Silver and Lead

Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire

Toby has recovered from the chaos that was books 17-18, and is getting ready to have her baby!

. . .But of course, Toby's life as a knight and hero of the realm mean she's never left alone for very long, and she is recruited/ordered by Arden to investigate some shady stuff going on. It's not supposed to be very complicated or dangerous since everyone is aware she's super pregnant. And. . . let's just say it doesn't go to plan. I love that Toby now has a very deep bench of talented friends she can call on when she has to go on these quests, as well as some old nemesis that we can immediately dislike.

THERE BE SPOILERS & PERSONAL STORIES AHEAD:
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Trigger warning for birth trauma
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So here's the thing about me reading this book in this particular year of my life. I had a traumatic birthing experience earlier this year, and long story short, after a couple very long days I delivered via an unplanned C-section. Reading this book, I CRIED during Toby's delivery scene, where she has to deliver via an improvised, emergency C-section as her inhuman ability to heal fights to keep her and the baby alive. It was actually somewhat cathartic. McGuire handled it incredibly well, and despite the fact that there's magic and faeries and all that, the moments felt very real. Probably means this book definitely warrants some trigger warnings for a traumatic birthing story. But know that they both make it through just fine in the end, even if Toby has unnerving amounts of blood loss (per her usual really). This also means that as I finished the book, the experience of reading that portion is what really stood out to me the most, and since it's deeply personal, I'm not sure it will be hit the same for all readers.
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END OF SPOILERS

All that said, this is another excellent installment in the October Daye series. I enjoyed reading it, and did not expect some of the plot twists! Even after 14 books, McGuire is keeping us on our toes, and I think Toby's fans will like this one.