What I Read This Month
February 2025
February was a very eclectic month, genre-wise! I read a lot of books recommended by family and friends, which brought me to more contemporary realism than I seek out on my own. I enjoyed the branching out, but also enjoyed returning to my usual kind of story.
Usotoki Rhetoric by Ritsu Miyako
Shout out to Sarah/Comickergirl for tirelessly recommending this series.
This is a fantastic mystery/historical fiction series that knows how to build episodic cases into an overarching story. It has a beautifully and meticulously crafted historical setting, a lovely thread of emotional nuance, and an evolving discussion of honesty and morality that elevates even its simpler mysteries.
Loveless by Alice Oseman
Another recommendation! I’m glad I gave this one a try; Alice Oseman sure knows how to write a coming-of-age story. While the teen/relationship drama got a little much for me in the middle (expected from the genre and not a critique of the book, just not my usual speed!), I cried over the ending.
Also, my feelings about the main character can be summed up by this meme.
Every book finished in February (in reading order):
✨Usotoki Rhetoric by Ritsu Miyako✨
The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke — A short story with strong fairytale vibes that left me wanting more.
The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne by Kate Winkler Dawson — Kate Winkler Dawson knows how to pick a fascinating subject to write about! Not my favorite of hers, but still a very interesting read.
Blue Flag, Vol. 1 by Kaito — If Heartstopper was a manga, with the drama knob turned ever so slightly up a few notches (it has not a just love triangle, but a love square).
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty — A little too contemporary drama for my taste, but everyone else I know who read it loved it!
✨ Loveless by Alice Oseman ✨
Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'Edera (Illustrator), Miquel Muerto (Colorist) — I was in the mood for some horror after a triple dose of contemporary realistic fiction and this sure delivered on the creep factor.
Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver — Mary Oliver is especially great at writing poems about dogs; you can tell how much she loves them.
Gardening Can Be Murder: How Poisonous Poppies, Sinister Shovels, and Grim Gardens Have Inspired Mystery Writers by Marta McDowell — Who knew there were such strong links between gardening and mystery? (Lots of people, probably, but not me.)
Darkly She Goes by Hubert and Vincent Mallié (Illustrator) — An interesting twist on a classic fairy tale, though I wish the main villain had kept her complexities a bit better as the story went on.