If Olivie Blake writes it, I'll read it. Loved this collection of short stories. It was perfect in every way. Cannot wait to reread this already.

Some of these short stories were amazing (and I loved), others... not so much. I loved that each of them had some sort of fantasy element included, however sometimes the stories were so short it became nonsensical? I don't know that may just be me, usually I love Olivie Blake's writing so I don't know what went wrong in my head here. Many of these short stories have the potential to become full on novels and I think for most of them, they'd be better as a full novel instead of a short story. All in all, I did enjoy a bunch of them.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this as an arc.

A collection of short fantasies that transform you to another world.
Some are much more engaging than others. There was one short story I skipped because it didn’t make any sense, and had no plot. Otherwise loved the book.

This was such a great read. The reimagining of classic fairy tales is always fun, and his went above and beyond. Definitely a must read if you're a fan of retellings with a twist.

I’d like to thank Tor and Netgalley for letting me read this ahead of its release, I had a magical time with each of the short stories.

I rarely want to read short story collection books because they’re so short I can’t fully get into them, but when I do, I take 30 minutes every other week to read one story, dragging out the time till I finish the whole book. After I started Januaries, I had to force myself to stop after each one and tell myself to wait until the next morning to continue in order to savour the book.

Each story was so different, I enjoyed them all in different ways. The writing had me enchanted and I don’t think I’ve read a short story book before with just one writer that has managed to be so full of variation without it being messy.

Blake really delivered an excellent book and I cannot wait to reread it in the future.

I'm not the biggest fan of short stories, but what can I say when I have the oportunity to read an ARC written by Olivie Blake?

In general I've enjoyed this stories, but I felt like some of them are really short and in the need of more development and had the chance to become full books.

There are no conexions between the stories but all of them have some kind of fantasy element which didn't bother me but usually I conect more when are some kind of bridge between them.

My favourite was "The Audit" following "The Wishing Bridge" and "The Animation Games" right behind.

I love Olivie Blake and I knew going into Januaries that I was going to love it. This set of short stories ranged from whimsical to haunting, and were all so immersive and beautifully written.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. 3.5. I enjoyed these short stories. There are some I would LOVE to read as full books. Some that I thought could have been longer. I just love her writing style.

There were some short stories I feel could have been omitted like the essay about marriage. I also felt like a lot of these stories, you don’t really understand what’s happening until more than halfway through it. Like “to Make a man” or “animation games”. But there are stories here that stay with you.

I would recommend. It’s a fun ride. Chaos Theory was my favorite and it should be a book. I also enjoyed the sprinkling of magic in all stories.

Ps. “I am very extroverted even if I am deeply antisocial.”

At the beginning it says “this is my mixtape for you” and that’s exactly what this felt like.
It felt like taking a look into Olivie Blake’s mind and I enjoyed every second. I loved some stories more than others but all in all this was a great mix. I think my favorite was The Wish Bridge, it left me staring at a wall for an hour afterwards just contemplating everything lol. As always the writing is incredible, the stories are unique, and I loved the chaos. Can’t wait to read anything and everything she writes next!

I love short stories and these were fantastic..
Some whimsical, some gothic, others sci-fantasy ..
About love, about desire, about betrayal, about magic..
Each story well crafted .. with different writing..
My favorites are the wish bridge, the audit, fate and consequences and monsterlove
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Thank you Netgalley, Author, Publisher, for this arc in excange of my honest opinion

Given that this a collection of stories, there were some that were appealing to me and some that were not. I think this is worth reading around the fall season as most of the stories have a spook or gothic feel to them. Others are more whimsical! Overall, this is like bedtime stories but for adults and I like that concept despite usually preferring a longer book.

Thank you Netgalley for the E-Arc of this book!!

Olivie Blake did it again you guys! I just love this woman’s writing style so much. Usually I’m not the biggest fan of short story collections, but this one was so well done (and I’m not saying this because I’m biased). This was so well thought out. The vibes and themes throughout the collection were immaculate. I can’t wait to see the physical copy of this book so I can reread and annotate accordingly!!

Olivie ilyy and you can do no wrong!! <33

Thank you for giving me this arc!

3.5/5⭐️

I absolutely loved the concept of this book. I’m a sucker for short stories. The writing of course is stunning and every story has its own twist to it.
I will say it was hard to get into some of the stories and felt a bit confused but my favorite one is The Wish Bridge.

Januaries by Olivie Blake - review

3.75⭐️

Thank you so much Netgalley and Tor for the e-arc of the Januaries by Olivie Blake
I have only read Masters of Death by Olivie Blake and loved that one, so I was really curious to read more…

Januaries is a short stories collection by Olivie Blake the stories are divided into 4 parts, each part named after a season.

Normally I don’t read that many short stories, because I prefer to read a longer story or book. So I am more immersed into the story and plot and more invested into the characters.
That is also something I noticed with these anthologies, because some were really short I just found myself less invested.
And I would have preferred some to be a bit longer.

However, they are written soo beautifully and whimsical. I just loved them. Especially reading a short story on holiday was just the perfect way to end the day.

Olivie Blakes writing is just so immersive and spellbinding. The lyrical and evocative writing really made the fairytales come to live.

The collection really expresses how broad the imagination and storytelling talents of Olivie Blake reach. Some of these stories were beautiful fairytales while others were a bit gruesome, while again another took you on a multiverse adventure.

My favourite stories were:
- The Wish Bridge
- The Audit
- Monsterlove
- Fates and Consequences

I definitely recommend this one if you want to read a lot of different short stories with amazing whimsical, and immersive writing.
This would definitely be a great book if you are in a reading slump because you can just read a short story.

Release date: 8th of October

i've been a big fan olivie blake for a few years now and can definitely say her strong suit is full length novels compared to short stories. her writing is the kind that needs to be fleshed out and lets the readers get to the nitty gritty to really be invested. i found myself drifting away from this read during these stories but i can still appreciate blake's writing which is astounding no matter the length.

Actual rating: 2,5 stars

I have always had a love/hate relationship with Olivie Blake’s books. I find their premise very intriguing and original, but each time I end up disappointed by their execution. This collection of short stories was no exception to the rule. Some were very good discoveries that I would have liked more of, but most were simply too long or too far-fetched for me. I also accepted the fact that Olivie Blake’s writing was simply not for me. My favourite story by far was Chaos Theory!

Rating for each story:
The Wish Bridge: 4 stars
The Audit: 2,5 stars
Sucker For Pain: 3,5 stars
The Animation Games: 2 stars
The House: 3 stars
To Make A Man: 3 stars
Preexisting Condition: 2 stars
Monsterlove: 2 stars
How To Dispel Friends and Curse People: 2 stars
Fates and Consequences: 4 stars
Sous Vide: 2,5 stars
Sensual Tales for Carnal Pleasures: 2 stars
Chaos Theory: 5 stars
A Year In January: 2 stars

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

🅐 🅡 🅒 • 🅡 🅔 🅥 🅘 🅔 🅦

There is not a single thing that Olivie Blake could right that I wouldn’t read. I love her writing style, the world she brings us into and this book was just as wonderful as all of her other works. We have a collection of short stories in which I enjoyed each of them for their own reasons. I really loved, if we need to mention a few, A Year In January, Sucker For Pain and Fates & Consequences. If you love anthologies and are looking for something to reach for in that department, I would pick up this great read when it releases in October 2024.

Thank you @netgalley , @torpublishinggroup and author for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 ★

I don’t believe there are any limits to the elegance which Olivie Blake writes with. Her words, her lyrical constructed sentences, the messages behind the stories, but at the same time she’s one of those authors where her writer is very subjective amongst readers, and that’s what this anthology felt like for me! Subjective.

There were quite a few stories I did enjoy, but there were some that put me in a slump and I ended up just skipping them altogether. I do love seeing the creative mind that Olivie Blake has and all the different stories she has created over the years come together in this anthology, but subjectively some just weren’t my taste (and that’s okay!).

The ones I did enjoy were:

the wish bridge
the audit
sucker for pain
to make a man
fates and consequences
chaos theory
a year in january

In each of these I found I resonated with the messages (or at least found them far more interesting than the ones I disliked), as well as connected with the characters. Grammatically, some were interesting to read because they didn’t follow a typical grammatical layout, but that’s what made them more intriguing!

Overall, this was a great anthology of unique stories from a creative writer, and I wish I enjoyed more of the stories, but not every one is for every reader so I’m sure there will be some that I disliked that others will love! 💕

I was honestly not expecting to like this book nearly as much as I did! I soft DNFed the atlas six a few years ago & I don’t typically read short stories, so I wasn’t expecting to love this, but I truly did. These short stories were SO well done. To have such well fleshed out characters & plots in so few pages is a huge feat & Olivie Blake did it so beautifully. These stories were funny, enchanting, mysterious, risqué, & so entertaining to read. Each story had such an interesting message too. I was really really impressed by this book.

Thank you so very much to NetGalley & the publisher for the eARC, this was such a treat to read!!

With any short story collections there are highs and lows. there were some stories I really liked like the first and last ones, but especially towards the middle, the stories needed more development.