Isola

Isola by Allegra Goodman, 368 pages

When she was born, Marguerite was heir to a huge fortune and large estate in France. However, after her parents both died while she was young, her guardian uses her lands and fortune to buy his way into leading an expedition to the "isle of Canada," a journey that he forces Marguerite to take alongside him. Along the way, Marguerite falls in love with her guardian's secretary, and as punishment for this atrocity, her volatile guardian maroons the lovers (and Marguerite's longtime servant) on a desolate island off the coast of Canada. There, Marguerite must set aside the ways of her pampered lifestyle if she is to survive.

Based on the real life account of a 16th Century French noblewoman, this tale was gripping, harrowing, and compelling, while still remaining historically accurate. I finished this book wanting to know more about Marguerite, and more about the French exploration of Canada. An excellent read, and highly recommended, especially if you loved Island of the Blue Dolphins as a kid.

Katabasis

Katabasis by R.L. Kuang, 560 pages

After Alice Law accidentally causes the death of Professor Grimes, her academic advisor at Cambridge, she figures that the only way she'll get the recommendations and accolades she was hoping for (he's a REALLY BIG NAME in the field) is to retrieve him from Hell. Which is something that isn't beyond the realm of possibility when you're a student of magic like Alice is. Except right as she plans to step through the pentagram into Hell, Peter Murdoch, her biggest competition for Grimes' recommendations, hops in to join in the quest. Soon, the unlikely pair is struggling through the Fields of Asphodel and the eight courts of hell in search for their advisor.

Kuang has an incredible ability to write fantastical academia that really rings true, and Katabasis is no exception — the ever-increasing stress, the nonstop work on hard-to-explain theses, the poor diet that does nothing but keep the stomach from grumbling too much, the self-important and misogynistic behavior of tenured professors — it's all there, only this time with magic. While the travels through Hell are intriguing (especially because it appears to Alice and Peter as a college campus), the story sometimes gets bogged down with discussions of theory, logic, and paradoxes, which made my brain hurt. Still, for fans of Kuang's previous works, it's definitely worth a read.

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter

 Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett, 368 pages.

Agnes Aubert's cat rescue has always been in a precarious place, which is pushed to desperate when a street duel between magicians destroys their building and forces her to look for a new home. So she really doesn't have any choice but to accept a shop on a fashionable street for suspiciously cheap rent, and so what if the place feels haunted and strange? Still, having Havelock Renard, the so-called Witch King, for a landlord is a bigger surprise than she had prepared for, and the affairs of magicians have a way of getting out of hand. But Havelock is not what he seems, and soon Agnes finds herself inclined to add a dark lord to her rescue list.

This was a lush and vivid fantasy novel. A magical 1920s Montreal provides a new and novel setting, filled with just enough magic to set the imagination aglow. The atmosphere was all encompassing, and the plot was light and easy to follow. That being said, I do think this book may have been more style than substance. Many topics were touched on but not fully explored, and the characters often felt more like archetypes than people, leaving the romance elements feeling a little lacking. It was still very enjoyable as a light, casual book perfect for winter reading, cat lovers, and fans of Howl's Moving Castle.

This book will be released February 17th, 2026.

(As an aside, I'm obsessed with this cover)

The Bewitching

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, 368 pages

Grad student Minerva has always loved scary stories, most likely because her great grandmother Alba told her stories of witches all her life, and has made a little-known horror author, Beatrice Tremblay, the subject of her thesis. An international student from Mexico, Minerva has enrolled in the same university where Tremblay studied, and hopes to access the author's journals to include in her thesis. What Minerva discovers, however, is the story of a missing woman that inspired Tremblay's cult classic horror novel, a story that echoes in Minerva's present and in Alba's stories of long-ago Mexico. 

Told in three interweaving stories, this tale of three eras of women dealing with evil witches is spooky, atmospheric, and engaging. I felt a bit skeptical that the same types of witches would exist in New England and in Mexico, as I haven't heard of commonalities between the witchy folklore of both places in the past, though that's a fairly minor quibble with an otherwise excellent book.

What Will People Think?

What Will People Think? by Sara Hamdan, 336 pages

Mia Almas is a quiet Muslim young woman who works as a fact-checker for a media corporation and harbors a longtime crush on her boss. However, when she leaves the office, before heading home to her grandparents' basement apartment, Mia often indulges in her secret hobby — standup comedy. She's been secretly honing her act for five years when a few of her coworkers stumble upon her performance, one of them writes a profile of her, and suddenly Mia is going viral. Afraid of what this will mean to her undocumented grandparents — both in terms of their living situation and their opinion of her — Mia's thrown into a panic, something soothed only by her grandmother's scandalous journal of her youth in Palestine.

Set in 2011 in New York City, this story takes place during an era that wasn't quite as culturally sensitive as we try to be today, and Hamdan shows that well in the book. Really, though, the story of Mia's grandmother is much more compelling than Mia's more modern crisis — I would've happily read a whole book about her history! An entertaining book however, and definitely worth a read.

Rules for Ruin

Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews, 400 pages

At the request of her patron, Effie Flite has returned to England following a few years as a lady's companion in Paris. As an orphan trained in the Crinoline Academy, Effie has the ability to blend in seamlessly in London's society while also holding her own in less savory situations (that's where the sharp hairpins and steel-pointed parasol come in handy), both of which will be needed in her next assignment: take down Lord Compton, a seemingly upstanding member of Parliament who holds enough sway to prevent the married women's property act from coming to a vote. Unfortunately, Effie's assignment has her at odds with formidable betting shop owner Gabriel Royce, who needs Compton's influence to help secure funding to rehabilitate the slums of St. Giles. Too bad that Effie and Gabriel can't deny the attraction between them.

This is an intriguing historical romance, with plenty of meaty historical elements and compelling side plots and backstories for the characters, making it an enjoyable read. (It's also somewhat inspired by Miss Havisham's story in Great Expectations, so no, you're not imagining that.) However, something about the way the romantic elements come together in the end feels a bit disingenuous to Effie's character, which keeps this from getting an enthusiastic recommendation from me.