Month in Review: February 2025

February felt like a really busy month, but I'm also not entirely sure where the  month went or what I even did--anyone else feel that way?? 

In personal news, there's not much to share! I'm still feeling a bit stuck on the job front. I have a few things I do for work currently, but I've still yet to find something a bit more stable/rewarding and (as a bonus) that I actually want to do, so... that journey continues. I'm fortunate to be able to pay all my bills with my husband, but I'd like to do a bit more so I can do more things I love, like aerial!
I've also still been working my way through learning the ins and outs of Blender for CGI purposes (and surprisingly I've been having almost more fun with 2D? the 2D/3D mix has been really neat to learn) and it's truly been a lot of fun to have as a side project. One positive to the month is that I had my jury duty summons for February and I called in every day, but never had to actually report and make my way down to the courthouse, so I'm taking that as a win because yes, I know jury duty is important, but I also lose money when I go, so... I would prefer not to (yes, this is a Bartleby reference).  This is probably the first time I've ever not had to go in or gotten picked, so it's pretty thrilling. 

In reading news, February was a great month. Highlights were The Raven Scholar, which is definitely a new favorite, An Indigenous People's History of the United States, which provided a really well executed history, and the final Emily Wilde book! I managed to get up a few more reviews this month, which was a goal of mine to get back on track, and I still managed to read a decent amount of books, so I'm calling it a good overall reading month. 

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

   

# books read: 11

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson ★★★★★

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: I loved this! This was such an interesting new fantasy with a really unique narrative voice that really captivated me. Definitely put this one your TBRs, it comes out in April and I will have my review for it up closer to its publication!

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde #3) by Heather Fawcett ★★★★

Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: This was a really solid conclusion to the Emily Wilde series and I think it provided a really satisfying and fitting ending. It wasn't my favorite book of the series, but that's okay. My review is linked below. 

An Indigenous People's History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz ★★★★

Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: This is a nonfiction history of the US from the point of view of the indigenous population and it is a really great read. I think this is a perfect starting off point for anyone who wants to know more about the history of the United States that isn't as readily taught. 

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi ★★★★

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: I was so taken by the premise of this book--what would happen if the moon just... turned to cheese!?--and even though I don't tend to gravitate towards books with a more humorous premise, I'm glad I did this time because it was a pretty fun read. Definitely a bit thought-provoking at times with regards to life's meaning, etc. My review will be up soon!

Midnight Storm Moonless Sky: Indigenous Horror Stories (Vol. 1) by Alex Soop ★★★

Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: These were rather hit or miss overall, with the hits being pretty good and the misses just, well, missing. I'm glad I gave it a shot and will certainly have a look at more from this author in the future. 

The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi ★★★★

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: Generally, I'm not a big time travel fan, but I don't mind giving time travel stories a go now and again, and I thought this one was pretty well done. I liked the approach to time travel in a scientific manner and the different ideas the author played with regarding it and its implications/consequences. My review will be up soon!

Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce ★★★

Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: This was a bit of a so-so horror for me. My review is already up where you can read my full thoughts, but I would say it's an interesting horror story with some supernatural aspects, it just didn't fully work for me. 

Where Wolves Don't Die by Anton Treuer ★★★★

Source: Library | Format: Paperback
Thoughts: This was a nice coming of age sort of story about an Ojibwe teen as he navigates a variety of struggles and learns more about his culture. My review is linked below!

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma 

Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: I've read bits and pieces from this book over the years, but I don't think I'd ever actually read the whole thing through, so it felt like it was finally time. I think there are a number of criticisms about this book, some valid and some that I think are valid differences in opinions, but overall I think it gives a pretty good entry point into understanding different types of trauma, how they affect people, etc., so anyone who has experienced trauma, knows someone who has experienced trauma, or would simply like to learn more about the topic could benefit from this. 

The Guilt Pill by Saumya Dave ★★★.75

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: I appreciated Dave's focus on women and the struggles of being a new mother and maintaining a career, all the while having to act like you have everything under control and know what you're doing. I thought some aspects of this book required some suspension of disbelief, but overall I think this book will resonate with the audience its meant to find. 

Tell Them You Lied by Laura Leffler ★★

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: This book actually irritated me, and overall I've considered it a bit of a waste of my time, which feels horrible to say, but it was just so frustrating. There's an audience for this one out there, but I don't think it's me. I'll probably post a shorter review closer to its publication with more of my thoughts. It's a two star instead of a one star because the writing itself was good and I feel like this author has potential.

DNF/To-Be-Finished:

None!

 

Grave Empire (The Great Silence #1) by Richard Swan
Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde, #3) by Heather Fawcett
The Dollhouse Academy by Margarita Montimore
Symbiote by Michael Nayak
Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods
Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce
Where Wolves Don't Die by Anton Treuer

 Posts:

Month in Review: January 2025
Blog Tour + Review: Symbiote by Michael Nayak
Anticipated March 2025 Releases

Blog Memes:

Can't-Wait Wednesday:
2/5: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, Guatemalan Rhapsody by Jared Lemus, & Let Only Red Flowers Bloom by Emily Feng
2/12: The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica, Motherland by Julia Ioffe, & Luminous by Silvia Park
2/19: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy & The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
2/26: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami, Rose of Jericho by Alex Grecian, & The Mesopotamian Riddle by Joshua Hammer

Review: Where Wolves Don't Die by Anton Treuer

Where Wolves Don't Die by Anton Treuer

Arthur A. Levine

Publication Date: June 10th, 2024

Hardcover. 256 pages.

About Where Wolves Don't Die:

"Ezra Cloud hates living in Northeast Minneapolis. His father is a professor of their language, Ojibwe, at a local college, so they have to be there. But Ezra hates the dirty, polluted snow around them. He hates being away from the rez at Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation. And he hates the local bully in his neighborhood, Matt Schroeder, who terrorizes Ezra and his friend Nora George.

Ezra gets into a terrible fight with Matt at school defending Nora, and that same night, Matt's house burns down. Instantly, Ezra becomes a prime suspect. Knowing he won't get a fair deal, and knowing his innocence, Ezra's family sends him away to run traplines with his grandfather in a remote part of Canada, while the investigation is ongoing. But the Schroeders are looking for him. . .

From acclaimed author Anton Treuer comes a novel that's both taut thriller and a raw, tender coming-of-age story, about one Ojibwe boy learning to love himself through the love of his family around him."

Where Wolves Don't Die follows Ezra Cloud, an Ojibwe teen living in Northeast Minneapolis who hates living in Northeast Minneapolis. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), events at home prompt his father to take him to his grandparents home on the reservation, where he is to spend the rest of the school year laying traplines with his grandfather out on remote First Nations land in Canada.

I actually hadn't realized this was considered YA until I got into the story, and after finishing it, I think it's a great read for both YA and adult readers. The author, Dr. Anton Treuer, is an Ojibwe language professor and was able to bring so much of the Ojibwe cultural traditions into this story, which I think makes for a compelling read for anyone. (Also, just as a side note--if you're like me and wondered if Anton Treuer is related to David Treuer, the answer is that yes, apparently they are brothers! I've read David Treuer's The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, an incredible nonfiction Native American history, and his book Rez Life, a nonfiction book about life on reservations, and I'd highly recommend both to read as well.)

I thought Ezra was depicted incredibly well. He's depicted as exactly what he is: a teenager just trying to make it through this rough age and come to terms with many different struggles and things going on in his life. He struggles wit the the loss of his mother, his relationship with his father, his family history, and of course, a crush on a sweet local girl. I thought Treuer really captured that angsty feeling we all are familiar with from teen years, and I think he also did a good job with capturing Ezra's grief and the many ways it manifests itself in a teen--through anger, sadness, and struggling to communicate how you feel.

I loved the history and cultural aspects of this book where Ezra learns more and more about his family's history and some deeper Native American history that he wasn't aware of. He learns about not only some of the terrible things that have been done to his people, but also how these have directly affected his family and how he can learn and incorporate and grow with that knowledge. I also actually found learning about how the traplines worked really interesting, and I also appreciated the amount of respect they teach with regard to the nature around them and every living thing within it.

This is described as thriller, but I have to say that there wasn't too much about this book that felt like a thriller. There's the general premise for why Ezra is sent to stay with his grandparents on the First Nation reservation involving him being a suspect in the burning of his high school bully's house (the same day he got into a fight with said bully at school), but I didn't think this really took a heavy focus as there was so much else to focus on throughout the story. The pacing is consistent and thoughtful, rather than fast-paced and intense, and I think that pacing worked perfectly for this story. I never found myself losing interest or struggling to get through any parts of it.

Lastly, I want to note that I listened to the audiobook version of Where Wolves Don't Die and liked that it was narrated by the author. He did a great job with the narration, and I also appreciated hearing the story as he meant it to be heard, as well as being able to hear pronunciations for so many of the words that I was unfamiliar with. He has a very calm, easy to understand voice that flowed well with the story.

Where Wolves Don't Die is a story that will keep you reading because of its characters and because of the tradition it shares. There are some great things to learn about the Ojibwe culture and their history and how everything winds together into a story that transcends time periods and age.

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami, Rose of Jericho by Alex Grecian, & The Mesopotamian Riddle by Joshua Hammer

 

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

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
Publication: March 4th, 2025
Pantheon
Hardcover. 336 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"From Laila Lalami—the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a “maestra of literary fiction” (NPR)—comes a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.

Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days. 

The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.

Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier. Lalami asks how much of ourselves must remain private if we are to remain free, and whether even the most invasive forms of surveillance can ever capture who we really are."

I feel like this book will either be hit or miss for me, but I'm really intrigued by the premise! Typically, I'm not huge on stories that focus on dreams, but I'm fascinated by our dreams and how we dream in general, so the idea of an agency that can monitor dreams and has an entire system around them sounds like something interesting to explore, so I'm in to check it out. 

Rose of Jericho by Alex Grecian
Publication: March 11th, 2025
Tor Nightfire
Hardcover. 352 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Red Rabbit comes a supernatural horror where ghosts and ghouls are the least of a witch’s problems in nineteenth-century New England.

Something wicked is going on in the village of Ascension. A mother wasting away from cancer is suddenly up and about. A boy trampled by a milk cart walks away from the accident. A hanged man can still speak, broken neck and all.

The dead are not dying.

When Rabbit and Sadie Grace accompany their friend Rose to Ascension to help take care of her ailing cousin, they immediately notice that their new house, Bethany Hall, is occupied by dozens of ghosts. And something is waiting for them in the attic.

The villagers of Ascension are unwelcoming and wary of their weird visitors. As the three women attempt to find out what’s happening in the town, they must be careful not to be found out. But a much larger―and more dangerous―force is galloping straight for them…."

I really enjoyed  Alex Grecian's Red Rabbit when it came out in 2023 and I've been hoping for something new from him for a while, so I'm excited for this one! I'm extra glad that it's set in the wild world of Red Rabbit and I'm so curious to see what else he does with this world. (I will admit, though, that I'm a little bummed they went in a different direction for the cover art because I really liked the original artwork for Red Rabbit.)

The Mesopotamian Riddle: An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to Decipher the World's Oldest Writing by Joshua Hammer
Publication: March 18th, 2025
Simon & Schuster
Hardcover. 400 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"It was one of history’s great vanishing acts.

Around 3,400 BCE—as humans were gathering in complex urban settlements—a scribe in the mud-walled city-state of Uruk picked up a reed stylus to press tiny symbols into clay. For three millennia, wedge shape cuneiform script would record the military conquests, scientific discoveries, and epic literature of the great Mesopotamian kingdoms of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylon and of Persia’s mighty Achaemenid Empire, along with precious minutiae about everyday life in the cradle of civilization. And then…the meaning of the characters was lost.

London, 1857. In an era obsessed with human progress, mysterious palaces emerging from the desert sands had captured the Victorian public’s imagination. Yet Europe’s best philologists struggled to decipher the bizarre inscriptions excavators were digging up.

Enter a swashbuckling archaeologist, a suave British military officer turned diplomat, and a cloistered Irish rector, all vying for glory in a race to decipher this script that would enable them to peek farther back into human history than ever before.

From the ruins of Persepolis to lawless outposts of the crumbling Ottoman Empire, The Mesopotamian Riddle whisks you on a wild adventure through the golden age of archaeology in an epic quest to understand our past."

As a big fan of languages and as a history nerd-especially an ancient history nerd-this book sounds like it'll be a ton of fun to explore. I can't wait to have a chance to check it out!

Review: Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce

Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods

Minotaur Books

Publication Date: February 25th, 2024

Hardcover. 304 pages.

About Something in the Walls:

"Newly minted child psychologist Mina has little experience. In a field where the first people called are experts, she’s been unable to get her feet wet. Instead she aimlessly spends her days stuck in the stifling heat wave sweeping across Britain and anxiously contemplates her upcoming marriage to careful, precise researcher Oscar. The only reprieve from her small, close world is attending the local bereavement group to mourn her brother’s death from years ago.

Then she meets journalist Sam Hunter at the grief group one day, and he has a proposition for her: Thirteen-year-old Alice Webber claims a witch is haunting her. Living with her family in the remote village of Banathel, Alice finds her symptoms are getting increasingly disturbing. Taking this job will give Mina some experience and much-needed money; Sam will get the scoop of a lifetime; and Alice will get better—Mina is sure of it.

But instead of improving, Alice’s behavior becomes inexplicable and intense. The town of Banathel has a deep history of superstition and witchcraft. They believe there is evil in the world. They believe there are ways of…dealing with it. And they don’t expect outsiders to understand."

Mina is a brand new child psychologist and is ready to get started in her field. She finally gets a promising lead when journalist Sam Hunter enlists her help with a young girl named Alice Webber who claims she is being haunted by a witch. Mina wants experience in her field and Sam really wants a sensational story, so the two take a trip to Banathel, a town with a dark history relating to witchcraft, where things end up taking much more sinister turns the more they investigate.

The town of Banathel is a bit of a character in its own right. It’s an odd place with an atmosphere of eeriness that matches the townspeople’s history with witchcraft. While Mina is in Banathel, it has a curfew in place due to a heatwave, which I felt really added to the uneasy feelings and almost isolation of a sort. I really appreciated how Pearce incorporated these elements, as I felt they really contributed to setting the tone for all of the supernatural elements that take center stage of the story. There’s a nice sense of dread that pops up at various moments in the story, and I thought all of this together did create a more classic supernatural horror element.

Something in the Walls has a very promising premise and start, and I was pretty hooked from the start. Who doesn’t love a good horror that focuses on a creepy kid who may or may not be possessed? However, as the story progressed, I really felt as thought the pacing struggled to maintain a sense of consistency and I found myself losing interest at various points as the plot dragged on a bit. There were some areas that felt a bit disjointed, as well, and also a bit of repetitiveness with regard to Mina’s experiences there.

While I was initially quite intrigued with Mina’s character, I found myself feeling almost a bit annoyed with her as the story progressed. As a child psychologist, Mina plays a very important role in getting to know and assessing Alice, and I think there were times when she did a really good job with this. However, there were some times when I felt her behavior ended up feeling a bit off and unprofessional--which I do understand could be fitting given some of the things that were happening--and it did end up throwing me off a bit throughout the book.

Despite a promising premise and a well-executed setting, my biggest issue with this book was simply that I’m finding it a bit forgettable, unfortunately. It’s been a couple weeks now since I finished the book and my initial draft of my review, and I’m finding that I’ve already forgotten so many of the details of what happened and that I just don’t have that many strong feelings about it either way. I’m sure many people will be a great fit for this book and really love all of the great aspects of it, but sadly I don’t think it was the book for me. However, if you really enjoy some supernatural horror and think it sounds like an interesting plot, then I’d encourage you to check it out because I do still think it’s a solid book with a lot of promise.

*I received a copy of Something in the Walls in exchange for an honest review. This has no affect on my opinions.*

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org

Anticipated March 2025 Releases

  

March is just around the corner, and that means a whole slew of new releases! I am looking forward to so many of these, though I am of course most excited for Stephen Graham Jones' The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. I've been fortunate enough to read a couple of these (The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi was fascinating!) so far and it's looking like a great month; I also have ARCs of Let Only Red Flowers Bloom and When the Moon Hits Your Eye that I'm hoping to get started on soon and I can't wait. 
What March releases are you most looking forward? Let me know below, and be sure to let me know if I missed any of your most anticipated releases on this list as well.
Happy reading!

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones || March 18th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica || March 4th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Luminous by Silvia Park || March 11th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The House No One Sees by Adina King || March 18th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy || March 4th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi || March 18th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Twist by Colum McCann || March 25th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami || March 4th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Rose of Jericho by Alex Grecian || March 11th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Let Only Red Flowers Bloom by Emily Feng || March 18th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar || March 4th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters || March 11th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Guatemalan Rhapsody by Jared Lemus || March 4th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Death is Our Business by John Lechner || March 4th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithree Wijesekara || March 18th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Mesopotamian Riddle: An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to Decipher the World's Oldest Writing by Joshua Hammer || March 18th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Universality by Natasha Brown || March 4th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

A History of the World in Six Plagues by Edna Bonhomme || March 11th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

White Line Fever by KC Jones || March 18th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

When the Moon Hits Your Eyeby John Scalzi || March 25th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran || March 4th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie || March 4th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Strange Bedfellows by Ariel Slamet Ries || March 4th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew || March 4th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

A Greek Tragedy: One Deadly Shipwreck, and the Human Cost of the Refugee Crisis by Jeanne Carstensen || March 25th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

What are your anticipated March releases?