80 Mini-Reviews
Sharing my unfiltered & occasionally ungenerous "immediate reaction" notes about every book I read in 2025. Part 1 of 2.
The Lily of Ludgate Lane: What a treasure this chaste second-chance Victorian romance is. Themes: extended mourning, gentlemen entering business (and finding it terrible, because he has scruples & its mining). Lots of feelings.
A Haunting in the Arctic: This is a dual timeline arctic horror novel, dark and ghostly set in a whaling ship in 1901 and modern-day icebound shipwreck. CJ Cooke’s strengths are creating a dread-filled atmosphere and historical research. The weakness in this book is characterization. This novel doesn’t reach the level of arctic classics like Where the Dead Wait, The Terror, Dark Matter. But I do recommend it for those who like gothic horror, dark horror, body horror, historic horror.
How to End a Love Story: 70% characters reflecting on their trauma, anxieties, therapies, angst. 10% interesting insight into screenwriting rooms and writing by a novelist / screenwriter. 10% sex. 10% cuteness and banter and hopes.
Salt & Broom: my notes just say “Jane Eyre retelling. cozy, boring, barely related to the original, and frustrating”
Memorials: 1990s Road Trip Horror by is a good storyteller. This reminded me of a reading a Stephen King novel, where there is a mix of nostalgia, good characterizations / dialogue, and rising dread that give me just what I want from a casual reading day. Like SK, I didn’t love the ending….. but I still can say, I enjoyed the experience of this book.
The Life We Bury: satisfying, even thought the mystery is very simple. A crowd pleader book.
The Muse of Maiden Lane: I love this author (Mimi Matthews) but this one problems really didn’t work for me. His problem is quadriplegia, before the invention of wheelchairs. Her problem? Prematurely gray hair.
The Wedding People: Emotional, sad, hopeful book about Phoebe who unintentionally crashes a wedding at her lowest point in life, and it ends up changing everything.
The Love Hypothesis: based on “Rey & Kylo Ren, but in a world where they are scientists” fanfiction and it shows. I had fun.
The Outlaws of Sherwood: A 2005 re-telling of the Robin Hood myth and my goodness, what a satisfying story. I especially appreciated the inclusion of women outlaws in this version, and the steady plotting, and the immersive feel, and that lovely ending. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Shadows Over Hemlock: a gritty “exorcist for hire” book that was like the TV show Dark meets Dresden Files. Didn’t love all of it but 1st in series are often rough, and I wanted more.
Alchemised: not nearly as good as the uber-dark fanfic its based on (Manacled).
The Highgate Cemetery Murder: Gripping Victorian-era mystery. A Crimean war nurse and a Scotland Yard Inspector investigate a ghastly murder. Well rounded characters, strong story, touches on grittiness without glaring anachronisms, satisfying ending. I'm glad to read more Tate & Bell mysteries.
Band Sinister: Sweet, breezy book with a different-than-usual take on the 'naif + rake' romance. It is a Georgette Heyer homage but, also, all about healthy polyamory! Full of banter, ideas, twists on tropes, lovable characters and hope. And smut. Just a treat.
Interesting Facts about Space: “Sometimes, when I have a nice interaction with someone, I hope I never see them again. Occasionally, I have a nice chat with a cashier, for example. I leave the store thinking, I hope I never see them again. I avoid their register if I do. Sometimes, when I visit extended family, like my mom’s cousins, or a great aunt, I think it’s a shame they saw me now at my age. I think it might have been better for them to have last seen me as a kid. I think seeing me now might ruin the memory of when I was little. I often stop texting people I’m seeing after having a nice time with them. I wish I could have one nice interaction with everyone and then disappear.” AND “"I handle fear sort of like a war horse. I can charge bravely into a planned battle - take in the sights of bombs and corpses. But I can still be spooked by an unanticipated barn rat." This book. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Pride and Prejudice: read with my 15 year old. Elizabeth is my role model - how she laughs at life's absurdities. Also: “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”
The Word is Murder: a DELIGHTFUL meta twist on Sherlock Holmes that really makes you appreciate how irritating, yet irresistible, it would be to be Watson.
The Thirteenth Child: Full of interesting ideas and memorable moments. A young woman is adopted by Death (essentially) who grants her healing powers. A retelling of Godfather Death. As a gothic horror fan I preferred House of Salt and Sorrow by the same author.
Sad Cypress: This Poirot novel with courtroom scenes is sad and lovely.
The Lies of Locke LaMorra: In a city inspired by Renaissance Venice, the Gentlemen Bastards run high stakes cons in both the underworld and corrupt government. Strengths: characterization, wit, plotting, dialogue, atmosphere. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The Square of Sevens: oooooh go in blind, this is a RIDE. Plot: 18th century England, an orphan who knows a secret card reading method. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: a graphic novel following Samantha, a nice lady with a double life as a serial killer. Sam has to solve a small-town mystery to keep her secret safe. Sam is drawn as a bear. Other characters are drawn as similar woodland animals - turtles, pigs, dogs, ducks, raccoons. These anthropomorphic figures reveal the nature of the character to some degree. Or maybe they don’t. It’s not clear. Maybe they just make it easy to remember who is who in a fast paced small town mystery. Maybe it’s just to juxtapose the adorable small town with the primal nature of people. I had a lots of fun reading this. I appreciate that it pulled no punches and got gory and mean. And I loved the colors and adorable drawings and being in this world for basically the length of a novella. I want more please.
Table for Two: If you like tender stories -- the kind reveal the common humanity between all of us, in vastly different social worlds-- this collection might be perfect for you. For me, it was almost painfully human. But two of the stories were so beautiful I can’t help but recommend it.
Beautiful Ugly: My note: “Grady the writer visits a mysterious island. Absurd.”
The Rachel Incident: “I can smile about it now, but at the time it was terrible.” - The Smiths. I rarely read character driven novels, but this one is so FUNNY and so real. A charming and biting look at the big drama / big feelings of life in your early 20s. Set in 2000s Cork (get the audiobook!) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Old Country: horror novel about spooky voices in the woods that is perfect on audio when you are home alone on a dark cold night.
Cater Street Hangman: (I don’t have notes about this, or much to say)
Her Little Flowers: An emotional Gothic ghost story/ debut. Francine, 55 and set in her ways, lives in a rambling English manor which is haunted by familiar, harmless ghosts. A cat, a child, a baby. Then two visitors come and upends her life in unexpected ways. Atmospheric.
The Trespasser: while this is my least favorite of the (brilliant) Dublin Murder Squad books, this one has an absolutely KILLER interrogation scene
Margo’s Got Money Troubles: I think this is the first Gen Alpha book I've read. So funny and smart. Margo is 20 with a new baby and no money. Very practical solution: a (fairly tame) Only Fans. She gets advice from her pro wrestler father on how to build a fan base. Surprisingly delightful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Black Woods Blue Sky: It's 1980s Alaska. Birdie loves her 6 year old, but she is very young herself. She wants to spent fewer nights drinking at the bar where she works, and more time with quiet, calm, scarred, nature-loving Arthur. Atmospheric - great prose - full of yearning. A fairy tale ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Hunger Stone: "I am so furious at anyone who is not alone." "I am so alone and so unsatisfied." "I am nothing but want." “I am mad - I am wicked - I am heartless.” SUMPTUOUS lesbian vampire /feminine rage story. Cons: not exactly subtle or nuanced. It's just a wallop.
Vantage Point: I don't often read Rich People Thrillers OR Tech Suspense...... but this one was GOOD. 1. Cursed old money family seeks a Senate seat 2. Near future setting on a family enclave in Maine 3. Propulsive, with only 3 major characters 4. Family drama, female friendship, comeuppance,
Sunrise on the Reaping: Katniss and Haymitch are a lot alike, but she is more internal while he is canny, observant and witty. Very well done story, even knowing in advance it will stomp all over your heart.
The Night Guest: : Iðunn wakes up exhausted every morning, with mysterious bruises. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not that. Or that, either. A bleak & spare story. The translation captures the sarcastic matter-of-fact Icelandic conversational style well.
Cards on the Table: A dinner party with 9 guests. 4 are sleuths. 4 are criminals who got away with it. Then: MURDER. Time to investigate! Some Poirot novels are methodical. Some are melancholy. This one is witty and playful. Published 1936 & has the sexism & other -isms of that era.
The Inheritance: Raj Agarwal runs a multimillion dollar business. His 3 adult children REALLY want to know who will inherit it. The dedicated son who stayed in Dehli, the canny lawyer daughter, and the influencer youngest. A smart & twisty thriller set on a Scottish Island with a tragic history.
The Silent Sister: My only notes are “Predictable and pleasant”
Broken Country: This is 2025's propulsive and genre-bending historical fiction hit. I enjoyed it, but, not quite as much as similar “book of the year” hits God of the Woods or Frozen River.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter: One of my top books of the year. Literary highlight for me year was Stephan Graham Jones re-posting my review which said Going forward, when someone Googles "Buffalo Hunter" they will get this title alongside images of skinned animals. That feels right.
Shakespeare: The World as Stage: This short Bill Bryson biography helped me understand Hamnet. My favorite bit was learning about Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, the object of several sonnets ("the master-mistress of my passion...") What a fox.
The Spirit Collection of Thorne Hall: Wanted ghosty gothic spooky. It has a bit of that, but, mostly it's a cozy romance. There are ghosts. It fulfills the fantasy "what if you HAD to live like a rich 19th century lady, including only wearing vintage gowns, and a cute 2025 guy finds this adorable".
Between Two Fires: A dark fantasy novel about a disgraced knight, full of wit, heart and monsters. * Setting: Medieval France, beset by plague * Strengths: sharp dialogue, witty characterizations. * Episodic, almost picaresque adventures that grow into an epic plot *Subgenre: religious horror.
Victorian Psycho: The book that taught me rage reads are not for me.
The Knife of Never Letting Go: Todd is a 12 year old farm boy. His best friend is his dog. He can hear his dog's thoughts- and everyone else's thoughts too. Always noisy. He is the youngest person on his planet. Then one day, he sense a silence in the woods.... heartfelt & defies YA cliches.
The Last Time I Lied: Every time Riley Sager writes, I read, chasing an elusive high that I rarely catch. Did not catch it here.
Blood on Her Tongue: gothic horror. Lucy races to her twin sister's side after reading some distressing letters about a recently unearthed bog body. Oh do I love a bog body story! Body horror, science & madness ensues. Set in Netherlands 1880s. Atmospheric, macabre, delicious (But… still doesn’t beat My Darling Dreadful Thing, same author).
Daisy Jones and the Six: Undeniably good but I still prefer the haunted version ( Wylding Hall).
Foster: An absolutely lovely novella about a little girl that I read by mistake (my mom suggested the book Ellen Foster)
The Lightning Bottles: As a GenX person I was so excited by this, but I sadly felt the prose was weak.
The Quiet Tenant: My only note is “Woman in shed book that made me feel icky”. I don’t know why I love horror but not this genre of thriller. There is nothing wrong with this book - just not for me.
When the Wolf Comes Home: I am such a big fan of this author that I’m passing on saying why I was disappointed in this one. Glad it was a hit for many others. (See also Grady Hendrix’s latest, which was a DNF for me).
Great Big Beautiful Life: ok
The Favorites: Wuthering Heights, but make it Olympic Ice Dancers. Obsession, revenge, rivalry, ambition, manipulation, heartbreak. Absurd and I was never once bored. What more can you ask for in life?
Deep Cuts: The sort of romance where the lead warns the guy "You don’t know how insufferable I can be” and the reader says “dude, believe her: run” while also kinda rooting for those kids to make it. In the early 2000s indie scene, a clever, intense music writer collaborates with a phenom (and hot) musician. Has its own Spotify playlist.
The Names: In 1987 London, a woman must pick her new son’s name. Will she pick the one her abuser wants, one she likes, or one her 9 year old suggests? This book follows the path of 3 versions of that family based on her decision. Absolutely wrenching book that made my top 10 list. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Alias Emma: A spy novel all about quick thinking, low tech solutions & ingenuity. Plot: an agent who has to bring someone across London quickly, no backup, without being seen by any cameras. Tricky!
Anna Dressed in Blood: I enjoyed the storytelling in this ghosthunter/ghost YA romance.
A Drop of Corruption: This Tainted Cup sequel was even better than the original, a treat for fantasy and mystery fans. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The Strange Case of Jane O: I do not have notes about this one.
This Book Will Bury Me: I do not have notes about this one, either.
Atmosphere: Two women astronauts in love in the 1980s space race. Does it really feel 1980s? Nah. Does it really feel like it's about scientists? Nah. Is it a good love story? Sure. Mostly feels like a sports move. Lot of speeches and ups and downs. I had a good (predictable) time.
Wuthering Heights: A miserable story full of people who should have had easy lives, but instead they all live in private hells based on their terrible decisions. Ghost, gloom, vengeance, obsession, lies, and weird goings-on at the graveyard. It’s EVERYTHING GOOD IN FICTION ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Praying with Jane Eyre: this was brilliant. There are so many paths to self discovery and reflection and as a reader, “through fiction” is a catnip way to do it. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Voyage of the Damned: This book is just FUN 1. Locked Room Murder Mystery 2. On a unstoppable ship with only 12 passengers 3. Each has an unrevealed magic ability 4. Each represent a rival nation 5. Snarky main character with a heart of gold 6. Wit, intrigue, queer romance, MURDER. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door: Dark academia, tinged with fantasy. Not YA. In post-WWI England, a poor, determined young woman gets into to a secret magic version of Oxford. She has her own agenda.... but so do the friends she makes. Fae are scary here. Comp: A Study in Drowning meets If We Were Villains.
We Don’t Talk About Carol: An investigative journalist learns about a mystery close to home: she has an aunt that went missing in the 1960s - one of six Black teenage girls whose disappearances went uninvestigated at that time. A smart debut set in North Carolina.
Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches: Fantasy, magic, low stakes, found family, a smart main character, hurt/ comfort romance, diverse characters (love a book with introductions like "she is a pleasant looking older white woman"). Charming but not so twee that my teeth hurt.
We Live Here Now: This is marketed as horror, but I found it to be firmly domestic suspense / thriller. It just happens to be set in a haunted house. An unhappy couple moves into a new home and things unravel. Slow paced, atmospheric. Several Poe references. I loved the raven-narrated chapters.
A Gentleman’s Gentleman: This atypical Regency romance is witty, twisty and tender, with trans representation. Christopher must find a wife to retain his Earldom and fortune. The valet hired to help complicates instead of easing the situation. Slow burn, but never dour. I laughed a lot.
The Compound: This dystopian novel was the book of the summer for me. It's a compulsively readable reflection on reality tv that will make you think, and I say that as someone who has never seen a single episode of Love Island. Go in blind.
Bull Moon Rising: Astronaut archeology: a noblewoman in hiding + Minotaur foreman + the issue of misogyny in mining. Who actually wants this much plot in a monster romance?
Everything is Tuberculosis: I enjoyed this but it could have been a podcast. A compassion read that becomes a rage read when you contextualize it with the decimation of USAID.
The Duchess Deal: “He had to be joking. ‘You can’t be asking me to marry you.’
He sighed with annoyance. ‘I am a duke. I’m not asking you to marry me. I am offering to marry you. It’s a different thing entirely.’” — pleasant Beauty and the Beast style historical romance.
The Hike: a solid but forgettable survival thriller.
Spoonbenders: An unpredictable, witty, heartwarming saga about a family of psychics. The dad wants to be famous. The CIA wants them to be spies. But mostly it's about, how do you live if you know when you'll die? How do you fall in love if you can detect lies? Really deft & clever. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Witness 8: a book my dad (and many dads) would really like.
The Shell Seekers: Lives up to its reputation as a classic. It's about decedents of an artist who still own one of his (now incredibly valuable) paintings. A dynamic family story that is warm, rich, complex and vivid. It made me want to inhabit each era it described. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The Road to Tender Hearts: It's blend of tender, funny, absurd and heartbreak reminded me a bit of the film Little Miss Sunshine. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Lights Out: fun blend of dark romance, humor and.... sweetness? with some murder. Too long, but points for surprising me and charming me.
Nearing the Substack limit but I have about 60 more books to go! Thanks for reading part 1!