Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: October 2025

November 4, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

I had to amp up the reading to combat the fact that I had EIGHT arcs coming out on November 4th. But all is good, all has been read. Reviews will be out over the next few months!

Town of Shadows (Slanted London #1) by Jessica Scarlet
The Weaver Bride (The Weaver Bride #1) by Lydia Gregovic
[ARC] Marriage is Shore Thing (Wilks Beach #2) by Laura Langa
Throne in the Dark (Villains & Virtues #1) by A.K. Caggiano
Unending (The Unseelie Duology #2) by Ivelisse Housman
Our Beautiful Mess by B.K. Clark
The Mummy Snatcher Curse (The Wand Keepers #2) by Tiffany McDaniel
Grave Flowers by Autumn Krause
[ARC/ALC] Secret Haven (Sparrow Falls #6) by Catherine Cowles
Ghost Business (Boneyard Key #2) by Jen DeLuca
A Steeping of Blood (A Tempest of Tea Duology #2) by Hafsah Faizal
The Sound of Summer (The House on Harrison Blvd #1) by Meagan Williamson
[ALC] Red City (The New Alchemists #1) by Marie Lu
[ARC]The Demon and the Light (The Floating World #2) by Axie Oh
House of Dragons (Royal Houses #1) by K.A. Linde
[ARC/ALC] An Ocean Apart by Jill Tew
Summoned to the Wilds (Villains & Virtues #1) by A.K. Caggiano
Kill the Beast by Serra Swift
The Arrow and the Alder by Barbara Kloss
The Last Tiger by Julia Riew & Brad Riew
[ALC] The Heir (Crownhaven #1) by Sophia Travers
[ALC] Never Ever After (Never Ever After #1) by Sue Lynn Tan
Sonnets and Serpents (Casters & Crowns #2) by Elizabeth Lowham
[ARC] Against a Crescent Storm (The Balkan Legends #3) by A.L. Sowards
For No Mortal Creature by Kenshe Chow
[ALC] The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
[ARC] The Prince of Mourning by Jenn Bennett
[ARC] The Maid of Sherwood Forest (A McQuivey’s Costume Shop Romance #2) by Sian Ann Bessey
Every Spiral of Fate (This Woven Kingdom #4) by Tahereh Mafi
[ALC] Fallen City (Fallen City Duology #1) by Adrienne Young
[ARC] Through Each Tomorrow (Timeless #6) by Gabrielle Meyer
A Land So Wide by Erin A. Craig
[Novella] A Very Merry Matchup by Becca Kinzer
[ARC/ALC] A Queen’s Match (A Queen’s Duet #2) by Katharine McGee
[ARC] Ship of Spells by H. Leighton Dickson
[Novella] Holly (Belladonna #3.5) by Adalyn Grace

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ALC Book Review: Fallen City (Fallen City Duology #1) by Adrienne Young

November 4, 2025October 28, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Adrienne Young
Publisher: Saturday Books
Release Date: November 4th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In the great walled city of Isara, political turmoil ignites a rebellion one hundred years in the making. But when a legionnaire falls in love with a Magistrate’s daughter, their love will threaten the fate of the city and the will of the gods.

Luca Matius has one purpose—to carry on the family name, maintaining its presence in the Forum once his powerful and cruel uncle dies. But his noviceship with the city’s Philosopher places him in the middle of a catastrophe that will alter the destiny of his people.

Maris Casoeria was raised amidst the strategic maneuvers of the Citadel’s inner workings, and she knows what her future holds—a lifetime of service to a corrupt city. But her years of serving as a novice to the last Priestess who possesses the stolen magic of the Old War has made her envision a different kind of future for the city. When she meets Luca, a fated chain of events is set into motion that will divinely entangle their lives.

Thank you Saturday Books for the eARC and MacMillan Audio for the ALC.

IT WAS ALRIGHT.

By the time I picked this up I knew of one person that gave it over four stars. I was definitely nervous when I knew I needed to get to this.

I will say, the audiobook? Good. I loved that there were two narrators for both POV’s. Great narration. Easy listen.

I honestly didn’t mind most of this book and loved the Roman-esque influence woven throughout. I liked the main characters and there’s a good story at the core of the pages.

What I struggled with was being tossed into the romance rather than being led in. It starts at an awkward junction and to get your footing in a short fantasy novel was a quest on its own. It felt like it was trying to be romantic but missed a few of those key notes that would have been helped with stronger character development over the heavy focus on the world/politics.

I’m not a fan of flashback chapters, especially in fantasy books. And this made me stand by that statement too. A reorganization is in needed.

BUT. I’ll read the next book. I’ll keep with my audiobook format. I love a dramatic cliffhanger so hopefully the sequel follows through.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: mild
Romance: brief open door
Violence: high

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Sonnets and Serpents (Casters & Crowns #2) by Elizabeth Lowham

November 2, 2025October 23, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Elizabeth Lowham
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Release Date: October 7th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A cynical shapeshifter. A hopeful princess. A love they never saw coming.

Silas Bennett grew up in a kingdom where magic-users are persecuted, especially those with the rare ability to transform into animals. After discovering he could shapeshift into a serpent, Silas was nearly killed—only to escape to a neighboring kingdom where he could study and use his magic freely. Now, he is determined to become a professor at the university he calls home, even though he is only nineteen. But first he must distinguish himself in his research field by proving that legendary magic stealers exist.

Princess Eliza, a hopeless romantic inspired by sonnets and their promises of true love, refuses to believe her beloved Henry perished at sea. She will do whatever it takes to find him and bring him home—even if it means traveling to another country and asking for help from a shapeshifting outcast.

With Eliza’s relentless optimism pitted against Silas’s unyielding cynicism, the two enemies can’t seem to have a civil conversation. But when they are unexpectedly bound by a pair of magical bracelets, which can only be unlocked by a kiss of true love, they quickly discover that they’ll have to work together as they navigate different languages, their past prejudices and fears, and a blossoming relationship. When their search for the truth about magic stealers threatens both Silas’s magic and Eliza’s safety, the two must learn to be vulnerable and trust each other’s hearts.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain for a gifted copy.

WELL WELL WELL.

After [to put it mildly] not loving this author’s first book I convinced myself to give another story another chance and here we are. I will say, waiting for the audiobook helped. I liked that I could move through it faster and yay for having two narrators for the dual POV’s.

I thought this was a fairly simple story but had some good messages and general themes that I could connect with. It ends well and I did like the main characters. The book is heavily forced proximity based and that really sold me on the romance as the chapters turned.

What was kind of a bummer was the “enemies to lovers” trope this had presented. The banter came across more juvenile than heated and made me chuckle rather than swoon.

All in all, I’m not upset I read it but also can’t shout READ THIS BOOK either? If you enjoy closed door romances and are easy to please, try it out.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: mild

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ALC Book Review: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

October 31, 2025October 27, 2025 GoodeyReads1 Comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: October 28th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From Alix E. Harrow, the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, comes a moving and genre-defying quest about the lady-knight whose legend built a nation, and the cowardly historian sent back through time to make sure she plays her part–even if it breaks his heart.

Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters—but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.

Centuries later, Owen Mallory—failed soldier, struggling scholar—falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives—and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs.

But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una’s legend—if they want to tell a different story–they’ll have to rewrite history itself.

Thank you MacMillan Audio for the gifted audiobook.

OH THIS WAS IMMACULATE.

I never know quite what I’m getting when I pick up a book from Alix E. Harrow. Her books have taken me on many journeys and I’m still throwing five stars at them. THEY ARE ALL SO GOOD.

This romantic story was full of tender longing, angst, a will they/won’t they, OH MY GOSH JUST LET THEM BE HAPPY, and finding peace all in one. I was glued to my headphones (incredible audiobook production). I love that you can’t pin down where things are going and then watching it all unfold becomes this magnificent fanciful tale of two people who love each other DEEPLY.

I was astonished at the depth of my own emotions as things progressed. It is nuanced and delicate and the interweaving of the plot lines was never confusing. The pacing was never at fault. I am shocked this was only 320 pages because I felt like I lived a few lifetimes [as a compliment] reading The Everlasting.

Overall audience notes: