I have to admit that this review will be a completely biased affair. I have repeatedly said this is one of my favorite urban fantasy series ever, and everyone to whom I've recommended it heartily agrees with me. Seanan McGuire could probably have filled ONCE BROKEN FAITH with Toby and Tybalt making breakfast, and it would enchant me. If you aren't caught up with the series, beware of unintentional spoilers and character references. I recommend you start at the beginning with Rosemary and Rue and realize you have the chance to read these fabulous books with that first-time joy that those of us who already have been there can never repeat.

While it isn't a making breakfast scene, McGuire starts ONCE BROKEN FAITH with a splendidly domestic slumber party for the teens including Quentin and Chelsea.

Things never stay quiet for long with Toby though, and she is soon embroiled in a convocation to determine if the cure for elf-shot discovered in book 9 in the Kingdom of Silences can be distributed to those who aren't elf-shot as punishment for a crime. King of the Mists Queen Windermere will host the event, and the High King and Queen will oversee the procedure. We meet lots of new Western lands leaders, and the Luidaeg is there with Karen (she's the one who can walk in dreams). It doesn't take long for the first body to show up.

As the only changeling present, Toby is under suspicion and has to try to catch the killer before the whole convocation is disrupted. No one is allowed to leave, so the killer is of even more danger to her and those she loves. The story is filled with action, humor, suspense, magic and treachery: So essentially, same as it ever was. The Luidaeg plays an interesting role and foreshadows Toby's importance in something big to come. While we meet some new characters, we also renew relationships with some older ones like Sylvester.

Overall, it didn't take me long enough to read and went far too quickly, even with a bonus novella about Arden Windermere in which we meet Karen's sister. Fans of McGuire's series will rejoice and then whine that it will be another year of waiting for the next installment.

Book Summary

New York Times-bestselling October Daye series • Hugo Award-winning author Seanan McGuire • "Top of my urban-paranormal series list!" —Felicia Day

Includes a brand-new map and original bonus novella!

Politics have never been October “Toby” Daye’s strong suit. When she traveled to the Kingdom of Silences to prevent them from going to war with her home, the Kingdom of the Mists, she wasn’t expecting to return with a cure for elf-shot and a whole new set of political headaches.

Now the events she unwittingly set in motion could change the balance of modern Faerie forever, and she has been ordered to appear before a historic convocation of monarchs, hosted by Queen Windermere in the Mists and overseen by the High King and Queen themselves.

Naturally, things have barely gotten underway when the first dead body shows up. As the only changeling in attendance, Toby is already the target of suspicion and hostility. Now she needs to find a killer before they can strike again—and with the doors locked to keep the guilty from escaping, no one is safe.

As danger draws ever closer to her allies and the people she loves best, Toby will have to race against time to prevent the total political destabilization of the West Coast and to get the convocation back on track…and if she fails, the cure for elf-shot may be buried forever, along with the victims she was too slow to save.

Because there are worse fates than sleeping for a hundred years.