Cold Days

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MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY :( :( :( :( :( :( :( NOOOOOO!
Just when she was getting back on track! Making her own treaties, getting her own apartment, all grown up and being awesome! And now this :(
Damn you, Maeve, you crazy lying bastard, and you were unpleasant even before you were compromised, it wasn't all outside influence.

I loved how much we learned about the Faeries here: Mab, who is dangerously sentimental, and Titania, who just lost her second daughter in a very short time. Poor lost manipulated Lily, and Fix who through luck and circumstance had a slightly better fate. Sarissa was okay: becoming the Summer Lady must be very strange for her, I wonder how that works out.
The different roles of Summer and Winter and their respective knights/nobles/etc. are interesting. I'm looking forward to finding out more.
I'm also happy that the thing with the knife and a lot of Lea's role was finally explained.

Thomas! I loved his reunion with Harry and Thomas calling him out on a) not telling anyone anything, and b) the similarities between what Harry feared would happen to him and what Thomas lives with every day, i.e. fighting against the monster inside. They constantly insult each other because they care <3

Demonreach is a prison, how cool is that? Eb and the Grey Council must have been freaked out when they realized Harry was the Warden. Trouble tends to follow him. And Harry threatens to have Mab imprisoned down there, whoa.
We finally got to see the Outer Gates! And the Gatekeeper, who helps Harry with paperwork, heh. Very useful indeed.
It's getting clearer and clearer that we're heading towards an apocalypse.

Molly! She's Winter Lady now, so what's going to happen? She's probably going to freak out at first. Poor girl can never catch a break. Is Lea going to explain things to her? Maybe Sarissa could help her settle in? Where will she live? Ouch, telling her parents and siblings...
It'll certainly be an interesting change in her relationship with Harry. I hope they never get together (though Molly's offer didn't bother me, I could sort of see it in that situation especially since she is sensitive and clearly still not perfectly mentally healthy), but still, doesn't she now technically have more power and authority than him? Heh.
She also has to deal with Mab, who has to deal with losing a daughter and a friend (Mab and Sarissa going ice-skating, clubbing, and shopping. Oh my.)
And then one day, Molly is going to become Winter Queen... she doesn't really stand a chance, does she? She will change, and probably much faster than Harry does. Molly knows about responsibility, and once she sees how much is at stake, she'll resist less. Oh Molly.

Other things I enjoyed: Murphy, the general background promising more Lara and Paranet in the future, Harry taking over the Hunt, the mystery of Mac, Major general Toot-toot, Mouse. I also liked the pacing of the plot reveal here, which is usually a weak point in Dresden Files books: often a lot happens and nobody knows anything, then there's some kind of reveal in the end, but if you go back you notice that it still leaves many things unexplained. Maybe I'll notice something similar when rereading, but this time I was much more satisfied with the small pieces of explanation I got along the way and how I could build my own theories instead of having no clue at all. And so much worldbuilding explanations, yay!

Things I didn't enjoy as much:
The constant sexualization of women. I get it, it's Harry's POV, and especially in the beginning a lot of it is probably because he's not as aware of the mantle's effect yet, but we had the same thing in the previous books. It gets tiring.
Redcap and Ace served no real purpose except to be annoying. Which they managed, I guess, but one of them would have been enough? It seemed more like they were here to further the author's plotting than Maeve's.

Overall I liked it very much! Now I have to wait for the next one, as usual...

Comments

[kittydesade]

I think Mac's an Outsider. This is my theory. *pets it*

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That... is just crazy enough that it could be true.

[kittydesade]

The Outsider recognized him, he apparently can't be injured by normal means on that plane. Or at least, he can be injured but not permanently. He has some kind of clout to get his place Accorded Neutral Territory, and the Outsider said he was "out," whatever that meant. So. Something!

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And Mab apparently knew him, if I remember correctly! Maybe he defected at the Outer Gate? Idk, Butcher is good with clues but also red herrings, I guess we'll see :)

[sholio]

I enjoyed this book SO much! I think that I had more fun with it than with the previous two, because the band was back together and I had really, really missed that. And basically ALL of the Harry-Thomas interaction hit me right in my "yay!" spot. The worldbuilding and plottiness was really fascinating, too. And I liked that the pace of the book was so fast that there was no downtime at all, but without feeling too contrived. There was definitely no time to be bored!

Agree with you on the sexualizing women, though -- it's always been bad, but it seemed to me that this book was, er, rapier than usual? Possibly I've just forgotten what these books are normally like.

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Yes, exactly, the band was back together! Ghost Story and Changes also had many other characters, but the books emphasized how they were separate, not together. And now they're together again! There are still some reunion scenes left for the next book(s) too: Michael, Elaine, etc. :)

I would have to reread the other books to be sure. A good thing is that the creepiness of Harry's thoughts was explicitly addressed, especially in the second half of the book, and something he was trying to distance himself from. But there are definitely some scenes in there that made me cringe. (I want Molly to get over her crush on Harry asap.)