Books for January
Only 7 books as I had TWO DNFs this month. I was not amused!
Fortunately most of my other reads were decent enough.
The Honey Witch - Sydney J. Shields, 3.5/5, 368 pages
I have very mixed feelings about this book - making it hard to review!
I absolutely adored the first ~250 pages. This seemed like cozy fantasy at its best, and I loved reading about Marigold becoming a Honey Witch. I was ready to give it 4 ... possibly even 5 stars!
Alas, it seemed like Sydney Shields wrote herself into a corner. She very obviously knew where she wanted to go, but not necessarily the best way to get there, making for some ... interesting choices along the way. Most of them were minor nit-picks. I might not agree with them, they might grate on me, but they worked. Unfortunately the final show-down did not.
The actions surrounding the consequences of the curse pretty much came out of nowhere, and set the tone for the rest of the confrontation. It was far more vicious and violent than I had expected from a cozy fantasy (but that might be my bias showing - I don't actually know if it was intended as a cozy fantasy), and worst of all - it was far too sudden. The writing - which had flowed nicely until then - suddenly became choppy and rushed through events with lots of telling and very little showing.
A shame - if she had allowed herself enough page-space for a proper resolution, this could easily have become a favourite read for 2025.
Assistant to the Villain - Hannah Nicole Maehrer, 4/5, Audiobook ~14hrs
Very charming read! I was hooked almost from the get-go, and my interest never wavered.
It's one of those books that's hard to review without revealing too much though, so I'm having a hard time figuring out what to write. I really loved the characters, and loved seeing Evie and the Villains interactions. There were definitely some twists and turns I hadn't seen along the way.
One thing I will say though, is that I would have liked to know ahead of time just how open the ending is. Fortunately, I have the sequel readily available, so it's not an issue, but I was very puzzled how they intended to wrap everything up within the last 15 minutes of the audiobook.
Turned out - they didn't! So onwards with the sequel! Hoping that its ending is less open, considering that the next one isn't out until August this year!!!
Murder in the Bookshop - Anita Davidson, 3/5, 272 pages
A historical cozy mystery. It kept me well entertained while I was reading it, but I'm fine with just leaving it here - I don't need to read any more of the series. The titular bookshop - which was a huge part of why I bought the book - played a much smaller role than I had expected / hoped, and it more ended up like an Agatha Christie type mystery. Fine if that's what you're after, but not really my cup of tea ... of which they drank a LOT throughout the book! Very British of them!
Heartbreak Houseshare - Emily Merrill, 4/5, Audiobook ~11hrs
Sweet NA chick-lit. Nothing special, and fairly standard fake-dating / friends-to-lovers trope, but all the characters were just genuinely nice, which made for pleasant reading. The boss wasn't overbearing and demanding, the roommates were friendly, and the family stood up for each other - it was just nice!
I liked the focus on mental health. They did perhaps skirt over it a bit quickly, but it was there, it was introduced as a genuine health issue, and they didn't shy away from showing some of the tough parts as well.
The miscommunication made me groan out loud. It came this close to not falling into that trap. I had literally just commented on how awesome it was that Flick and Teddy actually talked through their issues and listened to one another ... and then ... It was so pointless, and really didn't do anything for the story.
Ah well. I loved the 20s list and the column, and I especially loved that Flick tried to make it a realistic 20s list, and not just add all sorts of crazy things. I would have loved more focus to have been on that list - introducing a "happiness project" element I guess - but I guess that would have made for a very different book.
The Christmas Book Hunt - Jenny Colgan, 1.5/5, 127 pages
Weird twists that made absolutely no sense, so much being inferred between the lines, and all in all just rather dull.
But any story involving books and Edinburgh is automatically more charming than it would be otherwise, so I rounded up to two stars on Goodreads.
Dragonsinger - Anne McCaffrey*, 5/5, Audiobook ~10hrs
This is one of those books that would have been too short practically no matter how long it was. One of my very favourite books, and one of my introductions to the fantasy genre. I love the atmosphere it describes, and would love to experience some lessons at Harper Hall myself... even though I'd probably be more likely to be one of the clueless girls (although not as cruel I hope) than Menolly.
I love the lyrics that start off each chapter. Usually when books have lyrics or poems as introductions to chapters I just skip them, but here they seem an integral part of the book :)
It's a shame no more books have been written about Menolly's life at Harper Hall. I was so disappointed with Dragondrums, because I wanted to read more about Menolly - not Piemur.
Books Read: 7
Pages Read: 1070
Hours Listened To: 35
Book of the Month: Assistant to the Villain
Biggest Disappointment: The Christmas Book Hunt
Fortunately most of my other reads were decent enough.
The Honey Witch - Sydney J. Shields, 3.5/5, 368 pages
I have very mixed feelings about this book - making it hard to review!
I absolutely adored the first ~250 pages. This seemed like cozy fantasy at its best, and I loved reading about Marigold becoming a Honey Witch. I was ready to give it 4 ... possibly even 5 stars!
Alas, it seemed like Sydney Shields wrote herself into a corner. She very obviously knew where she wanted to go, but not necessarily the best way to get there, making for some ... interesting choices along the way. Most of them were minor nit-picks. I might not agree with them, they might grate on me, but they worked. Unfortunately the final show-down did not.
The actions surrounding the consequences of the curse pretty much came out of nowhere, and set the tone for the rest of the confrontation. It was far more vicious and violent than I had expected from a cozy fantasy (but that might be my bias showing - I don't actually know if it was intended as a cozy fantasy), and worst of all - it was far too sudden. The writing - which had flowed nicely until then - suddenly became choppy and rushed through events with lots of telling and very little showing.
A shame - if she had allowed herself enough page-space for a proper resolution, this could easily have become a favourite read for 2025.
Assistant to the Villain - Hannah Nicole Maehrer, 4/5, Audiobook ~14hrs
Very charming read! I was hooked almost from the get-go, and my interest never wavered.
It's one of those books that's hard to review without revealing too much though, so I'm having a hard time figuring out what to write. I really loved the characters, and loved seeing Evie and the Villains interactions. There were definitely some twists and turns I hadn't seen along the way.
One thing I will say though, is that I would have liked to know ahead of time just how open the ending is. Fortunately, I have the sequel readily available, so it's not an issue, but I was very puzzled how they intended to wrap everything up within the last 15 minutes of the audiobook.
Turned out - they didn't! So onwards with the sequel! Hoping that its ending is less open, considering that the next one isn't out until August this year!!!
Murder in the Bookshop - Anita Davidson, 3/5, 272 pages
A historical cozy mystery. It kept me well entertained while I was reading it, but I'm fine with just leaving it here - I don't need to read any more of the series. The titular bookshop - which was a huge part of why I bought the book - played a much smaller role than I had expected / hoped, and it more ended up like an Agatha Christie type mystery. Fine if that's what you're after, but not really my cup of tea ... of which they drank a LOT throughout the book! Very British of them!
Heartbreak Houseshare - Emily Merrill, 4/5, Audiobook ~11hrs
Sweet NA chick-lit. Nothing special, and fairly standard fake-dating / friends-to-lovers trope, but all the characters were just genuinely nice, which made for pleasant reading. The boss wasn't overbearing and demanding, the roommates were friendly, and the family stood up for each other - it was just nice!
I liked the focus on mental health. They did perhaps skirt over it a bit quickly, but it was there, it was introduced as a genuine health issue, and they didn't shy away from showing some of the tough parts as well.
The miscommunication made me groan out loud. It came this close to not falling into that trap. I had literally just commented on how awesome it was that Flick and Teddy actually talked through their issues and listened to one another ... and then ... It was so pointless, and really didn't do anything for the story.
Ah well. I loved the 20s list and the column, and I especially loved that Flick tried to make it a realistic 20s list, and not just add all sorts of crazy things. I would have loved more focus to have been on that list - introducing a "happiness project" element I guess - but I guess that would have made for a very different book.
The Christmas Book Hunt - Jenny Colgan, 1.5/5, 127 pages
Weird twists that made absolutely no sense, so much being inferred between the lines, and all in all just rather dull.
But any story involving books and Edinburgh is automatically more charming than it would be otherwise, so I rounded up to two stars on Goodreads.
Dragonsinger - Anne McCaffrey*, 5/5, Audiobook ~10hrs
This is one of those books that would have been too short practically no matter how long it was. One of my very favourite books, and one of my introductions to the fantasy genre. I love the atmosphere it describes, and would love to experience some lessons at Harper Hall myself... even though I'd probably be more likely to be one of the clueless girls (although not as cruel I hope) than Menolly.
I love the lyrics that start off each chapter. Usually when books have lyrics or poems as introductions to chapters I just skip them, but here they seem an integral part of the book :)
It's a shame no more books have been written about Menolly's life at Harper Hall. I was so disappointed with Dragondrums, because I wanted to read more about Menolly - not Piemur.
Books Read: 7
Pages Read: 1070
Hours Listened To: 35
Book of the Month: Assistant to the Villain
Biggest Disappointment: The Christmas Book Hunt