Category: books

Book Review: The White Octopus Hotel, by Alexandra Bell   

Image belongs to Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey.

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  

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books.

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    

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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.)

Book Review and Blog Tour: Higher Magic, by Courtney Floyd    

Image belongs to Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA.

Title: Higher Magic  
Author: Courtney Floyd       
Genre: Romance, fantasy
Rating: DNF

First-generation graduate student Dorothe Bartleby has one last chance to pass the Magic program’s qualifying exam after freezing with anxiety during her first attempt. If she fails to demonstrate that magic in classic literature changed the world, she’ll be kicked out of the university. And now her advisor insists she reframe her entire dissertation using Digimancy. While mages have found a way to combine computers and magic, Bartleby’s fated to never make it work.

This time is no exception. Her revised working goes horribly wrong, creating a talking skull named Anne that narrates Bartleby’s inner thoughts—even the most embarrassing ones—like she’s a heroine in a Jane Austen novel. Out of her depth, she recruits James, an unfairly attractive mage candidate, to help her stop Anne’s glitches in time for her exam.

Instead, Anne leads them to a shocking and dangerous discovery: Magic students who seek disability accommodations are disappearing—quite literally. When the administration fails to act, Bartleby must learn to trust her own knowledge and skills. Otherwise, she risks losing both the missing students and her future as a mage, permanently.

I DNFed this pretty early on, as I found the MC very annoying and the opening just felt very slow. I’m also never a fan of books where the author tries to force feed the reader their own personal beliefs, so that didn’t make me want to continue reading either. Beautiful cover, though.

Courtney Floyd is from New Mexico. Higher Magic is her debut fantasy novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #339

This was a fantastic writing week! I wrote three book reviews, Fallen City, by Adrienne Young, The Forget-Me-Not Library, by Heather Webber, and An Academic Affair, by Jodi McAlister as well as my September reading post and my post on the best books I read in September.

Happy writing!

Book Review: Overdue, by Stephanie Perkins

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press | Saturday Books.

Title: Overdue    
Author: Stephanie Perkins          
Genre: Romance    
Rating: 3.0

Is it time to renew love or start a new chapter?

Ingrid Dahl, a cheerful twenty-nine-year-old librarian in the cozy mountain town of Ridgetop, North Carolina, has been happily dating her college boyfriend, Cory, for eleven years without ever discussing marriage. But when Ingrid’s sister announces her engagement to a woman she’s only been dating for two years, Ingrid and Cory feel pressured to consider their future. Neither has ever been with anybody else, so they make an unconventional decision. They’ll take a one-month break to date other people, then they’ll reunite and move toward marriage. Ingrid even has someone in mind: her charmingly grumpy coworker, Macon Nowakowski, on whom she’s secretly crushed for years. But plans go awry, and when the month ends, Ingrid and Cory realize they’re not ready to resume their relationship― and Ingrid’s harmless crush on Macon has turned into something much more complicated.

Hmm. I loved the idea of this, especially being surrounded by books all the time, but this was the slowest, foot-dragging “romance” ever. EVER. The writing was solid and I liked the setting, but the premise of Ingrid and Cory being together for forever and then suddenly deciding they need a one-month break to get it out of their system or whatever was ridiculous. And Ingrid and Macon’s “slow burn” was so slow as to be almost a farce. Despite my love of books about books, this did not work that well for me.

Stephanie Perkins is a bestselling author. Overdue is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | Saturday Books in exchange for an honest review.)

  

The Best Books I Read in September (2025)

In September, I read 17 books, bringing my total for the year to 183 books read. I also DNFed six books. Of the 17 books I finished, most were solid reads, a handful were meh, and three were really excellent.

The White Octopus Hotel, by Alexandra Bell. This was historical fiction mixed with a bit of magic, and it was truly a lovely read. Great characters, an enchanting setting, and enough magic to keep it interesting.

Introducing Mrs. Collins, by Rachel Parris. A Pride and Prejudice spinoff about Charlotte Lucas? I was immediately intrigued. And reading about this character, who I never really gave much thought to before, was just so enjoyable. Yes, we get to see a few P&P scenes from a different set of eyes, which was wonderful, but Charlotte was fascinating in her own right.

The Forget-Me-Not Library, by Heather Webber. Sweet Southern fiction with a touch of magic? Yes, please. Y’all, I don’t even like small towns, and I loved Forget-Me-Not. Every character in this was fantastic and believable, and I loved both Juliet’s and Tallulah’s (How’s that for a Southern name?) journeys.