies have also been living on borrowed time since their ancestors massacred The Luidaeg's children to steal their skins, she allowed them to keep the skins but it was always a temporary thing and now everyone's debts are being called in and Toby will be forced to help the Luidaeg deal with her selkie problem.

When Toby, Tybalt, Quentin, Dean and Gillian travel with The Luidaeg to the Duchey of Ships for a final confrontation with the selkies their lives get complicated very quickly. This story has everything I want from this series and more, we get to visit a floating city to spend time with pirates, there are murders and treasonous plots, we get to meet another First and we finally find out The Luidaeg's plans for the selkies. This book has been a long time coming and since The Luidaeg is one of my favourite characters in the series I loved how much time we got to spend with her here.

I have a kind of love / hate thing going on with the selkies, on one hand they aren't the ones who murdered The Luidaeg's children and we can't hold people responsible for something a family member did generations ago, but at the same time The Luidaeg has been suffering the loss of her children for hundreds of years and every single selkie who wears a skin does so having chosen to continue her pain so that they could live for longer so they're not exactly innocent either. While The Luidaeg hates the selkies for everything they stand for she has also spend centuries watching over their families and it's obvious that there is some kind of attachment there too. I'm not going to give you any clues about the price they have to pay but I felt it was all quite fitting in the end and I was happy with the way it worked out.

Thirteen books in and this is still one of my favourite series, I absolutely love Toby and her motley crew of misfits and I can't wait to see what adventures they go on in the next instalment.

Hope is Swift is a short story included in The Unkindest Tide and I think it's the first time we've had a Raj point of view story. Raj is a Prince of Cats and Tybalt's heir, he thought he would have decades before he was asked to take his rightful place as King but it's become increasingly obvious that Tybalt will be stepping down much sooner than expected.

This story is about Raj coming to terms with the ways his life is about to change but also about him trying to enjoy the last of his freedom. There were a few laugh out loud moments but it was also a little bittersweet when Raj finds himself in a sticky situation waiting to be rescued. I always love these additional insights into side characters from the series though and this was a very enjoyable extra.

The time has come for Toby to pay her debts to the Luidaeg. Boarding a ship to undersea with her most of her found family, Toby is going to help the Luidaeg bring back the Roane at the price of the Selkies.

I have been waiting for this book since the Luidaeg issued her ultimatum and it did not disappoint. The saddest thing was that I actually thought there was more book and instead it was the extra short story. I enjoyed the story about Raj but I really wanted more Toby and Luidaeg.

Okay on to my review. The Luidaeg is one of my favorite characters. She is complex and powerful but she has a soft spot for Toby. She has also gotten herself in a bit of pickle. In her anger the Luidaeg created the Selkies and now she is going to undo it to bring her children back. But it has been generations because the Selkies are human without their skins. So the punishment does not seem fair. This is the main conflict of the book and it was masterfully done. I didn't love the murder mystery to much but I enjoyed the conflict with Dianda.

This book has such a strong theme of family. Of blood family and found family and how you can and can't choose your family. Gillian continues to drive me crazy. I just want Toby to let her go but I don't think that Gillian is going anywhere. The Luidaeg needs all the hugs even if she is big and powerful.

I think Captain Pete is a new favorite. She is seriously awesome.

Seriously great book. Can't wait for the next one.

[2.5 stars]

I received a free e-arc of this book provided by the publisher - DAW via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

The Unkindest Tide is the 13th novel in an urban fantasy series following the character of October Daye.

I did not read the first 12 novels in this series. So I went into this book as a complete outsider not knowing anything about the series. I do think that the first chapter did a good job of summarizing the previous 12 novels, so I was never lost while reading.

Toby is on this mission to turn all the Selkies back into the Roane. In this world, the selkies have these skins that they pass on to their children. Without the skins they are just human. There is a limited number of these skins. When they are turned into Roane, they will not be able to pass on their skins, so anyone without a skin, will remain human. This creates a lot of complications that made the plot more interesting.

But there were a lot of things that I didn’t end up liking about this book, so I ended up this book 2.5 stars. I don’t think that this is necessarily a bad book, I just don’t think that it was for me. See below for my breakdown of the story:

Characters:
Toby was my least favorite of all the characters, and I personally was not attached to any of the characters. I did, however, like some of the character relationships. Toby’s relationship with her daughter Gillian was interesting, and I really wanted to see more of it. Even though this relationship is very relevant to the plot, I felt that the story itself didn’t really dive too deeply into their relationship. I also really liked Tybalt as Toby’s fiancé and the way he treated her, but I was disappointed in the way Toby treated Tybalt at times.

Plot:
The plot of this book is really what kept me interested in the story. It was really well-paced, and I constantly wanted to see what would happen next. There was one point in which the story hinted at a possible ending, that I really wanted to happen. It is one of those endings, that the author would have to be truly cruel to her characters to end it that way, but I really wanted that to happen, because I think it could have made for a heroic and heartbreaking ending. It didn’t happen. They found a simpler way to end the story that saves the characters the heartache, and that ending kind of turned me off from the plot as well.

Worldbuilding:
I was quite disappointed by the worldbuilding. This world didn’t feel particularly original to me, and while their were complexities within the world, it wasn’t done in a way that I particularly enjoyed.

Writing Style:
Going into this book, I thought that I would love the writing style. I read the Wayward Children’s Series also by Seanan McGuire and I absolutely love the writing in that series. I really did not like the writing in The Unkindest Tide. I really hated the dialogue. If it was only one character whose dialogue I hated then I can attribute that to the character, but it was all of them. I was like they were trying to be funny but I didn’t see the humor in it at all, and most of the dialogue didn’t further the plot in any way so it just felt like a waste of my time. Additionally, both in the dialogue and in the narrative of the story there was a constant repetition of information that we were already told. I think it mentioned at least seven times that Toby had been turned into a fish for fourteen years. By the seventh time, I was just like, I get it already! Let’s move on to something more relevant! (Also, apparently, because she was trapped as a fish for fourteen years, that means she is now scared of water. And yet, there is not a single instance within the novel in which she is actually depicted as being afraid of water. So it was kind of hard to believe she was actually scared of water when she seemed to go jumping into the ocean any chance that she got.)


Overall though, I do think that it was a fun, quick read. That being said, I personally don’t have any attachment to this book and will not be reading any of the rest of this series.

3.5 hearts

I have been waiting for this forever, for the Luidaeg to call in all of Toby’s debts and it FINALLY happened. The day of reckoning for the Selkies has come and their mother has called the time, place and price that will be demanded of them.

The time is neigh, the place is the Duchy of Ships (think pirates and you are half way there) and the price, well that is a little more complicated. To say the Selkies are not excited about this is an understatement. It is a little understandable because their entire way of life is about to change. Cousin Annie has dropped all disguises; she is the Luidaeg, the Sea Witch, with transformations in her fingers and curses in her palms.

Most of The Unkindest Tide was good for me. I definitely love all things Luigaeg and getting to see some of the sorrow she has held for so long was a little agonizing. The story of the Roane and the Selkies is the saddest of tales. If I know nothing, I know this; there is at least one more Firstborn out there that deserves death.

There is an entire entourage of people at the conclave. Dianda, being of the Saltmists, comes along as witness along with many others. I do love bloodthirsty Dianda and I even did okay with the side story stuff that included her. Side note, do not get on her bad side.

I struggled with the murder mystery. The Selkies have all come together at the conclave but when one of them ends up dead, Toby is Toby, and needs to find justice for the fallen. I get it, but it was the least interesting part of the story since I did not know any of the characters involved personally and I just wanted to get to the stuff involving the Sea Witch getting her justice.

Also, I struggle with Gillian. I do love what the Luigaeg said to her (Ch 4. You can’t miss it), I’ll wait here while you go read it. I really just wanted to smack Toby’s daughter this entire book. Janet too, for that matter, both of them drive me a little nuts. I’m hoping one day she’ll see everything Toby tried to do for her, but alas children rarely see that until they have children of their own.

Best new character goes to Captain Pete, captain of the Duchy of Ships and Firstborn of Titania. She is fantastic and I really liked getting to know another Firstborn that wasn’t an ass.

I did like how this ended overall. I think there are some great set ups for things to come and it isn’t all bad that the future might be a little more fluid now because of the happenings in this book. It will be interesting to see what comes of the events that unfolded here. I have a feeling that more people will end up on Toby’s doorstep with prophecies to foil in the future. Let’s hope for her sake most of them don’t involve water.

Quotes:

“There’s no one in this world you can trust all the time. Not even the people you love, not even the people who love you.”

I’d have your spine for jewelry if it wouldn’t make her angry. I’d make flutes from your bones and play them with my boys every time someone thought it would be a good idea to threaten us. She’s not condemning you. She’s sparing you, from me. You should thank her for her mercy, not look to me to save you from it.”

Toby Daye, hero of the realm, knight and trouble maker, has been called by the Luidag to assist with the return of her children the Roane. The Selkies who have used the skins of the slaughtered Roane to convey faerie status with the short term permission of the Luidag are being called to account. Can anything go wrong? Murder, shape change, troublesome squires and daughters, all in a day's work for Toby; but this calling to account should prove more troublesome. Fun with lots of plot shifts. Colourful characters. Read and enjoy.

Another excellent adventure with Toby and company! This series continues to be powerful, engaging, full of heart, and loaded with surprises. Here's hoping Seanan McGuire continues writing about Toby for years and years and years to come. (See attached link for full review).

In what has become my trademark, astonished, remark about this series: how does Seanan McGuire keep making the Toby Daye series better with each new installment? THE UNKINDEST TIDE is lucky number thirteen in the series, and it a new favorite. Each book is almost like an episode of a great series: it has a self-contained and satisfying plot alongside overarching story plots that carry on from book to book. It's deftly done, and with this much room to breathe there are few urban fantasy series with the same depth and breadth of worldbuilding and character/relationship development. This is a rare autobuy for me.

Why is this series still standing? Because Seanan McGuire created an amazing world we don't want to part ways from. I'll probably cry when it does.

We are now on book 13 and I don't want this to end. I love Toby. She's a strong female character with a great heart and a knack for getting into trouble. Being "hero" of the realm comes with its drawbacks.

I'm glad at the beginning of the book, Toby is enjoying a nice night with her family before the Luidaeg's comes to visit. It was nice to see all of the kids, Jaz, and Tybalt all relaxed for a change.

The Luidaeg is coming for payment. Toby owes her a lot and it's time to settle her debts. As payment, Toby and friends will accompany the Luidwaeg to the sea and travel to the Duchy of Ships to have the Selkies pay their own debts. Of course, nothing is simple when Toby is around.

I love seeing Tybalt and Toby together. He's so Shakesperean and he always delivers perfect lines that make me laugh or swoon. Quentin has grown so much as a character. He's now a man, almost ready to leave his blind fosterage. Dean is also becoming his own person and ruler which Marsha is making sure he does. Marsha is an intriguing character. I wonder if she will have a more important role in the next few books. She certainly did in this one. Pete was a nice addition and a surprise. I hope to see her again but probably not. I love to see Deanda again. She's another favorite of mine. The addition of the Merrow's conflict made the plotline more interesting too.

What can I say about the Luidaeg? She's probably my favorite character after Toby and Tybalt. She can be funny. She has helped Toby so many times. She loves Quentin. She has been in terrible pain for so many years thanks to her own sister. I hope after this book, she achieves some type of peace.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Berkley Publishing Group -DAW via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I just loved this book as it the one when Luidaeg calls in her debt for the selkies. But with Toby in the mix, nothing that easy as she helps stop a war and save a friends’s son and of course, solve a murder. This one was a big more fast pace the the other ones and no shocking secrets were found out, but you were introduced to another First Born that the Luidaeg actually liked, her sister Pete. It was good to see the gang back together and not have to deal with so much trauma like they did in the previous 2 books. I loved it and can’t wait to read upcoming books to see where Toby’s destiny leads here.

Oh hey the start of a new arc IN THE OCEAN. The long-awaited promise from the Luidaeg to the Selkies is upon us & twas very interesting to discover some layered motivations behind the Roane’s demise. Not quite as many answers were given as I wanted—and so many questions raised instead (though we finally acknowledged the Trouble with Marcia at least)!

I’d still love to see Toby in some “real” danger again, as there is truly only so many times we can disembowel/smash her before the dramatic effect is lost. Her and Tybalt are still the Most Awesome, and I was glad we finally saw the Luidaeg finally acknowledge how not heartless she really is.

This was a much more restrained outing this time for Toby and her found family, mostly focusing on the unresolved plot of the Luidaeg (the sea witch) and the Selkies. This reckoning was always going to happen, especially after the events of the last book. I thought that Seanan McGuire does such a great job setting the tone of her books, and with this almost weary feeling that permeates the book, I felt like something sad was going to go down. Even with some of the lighter elements of the plot, like Toby's trademark dry humor, this book just felt sad and bittersweet. I loved that. It tied up some bigger plot threads, but still left enough open for more.

One of the biggest themes in the entire series is the concept of family, and while its always there in some capacity in all the books, these last few books really hit hard on it. Toby has found a family that is completely different from the one she knew at the beginning of the series, and she enjoys them - they are hers, after all, and they are some of the best people she could surround herself with. Yet, she still yearns for the connections with some her estranged family, and events conspire to keep them all apart. It is especially heartbreaking to see the rift between Gilllian and Toby. It's also frustrating, because Toby may not have even told Gillian about her situation, and why she left, possibly because Gillian was effectively brainwashed into always disbelieving fae. I do wish they can reconcile, mostly because I know Toby wouldn't be complete without her daughter.

In any event just a solid, if a little sad entry into one of the best urban fantasy series out there. Just recommend the lot.

4.5

Centuries before many of the fae alive can remember, and certainly before the humans currently alive can recall, the Luidaeg’s children the Roane were savagely murdered by their kin. That brutality forced the creation of the Selkies, but with a caveat: One day the Luidaeg would call in the Selkies’ debts and return the Roane to the world.

Toby finds herself involved not only because she owes a boatload of debt to the Luidaeg already, but also because she’s Dochas Sidhe and her blood magic will aide in the transition of the Roane. So to the Duchy of Ships our group embarks. But when they arrive, our group stumbles upon a conflict between Dianda Lorden of Saltmist and her brother Torin. When Dianda is taken prisoner and marked as a traitor, as the hero she’s named, Toby is compelled to step in and see justice served no matter who she has to cross in the process.

The Unkindest Tide gives readers a wonderful high-seas adventure. Seanan McGuire certainly knows how to play the long game with this series. I absolutely love how everything that happens has been built upon and built upon so successfully that the transitions from one ultimate conflict or confrontation are seamless.

The idea of family has always been the backbone of this series. In fact, while I appreciate the fact that we finally got a map of the Kingdom of the Westland within the last couple of books, I’d like to formally request a family tree.

Family is so completely wonderful and so completely complicated at the same time. We see this in the tentative, though terribly scarred, relationship between Toby and Gillian. We see this in the found-family Toby has formed with Quentin, May, Raj, Tybalt, Jazz, etc. Here, it’s probably best illustrated in the contrasting relationships between Dianda and her brother Torin and the Luidaeg and her sister Captain Pete (aka Amphitrite).

Besides being supremely happy to see Toby and Tybalt beginning to build their relationship back up—after Tybalt needed to step back and heal from his kidnapping by Amandine—I loved seeing the support and love between the Luidaeg and Pete. The Luidaeg has always been a character cloaked in ambiguity. She puts forth the air of a monster, someone to be feared, but we’ve seen the moments of kindness, we’ve seen her work around her rules to keep Toby alive, or Gillian alive, etc. So seeing another piece in the puzzle in the interactions between her and her sister, was wonderful. I guess I just liked knowing that the Luidaeg had family that she liked. Someone that could be on her side if possible.

As always, Seanan McGuire leads Toby on a twisting and turning mystery adventure where she ends up challenging the edicts of Faery. The way she works around certain restrictions is always a joy to watch (despite her propensity for bleeding). The mystery itself didn’t feel too overly involved or complicated instead I felt like the issues between the Luidaeg and Selkies took center stage.

Seanan McGuire gives readers a pretty straightforward nod as to where we can eventually expect the series to go. Whether or not it’s within the next book, we’ll have to wait and see cause, as I said, Seanan McGuire likes to play the long game. Regardless, this has always been a series I can count on to deliver.

The Unkindest Tide, by author Seanan McGuire, is the Thirteenth installment in the October Daye series. Toby Day, Knight Errant, Private Investigator, Hero to the Realm, receives an unwelcome guest, Luidaeg. Luidaeg, the Eldest of Maeve's offspring, Sea Witch, and Toby's friend and adversary, calls on Toby to answer a call of duty for which she owes Luidaeg. In a matter of weeks, Luidaeg must deal with the Selkies who she made an ultimatum to hundreds of years ago after the Roane all but disappeared from the world.

Hundreds of years ago, Luidaeg's nameless sister urged the slaughter of the Roane. The Roane can see paths to the future. They saw Toby, who has blood magic, come to turn back the tide. 3 years ago, Luidaeg told Selkie clan leader Elizabeth Ryan, (who is also helping Toby's wayward daughter Gillian learn how to be a Selkie), that a price must be paid. Toby, along with Tybalt, Quentin and several others, travel to the Duchy of the Sea where every Selkie in the world is expected to heed the call by the Sea Witch.

A Convocation will take place during which every Selkie will have to make a choice. There are debts that need to be settled. As Gillian is the weakest of the Selkies, this puts a target on her back. Gillian was recently turned Selkie by Luidaeg to save her life after she was targeted again because of whose daughter she is. Let's be honest here folks, if Gillian never again graced the pages of this series, I would be forever grateful. She brings nothing but angst and hatred towards Toby. If you've read the series from the start, you know why. Some of the hatred is directed towards Faerie which is understandable. But, woman up and get over yourself!

The Duchy of the Sea is home to another firstborn named Amphitrite, who also goes by Captain Pete. Amphitrite is firstborn daughter of Titania and Oberon, mother of the Merrow who has, of course, heard about Toby and her exploits. The Merrow believe she is dead thanks to the fact that most firstborns have all but disappeared from the world. All but Luidaeg and Toby's mother that is. Some of the funniest moments in the story happen when Dean Lorden, Count of Goldengreen, and his family discover that their maker is alive and well.

But, that's not all there is to this story or it would be rather short. Dianda Lorden's brother appears to arrest Dianda for treason against the Undersea. Toby gets to take a quick jaunt underwater to play the role of hero, and for once, nothing goes terribly wrong. The problems are all on land. After a Selkie clan leader woman is stripped of her skin and then murdered, Toby has to find out who is responsible. Can she save Dianda's Seamist, while also discovering the person responsible for killing a Selkie?

By the way, there is a novella at the end of book that features Raj, who is the Prince of Cats. Read it or not. If you read it, you will most likely like it.