Hekate

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by Nikita Gill
First sentence: “This is an ancient story written long before us.”
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Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some violence and a hint of romance. It will be in the YA Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

I know I’ve heard the name Hekate before, but I’m not sure I knew her myth before reading this novel in verse. I’m going to assume that Gill took some liberties expanding the myth – putting Hekate at Troy, or raising Odysseus’s puppy from the dead, for example – but perhaps it mostly keeps to the general thread of the myth. It follows Hekate from her birth, through her exile in the Underworld, to her finding and coming into her powers – both witchcraft and necromancy – and helping the Olympians defeat the giants.

It’s a beautifully written book; the poems are lovely, and I liked following Hekate’s story. But – and perhaps it’s because it’s an epic story – I never really felt connected to Hekate or her story. I wanted to cheer for her or feel bad that she’s exiled from her parents, or feel something. I wanted Song of Achilles or Circe. And maybe it could have been. Maybe it wasn’t because it was in verse, because we weren’t given the chance to really delve into Hekate’s trauma or her motivations. Or maybe it’s because it’s geared towards young adults, when it’s not really a “young adult” story. I don’t know.

In the end, I liked it, but I didn’t love it. Which isn’t a bad thing.

The Kiss Curse

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by Erin Sterling
First sentence: “Given that the spell had been ‘Turn this leaf into something else,’ and Gwynnevere Jones had indeed turned that leaf into something else, it seemed extremely unfair that everyone was now screaming at her.”
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Others in the series: The Ex-Hex
Content: There is a lot of swearing, including multiple f-bombs, as well as a few on-page sex scenes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

All Gwyn wants to do is live her life in Graves Glen, run her little witch shop, and enjoy her family being in charge of the magic. So when Wells Penhallow shows up and has the nerve to open a witch shop across the street from hers, she is more than upset. She’s livid. She’s okay with her cousin’s husband, Rhys, but she wants nothing to do with Wells. At all. Except, they can’t seem to stay away from each other (“friendly competition” and all), and when a weird coven shows up, Gwyn needs Wells’s help to figure out why her magic has weakened.

I didn’t really think The Ex-Hex needed a sequel, but once I got back into the world of Graves Glen, I was quite pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying being back there. It’s such a delightful town, with such delightful characters, and I really liked the push-and-pull of Gwyn and Wells. (Also: props for a bi queen!) It’s not a deep book, but it is a lot of fun.

Maybe I’ll even read the third book in the series.

Monthly Review: August 2025

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And there went summer. It’s hard to believe that it’s nearly September, honestly. It was a good reading month, but I think it’s a rule that when I read a T. Kingfisher book, it’s automatically my favorite of the month.

Nine Goblins

Can you blame me? That said, it was a really good reading month.

As for the rest:

Graphic Novel

The Raven Boys

Middle Grade

Graciela in the Abyss (audio)
The Library of Unruly Treasures (audio)
Hurricane Heist

Adult Fiction

It’s a Love Story
There Is No Anti-memetics Division
Queen Demon

Non-Fiction

Replaceable You
While the Earth Holds Its Breath

What was your favorite this month?

Hurricane Heist

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by James Ponti
First sentence: “My life was filled with countless embarrassing athletic failures.”
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Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work.
Others in the series: The Sherlock Society
Content: There is talk of murder, some intense situations, and friendship drama. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

It’s time to go back to school, and Alex, Lina, and Yadi don’t want to give up on solving mysteries. Thankfully, a hurricane hits their town just as school starts, which unearths a body buried in a pool. A body that was connected to an unsolved jewelry heist that happened when Alex’s grandfather was 12. The body of one of the grandfather’s friends. So, of course, they need to tackle solving the case: who stole the jewels, who killed Ignacio, and who framed him for the theft of the jewels.

Much like the first one in this excellent series, this one is a super-tight mystery, with humor and a bit of an undercurrent of drama (between Lina and Alex’s sister, Zoe), but mostly a focus on the hurricane that hits, its aftermath, and solving the mystery. (I do love that Grandpa comes along as adult supervision. That’s really fun.) It’s fun, it’s exciting, and I think it’s perfect for kids who want a mystery.

The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel

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by Maggie Stiefvater, Stephanie Williams, Sas Milledge
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Content: Much like the source material, there is some mild swearing and references to teenage drinking. It’s in the Teen Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

I’m not going to rehash the plot here because I read the audiobook earlier this year. My thoughts on this can be boiled down to this: I loved the art, but I missed the words. Milledge did an excellent job of capturing the boys and Blue. She was able to portray their personalities in the art (though I’d always pictured Gansey as a blonde, but oh well), and I loved seeing her interpretations of the locations in the book. The art is, in fact, quite lovely.

But I don’t read Stiefvater for the plots. (Unusual for me, but there it is.) I missed her words. The book -because it’s a graphic novel – it boiled down to the plot and honestly, there’s not much there there. Which means I didn’t get the soaring descriptions, the lovely turns of phrase, the things that make me truly love these books. It was…. just okay.

That’s not to say I’m not going to collect these for the art. It’s just not as good a read as the original is.

Queen Demon

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by Martha Wells
First sentence: “The sun was high and bright when Kai rode into Benais-arik in Bashasa’s wake, their cadres on horseback around them.”
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Release date: October 7, 2025
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Others in the series: Witch King
Content: There is death, including several murders, and some mild swearing. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

I’d say spoilers for Witch King, but I’m not sure there are?

This one is split into two intermingling parts: the past and the present. The past tells how Kai became the Witch King, how he came to fight the Hierarchs, and how he and Bashasa’s relationship (of sorts; it’s unclear how much their relationship was, still) came to develop and deepen. The present is mostly Kai and his family – his witch friend, her wife, her wife’s brother, and a couple of children – end up chasing after what may or may not be a new Heirarch, which (obviously) they want to stop.

This one took me a bit to get into, partially because I read Witch King more than a year and a half ago, and I honestly couldn’t remember much from it. That said, I persevered, and after a bit, I got the rhythm of the story, and I found myself really loving Kai and his adventures again. My only real complaint is the ending – it’s dramatic and grand, but Wells left strings dangling, and I’m not sure the story is complete. At least I hope the story isn’t complete. Because while I thought this was a duology, I hope that she will be able to give it a more satisfying ending. But that’s a small complaint. It’s an excellent story, and Wells is as gifted with fantasy as she is with science fiction.

Fingers crossed for more.

Nine Goblins

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by T. Kingfisher
First sentence: “It was gruel again for breakfast.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: January 20, 2026 (unless you want it in e-book; it’s available now)
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some violence, including a huge (kind of gory) massacre. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Look: goblins aren’t really made for war. It’s unfortunate that they found themselves in such a state – well, it’s not really their fault – that they are in a constant war with the humans and elves. Mostly, what goblins want to do is complain. Which, they suppose, war is good for. And the members of the Whining Nines (ha!) are really good at that. And their sergeant, Nessilka, doesn’t really want to be in charge, but since the rest of the goblins in her unit are really kind of useless, she supposes being in charge is what she has to do. That is, until they accidentally end up in the forest on the elf/human side. Where there is something decidedly… not right.

Okay, I don’t read e-books. I don’t like e-books. But, this one was spoken highly enough by several coworkers, and because it’s T. Kingfisher, I was willing to read an e-book. And I was not disappointed. Seriously. This one made me laugh out loud. It made me delighted the whole way through. There was enough of a plot to keep me going, but mostly it was the characters that just charmed the socks off me. I loved them all. And I would happily join them for more adventures if Kingfisher wanted to write them.

I don’t think I’ve read a bad Kingfisher book yet.

Audiobook: The Library of Unruly Treasures

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by Jeanne Birdsall
Read by Sorcha Groundsell
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is talk of neglectful parenting and some mildly harrowing moments. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

When Gwen MacKinnon is sent to live with her great-Uncle Matthew (whom she has never met) because her mother is off to Costa Rica with her boyfriend and her father got kicked out of the house of his third (soon-to-be-ex) wife, she doesn’t know what to expect. Probably nothing good, since nothing good ever happens. But what she finds when she gets there is a delightful human being in Matthew, a boon companion of a dog named Pumpkin, and the Lahdukan – who are NOT faeries, don’t even think that. The Lahdukan are convinced that Gwen is their new kalba (Matthew’s grown-up daughter Nora is their current one) and that Gwen is destined to help the MacKinnon clan and the Stewart clan (which is helpfully housed in the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston) join together. Gwen, however, has her doubts: she’s never succeeded at much of anything. How can she succeed at leading not one, but TWO Lahdukan clans?

Oh, this was charming. I probably would have enjoyed it had I read it – I do love Birdsall’s writing (especially the way she writes dogs!) – but I adored it on audio. Groundsell is a delightful narrator, and she captures everything – from charming Uncle Matthew to Gwen’s anxieties, to Julia, the 6-year-old who lives upstairs, to the myriad personalities of the Lahdukan. It was one of those books that made me happy every time I turned it on, and one I didn’t want to stop listening to.

I think, too, that Birdsall did just the right amount of fantasy to make it work. She didn’t create new huge worlds, just added a fantastical element (but they could be real!) to this one. It came across just as charming and just as perfect as the Penderwicks books did. Which means, honestly, I’ll read pretty much anything Birdsall writes.

Highly recommended for kids of all ages (this one would make a great read-aloud!).

There is No Antimemetics Division

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by qntm
First sentence: “‘Do anything nice over Christmas?'”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: November 11, 2025
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and some violence that is gross at times. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Oh, this one is going to be hard to sum up. Possibly impossible. Perhaps the best thing to know is that there is an Organization out there, one that is fighting against various memetics – some harmless, some ancient, others… not so much – to keep humanity, well, functioning. Except there is one memetic that has been released that is so powerful. And the problem is that if you remember it, you can’t combat it. How do you kill an idea that you don’t remember, and that won’t die?

It’s possibly the best bit of mind-blowing crazy train weirdness that I’ve read since the Locked Tomb series. It’s SO hard to explain, and yet, I was riveted: I couldn’t put the book down. Both of my co-workers said when they finished it, they immediately started it over again, and I get that: there is so much here that it’s impossible to catch it all in one reading. It’s really that good.

And I was blown away by it.

While the Earth Holds Its Breath

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by Helen Moat
First sentence: “I’m staring into the dark of the lake – tar black and freezing.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: October 21, 2025.
Content: It’s short and concise, and will be in the Creative Non-fiction section of the bookstore.

Helen Moat dislikes winter. Every year, as the year turns towards the dark, she feels an oncoming dread and anxiety, and every spring, an immense relief. But, in 2020, when everything was in lockdown, Moat made the decision to try and embrace the dark, the cold, the winter.

The book takes place over three winters, as Moat reflects on her experiences in the winter. She travels to Finland to the Arctic Circle, to Japan, to Spain to experience winter in different areas. She befriends a Ukrainian refugee and in that friendship, learns about Ukrainian winters. She ventures out in her Derbyshire countryside to forest bathe and experience what her backyard has to offer.

It’s a quick read, this book, and when I started it I wondered what it has to offer that Wintering doesn’t. There are many similarities, but I think Moat takes a broader look at winter. I liked her travels – May stays pretty close to her native England, if I remember right – and how she valued other traditions and ideas, and brought them home and incorporated them.

The short version: community and communion with nature and each other are what make winter tolerable. Getting outside, being with people in the warmth, and being mindful about noticing the small things are what help winter be less daunting. And I appreciate Moat’s perspective on it.