A Spell for Change

 Title: A Spell for Change
Author: Nicole Jarvis
Rating: 4/5
Info: 480 pages, first pub Titan Books 05/06/2025
Genre: LGBTQIAP+, Sci Fi & Fantasy

 

A Spell for Change is set in the small Appalachian town called Chatuga. Here, Nicole Jarvis weaves a moving tale that centers on three characters, Nora Jo, Kate, and Oliver. Each of them is haunted in their own way. Nora Jo by the magical family legacy she never learned. Kate by cryptic visions of the future. Oliver, a war veteran, haunted by the memory of his best friend’s death, and the invisible scars of a battlefield he can't escape. Together they try to navigate the burdens of expectations and the mysterious forces they don't understand.
 

Nora Jo is determined to maintain her independence. She is passionate about teaching and believes an education will better the lives of the children of Chatuga. Unfortunately, her modern ideas put her at odds with the conservative community which eventually leaves her without a job. In her darkest moment a mysterious man offers to take her as his apprentice and teach her the ancestral magic she never had a chance to learn. Nora Jo, desperate and out of options, accepts.
 

Oliver, known as Junior to most, returns from World War I carrying invisible wounds: trauma, damaged lungs from mustard gas, survivor's guilt. He also brings back something stranger—an ability to see the dead. His parents don't understand; his father wants him to take over the family business while his mother thinks all he needs is a good wife. Oliver struggles to make a place for himself in a world he no longer fits in.
 

Kate has seen visions for as long as she can remember, flashes of a future she doesn’t always understand. Some are terrifying, others hopeful. When her family announces their plan to move to Nashville for a better life, Kate tries to find a way to stay. Taking on extra work to help make ends meet and chasing the romantic visions she has.
 

Each protagonist wrestles with the roles their community tries to force on them. For Nora Jo and Oliver, marriage is presented as a cure-all. For Kate, escaping to the city is seen as her only hope. But each of them resists these “solutions” and tries to find their own path.
 

This book felt shorter than it actually is. Once through the introduction, the chapters fly by. I cared deeply for Nora Jo, Oliver, and Kate—not just because they were well-written, but because they felt so real. I wanted them to succeed, to find peace, to be happy. While I can’t say I was completely satisfied with how Jarvis concluded each of their stories, the endings felt honest and earned.
 

I recommend A Spell for Change to readers who enjoy historical fiction that contain just enough magic to remind you that wonder still exists.

Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me with the ARC.

Poisoner's Vengeance

Title: Poisoner’s Vengeance

Author: Talia Greer

Rating: 3.75/5

Info: 311 pages, first pub Skull & Violet Books 03/31/2025

Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Romance, Sci Fi & Fantasy

Annette is a nun in a garden themed religion. She has worked hard to become the best of her class ever since she was given over to the abbey at ten years old. Then, just like that, the award for top poisoner goes to a different nun. Annette, who never felt like she fit in at the abbey, quickly decides to sabotage the abbey recertification. If her plan works everything that year will have to get looked at and redone. She hopes this will lead to her getting her award. Along her path for revenge she teams up with a relic that talks to her in her head and a demon named Rigo.

Annette is the POV character. At first, I didn’t like Annette. She immediately jumped to revenge. Also, her attitude that the award was owed to her I found somewhat off putting. Over the course of the story I grew to really enjoy Annette and what I first thought was a weakness in character writing I came around on. Annette isn’t well liked by the others that live in the abbey and Greer shows the reader why that is. Greer also digs deeper so by the end of the story I feel like I watched Annette grow and mature. I started the story rolling my eyes at her childishness just to eventually understand why she acts the way she does. I ended the story cheering her on.

The world building was very interesting and pulled me in right away. A religion based around gardening? Nuns sticking their feet in dirt to ground themselves as part of their daily practice? Love all of that. I would like to see more stories take place in this world. I want to learn more about the world outside of the abbey. I want to learn more about the demons.

Overall, I enjoyed Poisoner’s Vengeance. The plot was pretty predictable, imo, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story. The world building kept me reading till the plot picked up. The characters weren’t as fleshed out as I would have liked to see but we are only seeing them through Annette’s eyes. I’d recommend this to anyone that likes romantasy stories. I do hope Greer keeps writing in the world she created.

Thank you to NetGalley and Skull & Violet Books for providing me an advanced copy of this book.

Medieval Cats

 Title: Medieval Cats
Author: Catherine Nappington
Rating: 3.5/5
Info: 208 pages, first pub Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press 03/04/2025
Genre: Arts & Photography, History, Humor & Satire

Catherine Nappington’s Medieval Cats was a hilarious read. I had a great time reading the quotes and stories about cats while looking at all the crazy medieval art. It warmed my heart reading about people from hundreds of years ago dealing with the same cat behavior I deal with today. From cattitude to zoomies to butt licking all our favorite, and not so much, behaviors get a mention.  One picture is of a manuscript with cat paw prints in ink on it. This brought to mind all the times my cats have stepped on my laptop while I am working. Same struggles, different tech. The art is exactly what I expected it to be so no complaints there.
A quick note about the elephant in the room. Yes, there are some rather unhappy stories about cats presented in a humorous manner. I don’t mind dark humor and the way it was presented in this book didn’t bother me. This will be up to the reader’s own taste and sensitivities though. It is something to keep in mind if you are going to buy this for yourself or another cat lover.
All in all, I found Medieval Cats to be a fun, fast read. I imagine this would be the perfect coffee table book depending on what size the physical version is. I recommend it to anyone that likes cats and the crazy art styles from the medieval period. The only caveat being some readers might be upset by some of the stories due to mentions of cat harm.
Thank you to NetGalley, Clarkson Potter, Ten Speed Press and Catherine Nappington for providing me with an copy of this hilarious book.

The Girls

 The Girls by Emma Cline

Published: June 14, 2016

Publisher: Random House

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

The Girls follows Evie, a middle aged woman slouching through life, as she recounts her summer with a Manson family like group during the summer of '69.

I just could not connect with any of the characters in the story. If it had been Suzanne or Roos' POV I think I would have found it more interesting. Instead I had to follow Evie, a fourteen year old girl of privilege. I get being a lonely teen is rough, dealing with divorced parents is rough, dealing with trying to navigate your sexuality is rough. My problem was Evie's struggles didn't interest me. She comes from a well off family and her parents are selfish people. She likes girls more than boys but it never comes up aside from her internal struggles.  Compare that to the little bits we get about Suzanne or Roos. One had to work as a stripper, maybe, the other was an abused wife that left her husband. Let's not even think about all the people out there who, because of their sexuality, faced homelessness after being disowned by their family and violence.

Cline also was constantly pointing out how dangerous men are. How they look lustfully at young girls and take advantage of them. How women are all wrapped up in pleasing men to the point of denying themselves their own identities. Okay, but again I'm following Evie. Yes, some guys perv on her but compared to what Suzanne or Roos had been through? I just had a hard time caring.

Maybe if I had been alive during the time period I would connect more with Evie. It isn't a badly written book. The prose gets a little purple here and there but nothing so egregious that I'd dock points. Someone that finds the time period or the whole cult angle interesting might love this book. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me.

The Stranger At Black Lake

The Stranger At Black Lake

Author: Christina McDonald

Publisher: Intrigue Ink Publishing

Projected Publication date: March 19, 2024

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Black Lake is more than a peaceful new start for Jess Lambert and her 

husband. New friend? Check. Rumors and local legends about an old

 house? Check. Grisly murder scene? Unfortunately, also a check. Jess soon 

forgets about settling in and becomes obsessed with solving a mystery.

 

A big thank you to Netgalley and Intrigue Ink Publishing for the ARC of The Stranger

 At Black Lake.

 

McDonald’s novel These Still Black Waters is on my TBR so when I saw this novella

on NetGalley I quickly applied. The Stranger At Black Lake is the backstory for 

readers of Jess Lambert’s adventures. It can also be a taste test for anyone 

that wants to see if McDonald’s style is for them. Short, sweet, and entertaining this 

is an easy pick for mystery lovers.

Companions on the Road

 

Companions on the Road by Tanith Lee

Genres: Fantasy, Novella, Horror, YA, Scifi, Magic

Publishing date: Nov 1, 1975 by Random house UK

My copy: Physical, purchased at a used book store

This is the kind of book half stars are made for. Companions is two novellas by 

Tanith Lee. The first story felt like a parable and I really liked where it was going.

 The second one was interesting and I enjoyed following Oaive on her hero's 

journey. My problem is with the endings. Both endings felt too "and everyone 

lived happily ever after". I don't hate happy endings but they just didn't feel like

 the proper conclusions to the stories being told. They were creepy and, the

 first especially, felt more like horror than fantasy. Maybe that's just me though.

 I'm going to find another of Tanith Lee's books, preferably a full length novel, 

and try that out. Lee's writing is beautiful and I really did enjoy how she wove

 her tales just not how she finished them off.

Strange Folk

Lee seeks comfort and safety after the life she worked hard to create falls apart. This means heading back to Craw Valley. Back to her family that she has complicated feelings about. Having no where else to go she heads back taking her two children with her. Townspeople say Lee's family are magic until a man dies in the woods near the family house. Then they wonder if the town healer created something darker.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. 

The blurb sounded interesting and I always love reading debut fiction. Plus, who doesn’t need magic in their lives, right? Underneath the magic is a story about family, addiction, and coming to terms with yourself. Lee resents the way she grew up and the people that failed her. Yet, Lee ends up repeating the same mistakes that her mother did. Being confronted with emotional baggage you thought you buried is never easy.

Why didn’t I give this five stars? The thing that caused me to score this lower is the murder mystery plot. I feel the murder wasn’t necessary and took away from Lee working through her past. Lee has a lot of emotional baggage to deal with because she moved back. She is drinking more and walking around acting like she is better than everyone because she left. Her hypocrisy gets put on the back-burner because Lee has to figure out the murder mystery. I think the story would have been better if Dyer had focused on Lee coming to terms with and dealing with her past. The romance subplot felt like wasted potential. The guy Lee starts dating is someone she knew when she was young. He stayed in town while Lee took off as soon as she had the chance. There are a few different times he says that the town isn’t that bad and Lee scoffs. There is so much to explore there but, for me at least, it felt like a box to check off for plot points.

Still, I did enjoy this book and I recommend anyone that likes witchy stories and folksy magic to check it out. I’m going to be keeping an eye on Alli Dyer's career and look forward to seeing how she refines her craft.