Review: When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy

When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy

Publisher: Tor Nightfire

Publication Date: April 22nd, 2025
Paperback. 304 pages.

About When the Wolf Comes Home (from the publisher):

"One night, Jess, a struggling actress, finds a five-year-old runaway hiding in the bushes outside her apartment. After a violent, bloody encounter with the boy's father, she and the boy find themselves running for their lives.

As they attempt to evade the boy's increasingly desperate father, Jess slowly comes to a horrifying understanding of the butchery that follows them―the boy can turn his every fear into reality.

And when the wolf finally comes home, no one will be spared.

'Get your claws into this one, horror fiends. It's terrific. . . . Sink your teeth into a classic.'―Stephen King

'A crazy-good, balls-to-the-wall horror novel . . . it’s full throttle from the first pages.' ―Joe Hill

'This is the kind of great, big, epic horror novel we got back in the '80s that came out swinging for the fences and left everything on the field. Welcome back, you shaggy, bloody monster of a book!' ―Grady Hendrix The 25 Best and Most Anticipated Horror Books of 2025―Men's Health Most Anticipated Horror of 2025―Paste Magazine, LitHub"

I've been really enjoying Nat Cassidy's work over the last couple years, so I was excited to hear about his latest release, When the Wolf Comes Home, which sounded like it would bring something to Cassidy's work--and it did just that! Nat Cassidy truly is one of the best horror writers on the scene right now due to his ability to craft stories that have both terrifying elements and thought-provoking, multi-faceted aspects that provide incredible depth to each story. I was immediately drawn into this story and was really captivated by the premise.

We begin by following a fairly typical story in LA featuring Jess, a young actress who is trying to book auditions and make her way, but hasn't quite had that big break yet. She currently works at a diner, which isn't really providing her all that much in the way of excitement or fulfillment. One night, she happens to come across a young boy just outside her apartment. With no idea who the boy is where his parents are, she decides to try to help him out--and quickly discovers that there is more to his story than just being lost than she thought. I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll just say that once Jess and the boy realize they can’t stay in her apartment for a number of reasons, the two set off on a journey of their own. Along the way, Jess uncovers some truly shocking truths about the boy and how he ended up in his current situation.

I found Jess to be someone that I could easily connect with and relate to, and it was easy for me to become invested in her rather chaotic and unexpected journey in this book. Her reactions to the bizarre events happening around her felt pretty understandable given the truly extreme and just plain weird nature of them. I also appreciated that she had a bit of 'just go with it' vibe that felt entirely warranted, which I thought also showed that, as her core, she is someone with a pretty good heart who just wants to take care of herself and help those who need it.

I also really appreciated the book’s focus on fear as a theme, especially in how it affects the boy. But not only does When the Wolf Comes Home explore how fear literally affects the characters, it also dives deep into fear itself: what is it, what shapes our fears, what goes into fear, and what fear can drive us to do. The power of fear is real, and it's very present in this story. This book also goes to some pretty dark places and tackles some tough topics, which I thought Cassidy--as usual--tackled with nuance and care and did so wonderfully well.

People don't always expect horror books to be very emotionally moving or to explore deeper themes (which is odd, considering how often horror deals with grief, anger, trauma, etc...but I digress), but When the Wolf Comes home is genuinely a bit of a gut punch of a story. There's a lot of tragedy woven throughout the story, and the ending is also sure to bring out some emotions in readers as well. I thought it was the perfect conclusion to this story, even though it’s a difficult one, and I think it really drove home everything that had been explored in this book. 

When the Wolf Comes Home is a hefty story packed into a focused and concise narrative, if that makes any sense. The topics explored are fairly ambitious, but they're handled in a very streamlined and complete way. I thought the pacing was excellently executed and it felt fast-paced at times, but not too rushed, and still plenty of time exploring the inner mind of our protagonist and everything going on around her. I don't think I found my interest wavering at all while reading this, and in fact I went through it pretty quickly because I just couldn't seem to put it down.

I listened to the audiobook version of this and thought the narrator did an excellent job! She captured the tone of the story and Jess' experiences perfectly. I also enjoyed Nat Cassidy's own appearance, and I highly recommend sticking around to hear (or read) his author's note at the end, as I felt it added a lot to the story and provided a wonderful glimpse into some of his inspirations. 

When the Wolf Comes Home is quite a chaotic and tumultuous journey, but it's one that I was hooked on the entire time. I can't recommend it or Nat Cassidy's work enough!

*I received a copy of When the Wolf Comes Home in exchange for an honest review. This has no affect on my opinions.*

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi, Written on the Dark by Guy Gavriel Kay, & A Letter from the Lonesome Shore by Sylvia Cathrall

   

 Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi
Publication: May 27th, 2025
Tor Books
Hardcover. 240 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"Award-winning author Tochi Onyebuchi’s new standalone novel is hardboiled fantasy Raymond Chandler meets P. Djèlí Clark in a postcolonial West Africa

Fortune always left whatever room I walked into, which is why I don’t leave my place much these days.

Veteran and private eye Boubacar doesn’t need much—least of all trouble—but trouble always seems to find him. Work has dried up, and he’d rather be left alone to deal with his bills as the Harmattan rolls in to coat the city in dust, but Bouba is a down on his luck deux fois, suspended between two cultures and two worlds.

When a bleeding woman stumbles onto his doorway, only to vanish just as quickly, Bouba reluctantly finds himself enmeshed in the secrets of a city boiling on the brink of violence. The French occupiers are keen to keep the peace at any cost, and the indigenous dugulen have long been shattered into restless factions vying for a chance to reclaim their lost heritage and abilities. As each hardwon clue reveals horrifying new truths, Bouba may have to carve out parts of himself he’s long kept hidden, and decide what he’s willing to offer next.

From the visionary author of Riot Baby and Goliath, Harmattan Season is a gripping fantasy noir in the tradition of Chandler, Hammond, and Christie that will have you by the throat—both dryly funny and unforgettably evocative."

I've just finished an ARC of this and found it to be such a unique and thought-provoking read! I thought this setting was fascinating and can't wait for it be out in May.

Written on the Dark by Guy Gavriel Kay
Publication: May 27th, 2025
Ace
Hardcover. 320 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"From the internationally bestselling author of Tigana, All the Seas of the World, and A Brightness Long Ago comes a majestic new novel of love and war that brilliantly evokes the drama and turbulence of medieval France.

Thierry Villar is a well-known--even notorious-- tavern poet, familiar with the rogues and shadows of that world, but not at all with courts and power. He is an unlikely person, despite his quickness, to be caught up in the deadly contests of ambitious royals, assassins, and invading armies.

But he is indeed drawn into all these things on a savagely cold night in his beloved city of Orane. And so Thierry must use all the intelligence and charm he can muster as political struggles merge with a decades-long war to bring his country to the brink of destruction.

As he does, he meets his poetic equal in an aristocratic woman and is drawn to more than one unsettling person with a connection to the world beyond this one. He also crosses paths with an extraordinary young woman driven by voices within to try to heal the ailing king--and help his forces in war. A wide and varied set of people from all walks of life take their places in the rich tapestry of this story.

A new masterwork from the internationally bestselling author of All the Seas of the World, A Brightness Long Ago, and Tigana, Written on the Dark is an elegant tour de force about power and ambition playing out amid the intense human need for art and beauty, and memories to be left behind."

You can't really go wrong with Guy Gavriel Kay to my knowledge, and I'm really intrigued by this new release! Now I just need to catch up on his backlist...

A Letter from the Lonesome Shore (The Sunken Archives #2) by Sylvie Cathrall
Publication: May 6th, 2025
Orbit
Hardcover. 384 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"The charming conclusion to the Sunken Archive duology, a heart-warming magical academia fantasy filled with underwater cities, romance of manners and found family, perfect for fans of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries.

Former correspondents E. and Henerey, accustomed to loving each other from afar, did not anticipate continuing their courtship in an enigmatic underwater city. When their journey through the Structure in E.'s garden strands them in a peculiar society preoccupied with the pleasures and perils of knowledge, E. and Henerey come to accept--and, more surprisingly still, embrace--the fact that they may never return home.

A year and a half later, Sophy and Vyerin finally discover one of the elusive Entries that will help them seek their siblings. As the group's efforts bring them closer to E. and Henerey, an ancient, cosmic threat also draws near. . ."

I completely adored the first book and have been anxiously awaiting the sequel, and it's finally almost here! The epistolary format of the first book was excellently done and I'm really looking forward to diving back into this world and hopefully exploring more of it. 

Blog Tour + Excerpt: Midnight in Soap Lake by Matthew Sullivan

   

And the blog tours continue! This is my third of four blog tours this season, and I've been having a great time sharing all these books with you all. Today I'm sharing my blog tour stop for Midnight in Soap Lake by Matthew Sullivan! When Abigail is left alone in the seemingly haunted town of Soap Lake while her husband is off on a research trip, she soon finds herself entangled in a mystery she never could have expected--or how it involves the lake the town is named after. You can find an excerpt below that is sure to make you want to keep reading, as well as some additional information about the book and author. Happy reading!

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Title: MIDNIGHT IN SOAP LAKE
Author:  Matthew Sullivan
Pub. Date: April 15th, 2025
Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing / Hanover Square Press
Pages: 416
Find it: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org

SYNOPSIS:

"A lake with mysterious properties. A town haunted by urban legend. Two women whose lives intersect in terrifying ways. Welcome to Soap Lake, a town to rival Twin Peaks and Stephen King’s Castle Rock.

When Abigail agreed to move to Soap Lake, Washington for her husband’s research she expected old growth forests and craft beer, folksy neighbors and the World’s Largest Lava Lamp. Instead, after her husband jets off to Poland for a research trip, she finds herself alone, in a town surrounded by desert, and haunted by its own urban legends.

But when a young boy runs through the desert into Abigail’s arms, her life becomes entwined with his and the questions surrounding his mother Esme’s death. In Abigail’s search for answers she enlists the help of a recovering addict-turned-librarian, a grieving brother, a broken motel owner, and a mentally-shattered conspiracy theorist to unearth Esme’s tragic past, the town’s violent history, and the secret magic locked in the lake her husband was sent there to study.

As she gets closer to the answers, past and present crimes begin to collide, and Abigail finds herself gaining the unwelcome attention of the town’s unofficial mascot, the rubber-suited orchard stalker known as TreeTop, a specter who seems to be lurking in every dark shadow and around every shady corner.

A sweeping, decade-spanning mystery brimming with quirky characters, and puzzle hunt scenarios, Midnight in Soap Lake is a modern day Twin Peaks—a rich, expansive universe that readers will enter and never forget."

Excerpt:

1
Abigail

        Something was there.
An animal, Abigail was certain, loping in the sagebrush: a twist of fuzz moving through the desert at the edge of her sight. The morning had already broken a hundred. Her glasses steamed and sunscreen stung her eyes—
        Or maybe she hadn’t seen anything.
        Yesterday, while walking along this desolate irrigation road, she’d spotted a cow skull between tumbleweeds, straight out of a tattoo parlor, but when she ran toward it, bracing to take a picture to send to Eli across the planet—proof, perhaps, that she ever left the house—she discovered it was just a white plastic grocery bag snagged on a curl of sage bark.
        Somehow. Way out here.
        The desert was scabby with dark basalt, bristled with the husks of flowers, and nothing was ever there.
        When Eli first told her he’d landed a grant to research a rare lake in the Pacific Northwest, Abigail thought ferns and rain, ale and slugs, Sasquatch and wool.
        And then they got here, to this desert where no one lived. Not a fern or slug in sight.
        This had been the most turbulent year of her life.
        Eleven months ago, they met.
        Seven months ago, they married.
        Six months ago, they moved from her carpeted condo in Denver to this sunbaked town on the shores of Soap Lake, a place where neither knew a soul.
        Their honeymoon had lasted almost three months—Eli whistling in his downstairs lab, Abigail unpacking and painting upstairs—and then he kissed her at the airport, piled onto a plane, and moved across the world to work in a different lab, on a different project, at a different lake.
        In Poland.
        When she remembered him lately, she remembered photographs of him.
        The plan had been to text all the time, daily calls, romantic flights to Warsaw, but the reality was that Eli had become too busy to chat and seemed more frazzled than ever. This week had been particularly bad because he’d been off the grid on a research trip, so every call went to voicemail, every text into the Polish abyss. And then at five o’clock this morning, her phone pinged and Abigail shot right out of a drowning sleep to grab it, as if he’d tossed her a life preserver from six thousand miles away.
        And this is what he’d had to say:

sorry missed you. so much work & my research all fd up. i’ll call this weekend. xo e

        As she was composing a response—her phone the only glow in their dark, empty home—he added a postscript that stabbed her in the heart like an icicle.

P.S. maybe it time since remember using time to figure out self life?

        What kind of a sentence was that? And what was a “self life” anyway?
        Abigail had called him right away. When he didn’t pick up she went down to the lab he’d set up in their daylight basement. She opened a few of his binders with their charts of Soap Lake, their colorful DNA diagrams, their photos of phosphorescent microbes, as cosmic as images from deep space. She breathed the papery dust of his absence and tried to imagine he’d just stepped out for a minute and would be back in a flash, her clueless brilliant husband, pen between his teeth, hair a smoky eruption, mustard stains on the plaid flannel bathrobe he wore in place of a lab coat.
        From one of his gleaming refrigerators, Abigail retrieved a rack of capped glass tubes that contained the Miracle Water and the Miracle Microbes collected from the mineral lake down the hill— she sometimes wondered if her limnologist husband would be more at home on the shores of Loch Ness—and held one until a memory arose, like a visit from a friend: Eli, lifting a water sample up to the window as if he were gazing through a telescope, shaking it so it fizzed and foamed. And then he was gone again.
        She hated that she did this. Came down here and caressed his equipment like a creep. Next she’d be smelling his bathrobe, collecting hairs from his brush. It was as if she felt compelled to remind herself that Eli was doing important work and, as the months of distance piled up, that he was even real.
        Back when they’d first started dating, Abigail had been the busy one, the one who said yes to her boss too much and had to skim her calendar each time Eli wanted to go to dinner or a movie. Of course her job as an administrative assistant in a title insurance office had never felt like enough, but when she mentioned this restlessness to Eli, finding her path—figure out self life—had suddenly become a centerpiece of their move to Soap Lake. But they got here and nothing had happened. It wasn’t just a switch you flipped.
        Abigail slid the tall tube of lake water back into its rack. Only when she let go, the tube somehow missed its slot and plunged to the floor like a bomb.
        Kapow!
        On the tile between her feet, a blossom of cloudy water and shattered glass.
        She stood over the mess, clicking her fingernails against her teeth and imagining microbes squealing on the floor, flopping in the air like miniscule goldfish. She told herself, without conviction, it had been an accident.
        And then she stepped over the spill, put the rack back in the fridge and, surprised at the immediacy of her shame, went for a walk in this scorching desert.
        It stunned her, how harsh and gorgeous it was.
        Loneliness: it felt sometimes like it possessed you.
        She hadn’t spoken to anyone in over a month, outside of a few people in the Soap Lake service industry. There was the guy who made her a watery latte at the gas station the other morning, then penised the back of her hand with his finger when he passed it over. And the newspaper carrier, an old woman with white braids and a pink cowgirl hat, who raced through town in a windowless minivan. She told Abigail she was one DUI away from unemployment, but the weekly paper was never late. And the cute pizza delivery dude who was so high he sat in her driveway on his phone for half an hour before coming to the door with her cold cheese pizza, saying, Yes, ma’am. Thanks, ma’am, which was sweet but totally freaked her out. And the lady with the painted boomerang eyebrows in the tampon aisle at the grocery store who gave her unwanted advice on the best lube around for spicing up menopause, to which Abigail guffawed and responded too loudly, “Thanks, but I’m not even goddamned forty!”
        At least she’d discovered these maintenance roads: miles and miles of gravel and dirt, no vehicles allowed, running alongside the massive irrigation canals that brought Canadian snowmelt from the Columbia River through the Grand Coulee Dam to the farms spread all over this desert. The water gushed through the main canals, thirty feet wide and twenty feet deep, and soon branched off to other, smaller canals that branched off to orchards and fields and ranches and dairies and soil and seeds and sprouts and leaves and, eventually, yummy vital food: grocery store shelves brimming with apples and milk and pizza-flavored Pringles.
        Good soil. Blazing sun. Just add water and food was born.
        Almost a trillion gallons a year moved through these canals. T: trillion.
        All that water way out here, pouring through land so dry it crackled underfoot.
        She halted on the road. Pressed her lank, brown hair behind her ear. Definitely heard something, a faint yip or caw.
        She scanned the horizon for the source of the sound and there it was again, a smudge of movement in the wavering heat. Something running away.
        A few times out here she’d seen coyote. Lots of quail, the occasional pheasant. Once, in a fallow field close to town, a buck with a missing antler that looked from a distance like a unicorn.
        Not running away, the smudge out there. Running toward. She was nowhere near a signal yet her instinct was to touch her phone. She craned around to glimpse the vanishing point of the road behind, gauging how far she’d walked and, if things got bad, how far she’d have to run.
        Three miles, minimum. Six miles, tops.
        Definitely approaching.
        Not something. Someone.
        A human. Alone.
        Running. A boy.
        A little boy. Sprinting.
        Abigail froze as their eyes met, and suddenly the boy exploded out of the desert, slamming into her thighs with an oof! He wore yellow pajamas and Cookie Monster slippers covered in prickly burrs.
        He clung to her legs so tightly that she almost tipped over. When she registered the crusty blood on his chin and cheeks and encasing his hands like gloves, she felt herself begin to cry, scared-to-sobbing in one second flat.
        Deep breath. Shirt wipe.
        “Hey! Are you hurt? Look at me. Are you hurt?”
        The boy wasn’t crying, but his skin was damp and he was panting hot and wouldn’t let go of her legs. She felt a hummingbird inside of his chest.
        She knelt in the gravel and unfolded his arms, turning them over at the wrist. She lifted his shirt and spun him around as best she could. He had some welts and scratches from running through the brush, and the knees of his pj’s were badly scuffed, but he wasn’t cut, not anywhere serious, which meant— The blood belonged to someone else.

Excerpted from MIDNIGHT IN SOAP LAKE by Matthew Sullivan. Copyright © 2025 by Matthew Sullivan. Published by Hanover Square Press, an imprint of HTP/HarperCollins.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Matthew Sullivan is the beloved author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, an Indie Next Pick, B&N Discover pick, a GoodReads Choice Award finalist and winner of the Colorado Book Award. He received his MFA from the University of Idaho and has been a resident writer at Yaddo, Centrum, and the Vermont Studio Center. His short stories have been awarded the Robert Olen Butler Fiction Prize and the Florida Review Editors’ Award for Fiction. His writing has been featured in the New York Times Modern Love column, The Daily Beast, and Shelf Awareness amongst others.

Find Matthew Sullivan online: Author Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Facebook

Review: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

Publisher: Orbit

Publication Date: April 15th, 2025
Paperback. 672 pages.

About The Raven Scholar (from the publisher):

"From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar’s quest to uncover the truth.

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent."

The Raven Scholar is easily one of my favorite books of 2025--it was genuinely fantastic and so compelling and cleverly written. It felt like a fresh new fantasy that draws on many familiar tropes and elements, but elevates them to new levels in some very surprising and engaging ways.

When I think about The Raven Scholar, the first thing that comes to my mind is the narrative voice. It has a third-person omniscient style, but with a bit of a twist in that it's told from a sort of collective voice--and I promise you'll figure out what I mean by that once you're reading the book. The way this story is told is one that could easily become confusing or horribly executed, but in Antonia Hodgson's hands I found it simply perfect. Her writing is elegant, sharp, and is carefully controlled in its execution. I really found myself in awe of how effectively she managed to bring the world and its characters to life through her narrative style, and I am, quite honestly, dying to return to her writing. 

In the world of The Raven Scholar, a new emperor is chosen every twenty-four years through a series of trials, and it is just that time when our story begins. There are seven competitors for each trial, each picked to represent one of the Guardian beings from myth, which includes the Dragon, Monkey, Tiger, Fox, Hound, Ox, and Raven. Each Guardian has a following comprising of people who have chosen to dedicate their lives to one of the factions and are educated and trained according to the values of each Guardian. Each Guardian is generally associated with particular traits or qualities. For instance, the Foxes are fittingly rather cunning and sly (and I sincerely loved the characters who were Foxes in this book, unsurprisingly since that is my favorite type of character) and the Ravens are exceedingly perceptive and intelligent. Each group of followers selections a representative to compete--except the Dragons, who are forbidden from participating for reasons better explained in the book.

As mentioned, our story begins at the start of one such trial, and we as readers are along for the surprisingly--or unsurprisingly?--tumultuous journey. Neema Kra, through some events which I'll leave you to experience, becomes the Raven's contender. She's entirely untrained and unprepared for the trials, and on top of that curveball she's also tasked by the emperor with trying to solve a murder before the trials end--the trials in which she is, of course, competing. So no pressure, right?

Neema is an incredible character: she's intelligent, grounded, and also highly relatable. She's also a bit of a pariah to her peers because of something she did at the emperor's orders many years ago that many view as unforgivable. By law, the task she undertook is not allowed to be spoken of, so no one can really speak about why socially ostracize her, which really only creates more division and tension. Despite all of this, she keeps her head and does her work diligently, effectively, and successfully. She also distinctly lacks the ruthless ambition that many of the other contenders have, which also sets her apart as a character. I really enjoyed following Neema throughout this book and thought she was a fantastic protagonist. She might not be the one who is in the thick of things socially, but her perceptiveness allows her to be aware of so much around her and give some great insight into the world and events of the story. She's someone who may not always make the what others made deem the most "moral" decisions, but she is someone who sticks to her goals and works hard and efficiently, and I really respected her actions in this book as a whole. 

Another character I adored was Cain, a Fox and longtime acquaintance of Neema's. He's witty, rather morally grey, and exudes charm (or at least, I perceived him as charming). He's exactly the sort of character I tend to gravitate towards--someone who always has something witty to say whether it's appropriate or not, who is shockingly intelligent, etc.--and this is a big reason why I enjoyed his character so much, though I think other readers will easily like his character as well. I loved that he instilled such a constant back of forth questioning in my head that asked whether we, as readers, could trust him or not. Is he on Neema's side? Is he her enemy? Is he neither one of those and solely looking out for himself? Is there something bigger he's a part of? Only the story will tell! His dynamic with Neema is also utterly compelling, and I found their interactions impossible to look away from; they simply bounce off of each other in all the best ways, even when they seem to loathe one another.

The trials undertaken in this book by the contenders were also fascinating. I'm sure we're all familiar with the 'magical trial/competition/etc.' trope because it's been done a million times over, but the way it was handled here felt different. While some trials were structured, others consisted of riddles and puzzles that seemed to have no readily apparent rules to them--and some of the trials themselves felt like riddles to even understand what the trial even was. To me, it felt like there was a bit of a casual, almost haphazard feel to how the trials were executed, how points were awarded, and just generally how everything unfolded and was undertaken. I think this could be a bit hit or miss for some people because it didn't always feel like the most... fair?... manner of holding trials, but I thought it worked perfectly with the rest of this book's tone and overall world. I thought it added so much to the unpredictability of the story and made each moment of the competition feel that much more critical and uncertain--while also feeling oddly calm at the same time. Of course, there were still some trials that were straightforward combat, though with their own unique rules. I honestly was a little hesitant going into this one because competitions in fantasy are a bit overdone these days, but this felt so fresh and I genuinely enjoyed it.

The world-building felt generally rich and immersive, but we really only spend the story in one location so it wasn't quite as expansive as I might've expected. However, there's a plethora of lore and background that is told about the world, so it still felt incredibly vivid and like there was so much to explore in it, and I have no doubt that future books will be exploring more of this world. In this book, we learned so many details about the world, including details about clothing, traditions, class structures, societal expectation, all of which felt as if they were woven well into the narrative. There's also a very deep sense of history that runs through this story, which made the world feel lived in and real. I particularly enjoyed learning about the seven factions and the legendary beings that they are all tied to, and I thought Hodgson wove all of that together excellently. I can't wait to return to this world and learn more because its history feels like its bursting at the seams with more to tell.

Lastly, I really appreciated some of the many themes that The Raven Scholar explores, including those of power and power structures, ambition and the price of having ambition, loyalty, societal and class structures, and ultimately how legacy is explored as well. There was an immense amount of nuance with how each of these was explored, and I found them to all be thoughtfully explored with much to consider as readers even after finishing the book.

Overall, The Raven Scholar is a clever, captivating, and unexpectedly moving at times story that kept me entirely hooked the entire time. There were plenty of twists and turns that took me for a spin, and I loved every minute of this journey. I went into The Raven Scholar hoping to enjoy it, but it completely exceeded my expectations and became a new favorite book. It's easily a standout of the year already and I think it will remain prominent in my mind this year--I can't wait to see what Hodgson writes next.

*I received a copy of The Raven Scholar in exchange for an honest review. This has no affect on my opinions.*

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan, Overgrowth by Mira Grant, & The Sword Triumphant by Gareth Hanrahan

  

 Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan
Publication: May 13th, 2025
Pantheon
Hardcover. 320 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"An utterly transporting debut novel about the unexpected relationship between an artist and the 130-year-old woman she cares for—two of the last people living in a flooded San Francisco of the future, the home neither is ready to leave.

“An astonishing work of art…This is the kind of book that changes you, that leaves you seeing more vividly, and living more fully, in its wake.” —Rachel Khong, author of Real Americans

Bo knows she should go. Years of rain have drowned the city and almost everyone else has fled. Her mother was carried away in a storm surge and ever since, Bo has been alone. She is stalled: an artist unable to make art, a daughter unable to give up the hope that her mother may still be alive. Half-heartedly, she allows her cousin to plan for her escape—but as the departure day approaches, she finds a note slipped under her door from Mia, an elderly woman who lives in her building and wants to hire Bo to be her caregiver. Suddenly, Bo has a reason to stay.

Mia can be prickly, and yet still she and Bo forge a connection deeper than any Bo has had with a client. Mia shares stories of her life that pull Bo back toward art, toward the practice she thought she’d abandoned. Listening to Mia, allowing her memories to become entangled with Bo’s own, she’s struck by how much history will be lost as the city gives way to water. Then Mia’s health turns, and Bo determines to honor their disappearing world and this woman who’s brought her back to it, a project that teaches her the lessons that matter most: how to care, how to be present, how to commemorate a life and a place, soon to be lost forever."

This sounds incredible and I am so eager to have a chance to check it out! I really love this premise and I'm seeing some really great things about it and the writing. 

Overgrowth by Mira Grant
Publication: May 6th, 2025
Tor Nightfire
Hardcover. 480 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"This is just a story. It can't hurt you anymore.

Since she was three years old, Anastasia Miller has been telling anyone who would listen that she's an alien disguised as a human being, and that the armada that left her on Earth is coming for her. Since she was three years old, no one has been willing to listen.

Now, with an alien signal from the stars being broadcast around the world, humanity is finally starting to realize that it's already been warned, and it may be too late. The invasion is coming, Stasia's biological family is on the way to bring her home, and very few family reunions are willing to cross the gulf of space for just one misplaced child.

What happens when you know what’s coming, and just refuse to listen?"

More Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire) is always a good thing, and this sounds like a story that she is going to make even better than I'm hoping for. I'm so excited for it!

The Sword Triumphant (The Sword Unbound #3) by Gareth Hanrahan
Publication: May 27th, 2025
Orbit
Paperback. 560 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"Gareth Hanrahan's acclaimed epic fantasy series of dark myth, daring warriors and bloodthirsty vengeance concludes with The Sword Triumphant.

"Tell the Lammergeier that Blaise has need of him for one last service. Tell him to bring his sword."

In his youth, Aelfric slew the Dark Lord and saved the world, only to find out, many years later that his heroic deeds had served only to preserve the corrupt rule of the Erlking. As keeper of the dread sword Spellbreaker, Aelfric was drawn into a desperate rebellion against the immortal elf who had been secretly manipulating humanity since the dawn of time.

When it was done, he left the sword and the title of hero behind and went home. His tale should have been over.

Decades have passed. But when a figure from his past brings a cryptic message from one of the Nine, it seems the Lammergier is needed again. Does the old hero have one last quest left in him? Can his broken sword be reforged - and at what cost?"

I've really enjoyed Gareth Hanrahan and his latest series has been fantastic! Looking forward to this concluding installment and I'm curious to see how everything is all wrapped up.

Blog Tour + Excerpt: Their Monstrous Hearts by Yiğit Turhan

  

Next up in the blog tour lineup is my stop for Their Monstrous Hearts by Yiğit Turhan! Their Monstrous Hearts follows a struggling writer who unexpectedly inherits his grandmother's eerie Milanese villa--which includes her extensive butterfly collection. As he spends more and more time in the old estate, he begins to discover some unsettling secrets... and perhaps enough to spark his imagination in order to finish his manuscript. Below, you'll some more information about the book and author, as well as an excerpt from the book to get you hooked. Their Monstrous Hearts is out today!
Happy reading!

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Title: THEIR MONSTROUS HEARTS
Author:  Yiğit Turhan
Pub. Date: April 8th, 2025
Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing / MIRA
Pages: 320
Find it: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org

SYNOPSIS:

"A haunting novel about the boundaries people will cross to keep their dreams alive.

A mysterious stranger shows up at Riccardo’s apartment with some news: his grandmother Perihan has died, and Riccardo has inherited her villa in Milan along with her famed butterfly collection.

The struggling writer is out of options. He’s hoping the change of scenery in Milan will inspire him, and maybe there will be some money to keep him afloat. But Perihan’s house isn’t as opulent as he remembers. The butterflies pinned in their glass cases seem more ominous than artful. Perihan’s group of mysterious old friends is constantly lurking. And there’s something wrong in the greenhouse.

As Riccardo explores the decrepit estate, he stumbles upon Perihan’s diary, which might hold the key to her mysterious death. Or at least give him the inspiration he needs to finish his manuscript.

But he might not survive long enough to write it."

Excerpt:

Prologue

Perihan gazed at the opulent villas lined up like precious pearls on a necklace, feeling overwhelmed by their excessive beauty. The sight was almost terrifying, reminiscent of the antique pearls adorning her own necklace. As the dark clouds were illuminated by a sudden flash of lightning, she shook off her thoughts and quickened her pace along the deserted road. The gentle raindrops on her tired face felt like an omi­nous sign. The unexpected gust of wind, unusual for a mild November afternoon, added to her unease.

On her seventieth birthday, Perihan had indulged in a day of shopping at Milan’s most luxurious stores. Despite her age, she possessed a strong physique, with firm knees, agile move­ments, and enough strength to carry her shopping bags from the stores to her home. The kind store managers at Cartier and Valentino had offered to send the packages to her address with a courier, but she declined, insisting she could manage on her own. Though she lacked a family to celebrate with, her small group of friends had arranged to gather at the villa, refusing to let her spend the evening alone. They had asked her to leave the house and return around seven o’clock. Glancing at her watch, Perihan realized she was already half an hour late.

Oh my… Licia must have already set the table, she thought as she turned the corner onto Via Marco de Marchi, where she resided. Just then, another lightning bolt flashed across the sky, and a large monarch butterfly appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Despite the heavy rain, Perihan could hear the faint flapping of its wings. The butterfly had bright orange and black stripes, with one wing decorated with symmetric white dots. It seemed to hover in midair.

“What a miracle,” Perihan exclaimed, a smile stretching across her wrinkled face. “It’s been years since I last saw this one…and on my birthday!” Hastily shifting the heavy bags onto her shoulder, she wiped the raindrops from her eyes with her long red nails and followed the butterfly. It fluttered around in circles for a few moments, before darting straight ahead. Despite the downpour, the orange-and-black wings moved swiftly. Overwhelmed with excitement, Perihan dis­regarded the red light—and almost got hit by an old Ford passing by. The driver, an unattractive man with numerous moles and few teeth, leaned out of the window and cursed at her in an Italian dialect she couldn’t understand. Unfazed by his behavior, Perihan remained focused on following the butterfly, which flew rapidly and ascended into the sky.

“I wonder where it disappeared to,” she mused with a melancholic expression on her face. The rain intensified, the drainage problems in the area turning the road into a pool of water. Perihan’s bare feet were drenched as the rain seeped through the open toes of her green python slingbacks.

“You’re blocking my view.” The unexpected comment startled her. She looked at the stranger, hoping to recognize a friendly face, but it was no one she knew. She turned to notice the growing crowd of people with their faces hidden behind their phone screens. She wondered if they were filming her. Lacking an umbrella, her meticulously coiffed hair now wet, her makeup smudged, and her silk skirt ruined by the muddy street, Perihan was struck by the crowd’s indifference. They shifted slightly to the right, attempting to remove her from their line of sight, all the while continuing to record whatever had caught their attention. Curious, Perihan turned around and was terrified by what she saw. In shock, she dropped her red shopping bags, causing more muddy water to splatter onto her skirt and completely destroying her shoes.

“This can’t be happening,” she screamed to the sky at the top of her lungs. Her knees trembled uncontrollably, left her unsure about taking another five steps to cross the road. Peri­han noticed the cameras turning toward her in her peripheral vision, but she paid no mind to the desperation and terror that would eventually go viral on numerous social media networks in multiple countries. Her villa loomed in front of her, con­cealed by high walls covered with lush green bushes—now invaded by hundreds, if not thousands, of butterflies. They hovered over the garden, flapping their wings vigorously de­spite the pouring rain. The entire structure, partially visible through the bushes, seemed imprisoned within a butterfly sanctuary. When Perihan realized the creatures were all mon­archs, each one so exquisite and valuable, she paused. Beauty had a threshold, and beyond it, it became a captivating terror, holding people’s attention hostage to fulfill its own needs. She propelled herself into the flooded road, heading for the gar­den gate. With what little strength remained after the ordeal, she pushed her way through the floral Art Nouveau door.

“Licia! Where are you?” she shouted upon entering the gar­den. Before closing the door behind her, she turned to scream at the onlookers, “Leave! The show’s over! This is my prop­erty!” Yet, the crowd remained unaffected, mesmerized by the extraordinary natural phenomenon unfolding before them.

Licia, Perihan’s housekeeper and closest friend of nearly forty years, looked like a ghost. Her complexion was drained of color, her wet hair clung to her face in disheveled patches, and her shoes were ruined by dark mud. She trembled as she spoke. “Perihan… We did our best, but…” Licia glanced quickly at their small group of friends, who observed the scene from the kitchen window on the first floor of the house. Perihan brushed Licia aside with the back of her hand and made her way toward the large greenhouse on the left side of the gar­den. Orange butterflies continued to emerge rapidly through a broken pane in its ceiling, swarming through the air. Looking up at the vortex of butterflies resembling a brewing tornado, Perihan felt a wave of dizziness. Her bony hand reached for the intricately detailed metal handle of the greenhouse door, but fear gripped her body. She hesitated, afraid to enter, yet knowing she had no other choice. Slowly, she pushed the door open, entered, and closed it behind her.

Licia tried to conceal her sobbing behind her hands. Should she follow Perihan into the greenhouse or return to the house? The rain cascaded like a waterfall, obstructing not only her movements but her thoughts as well. She compelled herself to decide, but the sudden outburst from within the green­house froze her in place.

“No… No… No!” Perihan’s voice echoed, growing louder with each repetition—until the world fell silent, save for the raindrops tapping against any surface they encountered. The darkness beneath the swarm of butterflies gradually gave way to a dull light as they departed from the house. Licia collapsed onto her knees and allowed herself to sink into the saturated garden soil, her tears mingling with the raindrops. Once the first monarch butterfly Perihan had witnessed a few moments earlier found its way to her villa, it hovered briefly over the garden before heading in the same direction as the others. When the last of the butterflies vanished, no trace of the mi­raculous event remained. 

Excerpted from THEIR MONSTROUS HEARTS by Yigit Turhan. Copyright © 2025 by Yigit Turhan. Published by MIRA, an imprint of HTP/HarperCollins.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Yiğit Turhan was born in Ankara, Turkey. A lifelong reader, he owes his love of horror to his grandmother and the films she shared with him. He has previously published a horror novel in Turkish. He lives in Milan, Italy, where he holds a C-suite role at a renowned fashion house. This is his English-language debut.

Find Yiğit Turhan online: Goodreads | Instagram 

Month in Review: March 2025

April has arrived, and just in time! Well, not in time for anything in particular, but I feel like March was a long and hard month. Not all bad, but just.. a lot. Hope you're all hanging in there with me!

In personal news... I'm still hunting on the job front, which is honestly always the most disheartening and demoralizing experience for me. I've also had some unexpected expenses come up which has been super fun and not stressful at all. It's also annoying when your hobbies (like aerial) cost money and you really just want to go to class, haha. I've also been dealing with some health stuff--nothing serious--that's been rather annoying, and trying to get anything done in our healthcare system is just a pain. One highlight was finally getting to make it to another metal show, though, and I got to see some bands I really love, so that actually brought me a lot of joy and peace and I'm extremely grateful I got to go. 

In reading news, I had a surprisingly strong reading month! March was a month where I really leaned into mood reading, and honestly it was really nice and made me miss when I predominantly mood read. Because of my mood reading, I also hopped around my reading, so there are a few books I started in March that I haven't quite finished, but I plan to do so in April so I've listed those below as well. I don't think I read any new favorites, but I still had a great time with my March reads. Some highlights include Joe Abercrombie's The Devils and Johanna van Veen's Blood on Her Tongue. I also finally got around to reading Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung and now I'm kicking myself for not reading it sooner because it was so intriguing. 

How was your March and what books have you been reading?  Let me know how your month was below and what you've been reading!

   

# books read: 13

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie ★★★★

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: I had so much fun with this, and I really loved what Abercrombie did with this story. I don't think I loved it as much as I thought, but it was still a fantastic book and I'm eager for a sequel.

Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna van Veen ★★★★

Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: Johanna van Veen has come out of nowhere and blown me away with how truly eerie and unexpectedly gruesome this was, and I had a blast. Can't wait to read more from her! My review for this one is linked below. 

We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People by Nemonte Nenquimo ★★★★

Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: I've read a lot of books about the Amazon rainforest and its inhabitants and I'm also eager to learn more, so I was really excited this new memoir from a member of the Waorani tribe in Ecuador in the Amazon rainforest. This dives into traditional ways of life for Nemonte Nenquimo, the fight to save the rainforest, and so much more. A really worthwhile and informative read!

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung ★★★★

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC

Thoughts: I love whatever genre encompasses these types of completely 'what the fuck' short stories and thought this one had some real great hits. There were a few that didn't click with me, but Chung certainly knows how to fully commit to all sorts of crazy ideas and I'm totally here for it. 

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner 

Source: Owned | Format: Paperback
Thoughts: I think I would've liked this is there weren't fifteen perspectives. Fifteen. I just got tired. The writing was great, though. Maybe I'll try The Sound and the Fury because I don't think I've read that one?

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman ★★★★

Source: Owned | Format: Paperback
Thoughts: I've been meaning to read this one for years, so I'm glad I finally was able to since I hear people raving about it all the time. I think it was exactly what I expected based on what I've heard, and what a story! I don't think it's for everyone, but it really shows how strong Buehlman's range is. 

Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer ★★★★

Source: Library | Format: Hardcover
Thoughts: I've enjoyed other work from Anton Treuer, so I thought I'd pick this one up because I think there's always more to learn, and that was correct! I managed to learn so much more from this book and think it's a book I'd highly recommend to anyone!

 Swordheart by T. Kingfisher ★★★★

Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: This wasn't my favorite of T. Kingfisher's work, but her trademark humor and wit was out in full force and made this a joy to read. 

Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey ★★★

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC

Thoughts: M.R. Carey never fails to deliver on creating some truly unique and immersive stories, and this was no exception. I really enjoyed my journey with Once-Was-Willem in this one.

Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews ★★★★

Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: I've follow C.G. Drews (aka PaperFury) for soo many years and this was the release from CG that I'd been waiting for! 

House of Frank by Kay Synclaire ★★★★

Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: I somewhat picked this up on a whim and ended up really liking it! I had never heard of it and had no idea what to expect going in, but it ended up touching on some really important topics and had a great story.

Pay the Piper by Sarah Connell ★★★★

Source: Publisher | Format: Paperback
Thoughts: This was a review request and it was a Pied Piper retelling, which was really entertaining! I'm seeing a few more Pied Piper retellings these days, which I think is awesome.

Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs by Rebecca Gransden ★★★★

Source: Author | Format: Ebook
Thoughts: This was another review collection and was a collection of short horror stories that was also pretty batshit at times. I had a great time!

To-Be-Finished:

I didn't have any DNFs this month, but I am in the middle of some books that I'm hoping to finish up in April. As mentioned, I did a lot of mood reading in March, so I kept picking up books and leaving others unfinished when I still planned to finish them. They are:

Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping's China by Emily Feng - This has been so fascinating so far!
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriela Garcia Marquez - This is both not at all what I expected and also exactly what I expected? I think I'm liking it, though!
The Great When by Alan Moore - Very classic Alan Moore style at times, but also feels like one of his most accessible prose novels so far. Really enjoying it!
Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi - This is such an interesting concept. Definitely has some noir vibes to it which is how it was described, and that's honestly not always my vibe, but I'm super intrigued by this one and the world Onyebuchi has created.

 

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite
The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi
When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey
Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna van Veen
A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan #2) by Robert Jackson Bennett

 Posts:

Blog Tour + Excerpt: The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by E.M Anderson
Anticipated April 2025 Releases

Blog Memes:

Can't-Wait Wednesday:
3/5: Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata, The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig, & Medicine River by Mary Annette Pember
3/12: Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin, The Pretender by Jo Harkin, and The Golden Road by William Dalrymple
3/19: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson, The Hollow Half by Sarah Aziza, & Big Chief by Jon Hickey
3/26: A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett, A Billion Butterflies by Jagadish Shukla, & Strangers in the Land by Michael Luo