2025 Books - February!

I don't ordinarily do themed months, but after the first two books, I decided to take on the theme of "Female Rage."  From stories of girls stuck in impossible situations to romances centered on the sufferage movement to a series about a young woman taking on a corrupt and oppressive regime and more....this was the month to fight back.  

1.  Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, Grady Hendrix - Once in a while I go to Skylark and ask my dear friend Carrie to tell me what to read next.  This always goes extraordinarily well for me.  Not only have Carrie and I been friends for years and years, but she is also the best bookseller on the planet.  So when she hands me a book, I take it home and jump into it as quickly as I'm able.  My, oh my, is this ever a powerful book.  Technically it's a Gothic horror novel, but it's so, so much more than that.  A group of girls at a home for unwed mothers is given a book on witchcraft...and learns how to use it.  This is a deeply emotional book that perfectly captures the lives of teenage girls in an impossible, and horrendous situation.  I found myself wanting to go back in time and rescue every girl who'd ever found themselves in a home.  As a mom, a mom of girls, and a woman who's given birth...it just read so, so true.  Years and years ago, when I was in my horror novels in Oct. Era, I read Hendrix's Horrorstor and enjoyed it.  Now I want to go back and read everything Hendrix has written.  

2.  The Gentleman's Gambit, Evie Dunmore - This is a Skylark Book Spa selection from last year, one of two books they suggested when I asked for some romance novels to break up my normal reading.  I loved it.  There was considerably more plot and history to this historical romance than I was expecting, which was a delight.  The FMC, Catriona, was neurodivergent, and I absolutely adored her.  The romance was warm and sweet and felt like a big hug.  What I didn't realize when I started, is that this is actually the final book in a series of four about a group of suffragist friends.  There were chapters that touched on the relationships of the other three women, whose books came before, and they were so delightful that now I need to read the whole series.  Plus, the epilogue wrapped up all four books!  At times it did feel a bit didactic - there was a LOT of history woven in, and much of it had to be explained - but I very much appreciate that this was a much deeper novel than the standard historical romance.  I also really loved the notes at the end which explained more about the history and the inspiration. 

3.  The Bone Season, 4.  The Mime Order, 5.  The Song Rising, 6.  The Dawn Chorus (novella), Samantha Shannon - Sometimes when you dive into a new fantasy series, the first 50-100 pages can be tough because of the overwhelming amount of worldbuilding involved.  BUT, if you stick with it, you are rewarded with a really great book.  And then you love it so much that you start binging the rest of the series!  I'm fascinated by the author's note in the beginning - The Bone Season is ten years old, and Shannon went back and revised and edited all of the books now that she's got more writing experience under her belt.  She was very young when The Bone Season was initially published, and I kind of love that journey for her work.  Paige Mahoney is fascinating, and the dystopian world she inhabits is frightening in how real it could be.  (Magic system aside, of course)  Fighting for the rights of the 'othered' community, working together for a better future, taking care of each other, revolution and hope....these are stories we need right now.  In addition to that, I very much appreciate the fact that Shannon deals with the trauma Paige goes through head on with very realistic repercussions.  My only two complaints are that I wish Paige was a little bit older - the 19 year old who saves the world wears thin sometimes - and I am not crazy about cliffhangers, which Shannon loves.  Also, drat the luck.  It's a seven book series and there are three more to go...

7.  For She is Wrath, Emily Varga (audio) - This was a booktok find, and I'm so very glad I picked it up.  Love the description, "A sweeping, Pakistani romantic fantasy retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, where one girl seeks revenge against those who betrayed her - including the boy she used to love."  Dania has my heart in this book, and I love her fiercely.  I love her anger and her revenge, and I love the emotional journey she goes on and the lessons she learns along the way.  I love the way flashbacks slowly unfold the truth for the reader, and I love Dania's relationships with others.  As a bonus, the audio was pretty darn amazing.  

8.  Stuck With You, 9. Under One Roof, Ali Hazelwood - I needed a little palate cleanser for Valentine's Day, so I turned to these two little novellas.  There is comfort to the sameness about Hazelwood's work, although I do not think her novellas are as good as her full length novels.  This completes the Loathe to Love You trio for me.  I'm probably going to take a break from Hazelwood for a while.  Also, this sort of qualifies for my theme month because Hazelwood's FMC are badass STEM women who have to fight for their roles in sexist work environments.  

10.  Bringing Down the Duke, 11.  A Rogue of One's Own,  12.  Portrait of a Scotsman, Evie Dunmore - So then I read the rest of The League of Extraordinary Women, in order from the beginning. And I loved all three!  (and went back and reread parts of The Gentlemen's Gambit when I was done because they made more sense/were more meaningful.)  I LOVE how much history was woven into these books, and I had fun following the timeline of the series.  Dunmore included information in the back of each book about the inspiration for each story and the history that was woven in, and I have to admit I used that to look up even more info.  Annabelle, Lucie, Hattie and Catriona were all very different characters, and each story was unique, which was a breath of fresh air when so many romance writers - ahem, Hazelwood - tend to just rehash the same story over and over.  Hattie and Catriona remain my favorites, with Hattie winning out by a smidge because of how much she grew with her character arc.  Thanks again to Skylark, for introducing me to this series! Romance novels about women fighting for equal rights....just what I needed. 

13.  The Mask Falling, Samantha Shannon - I admit, I was about 40% of the way into this book when I stepped away for my Valentine's reading break, and it was actually hard to come back to it.  By this point in the series, things are getting a little tedious, with nonstop action that felt repetitive, yet another cliffhanger that made me want to scream (I need resolution, people), and a high dose of skepticism about how a 20 year old manages to escape so many perilous and life-threatening situations.  With three more books in the projected series, I'm kind of groaning a bit.  I also took a look at my reviews, and my star ratings on these have steadily fallen since the first book.  The fifth book will be released next week, and I do plan on reading it...but I'm almost starting to wonder if I'll DNF the series.  Hopefully, though, this was just a mid-series slump. 

14.  Love and Other Conspiracies, Mallory Marlowe - I needed a break, so I turned to this lighthearted Mulder and Scullyesqe romance that was recommended by a friend.  And low and behold, a quieter sort of female rage...that of a woman recovering from an abusive/toxic relationship.  It was a fun book, to be sure, and it was a lot more emotional than I tend to expect from a romance novel. 

15.  Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Fairies, 16.  Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, Heather Fawcett - Truth be told, I tried reading Encyclopaedia a few years ago in audio format, and I kind of hated it.  Had absolutely no intention of ever going back, but then I found it on sale and for $2 decided what the heck, I'd try it again.  It got moved up the list when I stumbled on Fawcett's social media and discovered the super fun fan art that she's shared.  Turns out, I just hated the audio version.  The books themselves - cozy fantasy at its best - are delightful.  I love Emily in all of her crotchety glory, I love Wendell, and I love their relationship.  Female rage?  Not particularly - unless you count Emily just trying to be herself and recognizing that she's not in any way, shape, or form the typical woman/human.  

17.  When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Barnhill (audio) - This is a reread that came up in recommendations when I asked on FB for female rage book recs.  I remember loving it the first time around - enough so that I bought a hardback copy - but I was still surprised at just how emotional I was this time around.  I was angry...so, so angry...throughout the entire book, and had to read it in smaller doses than I would normally.  It helps that in the end Alex had a beautiful life, but the path to get there was so, so horrible.  Patriarchy at it's worst.  For the record, I would dragon.  

18.  The Dark Mirror, Samantha Shannon - as it turns out, yep, the last book was a mid-series slump.  Shannon is back at top form with this book, and I loved it as much as I loved the first book in the series.  It helps that Shannon used this book to take a bit of a deep breath.  It was still very much a part of the overarching story, but this book felt like a self-contained story within instead of just being a continuation - much like the first book did.  There was actually a time for our chaos queen to get some rest in the middle, and the end was a wrap up of the story in this book instead of another cliffhanger.  Not going to lie, I got super mad and emotionally invested in this one.  

19.  The Pale Dreamer, Samantha Shannon (novella) - This prequel novella was completely unnecessary.  Shannon has done such a good job in the novels of talking about Paige’s origin story with the Seven Seals that there really was no point to this.  Contrast this to The Dawn Chorus, which very much added to the whole story.