Olivie Blake does it again. I loved this collection of magical short stories so much more than I thought I would - to be truthful, I’m not the biggest fan of short story collections - but I AM a fan of Olivie Blake and therefore had no problem wanting to pick this up. They were spectacular.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this Audio ARC Copy!

All in all I really enjoyed this anthology series. Each and every tale was fun and and really reflected the quality writing that we always see from Olivie Blake. Usually with anthologies I like some of most of the stories but in this case I loved every single one.

This may be my new favorite Olivie Blake book.
It is a collection of stories and they vary from whimsical to gothic to science fiction. The voice actors were all impeccable. Every story was superb. I wish I could read it again for the first time.

Januraries is a fantastically creative collection. It's very well-written, just delicious prose, and it was helped massively by the set of narrators who told it. It's love and magic and betrayal. There's soul mates who keep coming back to kill each other. There's a wishing bridge, crewed by a magical being who's being pursued by a cute guy, against the odds. A mysterious, non-human being becomes a pretty good roommate. Across the dimensions, rivals must assassinate each version of each other. This is a collection I'd keep coming back to, for inspiration, both in the breadth of ideas and creativity, and for the prose. And in some cases, the poetry. There's one fantastical poem about the challenges of motherhood that enchanted me. This one is very worth a read.

I enjoy Olivie Blake's writing and this collection of short stories did not disappoint It has a little bit of everything throughout. There is a little something for everyone. If you enjoy adult fairy tales be sure to read this. The narration on this was excellent and kept me engaged. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ALC.
4 Star

I love Olivie Blake's writing so I just had to read Januaries. I absolutely loved this anthology! All of the stories were amazing. Each one grabbed my attention from the first line and never let go. I really liked how attached I could get to these characters in such a short amount of time. These stories were all so different but still felt so natural to read all together. This is a must read if you like whimsical fantasy and lyrical prose.

The audiobook narration was wonderful. Each narrator did an amazing job bringing the characters to life.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Knowing going into this that it is a short story collection means that I was in fact anticipating some to be winners and some to be flops. That’s what this came down to for me; some of it worked and some of it didn’t. I’ve loved Olivie Blake’s novels and I think she has two definite strengths in her storytelling- infusing her narrative style with whimsy, and developing strong characters. Adapting to short story concepts she still does both these things well… just sometimes it’s poignant and sometimes it’s not. Still overall a very enjoyable read

As much as I liked the narrator, I think this book wasn't for me, or possibly didn't work for me as an audiobook. I didn't feel like I could get into any of the stories, and didn't really care about the characters, which is odd, as I very much enjoyed Blake's other writing. But I think this is a me issue rather than a book issue. Not all books are for everyone, and that's definitely okay! This one wasn't for me, but I know that other individuals will likely enjoy it more. The narration was excellent, just not the right stories for me.

These short stories are so great. This is my first Olivie Blake book (though I have others on my TBR) and I loved all the various stories. The opening story about the bridge stole my heart right at the beginning. Some of my favorite stories are: The Wish Bridge, Sucker for Pain, and The Animation Games. These stories are unique looks at life, death, love, and revenge.
I also really enjoyed the various narrators in the audiobook -it helps all the stories come to life.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance audiobook- all opinions are my own. Sorry it took me a bit to get to this review as I work through my backlog!

I love a good collection of short stories so when I saw this one on Netgalley I knew I wanted to try it out. As always, there will be a few you love and a few you really don't enjoy. I've never read this author before even though I know she has written some popular books, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. As far as writing goes, I enjoyed the stories in this book for their creativity. There were a couple that just weren't my sort of thing but there were a few that I absolutely loved!

My favorites:
The Wish Bridge
Chaos Theory
To Make a Man
The House

Overall, great collection of short stories that span all four seasons and genres/themes/topics. Part of me wishes I could re-read this collection again for the first time because a few of these stories are just so darn good!!

Januaries by Olivie Blake was such an interesting read—definitely one of the more unique anthologies I’ve picked up. It’s full of magic, love, betrayal, and even a bit of poetry, blending fairy tales, heists, and surreal moments where anything feels possible.

Honestly, though, my feelings were all over the place. Some stories completely pulled me in—they were funny, emotional, and beautifully written. Others? Not so much. A lot of them felt too short, like they were just getting good and then… bam, it was over. I kept thinking, “Wait, that’s it?” It left me wanting more, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that a few of these stories would’ve worked better as full novels.

That said, Olivie Blake’s writing is stunning. It’s poetic, layered, and full of depth, and I loved how every story had a touch of fantasy. I also really liked how the book was divided by seasons—it gave the whole collection a nice structure. My favorite was The Wish Bridge, but overall, it felt like a bit of a mixed bag for me.

I listened to the audiobook, and while I enjoyed it, I think the format might’ve added to the abruptness.

If you’re already a fan of Olivie Blake, I think you’ll find a lot to love here. If you’re new to her work, though, this might not be the best place to start. For me, it made me curious to try one of her full-length books next—I feel like her writing might really shine with more room to breathe.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review the audiobook.

Olivie Blake is delivering some of the best sci/fantasy today and this collection is a perfect example of that. Her stories hit that perfect balance of world building, excitement, action and romance. If you like sci fi fantasy at all, this is a great book to pick up because of its mix of shorter and longer stories. Highly recommend. Also, the audiobook is so well done!

I thought this was a really interesting and fun set of fantasy short stories. My favorites were Sucker for Pain where the servant of a witch becomes a vampire and gains her own power, The Animation Games where two betrothed take advantage of their resurrected afterlife to hunt one another now, and Chaos Theory, the longest story in the collection, where the actions of two individuals in one universe have ripple effects across their lives in four other alternative universes. I become a bigger and bigger fan of Olivie Blake with everything I read.

I appreciated that each short story had a different narrator, which made it easier to remember which story I was listening to as I paused and unpaused the audiobook.

I really enjoy audiobooks, and I've just recently discovered Olivie Blake. I'm beginning to love the way she writes and the emotion she can make a reader feel. Januaries is a book that the multi-cast narration brings to life for the reader. Each story was written so well, and short stories are one of the most difficult for a writer in my opinion. The writer has to pack a full story arch into just a few pages. There's no room for fluff, and the reader has to stay engaged. Blake excelled at the short form. I was hooked from the very first story. I was left wanting to know more about these characters and hear more stories with them in it. Again, I'm new to Olivie Blake, so I still have a lot to discover. There was so much imagination and storytelling here, it was an enjoyable read.

I think it was a smart move on the part of whoever decided how to set up the audio to have different narrators for each story. While the reader can tell all the stories are from the mind of the same author, having a narrator tailored to each story was much more effective than trying to make a narrator's style fit all of the stories. Pacing and tenor was all done really well by the various narrators. If the reader pays attention, they may even hear the author narrate one of their own stories which was a cool little Easter egg. Listening to the audiobook version of this, my opinion is that it brings the book to life and gives the reader a different perspective of the novel. I recommend listening to the audiobook, it is so well done.
 
Please be advised I received an Advance Reader Copy of the audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this short story collection! I had a good feeling that I'd like it, but I ended up loving it. The mix of mythology and original worldbuilding throughout the stories kept me engaged and always listening for the twists on familiar tales. The narrators gave great performances and were well matched to their stories. I highly encourage you to put this on your winter TBR!

I really enjoyed this book. There were so many different kinds of stories. There was magic, fantasy, sci-fi, and just plain weirdness. It reminded me of Neil Gaiman in a time when w need to replace Gaiman. Olivie Blake is almost ready for that. There was a story or two that I didn't follow or understand but most of them were pretty great.
I received an ARC of the audio book and I really enjoyed listening to the book. There were a variety of narrators that matched the narrators that truly brought the books to life and I would advise listening to the book.

Listening on 2x speed, I had no issues with any of the narration.

This just did not work for me. The first story or two was.... fine? But then they just progressively become harder for me to care about. I know that short stories make it difficult to build any connection with characters,. It was hard to maintain interest, and even afterwards, I can't really recall any of the stories.

Overall: 2 stars (it was ok)

**Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for the free ALC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance listening copy in exchange for an honest review!

There’s something about Olivie Blake’s writing that makes me insane, and I don’t know how to describe it. She’s who I turn to when I want to read something that is just Vibing, and maybe I can get a little no thoughts head empty about it but I simply do not care!!!!

Olivie Blake is at her best, imo, when she is writing standalones and short stories, and for me, every one of these was a banger. Some were stronger than others, as you’d expect from a short story collection, but I liked the way they were organized and I thought they felt well-balanced in terms of order/content/etc. I appreciate that she’s not afraid to get a little strange and weird with the content and I love that she can put a bunch of emotions into a cauldron and it works. I love the whimsy and melancholy. Opening with “The Wish Bridge” and closing with “A Year in January” felt like the right move and the illustrations are so lovely.

I liked the audio for this a lot, and it was neat to have a multi-cast narration. Each story is pretty different from each other, but having a change in narrator between stories definitely helped keep things separate. I don’t necessarily know if I feel like the cast as a collective worked for me, but I enjoyed it on the whole.

I'll admit, I am usually apprehensive about story collections, but I'm happy to say I was wrong about this one. From paranormal fables about vampires and revenants, to bittersweet fairytales about starcrossed lovers and unavoidable fates, this collection completely captivated me. Olivie Blake has become an absolute mainstay in the adult/new adult fantasy genre because of her ability to capture readers with both brilliant premise and prose. Incredibly enjoyable.

I do not typically read short stories. I always want to, I figure it would be easy to read something quick here and there, but it never works out that way. I feel a lack of connection to the stories I think which keeps me from progressing too far in the book.

However, when I learned that Olivie Blake was releasing a short story collection I knew an exception would have to be made.

Overall I think Januaries is a very successful collection. I like how it is separated into seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, with about 3-4 stories in each season.

While I think, each season has some standouts, the season with the best, in my opinion, is Autumn. I look back at that set of stories and I think it's the one that varied the most in terms of being serious and funny and a little chaotic.

Probably my favorite story of the bunch was The Animation Games featured in Summer and dealt with a pair of lovers who challenged each other equally in their love and hate for one another.

As far as the audiobook is concerned, I liked that there were various narrators throughout. Each of them did great with their respective stories. However, special shout-out to the narrator of Monsterlove for the supreme level of commitment to the character/story.

While not necessarily a short story collection convert, Januaries certainly provided enough to keep me interested and I appreciated the varied genres and subjects along with shorter stories mixed in with the longer. If you're someone who is interested in reading Olivie Blake but maybe don't know where to start Januaries gives a great snippet of her overall work.