This one is an older work of urban fantasy that came to me by a list of recommendations written by Seanan McGuire. Since I love McGuire’s books, I’ve made a little checklist of the books to take a look at some possible influences.War for the Oaks is a modern retelling of the Tam Lin story, set in Minneapolis. Eddi is this rock star, then she breaks up with her band-mate-slash-boyfriend, goes for a sulky walk home, gets kidnapped by faeries, and dragged into a faerie war. Because apparently Minneapolis is the symbolic battlefield for the faerie courts. (Looking at Prince, honestly, that checks out).Not gonna lie, this is about how I envision the phoukaA lot more of this book is set among mundane elements of the world than is usual for modern urban fantasy. Huge swaths of the book follow Eddi and the new band she puts together after the break up. But the relationships between the band mates, the magic in the mundane, it was still engrossing to me. The use of music references in titles and of song lyrics as epigraphs gave me a whole playlist to go through.I really thoroughly loved. The mix of magic and music and mundanity really clicked for me. If you’re really looking for the fantasy part of urban fantasy to be centered more, this one might be a stretch. But if setting and relationships are the piece of the urban part of urban fantasy you enjoy, you need to read this one.
