Can't Wait Wednesday: Malinalli / Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder / The Anatomy of Magic / The Winter Goddess

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings 

to spotlight upcoming release we are excited about that we have yet to read.

Here are three upcoming releases that caught my attention and immediately ended up on my wish list I am looking forward to reading all of them. 

Malinalli by Veronica Chapa
Release Date: March 11, 2025 by Atria Books 

An imaginative retelling of the triumphs and sorrows of one of the most controversial and misunderstood women in Mexico’s history and mythology, perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow and Zoraida Córdova’s The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina.

A real-life historical figure, the woman known as Malinalli, Malintzin, La Malinche, Doña Marina, and Malinalxochitl was the Nahua interpreter who helped Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés communicate with the native people of Mexico. When indigenous leaders observed her marching into their cities, they believed she was a goddess—blessed with the divine power to interpret the Spaniards’ intentions for their land. Later, historians and pop culture would deem her a traitor—the “Indian” girl who helped sell Mexico’s future to an invader.

In this riveting, fantastical retelling, Malinalli is all of those things and more, but at heart, she’s a young girl, kidnapped into slavery by age twelve, and fighting to survive the devastation wrought by both the Spanish and Moctezuma’s greed and cruelty. Blessed with magical powers, and supported by a close-knit circle of priestesses, Mali vows to help defend her people’s legacy. In vivid, compelling prose, debut author Veronica Chapa spins an epic tale of magic, sisterhood, survival, and Mexican resilience. This is the first novel to reimagine and reinterpret Malinalli’s story with the empathy, humanity, and awe she’s always deserved. [from the Publisher]

This sounds fascinating and is about a part of history I know little about. I imagine this is one of those books that will have me researching the actual history of Malinalli as I read--or at least when I finish it.

Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder by Bellamy Rose
Release Date: March 18, 2025 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books

A spoiled heiress must investigate her grandmother’s death in order to gain back her trust fund, all while discovering how to be her own person and maybe even in falling in love in this rom-com meets murder mystery.

When Pomona Afton, Upper East Side hotel heiress, stumbles out of a gala and upon the scene of her grandmother’s murder, her first thought is that the society queen won’t be missed for her kind, cookie-baking ways. In fact, she was mean, greedy, and paranoid—so paranoid that she secretly slipped a clause into her will mandating that, should she die an unnatural death, all the family assets get frozen. And if the “unnatural death” isn’t explained? Those accounts stay frozen.

Practically overnight, Pomona is locked out of her penthouse with no other option than to move in with a Gabe, the irritable (yet handsome) son of her former nanny. Not only is his apartment cramped, but it doesn’t even have a doorman. Or a chef! Pom needs someone to solve this murder, like, yesterday, so she can get her trust fund back.

And Gabe? He needs this murder solved because that’s the only way his mother, who toiled for the Afton family for years, will ever get the retirement money she deserves. As Pom’s family clams up, blocking the police at every turn, Pom quickly realizes that if she wants her glamorous life back, she’s going to have to put on her big-girl Manolos and do it herself…with the help of Gabe, who she’s falling for more and more by the day.

Can Pomona Afton (who previously couldn’t solve a crossword in the bath on a hungover Sunday) actually solve this murder? And if she does return to her former life of luxury, will it be worth the possibility of losing Gabe? [from the Publisher]

This sounds like it will be a fun mix of romance and mystery!

The Anatomy of Magic by J.C. Cervantes

Release Date: March 11, 2025 by Park Row

A young woman learns to embrace all the messy imperfections of life and love with some help from her magical family in this next novel by New York Times bestselling author J.C. Cervantes.

Lilian Estrada seemingly has it all: an ob-gyn star on the rise, a master at balancing work with whirlwind romances and part of a family of fiercely loyal and exceptional women, all bound together by an extraordinary secret. The Estrada women each possess a unique power, and Lily shines with the rare gift to manipulate memories. Yet not even her mystical abilities can shield her from a harrowing event at the hospital, one that sends her powers—and her confidence—spiraling out of control.

Seeking solace, Lily retreats to her family's ancestral home in Mexico, only to find herself face-to-face with a ghost from her past—Sam, the first love she never forgot. Nearly a decade since she last saw him, Sam is hardly the boy she once knew, and as old flames spark to life, Lily must navigate the mysteries of their shared history and the depths of her own heart if she hopes to control her unpredictable magic. [from the Publisher]

What an interesting gift to have--being able to manipulate memories. I want to know more about the Estrada women, and I really hope things work out for Lily!

The Winter Goddess by Megan Barnard
Release Date: March 11, 2025 by Penguin Books

A goddess is cursed to endlessly live and die as a mortal until she understands the value of human life, in this inventive, moving reimagining of Gaelic mythology.

Cailleach, goddess of winter, was not born to be a blight on humanity, but she became it. If anyone asked her, she would say with scorn that it was their own humans were selfish, thoughtless, and destructive, bringing harm to each other and the Earth without cause or qualms.

One day, Cailleach goes too far. Thousands die, lost to her brutal winter. In punishment, her mother Danu, the queen of the gods, strips the goddess of her powers and sends Cailleach to Earth, to live and die as the mortals she so despises, until she understands what it is to be a human. Though determined to live in solitude, Cailleach finds that she cannot help but reach for the people she once held in such disdain. She loves and mourns in equal measure, and in opening herself to humanity, hears tales not meant for immortal ears—and a secret long-buried, that will redefine what it means to be a god.

I am super excited about this one and cannot wait to read it!

Do any of these books interest you? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to reading?

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© 2025, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Weekly Mews: Wrapping up February & It's Time for My March TBR List Poll! (Please Vote)

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

I am linking up Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently.  

March promises to be a busy month at work and on the personal front. I am putting most of my energy and focus into that right now. We have plans this weekend to go on a Ghost Tour here in town, which should be fun! Mouse has wanted to go on one for awhile now, and it seemed a good way to start off her birthday month. 

What have you been up to this week? 

Books Read in February

I upped my blogging game in February, but will be scaling back this month because of everything I have going on in my offline life. Because I was blogging more, I felt like I had less time for reading. But I still managed to read ten books--and they were all good. 

The first book I finished in February was Home and Away, which was an enjoyable dual narrative novel mostly set in the South. I also read the first in a new mystery series by Holly Stars called Murder in the Dressing Room, which could become a favorite series if this first book is anything to go by. And I read February's TBR Winner, A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage. That was one wild book! Thank you to everyone who voted for it! 

I fit in my four book club reads as well. My Diverse Romance Book Club read Hearts Unbroken, featuring a Native Muscogee protagonist as she navigates through her senior year of high school. There's romance and friendship drama on top of the more serious topics of racism and discrimination. For my Cellar Door Book Club, we read and discussed Isabel Allende's The Wind Knows My Name, a very timely novel tackling the subjects of immigration and refugees, spanning continents and time from 1938 Vienna to present day America. The Mystery Book Club selection for February was The Tainted Cup. Most of the regular members of the mystery club didn't make the meeting, and we wondered if perhaps they were put off by the strong fantasy element in the novel. A couple of new people joined us (one from the Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club) though, and we had a great discussion about the book. The Reformatory was the Historical Fiction Book Club pick. It had been the favorite read by the Philosophical Horror group a couple years ago and was recommended to our group. It did not disappoint!

With one Bingo (see below) space left toward the end of the month, I scoured my bookshelves looking for a book with wings on the cover. I was specifically looking for something short, like a manga, graphic novel or poetry collection so I could fit it in. When I couldn't find anything right away, I turned to my husband and daughter for help. They dropped everything they were doing and rushed to their own bookshelves to see if they could find a book for me. Mouse came back with three. Anjin pointed out I actually did have a graphic novel with wings on the cover, and I finally found a poetry book with a few tiny birds flying on its cover. Because how could I not, I decided to read one of my daughter's picks, and that was A Fire Among Clouds, the first in a historical fantasy graphic novel series, set in Mesoamerica. It was a good choice!

I listened to three audiobooks in February, which has to be a record. One of them, I went back and forth with between the print and audio, but mostly read the audio. That was Allende's novel. The other two audio books were Bayou Moon, the second book in the Edge urban fantasy/paranormal romance series, and a memoir, Finding Me, which I finished off the month with--and what an inspiring way to end February!

The book titles with links below will take you to my bookish mewsings:

Home and Away by Rochelle Alers  

Murder in the Dressing Room (Misty Divine #1) by Holly Stars

The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende, translated by Frances Riddle 

Bayou Moon (The Edge #2)  by Ilona Andrews

Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due 

A Fire Among Clouds (Codex Black #1) by Camilo Mocada Lozano, Oniria Hernandez Vargas (Inker), & Angel De Dantiago (Colorist)

A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage by Asia MacKay

Finding Me by Viola Davis

Format pie chart from Storygraph

I am always curious to see the break up of formatting of the book I read. In January, print took the lead, but in February it was digital. And three audiobooks! While I did read some of Isabel Allende's novel in print, I leaned more heavily on the audio version and so counted it as an audio in my stats.

Rating Scale: 5 Paws=Outstanding; 4 Paws=Very Good; 3 Paws=Good; 2 Paws=Okay; 1 Paw=Didn't Like

Overall it was a great reading month. My average rating was 4.15, which I think is slightly higher than last month. I usually give out 5 paw ratings sparingly, but I had two 5 paw reads two months in a row. How awesome is that? The two books that stood out for me in February are very different from one another: a fantasy mystery and the other a historical horror novel. I highly recommend both The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett and The Reformatory by Tananarive Due. I loved them both so much. 

My February 2025 Reading Moods (according to Storygraph)

Let's take a look at how I did with my February Chapter Break Bookish Bingo card. I filled in all the spaces! Way to go me! 

What was your favorite book read in February? Have you made progress with your reading challenges? Did you have a good reading month?

I currently am reading Fate's Edge (The Edge #3) by Ilona Andrews for the COYER Ilona Andrews' Edge and Inn Keeper read-a-long and have just started Ida, in Love and in Trouble by Veronica Chambers for my March Historical Fiction Book Club, which I am not anticipating to be a quick read. This week I am also reading Haunting and Homicide (A Ghost Tour Mystery #1) by Ava Burke (seemed a fitting choice since we're going on that Ghost Tour this weekend!).

What are you reading right now?

My TBR List is hosted by Michelle at Because Reading. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books from my TBR pile I am considering reading and let you vote for my next read during that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise).  

Please help me select my next read! As we kick off March, I find myself in a fantasy mood. Perhaps a romantic fantasy cozy or a a historical fantasy rom-com? Or what about a re-telling of Grimm's Goose Girl? Which of these three books do you think I should read next? 

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst’s romantasy debut–a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul. [from the publisher]

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love (Love's Academic #1) by India Holton

Rival ornithologists hunt through England for a rare magical bird in this historical-fantasy rom-com reminiscent of Indiana Jones but with manners, tea, and helicopter parasols.

Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, capturing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain, but that's beside the point. As someone highly educated in the ruthless discipline of ornithology, Beth knows trouble when she sees it, and she is determined to keep her distance from Devon.

For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Professor Beth Pickering. She's so pretty, so polite, so capable of bringing down a fiery, deadly bird using only her wits. In other words, an angel. Devon understands he must not get close to her, however, since they're professional rivals.

When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. Now keeping their distance becomes a question of one bed or two. But they must take the risk, because fowl play is afoot, and they can't trust anyone else—for all may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology. [from the publisher]

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

A dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic.

Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms, and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend—unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.

After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister.

Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother, how the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind.[from the publisher]

Thank you for voting!

New to my shelves in February:

The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig

Drop of Venom (Venom #1) by Sajni Patel (autographed)

Touch of Blood (Venom #2) by Sajni Patel (autographed)

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott 

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa 

All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers

The Five Stage of Courting Dalisay Ramos by Melissa De La Cruz

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Mouse's Additions:

Our Dark Duet (Monsters of Verity #2) by V.E. Schwab

Sixteen Souls (#1) by Rosie Talbot

Never Believe a Lie Twice by Kathleen Troy

Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think? 

Following in the footsteps of Deb of Readerbuzz, who shares three good things in her Sunday Salon posts, I thought I would try to do the same. With all the worries and stressors in life, I want to highlight some of the good, even the seemingly small stuff. 

1. My Great Aunt is doing better health wise and is now in a rehab facility getting physical and occupational therapy. Her prognosis is good and she should hopefully be able to return home soon! Thank you to everyone for your positive thoughts and prayers.

2. My daughter's friend is visiting today, and I am enjoying listen to them sing and laugh together as I sit here visiting with you. 

3. Signs of spring - the purple blossoms on our tree in the front yard are so pretty!

What have you been up to this past week? 

I hope you have a great week! Let me know what you have been reading!

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© 2025, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Where Is Your Bookmark: My Bookish Mewsings on A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage & Other Friday Fun

Along with this mini review, I am linking to both Book Beginnings, a meme in which readers share the first sentence of a book they are reading, hosted by Gillion of Rose City Reader and First Line Friday hosted by Carrie of Reading is My Super Power, as well as Friday 56 hosted by Anne of My Head is Full of Books, in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading.  

Maybe we should have tried marriage counseling. [opening of The Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage]

               ★                    

I had so many questions I wasn't going to ask him. I wasn't going to show my hand.

And then it hit me. 

We weren't on the same team. We were on opposing sides, circling each other, waiting to see who was going to crack first. [56% of The Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage]

 

 

The Serial Killers Guide to Marriage by Asia MacKay

Bantam, 2025

Mystery/Suspense; 334 pgs

Source: Publisher via NetGalley for an honest review

I wasn't smashing the patriarchy; I was killing it. Literally.

Hazel and Fox are an ordinary married couple with a baby. Except for one small thing: they're murderers. Well, they used to be. They had it all. An enviable London lifestyle, five-star travels, and plenty of bad men to rid from the world. Then Hazel got pregnant.

Now, they’re just another mom-and-dad-and-baby. They gave up vigilante justice for life in the suburbs: arranged play dates instead of body disposals, diapers over daggers, mommy conversations instead of the sweet seduction right before a kill. Hazel finds her new life terribly dull. And the more she forces herself to play her monotonous, predictable role, the more she begins to feel that murderous itch again.

Meanwhile, Fox has really taken to being a father. Always the planner, he loves being five steps ahead of everyone and knowing exactly what’s coming around the bend. Plus, if anyone can understand Hazel needing one more kill, it’s Fox. But then Hazel kills someone without telling Fox. And when police show up at their door, Hazel realizes it will take everything she has to keep her family together. [from the publisher]

My thoughts: The Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage was an entertaining read, not to be taken too seriously. It was a touch dark and macabre, at times funny, and surprisingly somewhat relatable. Not the murdering part. That wasn't relatable. If you strip away the serial killer part, the issues our protagonists struggle with are not unusual in terms of adjusting to life and marriage with a baby. It is a life changing experience, and it completely upends the life they had been living. It's an adjustment Haze (as Fox calls her) is having a hard time making. She loves her daughter very much, but she also feels like she has lost a part of herself. At one point in the novel, Fox thinks Haze may be depressed, and, honestly, I wondered if she might have mild case of postpartum depression. 

I did not find Haze or Fox to be particularly likeable characters (I'm not sure I was supposed to--and that's okay), but I did find their story compelling. At times it felt like watching a train wreck. Mostly I just wanted to shake them and force them to sit down and talk to each other truthfully. Haze really hadn't meant to kill that man. Well, maybe she  had thought about it a little. She should have come out and told Fox about it right away. Fox's parents showing up on their doorstep was a complete surprise, and Fox keeping their ultimatum a secret from his wife didn't help. All their secrets kept adding up, snowballing from there.

My favorite character in the novel besides little Bibi who is the daughter of Haze and Fox, was Jenny, a mother who befriends Haze over the course of the novel. Jenny is not in the best of places mentally or financially when they first meet, but I think she ended up being really good for Haze. Matty was another favorite, and I appreciated the way the author incorporated his character throughout the novel.  In a way, I felt like his character grounded Haze.

It took a few chapters before The Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage took off for me, but when it finally did, I had a hard time putting it down. The tension increased, the stakes kept getting higher, and it was just a matter of time before Fox and Haze would have to confront one another. As others have said, the novel does have a Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibe (if you are familiar with the movie or television series). I came away from the novel wondering if it counted as a mystery/thriller or was it a dark and twisted rom com, but have decided it does not really matter. It was a fun read. Thank you to everyone who voted for this one in my February TBR List poll! (Be sure to stop by tomorrow to vote in March's poll!)

Does this sound like something you would enjoy? If you have read it, what did you think? 

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. It is hosted by Linda Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Jen from That’s What I’m Talking About. Join in by answering this week's question in the comments or on your own blog.

Which books are you looking forward to reading this spring? (March-May)?

I am excited about many of the upcoming book club picks this spring for the clubs I am in. Those are about the only ones I can predict with near certainty I will read. I hope to fit in other books I am looking forward to as well, but today I thought I would focus on some of the spring book club selections. Unfortunately, the May list isn't available yet, so this list just covers March and April. 

• Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji (March - Mystery Book Club)
• Ida, In Love or in Trouble by Veronica Chambers (March - Historical Fiction Book Club)
• Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott (March - Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club - I thought I'd try the group out since I want to read the book.)
• The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos by Melissa De La Cruz (April - Diverse Romance Book Club)
• Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa (April - Cellar Door Book Club)
• All the Good People Here by Ashley Flowers (April - Mystery Book Club)

I am going to miss March's Cellar Door Book Club, so am deciding if I will follow through with reading the March selection, Tell the Wolves I'm Home Carol Rifka Brunt, or put it off and read it when the mood strikes. It does sound good though, so maybe it will be sooner than later. The Diverse Romance Book Club is reading a contemporary romance, The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava, in March, which I read last summer and loved. Do I have time to re-read it? I may try but have not decided for sure. The rest are all books I definitely hope to read for my upcoming book clubs meetings.

I also plan to read Steel's Edge (The Edge #4) by Ilona Andrews for the COYER Ilona Andrews' Edge and Inn Keeper read-a-long in April (I am currently reading Fate's Edge which is March's book).

What are you looking forward to reading this spring? 

Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

How much time does blogging take out of your life weekly?  (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

It feels like a lot sometimes, especially when you add in visiting other blogs. I follow quite a few blogs, and I also do my best to visit all the blogs of those who comment on my posts or those participating in the memes I participate in. I do not always succeed, but I make an effort. I have never really paid much attention to the actual amount of time I spend blogging per week. Some days I am able to get onto the computer to work on my blog and other days not at all. There are days I can fit in five minutes while other days an hour or two. I do a lot of the prep work on the weekends if I am able. Ideally, I would be way ahead in prepping, but I just don't have that kind of time to dedicate to doing so. Some days or weeks, I am lucky if a post goes up at all. Blogging is a hobby for me, something I do for fun, and so isn't always a priority as a result.

How much time do you spend blogging? Do you dedicate time each day or get to it when you can?

 

 I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and tell me what you are reading and are up to!

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© 2025, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Bookish Mewsings: The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

Gallery/Saga Press; 2023 

Horror/Historical; 570 pgs 

Source: Own TBR

Gracetown, Florida, summer 1950.

Robert Stephen Jones Jr. is sent to Gracetown School for Boys for kicking a white boy’s leg. But the Gracetown School for Boys isn’t just any reform school. As Robert finds, it’s a segregated school that is haunted from the boys who have died there. The Reformatory is an eerie, frightening novel that explores the horrors of our history. [from the publisher]

One of the members of the Historical Fiction Book Club recommended this book to our group after having read it for her Philosophical Horror Book Club. It had been voted as their favorite book in 2023. I can see why. Tananarive Due's writing is beautiful and her ability to put the reader right into every scene of the novel is nothing but masterful. I could feel the emotions of her characters, the tension and fear, as well as the love Gloria and her brother, Robert, had for each other. The novel was both chilling and thought-provoking.

The Gracetown School for Boys, aka the Reformatory, was more than just a juvenile detention facility. It was an institution and business that was an integral part of the Gracetown community. It provided resources and financial support through the labor of the children imprisoned there. The entire town was dependent in some way on the Reformatory, and the people of Gracetown were complicit in the cruelties and abuses that took place there. Is it any wonder than that it is filled with ghosts of those wronged? Tananarive Due does not gloss over the harsh realities of the Jim Crow South during the 1950's. 

Robert is only twelve when he is sent to the Reformatory after trying to defend his sister from the white teenage son of a very influential local landowner. He is sentenced to six months and without a proper trial. His sister goes above and beyond to try and help her brother but to no avail. She is thwarted at every turn by a system that is designed to oppress and control anyone who does not have white skin. She is determined to get him out at all costs, even if it puts her own life in danger.

Sometimes it was easy to forget that Gloria is only a teenager herself, given the responsibilities on her shoulder. Gloria and Robert's mother passed away awhile ago and their father is on the run and living in Chicago, having been falsely accused of raping a white woman. Everyone knows he would never get a fair trial. Robert Sr. was respected in the Black community for being an activist and fighting for civil rights. You can imagine how that went over with the white community at the time. Gloria is raising her brother, having quit school and work to support them.

Young Robert had led a relatively sheltered life compared to some of the children at the Reformatory. What he may lack in so-called street smarts, he more than makes up for in courage and is very smart. He also has the unique ability of seeing haints, or ghosts. It doesn't take long for Robert to understand that the Reformatory is a place of death, where many kids have died, often in unnatural ways. His time at the Reformatory is anything but easy. He is taken under the wing of a couple of boys who become his friends, learning to navigate his new reality, even if unable to completely escape the abuse and neglect all the kids suffer through. Warden Haddock, the superintendent and person in charge, is the worst of the worst. He takes a cruel joy in the harm he causes. In the novel, Robert finds himself caught between the haints and Warden Haddock, both wanting to use him for their own purposes.

Although The Reformatory is fictionalized, with fictional characters and a fictional setting, a mention to a real historical figure here and there, a lot of research went into reflecting a true portrait of what life was like during that time period. Young Robert in the novel is named after a relative of the author's who had died at Florida's Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Robert in the book is not based on her relative, although his story did inspire the writing of the novel. A four year project lead by forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle in 2012 to uncover the graves of and identify those buried at Dozier led to Robert Stephens finally getting a proper resting place and his family being able to say goodbye.

Since I read this novel for my Historical Fiction Book Club, our focus was on the history in the novel--which plays a significant part in the overall story. The horror aspect of the novel was indeed terrifying, but the greatest threat was not necessarily that of the haints, but of the humans themselves. Not too different from reality, really. The fact that places like this existed, especially targeting children, Black or Indigenous, is deplorable. Unfortunately, even today, maltreatment of children in juvenile facilities is not unheard of, even if more socially frowned upon.

There was not a dull moment in the novel. Tension was high throughout. I felt the first half of the novel was a bit slower than the second, as the author built a strong and necessary foundation, weaving in the injustice and cruelties of racism during that time period. The haints, or ghosts, are very much an important part of this novel, with their own story to tell, and make The Reformatory all the more poignant. As chilling and terrifying as the events in this novel were, I want to point out that there were also some positives: the community rallying together to protect Gloria as the Klan threatened her and Miz Lottie, Miz Lottie and her boys in general for their support of Gloria and Robert, the attorney for confronting the white judge in an attempt to to help Robert, the kind music teacher, Miss Hamilton, and the special bond and love Gloria and her brother Robert share, among the most memorable.  

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© 2025, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Can't Wait to Read Wednesday: Kills Well with Others / The Dream Hotel / Six Weeks in Reno

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings 

to spotlight upcoming release we are excited about that we have yet to read.

Here are three upcoming releases that caught my attention and immediately ended up on my wish list I am looking forward to reading all of them. 

Kills Well with Others (Killers of a Certain Age #2) by Deanna Raybourn
Release Date: March 11, 2025 by Berkley

“Much like fine wine, battle-hardened assassins grow better with age.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner

Four women assassins, senior in status—and in age—sharpen their knives for another bloody good adventure in this riotous follow-up to the New York Times bestselling sensation Killers of a Certain Age.

After more than a year of laying low, Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, and Natalie are called back into action. They have enjoyed their time off, but the lack of excitement is starting to a professional killer can only take so many watercolor classes and yoga sessions without itching to strangle someone...literally. When they receive a summons from the head of the elite assassin organization known as the Museum, they are ready tackle the greatest challenge of their careers.

Someone on the inside has compiled a list of important kills committed by Museum agents, connected to a single, shadowy figure, an Eastern European gangster with an iron fist, some serious criminal ambition, and a tendency to kill first and ask questions later. This new nemesis is murdering agents who got in the way of their power hungry plans and the aging quartet of killers is next.

Together the foursome embark on a wild ride across the globe on the double mission of rooting out the Museum’s mole and hunting down the gangster who seems to know their next move before they make it. Their enemy is unlike any they’ve faced before, and it will take all their killer experience to get out of this mission alive.  [From the Publisher]

The first book in this series was such fun! I look forward to reading the second installment. 

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
Release Date: March 4, 2025 by Pantheon

From Laila Lalami—the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a “maestra of literary fiction” (NPR)—comes a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.

Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most, her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days.

The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.

Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier. Lalami asks how much of ourselves must remain private if we are to remain free, and whether even the most invasive forms of surveillance can ever capture who we really are.  [From the Publisher]

This sounds both scary and intriguing.

Six Weeks in Reno by Lucy H. Hedrick
Release Date: March 4, 2025 by Lake Union Publishing

A woman at a “divorce ranch” in 1930s Reno strives to live life on her own terms in a powerful novel about heartbreak, hope, and the allure of the unknown.

September 27, 1931. Today my new life begins.

After twenty years in a loveless marriage, Evelyn Henderson will do anything to escape her stifling suburban life. She boards a train for Reno, Nevada, a former frontier town that’s booming thanks to “six-weekers”: women from all walks of life who take up residence there just long enough to secure an uncontested divorce—a right they don’t yet have in their home states.

Evelyn settles into the Flying N Ranch and soon bonds with her housemates, most of whom have never ventured this far from home—or from societal conventions. The Biggest Little City in the World offers a heady taste of freedom for the horseback riding in denim and fringe by day and being courted by dance-hall cowboys by night. But underneath the glamour are the grim realities of Depression-era America, as well as the devastating consequences of escape.

As Evelyn is drawn out of her shell by a Hollywood-handsome wrangler and challenged by her new friends to reengage with the world in all its heartbreaking complexity, one thing becomes six weeks will change her life forever.  [From the Publisher]

Yet one of the many things about history I know little about and find myself curious now that I know a little something. 

Do any of these books interest you? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to reading?

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© 2025, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.