I only wrote one book review this week, The Memory Gardener, by Meg Donohue, but it was a fantastic read! The rest of the week was busy with work and getting ready for vacation this week–so don’t expect much writing!
Happy writing!
Author: tamaramorning
What I Read in October (2025)
Books Read in October: 14
Books Read for the Year: 197/225
Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
The Night Window, by Dean Koontz (TBR): This was a good wrap-up to this series.
The Friends We Keep, by Jane Green (audio): I’m sorry, but Evvie was a terrible person.
Magic without Mercy, by Devon Monk (re-read): How did I read this series years ago…and somehow NOT read the last book?
Living as a a Christian, by A.W. Tozier (spiritual): A lot of deep ideas here.
The Last Phone Booth in Manhahttan, by Beth Merlin, Danielle Modafferi (TBR): I enjoyed this read.
The Little Venice Bookshop, by Rebecca Raisin (TBR): This was a little meh for me.
Falling in a Sea of Stars, by Kristen Britain (TBR): Loved this so much!
For Review:
An Academic Affair, by Jodi McAlister. At first, I really enjoyed this. Then it became monotonous.
The Cathedral of Lost Souls, by Paula Brackston. Another solid read by Brackston, although I enjoyed the first book in the series more.
Break Wide the Sea, by Sara Holland. This took me a bit to get into, but I ended up enjoying it a lot.
Evil Bones, by Kathy Reichs. This is usually a solid series, and for the most part, this book was. Temperance did a few things that seemed really stupid, and the ending seemed rushed and was more of a “this is what happened,” without showing the reader/letting them experience it for themselves.
The Memory Gardener, by Meg Donohue. Loved this so much! Loved the gardens, the residents of Oceanview Home, the characters, the dog…All of it.
Where He Left Me, by Nicole Baart. This was a solid thriller read–and ended up being not what I expected at all.
Just Because:
Magic for a Price, by Devon Monk (audio). I don’t know how I missed reading the last book in this series when they first came out, but I really enjoyed finally reading the complete series.
Left Unfinished:
Kingdom of Tomorrow, by Gena Showalter: I’ve always enjoyed Gena Showalter’s books, but this felt like cliched, poorly-written dross.
Family of Spies, by Christine Kuehn. This felt like a very distant POV, more of a tell, not show approach to the action.
The Last Vampire, by Romina Garber. This felt so cliched and predictable. I didn’t get very far, but the way Lorena kept mentioning (mentally) she was on her cycle felt like being bludgeoned with a big stick. Very clunky. Not a smooth narrative at all.
Book Review: The Dagger in Vichy, by Alastair Reynolds
Title: The Dagger in Vichy
Author: Alastair Reynolds
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3 out of 5
In a deep medieval future, a band of players travels across France to perform the same old tales in the same old towns. When passing soldiers entrust them with a mysterious box that they say must be delivered to the Imperator, old playwright Master Guillaume and young escaped thief Rufus puzzle at what the box might contain.
When Rufus overhears strange conversations between his Master Guillaume and the thing in the box, he must choose between his loyalty to the man who saved him from the noose and fear of the ancient intelligence working in their midst.
Secrets spill out over the road to Avignon, and none in the troupe are safe. Not Blind Benedict, who once saw the faceless Empty Knight patrolling the deathless Wald that creeps ever closer to the cities, and not Master Bernard whose sensible plans are not equal to the eldritch thing the company now carries with them. All the world’s a stage, and so was every world that came before.
The best thing I can say about this is that it’s short. There were aspects of the world and culture that intrigued me—like the Wald—and it had a bit of a steampunk feel, but I never cared about any of the characters. They all felt quite superficial, and we really didn’t get to know any of them. I never felt any sense of urgency or investment as I was reading, and I wouldn’t have kept reading at all if it weren’t for the brevity of the story.
Alastair Reynolds lives in Wales. His newest novel is The Dagger in Vichy.
(Galley courtesy of Subterranean Press in exchange for an honest review.)
Book Review: Final Cut, by Olivia Worley
Title: Final Cut
Author: Olivia Worley
Genre: YA
Rating: 3 out of 5
When recent high school graduate Hazel Lejeune gets the lead role in a slasher film, it feels like a dream come true. This is her chance to break into the industry, build her reel, and prove to her mom that this “gap year” can turn into a career. So what if it’s set in the nothing town of Pine Springs, Louisiana–the same place her father, the Pine Springs Slasher, was convicted of a series of murders fifteen years ago?
But when Haze arrives on set, she gets much more than she bargained for. The shoot is plagued with suspicious “accidents.” Mentions of her dad dot the entire script. And then, a gruesome murder shocks everyone to the core. Now, it’s clear there’s a real killer on set—one who’s determined to finish the film at all costs. But is this merely a copycat, or is the wrong Slasher behind bars?
As the body count rises and reality blurs with fiction, Haze must unmask the killer before she becomes a real-life final girl…or before the killer flips the script and makes her the next victim.
I’m not into watching horror or slasher movies. At all. Ever. So, I’m not sure why I decided to read this. The premise was eye-catching enough to get my attention, I guess, and I’d read one of the author’s other books. Solid writing here, and I liked the characters—mostly. Living in a town this small is my own personal idea of terrible, and the author captured it well.
However, the why of everything the MC did completely escaped me. Going off alone after the first murder happened? Spending any time at all with people you barely know after the murders started? Going out into the woods/bayou/wilderness alone at night to the house of a creepy man? Come on. I need believable characters to have at least a little bit of common sense.
Olivia Worley is from New Orleans. Final Cut is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.)
Book Review: The White Octopus Hotel, by Alexandra Bell
Title: The White Octopus Hotel
Author: Alexandra Bell
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
London, 2015
When reclusive art appraiser Eve Shaw shakes the hand of a silver-haired gentleman in her London office, the warmth of his palm sends a spark through her.
His name is Max Everly – curiously, the same name as Eve’s favourite composer, born one hundred sixteen years prior. And she can’t shake the feeling that she’s held his hand before . . . but where, and when?
The White Octopus Hotel, 1935
Decades earlier, high in the snowy Swiss Alps, Eve and a young Max Everly wander the winding halls of the grand belle epoque White Octopus Hotel, lost in time.
Each of them has been through the trenches – Eve in a family accident and Max on the battlefields of the Great War – but for an impossible moment, love and healing are just a room away . . . if only they have the courage to step through the door.
I really enjoyed this read! I loved the touches of magic and whimsy throughout, like the magical objects from the hotel, Eve’s octopus tattoo, and the glimpses of the past (like the horse in the baths). I was fascinated with the hotel from the beginning. Even a deserted ruin, it was compelling—much less in its heyday. Eve was a complex character, but I liked her, and Max, too. This was truly a compelling, vibrant story.
Alexandra Bell lives in Hampshire. The White Octopus Hotel is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey in exchange for an honest review.)
Sundays are for Writing #342
This was a busy week. I only got two book reviews written: Break Wide the Sea, by Sara Holland and Evil Bones, by Kathy Reichs. Hopefully I’ll get more written this week, but I’m getting ready for vacation next week, so who knows?
Happy writing!
Book Review: A Curious Kind of Magic, by Mara Rutherford
Title: A Curious Kind of Magic
Author: Mara Rutherford
Genre: YA
Rating: 4 out of 5
Everyone in Ardmuir knows that Willow Stokes is a charlatan, including Willow herself. Her father’s shoppe hasn’t sold anything magical in decades, and it’s only hanging on by the skin of the fake dragon’s teeth Willow sells as charms, along with “enchanted” ostrich eggs, taxidermied chimeras, and talismans made of fools’ gold.
Until outlander Brianna Hargrave appears and turns Willow’s fakes into exactly what they’re purported to be. But try as Willow might to enlist Bri’s help, she wants nothing to do with Willow and her curiosities.
Because Brianna is harboring a secret of her own: everything she touches turns to magic, and the consequences have chased her all the way to Ardmuir. All she wants to do is find a particular missing grimoire, which contains a spell that can finally put an end to her curse.
Desperate to keep her father’s shoppe, Willow proposes a bargain that could save them both. Together with the frustratingly handsome printer’s assistant, the girls will uncover a plot that goes far deeper than either could have imagined. But when Willow is forced to participate in an ambitious collector’s quest for the rarest magical object in the world-a quest that risks almost-certain death-she learns that not all treasure is for sale, and that true magic is closer than she ever could have imagined.
I thought this was a fun read! Willow’s inability to be open and honest with her friends got on my nerves, but she did at least learn from things. The world was fun, and I liked the culture and the characters, and would happily read more in this world.
Mara Rutherford is from California but has lived all over the world. A Curious Kind of Magic is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.)
Sundays are for Writing #341
I only wrote one book review, The Cathedral of Lost Souls, by Paula Brackston. It’s been a crazy-busy week: quick weekend trip to the coast to see my family (Yay for beach time!) for less than 48 hours, small surgery on Tuesday, busiest day of the month at work on Wednesday, Thursday was…eventful at work. I’m exhausted. I barely have the energy to read.
Happy writing!
Sundays are for Writing #340
Not much writing for me this week. Work was busy, and I also had a short out-of-town (beach) trip. Better luck next week, maybe.
Happy writing!
Book Review: Mint to Be, by Katie Cicatelli-Kuc
Title: Mint to Be
Author: Katie Cicatelli-Kuc
Genre: YA, romance
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
It’s been eight months since seventeen-year-old Emma left the quaint town of Briar Glen to attend boarding school in New York City. Now, she’s back—and she’s not Her new boyfriend, Sam, has come to visit the most picturesque village in New England during the most magical time of the year.
But there’s a chill in the air, and not just because it’s winter. Emma’s best friend, Aiden, isn’t all too happy to see her after she left without so much as a goodbye. He and Emma have known each other since elementary school, and they used to do everything together. They even share a favorite a peppermint hot chocolate from their favorite coffee shop, Cup o’ Jo. This was where Emma first told Aiden she was thinking of leaving Briar Glen. It was also where Aiden had planned to confess his growing feelings for Emma — before she showed him her acceptance letter and everything changed.
With Emma back in the picture — and with a new boyfriend in tow — will she and Aiden be able to break the ice?
This was cute, although the idea of Emma and Aiden being best friends and not talking for six months—of her leaving town without even telling him—was hard for me to believe. It was fairly predictable and I was never in any doubt that Emma’s boyfriend would end up being a total jerk and she’d get with Aiden, so there seemed like a lot of unnecessary angst going on here, but it was a quick read.
Katie Cicatelli-Kuc Lives in the Hudson Valley. Mint to Be is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Scholastic | Scholastic Inc. in exchange for an honest review.)
Tomorrow Is Another Day 