#february book reviews

[wearethekat]

February Book Reviews: Where the Axe Is Buried by Ray Nayler

I received a free copy of the book from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux in exchange for a fair review. Publish date April 1st.

I requested this book since I enjoyed Nayler's previous novel, The Mountain in the Sea. In Where the Axe Is Buried, the world is split between a Federation ruled by an immortal series of cloned presidents, and nations governed by AI. Programmer Lilia's new invention sets in motion a series of events, from an assassination attempt on the President to the recruitment of an elderly revolutionary living in the taiga, which will change the world irrevocably.

Where the Axe Is Buried is a much more explicitly political book than The Mountsin in the Sea. It's structured in much the same way, with multiple interlinked but separate POV characters interspersed by excerpts from a fictional book, revolutionary Zoya's banned text. Here, the central metaphor is the creosote bush rather than the octopus. The creosote bush forms a system of genetically identical cloned plants, following the root systems of long dead Ice Age trees. Like a flawed governing system, removing the piece of the creosote will not change the shape of the overall plant, dictated by patterns laid down centuries ago. We get the anecdote as a piece of Zoya's book on the very first page, and it recurs as different metaphors--a fungal system, a steppe tsar--throughout the book.

It's always a bit tricky to write a book about revolution. Nayler's a very good writer, and he easily dodges the trap that so many books about war and revolution fall into (ie, mouthing empty platitudes about change as the authors demonstrate that they haven't thought deeply about a complex and loaded subject). Nayler's elegantly constructed near future dystopia is split between an authoritarian future Russian regime and countries ruled by supposedly infallible AIs in a very post LLM way. On the one hand, the Federation has developed refinements that the Soviets or even Orwell never dreamed of, in a panopticon where a tiny mistake could collapse your social score and send you plummeting into a shrinking circle of restricted parole, and then to a forced labor camp and death. Or, alternatively, in the rationalized states ruled by AI, you can work in an horrifically optimized Amazon-style warehouse while your every movement is scrutinized by companies trying to sell you things, to the degree that looking at a soda half a world away for a moment with your face covered can identify you.

Whether Nayler threads the other needle and manage to not say something about revolution which the reader has a strong personal disagreement with is, inevitably, more individual. It held together well enough to be a five star read for me, even if I'd quibble with a few points. Although I do think the open ended conclusion carries a lot of the rhetorical weight here. Nayler gracefully presents you with a possibility for change, rather than attempting to answer the unanswerable question.

An ambitious and sophisticated dystopia about revolution with a compulsively readable pacing. Highly recommended, especially if you liked Nayler's The Mountain in the Sea.

[andreai04]

"District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in safety," I mutter. Then I glance quickly over my shoulder. Even here, even in the middle of nowhere, you worry someone might overhear you.

Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch — this is the Capitol's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion.

A kind Peeta Mellark is far more dangerous to me than an unkind one. Kind people have a way of working their way inside me and rooting there. And I can't let Peeta do this. Not where we're going.

But then… what? What would my life be like on a daily basis? Most of it has been consumed with the acquisition of food. Take that away and I'm not really sure who I am, what my identity is.

I run for them and surprise even myself when I launch into Haymitch's arms first. When he whispers in my ear, "Nice job, sweetheart," it doesn't sound sarcastic.

[sehsfav]

life is changing so drastically, it begins to feel like it was all a dream.

[rosegardendeprofundis]

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer Review

Dates Read: February 17 — February 25, 2025

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Genre: YA Fantasy/Romance

2025 Reading Goal: 16/100

As someone who recently reread the original four Twilight books and felt they were often boring at best and infuriating at worst, I was pleasantly surprised by how much more engaging this book was than its predecessors.

Midnight Sun tells the events of the first Twilight book from Edward’s perspective instead of Bella’s, and all I could think while reading was that the books should’ve been written from Edward’s POV to begin with. While Bella’s perspective in Twilight does not really give you a taste of the vampire world until halfway through the book, Edward’s perspective is an intriguing, and often disturbing, gothic horror narrative right from the start. The book also gives the reader more insight into the lives of the other members of the Cullen clan—who, let’s be honest, are more interesting characters than Edward and Bella.

Overall, I’m glad I ended up giving this book a try because I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. Is Midnight Sun great literature? No. But is it a good time? Absolutely.

[lexalovesbooks]

Currently writing a post on my wordpress about all the different polyam books I read last year, because I somehow managed to read twelve?? across five different book series which is about ten more than I’ve ever managed in a year before

[books-in-a-storm]

Snowflake Book Review’s

Title: Hell’s Handlers MC Florida Chapter #1 Curly

Author: Lilly Atlas

Pages: 370

Snowflake Rating:❄❄❄❄(4/5)

Synopsis:

Travis Bryant, known in the biker world as Curly, spent thirteen hard years behind bars for a heinous crime he didn’t commit. When the truth finally sets him free, nothing remains of his previous life. Curly doesn’t know how to live without the brotherhood of a club. After visiting the Hell’s Handler’s MC, he’s given the go ahead to open a charter in his home state. Claiming an ol’ lady is the furthest thing from his mind until he meets Brooke, the beautiful, hardheaded, dog trainer bent on ending a violent dog fighting ring near her home.

After ten long years married to an abusive narcissist, Brooke vowed she’d never live under another man’s thumb again. Accepting help doesn’t come easy, but when abandoned dogs begin popping up with fatal injuries, she’ll do anything to put an end to the fighting ring responsible. Even enlist the assistance of the most attractive man she’s ever met, and his outlaw MC brothers.

From her feisty, independent spirit to her shapely legs, Brooke appeals to Curly on every level. He can’t keep himself away, but he’s been burned before, and has no plans to tie himself to a woman. Brooke is in the same boat, having promised herself no man would ever have control over her life again. Unfortunately, she can’t kick the curly-haired man in the biker boots out of her head or her bed.

As Brooke and Curly grow closer and danger strikes, will they be able to overcome their past traumas and find strength in each other? Or will they remain stubborn and stick to their guns as their lives crash and burn?

[thechaoticreader]

2025 February Reads

Stats

Total read - 2 Average rating - 5⭐️ DNF - 0 Currently reading - 3 Most read format - audio Most read genre - N/A

Books

Title - Wake Up and Open Your Eyes Author - Clay McLeod Chapman Rating - 5⭐️ Page count - 382 Format - tandem audio/physical

Title - The Sunbearer Trials Author - Aiden Thomas Rating - 5⭐️ Page count - 402 Format - tandem audio/e-book

Currently Reading

The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander

On Writing, Stephen King

Celestial Monsters, Aiden Thomas

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

February Wrap-Up

House of Flame and Shadow (Sarah J. Maas) ★★★★

The Heiress (Rachel Hawkins) (audio) ★★★★

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands (Heather Fawcett) ★★★★

The Invocations (Krystal Sutherland) ★★★★★

One of Us is Dead (Jeneva Rose) (audio) ★★★1/2

Faebound (Saara El-Arifi) ★★

Flawless (Elsie Silver) ★★★★

The Fortune Seller (Rachel Kapelke-Dale) (audio) ★★★★1/2

Her Little Flowers (Shannon Morgan) ★★★★1/2

Let's be friends over on Goodreads (link)! I'd love to see what you're all reading.

[rebonky]

Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers' Rights, edited by Ashley Hope Pérez

5/5 stars | 📱 | Read 1/29 - 2/4, 2025

This is such an important and necessary book for teens. Not only is it an anthology of essays, poetry, short stories, and comics from banned authors about how bans have affected their lives and what it means for the children and teens who are losing access to so many books, but it is also filled with facts and information for readers to learn about what is truly happening within the U.S. and what book bans really mean. I especially loved the addition of reading lists that suggested various banned books for readers to check out. This is such a comprehensive introduction to book bans, and I learned so much from it! It should certainly become required reading for middle and high schoolers, and I hope that many young people feel empowered after reading to take action against any book challenges or bans in their area. However, this book truly can be beneficial to people of all ages, and I hope it will be able to transcend its target audience.

Thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

[lavender-tales]

Book of the month: The Spell Shop by Sarah Beth Durst.

10/10 i definitely recommend. It was so good!!!! It is a cutesy book that is just chefs kiss

🪻🪻🪻🪻🪻🪻🪻🪻🪻🪻🪻🪻🪻

[magicsilas]

February Round Up Books Finished Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (7/10 or 4/5) Canto Contigo By Jonny Garza Villa (7/10 or 4/5) How to Succeed In Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy (9/10 or 5/5) A Child Called “it” by Dave Pelzer (I refuse to rate) Currently Reading None

[wearethekat]

February Book Reviews: Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis

I've always liked Burgis' work, and this romantasy was one of my anticipated titles for 2025. In Wooing the Witch Queen, abused puppet ruler Archduke Felix flees the control of his regent and attempts to beg sanctuary at the court of his country's rival, the wicked Queen Saskia. Unfortunately, in an unexpected turn of events, Saskia mistakes him as a dark wizard applying to be her librarian and installs him the castle.

Wooing the Witch Queen was an absolute souffle and a delight to read. Burgis nearly dodges the clichéd (and heavily traditionally gendered) traditional m/f romance dynamic. Here, Queen Saskia is bi with a female ex she's still friends with, and shy Felix is explicitly into the dark Queen, beautiful and terrible as the dawn thing. I also think the sillier farce elements were handled well--yes, it is absurd that Saskia mistakes her apparent archnemesis for a librarian applicant and an evil wizard. But it's convincing enough misunderstanding that you don't question it. Poor Felix tries to sort out the confusion several times, only to walk into Saskia going on about how much she hates the Archduke, which understandably keeps him from confessing.

The political background was a touch thin, but solid enough to support a plot that's mostly romance. In this book, the focus is on personal relationships rather than systemic issues or political machinations. Saskia's alliance with two other queens is because they are personally friends and get together to hang out. Felix's loss of control of his realm is because his regent has abused him since he was a child. And so on and so forth.

Overall, a delight . Highly recommended for romance fans who enjoyed T Kingfisher's romantasy or books by Sharon Shinn. It's clear that Burgis left the ending open to do a romance for each of the other two queens who are friends with Saskia, and I look forward to reading them.

[andreai04]

Closing my eyes doesn't help. Fire burns brighter in the darkness.

All those people I loved, dead, and we are discussing the next Hunger Games in an attempt to avoid wasting life. Nothing has changed. Nothing will ever change now.

[eliosvniverse]

Reading log #2

February 2025

No Spoilers.

Books are in order of when I completed them.

⭐-Favorite Reads of the Month. I read so many amazing books this month I just couldn't choose one!!

#1 James by Percival Everett

4/5. The B&N 2024 book of the year was a thrilling and emotional start to Black History Month. This was a beautiful and disturbing novel that kept me engaged from start to finish. I read this for the 2025 Goodreads Community Favorites Challenge, but still enjoyed it a lot.

#2 Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

3/5. A nice vampire story that predates Dracula. I enjoyed this a lot and would read again, though it isn't really anything special.

#3 Bride by Ali Hazelwood

2/5. This was an enjoyable novel but I just don't see anything special in it. I'm sure this novel resonates more with others but it just didn't do it for me. I read this for the 2025 Goodreads Community Favorites Challenge.

#4 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

4/5. A cozy classic! This was the February choice for my book club and I'm grateful I finally got to reading it.

#5 A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

2/5. I'd recommend others to read this but it just wasn't my thing. In parts it almost seemed like some sort of Christian propaganda and just left a bad taste in my mouth.

#6 Graveyard Shift by M. L. Rio

3/5. All I can say without spoilers is that this is an over thinker's worst nightmare. I still don't know how to feel.

#7 The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

4/5. I really enjoyed reading this but there were aspects that I just can't get past.

#8 They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

3/5. I loved the story but some of the dialogue was just a turn off for me. It's a very nice book though and I would definitely recommend others to read it.

#9 What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould⭐

4/5. I love this book so so much. The only thing that wasn't really for me was the ending.

#10 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

5/5. An emotional and powerful book with interesting aspects that make it special. I cried.

#11 Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

2/5. It wasn't bad, just nothing special for me.

#12 The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich

5/5. I cried like a baby. I will hold this short story so so close to me forever.

#13 If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio ⭐

5/5. I cried (again). I loved the story and the characters and their dynamics and just everything. I want to teleport into this book and live inside it forever.

#14 Vicious by V. E. Schwab ⭐

5/5. Genuinely had such a satisfying ending. I enjoyed this a lot, though some parts bored me a little it just ended so well that it leaves you loving the book.

#15 Warm Up by V. E. Schwab

3/5. After reading Vicious, I just needed more. This short story was good for what it was and pushes you to fall even more in love with the characters. I'm excited to read more.

#16 The Haunting of Hajji Hotak by Jamil Jan Kochai

4/5. The perspective was so unique I absolutely loved this story though it was very unsettling, almost as if I'm looking in on a real family.

#17 ExtraOrdinary by V. E. Schwab

3/5. I loved this, it's so nice to see more of this world. I love the characters, especially the found family aspects.

#18 Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™ by Rebecca Roanhorse

4/5. This short story filled me with such rage. I felt so much for the main character and I really appreciate this work as a whole.

#19 Vengeful by V. E. Schwab

4/5. I probably wouldn't have rated this book more than three stars, but there were parts that were just so intensely comforting to me I felt it deserved 4 stars.

#20 Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

2/5. This was decent, just not for me.

#21 Galatea by Madeline Miller

3/5. I'm struggling to form an opinion on this. I didn't enjoy reading it but I can appreciate the book after finishing it.

#22 Emma by Jane Austen

4/5. A nice lighthearted read. Definitely took a while for me to get through but I believe it was worth it.

These are just my opinions and how much I enjoyed each piece as I finish them, it does not mean one work is better than another and my opinions will change over time. So remember, this is JUST a reading log!!

[rosegardendeprofundis]

Factotum by Charles Bukowski Review

Dates Read: February 4 — February 6, 2025

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Genre: Autobiographical Novel

2025 Reading Goal: 14/100

Henry Chinaski—Charles Bukoski’s alter ego featured in many of his novels—has always been a train-wreck that I just could not look away from. I am always interested in reading novels from the perspective of people with different mindsets than myself because I feel it helps me to understand the world better as well as how different people operate within it. Many of Bukowski’s novels, for example, are from the POV of some guy you would not trust with your drink at a bar, which can definitely be unsettling (especially as a female reader). However, I always come out of these novels with an understanding of why a person like Henry Chinaski is the way that he is, and I believe that gives the books some merit despite the disturbing scenes that they contain.

All that being said, if you ever meet a man who idolizes Charles Bukowski, RUN 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️ in the opposite direction.

[she-karev]

📚February Book Review📚

3.5/5 Stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“He might be an undead creature of the night - but as undead creatures of the night went, he was a marshmallow.”

What do you get when you pair a struggling artist with a socially awkward vampire? You get a laugh out loud and spicy supernatural romance that’s what! For this Valentine’s Month I decided to review something romantic with just a touch of fantasy and while it is slow paced at first this lighthearted debut delivers for romcom and twilight fans. The main vampire, Frederick, is fascinating and hilarious in his own way that made me fall in love with him as he learns about the modern world. Also, his best frenemy, Reggie, is unashamedly honest and makes me laugh with how much he annoys the main characters. The only reason I am not giving this 5 stars is because I feel like the main female character, Cassie, could be better written and be more relatable. Also, the romance between Cassie and Frederick is slow burned and while that might be great for some I prefer to get right down to business when it comes to romance books. This book is perfect for this romantic month for vampire and romcom fans everywhere. 👱🏻‍♀️❤️🧛🏻