Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY TO JANUARIES!

So as I dod with all anthologies let me talk about the book as a whole and then get into the individual stories within. I REALLY enjoyed this book. I thought it would be the first anthology where I loved every single short story within because it had such a strong beginning and middle but my connection with the stories and the characters began to dwindle. Not in a bad way but around the 12th story I like lost a bit of interest. The 13th story picked it back up again but it was the longest of the bunch and honestly very confusing (since I was listening to it as an audiobook) that it wasn't until like the second part of that story that I realized what was happening. Overall though this is one of the best anthologies I've ever read and I'm excited to buy a physical copy of this book.

1. The Wish Bridge: Oh god... this story made me cry in the middle of my workday (I was listening to it during my lunch hour). I loved how he sacrificed his own wandering to let her go free AND SHE WENT BACK TO HIM TO LET HIM WANDER AGAIN TOO. God they were perfect for each other.

2. The Audit: This was so wild and unhinged and I totally get it because I too would not know what to do with that kind of money. It also gave me the feeling of needing a therapist (I know I need one but this kind of solidified that I should).

3. Sucker For Pain: OH MY GODDDDD THIS WAS EVERYTHING!!!! THE WAY NORA RESENTED BEING CALLED PET BU EDMUND COMPLETELY EMBRACED IT ONCE SHE MADE HIM HERS. OMG THE POLYAMORY TOO. SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS.

4. The Animation Games: Probably one of the funniest stories and also really sweet in a gruesome way?? I loved how they kept score of how many times they ended each other. I love how they had different powers each time and I loved how he recognized her even when she had shapeshifted into someone else. They were toxic and cute and I throughly enjoyed this.

5. The House: Short, sweet and full of uplifting analogies about life and marriage with someone.

6.To Make A Man: YOOO STOP MAKING MY GREEK MYTHOS STORIES SO SAD. I knew right away that she was Cassandra but I had no idea who he was. Their love was tragic and perfect and I'm glad they were both technically okay/alive? in the end but damn.... I wish they could have had more time together.

7. Preexisting Condition: This was so funny and odd. It was like a Frankenstein story but... not? At the same time. I couldn't tell if they all loved each other or hated each other but I did like how it sounded like they'd just constantly reanimate each other because they do care about one another lol.

8. Monster Love: This was.... interesting. I couldn't tell if she was talking about herself and hate/love or if she was talking about what it's like to have a kid. Listening to this part of the audiobook was an... experience (especially at 2x speed). A lot of words were repeated and there was laughing and like crying too. It certainly was a trip.

9. How to Dispel Friends and Curse People From an Aspiring Poet to A Witch: This was so goddamn cute. I loved how she called him my idiot in the end and grew to love him because he cared enough to listen to her, help her, and came back to talk to her even when she turned him into animals.

10. Fate and Consequences: Oh god.... the narrator of this one.... So damn good. The voice he put on for Hades was incredible. The story itself was kind of funny too. I enjoyed how the Fates accidentally cutting someones thread too early still resulted in them going to the underworld to be punished.

11. Sous Vide: HELL YEAH?!!? A girl feeding demons??? What more could you want (besides her ending her loved and feeding him to the demons too. That was pretty badass lol).

12. Sensual Tales For Carnal Pleasures: I anticipated the betrayal/the reveal of who the girl was but it was still sad when she ended him. They still get to see each other on occasion though so I guess that's better than nothing.

13. Chaos Theory or The Free Agents guide To Transitive Thermodynamics: This was the longest story and also one of the more confusing ones when it first started out. Each chapter is told from the different POV of someone. There were 5 (?) different ones and one POV was a cat which I didn't even realize until it was said out loud. Each story had it's own ending though because ultimately each of their stories were connected. I love how the assassin Ani (?) spoke to each of her other selves in the other timelines and I loved how her own story ended. It was very triumphant I fell. I was a bit confused though with what happened with Violetta and Hattie (?) at the end. Not sure how Hattie got to Violetta's world.

14. A Year In January: This was very sweet. They had such a nice friendship and just like with the story "To Make A Man" I wish they had more time together. I also was a little confused as to whether January was like... a foreign diplomat or like an alien or something. I think that got lost in translation for me as I was listening to it.

Audiobook Thoughts-
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC. All opinions are my own

A book of short stories that is kept fresh by multiple narrators. It will keep the listener entertained and on on their toes listening for the different characters or story changes. I also found it easy to skip to a story that appealed to me at the moment and easily find my way back from where I started within the book chapters.

The Wish Bridge, Chaos Theory, and A Year in January are my favorites from this collection. Chaos Theory was a real challenge for me to figure out at first as multiverse is new to me. I believe those that love both fantasy and short stories will enjoy Januaries: Stories of Love, Magic & Betrayal.

This was such a fun listen. I've read a few books by Olivie Blake and I have enjoyed them greatly. This audiobook didn't disappoint! This book is full of short stories that approach love, betrayal, and magic.

The narration was wonderful. There are a ton of narrators so every story felt like it had its own voice. The stories were brought to life beautifully.

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, Olivie Blake, and the host of narrators for the love eAudioARC of Januaries.

I fell in love with the writing of Olivie Blake in her Atlas series - the nuanced characters with layers upon layers of motivation & history; the rich magic systems with ever-new manifestations & applications that are all self consistent within each world she creates; the driving narratives & deep investment she builds within the reader for each character. Each of these are in full force in this delightful collection of short stories, and the myriad narrators (a move I usually don't care for) serve only to further heighten the listening experience. My only hesitation in giving a 5 star rating is that the last several stories felt muddled and honestly melted together - not in terms of overlapping continuity, but in that I periodically forgot whether I'd finished one and begun the next just yet...

4.5 stars for this short story/novella anthology! Read by a full cast, including the author.
"The Wish Bridge" read by Stephanie Nemeth Parker
"The Audit" read by David Monteith
"Sucker for Pain"read by Ferdelle Capistrano
"The Animation Games" read by David Monteith
"The House" read by Olivie Blake
"To Make a Man" read by Stephanie Nemeth Parker
"Preexisting Condition" read by Daniel Henning
"Monsterlove" read by Alex Palting
"How to Dispel Friends and Curse People" read by Daniel Henning
"Fates and Consequences" read by Steve West
"Sous Vide" read by David Monteith
"Sensual Tales for Carnal Pleasures" read by Ferdelle Capistrano
"Chaos Theory" read by Alex Palting
"A Year in January" read by Steve West

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

Not really sure what I was expecting, but this was not it.

I love stories that feature Magicks, love, other worlds, dual timelines, romance, etc…so I thought I’d love this one…
Unfortunately it was largely a miss for me. 🫣🥺

This is a collection of short stories. Some were really good (The bridge guardian/wishing bridge, and the audit). However, many of them I did not care for at all.

They all seemed to have some kind of link to the supernatural or afterlife, or otherworldly…which is fine. But I just really didn’t feel a connection to so many of these. (Some were also VERY SHORT, so I feel like they may have needed more building up in order to even get an understanding of where she was going with the story…) But then again, others were so disliked by me that I couldn’t wait to finish them. 😮

That being said, if these are things that appeal to you, by all means, check this book out. If not, you may want to take a pass on it.

2 1/2 ⭐️⭐️💫 for me, rounded up to 3.

As always, thanks so much to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook, which is due to be released TODAY, 10/15/24.

#Januaries by #OlivieBlake and narrated by a whole cast!

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I haven’t read many short story collections, but several of my favorite authors have been publishing them lately, so I thought I’d give them a try. This was a great place to start, and a pleasant surprise!

I’ve read several of Blake’s previous books (Atlas series, One for my Enemy, Master of Death) and I love her writing style. That same lyricism and atmospheric quality was present in each of these stories - despite how different they all were. Some of these stories felt very whimsical, set in worlds that sounded like lovely places to visit. Others leaned more toward horror, and were perfect for the Halloween season.

I really appreciated the character focus on all sorts of different people. These characters are all very flawed, and often morally grey, and I loved reading about them all. Truly, I am amazed by the creativity Blake shows here - there are so many different stories and settings with a huge variety of influences.

Oh, and I listened to this on audio, which had several different narrators, including the author. If you’re an audiobook person, I’d highly recommend listening to this one - the voices the narrators use bring a lot of drama and life to these characters!

A wonderful collection of short fantasy stories that take the reader on a journey through magic, mythology, life, death, revenge, and tragedy. Beautifully written and narrated by an incredible cast of narrators who each instill emotion and passion into the story.

Some of the stories really stood out and captured my attention (The Wish Bridge and Chaos Theory), most were good, and only a couple didn’t connect for me - but this is often true of collections of short stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you like:
📖 Short Stories
⏳ Various Times/Vibes of Eras in History Fatured
😡 Fuck the Patriachy Vibes
✨ Magic & Magical Realism
🔭 Sci-Fi Vibes
🥺 All the Emotions
❤️ Power of Love

Read this collection of short stories! I listened via audiobook and the full cast narration for the different stories made me so so so happy!

This was my first by this author, and oh my gosh am I glad it was as I got to have a sampling of her different wring styles all in one go that kept me hooked from the very beginning to the very end!

I truly fell in love with these stories with the section: Spring & the first short story The Wish Bridge & honestly the rest of the spring stories! Then, Winter was such a perfect ending to the short stories with Chaos Theory & A Year in January!

I don’t want to say much, because I could gush so much but in doing so, I think it would take some of the magic away from those that read it, so I’ll just say, enjoy the seasons and year of January because I think it’s one that so many will read and enjoy!

Thank you so much to Tor for my e-ARC & gorgeous gifted finished copy, & to Macmillan Audio for my gifted ALC!

Januaries is a collection of new and iconic short stories and novellas so of course some of them were hit or miss for me. My favorites were definitely 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 & 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 drew me in from the start. It’s about a magical bridge that appears every full moon, with a guardian who grants wishes. A wanderer stumbles upon it unprepared and keeps returning. What follows is a blend of magic, miscommunication, unrequited love, and murder. The wanderer’s push for the guardian to make a wish herself added a bittersweet twist.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 is a twisted, obsessive tale of toxic love, murder, and revenge. Think Butcher and Blackbird with eerie reanimations. It’s over-the-top but highly entertaining!

The audiobook is narrated by several narrators, and added a touch to the short stories and really helped to differentiate them from one another. Definitely recommend the audiobook over the physical book on this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC! Januaries by Olivie Blake is a collection of short stories that vary from the monstrous to magical. Each story is told through Olivie Blake's signature prose is materfully voiced by various narrators many of whom will be recognizable to listeners of Blake's other works.

Magic, love, betrayal, grief, wonder, pain…these stories have it all. I loved this book. It’s a fantastic fall read that I can’t recommend highly enough.

It’s a collection of short stories that truly go together - like a good album, or an artfully crafted playlist where each song is its own story, the collection as a whole takes you on a unique and cohesive journey. So Olivie Blake has crafted a unique and tremendous journey for the reader. I do t want to tell you too much about it, because I read it not knowing anything about it other than it was by Olivie Blake and had some of my favorite audiobook narrators, and the discovery was so lovely.

The narrators (nay, voice actors) truly breathed life into these stories. I laughed, I cried, I sat on the edge of my seat. At one point I even had to pull my car over.

Please read these stories. I want to talk to someone about them!!!

This was a four and a half read for me rather than a dove because there was one story where the voice acting choices didn’t really resonate for me and I found myself wanting to skip it, but didn’t want to miss the story. Fortunately, it was short and the story itself was good.

A big thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

Januaries by Olivie Blake is a collection of wonderful short stories. I have only previously read The Atlas Six by Blake and I thought it was okay, a little too chaotic for me, and I gave it 3 stars. This collection of short stories, however, is very good. Overall, I gave it 4 stars, but there are some absolutely stellar stories in this collection. I especially loved The Wish Bridge. That is a 5 star story and it will stay with me, along with the people in the story and their wishes, for a very long time. I think to be a good short story writer is to possess a unique and wonderful gift and Olivie Blake certainly has proven herself to be gifted with this collection of stories. I thoroughly enjoyed this listen and the wonderful narration. Thank you to #NETGALLEY and #MACMILLANAUDIO for my advanced copy.

I always enjoy Olivie Blake's writing and getting multiple short stories from them was great! There were some that I didn't connect with as much as others, but overall I really enjoyed every story in this book and plan to get a hardcopy.

Thank you NetGalley, Olivie Blake, and MacMillan Audio for the audiobook ARC!

4/5 stars
Januaries is an anthology of whimsical short stories ranging from dealing with magic wishes, love and betrayal, and in some cases, death. I'm not a huge short story fan but I love Olivie Blake's writing and was excited to check out this audiobook! I love audiobooks and the narration for these short stories were fantastic.

My favorite stories included The Wish Bridge, Sucker for Pain, and Fate and Consequences. I honestly wish these were longer because they caught my attention despite being so short. I liked how there was a diverse range of what the stories were about, and would definitely reccomend it for those who can sometimes get bored of longer books.

If you're a fan of lyrical writing and whimsical stories, I would definitely reccomend giving the audiobook a listen!

Januaries is a magical anthology from Olivie Blake. The anthology features a wide range of short stories that deal with love, betrayal, fairy tales, magic that comes with a price, and so much more. Some of these stories have been published before, while others are brand-new. I can’t wait to get a hard copy! I listened to this on audio and was in complete awe of the cast of audiobook narrators that participated. Every story was narrated with care and intention.

I really enjoyed the creativity of “The Wish Bridge,” which questions how the fairy tale creatures that wait by a bridge to strike bargains might feel about it.

One of the stories that really stood out and I loved was “Monsterlove,” which is impressively narrated by Alex Palting with spirit and fervor. In “Monsterlove,” a mother grapples with the cost of having a baby. The pain, joy, and longing come across in vivid emotions that you can literally hear in Alex Palting’s voice. It’s beautiful, sad, and heartbreakingly real.

“Chaos Theory” absolutely broke my brain with how clever it was. When I initially started the story, I thought things were going a certain way and then Olivie Blake expanded the entire universe of the story in a way that I never considered. I loved all the characters, the exploration of chaos theory, and the difficult choices they had to make.

“Sous Vide” was hilarious and I loved the concept of cooking for demons/eldritch horrors who really love your food and dispense some forbidden life advice along the way.

“A Year in January” was bittersweet and kind. A man places an ad for a roommate and is surprised by who answers him. The mental health rep was excellent. One of my favorite lines was “sometimes things are real even if they aren’t.”

I enjoyed something from every story and would highly recommend this magical anthology to anyone.

Thank you to Olivie Blake, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for a free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc.

Januaries is a collection of short stories and novellas written by Olivie Blake that I was just absolutely in love with. What I appreciated about the audio is the collection of different narrators that read each story, including some of my favorites from other books she has written.

Overall, these stories feel like a collection of fairy tales, and there's such a mix of emotions. From desperation to hopelessness to love to humor, there's such a wide range of stories that there's definitely something there for everyone. One of my favorites, "The Animation Games," was definitely a humorous story that I fell in love with immediately. And for the most part, I loved every single story in this collection. If you haven't read anything by Olivie Blake by this point and you want to start somewhere to get a feel for her writing, literally pick up this book and read any one of these. They are all absolutely amazing and packed full of the usual charm you'll see in her novels.

From whimsical fantasy to dark speculative fiction, this is a great collection that has something for everyone. While I connected with some stories in this anthology more than others, Monsterlove and The Wish Bridge really stood out to me. The narrator of Monsterlove really captured my attention and made the story come alive!

I didn’t realize this was a series of short stories initially, but it was so well done and really cool. The prose is lovely and because they’re short stories it keeps you very interested. This is a great read for fall and I really enjoyed myself.

Thank you so much to the publisher & NetGalley for this advanced listener copy. Januaries is a magical collection of short stories, and the audiobook features a multi cast narration. Overall this was a four star read for me. I did DNF two of the short stories but this was due to the narrator, I’m not sure I would have skipped them on paper.

The Wish Bridge - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Absolutely loved this one, beautiful start to the collection with a fairytale/folklore vibe.

The Audit - ⭐️⭐️
I have no idea what the point of this was, to be honest

Sucker for Pain - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I genuinely wished this one was a full book. I loved this story.

The Animation Games - ⭐️

The House - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Interesting concept, I love that Olivie Blake narrated this herself. Poetic story

To Make A Man - ⭐️

Preexisting Condition - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was funny but didn’t really stand out to me

Monster Love - DNF
The narrator ruined this one for me. It sounded like slam poetry and I was totally distracted by this narrator.

How to Dispel Friends and Curse People - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Letters to the village witch is a super fun concept, execution was just okay

Fate and Consequences - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So funny, enjoyed this

Sous Vide - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Was excited for a New England setting. The story itself was just okay.

Sensual Tales for Carnal Desires - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Just okay

Chaos Theory - DNF
I cannot with this narrator

A Year in January - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sweet exploration of human kindness, mental health, and being strange