Video: https://youtu.be/gGsJi_WVaKY

Okay wow!! This was a phenomenal short story collection and I'm hard pressed to find any bad ones, most of them are bangers.

It's divided thematically by season and the stories range from sci-fi to fantasy to lightly speculative or metaphorical. Sometimes drawing on mythology or folklore, sometimes poetic, often tragic. Thematically there is a lot on love, relationships, motherhood, mental health, power and more. I generally like Blakes writing and was excited for this, but often stories in collections are fairly hit or miss for me . Januaries I enjoyed all the way through and would definitely recommend if you like her writing style!

The audiobook is narrated by a full cast and is really well done. Loved it and would recommend! I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

5 ⭐ 1 🌶️ 5 🎧

This was my first Olivie Blake experience, but it absolutely won't be my last. I fell so hard for her writing and loved every one of these little shorts. They were magical and tragic and lovely and everything in between. I honestly can't believe how often I laughed, especially given the content of a few of them. Unaliving wars with your true love? Sure, why not.

Each story was so unique too. I think my favorite was The Wish Bridge, which is first, but it didn't go downhill from there. I truly enjoyed them all. Another fave was To Make a Man, which was really beautiful and kinda haunting in that beauty. And we end with A Year in January, another one I loved that explores the relationship of two roommates brought together by craigslist.

The audio was amazing. Such a fantastic cast with someone new narrating each story. Alexandra Palting, Daniel Henning, David Monteith, Ferdelle Capistrano, Olivie Blake, Stephanie Németh-Parker and Steve West is the list, I wish I knew who did what and if Olivie actually narrated one of the stories or if it was just a part of the production. Regardless, I could listen to this book time and time again with all the wonder it held.

Unfortunately it was very hit and miss for me as some stories made sense and some didn’t. There were some well done stories involving magic and murder and there were some trippy ones that just left me confused. I think it may be due to the audiobook format, as it may be easier to follow along when you can reread a sentence or paragraph in order to understand it better, but still I did enjoy some stories so it’s a sold 3 stars for me.

THANK YOU publishing God's for the audio ARC of Januaries!!!!! 💠


⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

5 Stars - Olivie Blake can do no wrong and will forever be an auto buy author for me 💖

Januaries is an anthology of Love, Magic, Betrayal, and Revenge. The narrators are superb!! Monster Love is a brutally honest rollercoaster ride reviewing motherhood 😂 and the story of how not to waste your youth had me in giggles.


This book is for anyone who enjoys fairy tales, unhinged women, murder, and revenge ☺️

As with any anthology, some stories resonated with me while others missed the mark. At times, I found myself puzzled about the narrative, even within the confines of a short story. However, the few that I truly enjoyed left me wishing for an entire book dedicated to their tales.

I have a strange relationship to short stories. As a general rule, I don't enjoy them - unless they are written by authors I know and set in universes I am already familiar with/have already encountered. This is largely because my main objection is that they are, by definition, too short to allow for the type of character development (the part that I most enjoy in most stories). I do occasionally find that certain authors whose work I enjoy in one context (say, an established series or number of previously-enjoyed novels) can be very fun finds in the short story context though, and have been giving shorts more of a chance lately as a result.

I'm SO glad I did here, as this collection by one of my favorite authors of late is fabulous! I admit that I didn't love (or even fully listen to) every story in here - but STILL give it 5 stars, because the vast majority were overwhelmingly fantastic. I just love the wry wit and snarky cleverness that populates so much of Blake's storytelling. It resonates with me, as does her knack for providing complex explorations of morality and humanity in deceptively straightforward tales of dark humor and fairytale magic.

The narration was excellent, with each of the various narrators perfectly suited to their tale. I'm not always a fan of multiple narrators, but it worked here with each chosen for their ability to capture the nature of their story. It was a marvelous collection and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5

Januaries is a quirky, entertaining, and intelligent collection of short stories that hooked me with every story.

I really enjoyed this one. It’s my first Olivie Blake, and it’s made me incredibly excited to start the rest of her stories on my shelf. Olivie’s prose is lyrical and captivating, and she creates characters and worlds that are realistic while also magical. The pacing of the short stories was great, and I adored how different and quirky they were. They were stories of magic, travel, love, power, time, death, and more that delivered emotion and excitement. I’m excited to continue my Olivie Blake journey!

This story had many narrators, and each one did a fantastic job. Some of my favorite narrators voiced the stories, and I was also introduced to new voices. Each narrator delivered just the right amount of feeling, energy, and power, which made for a memorable reading experience.

Thank you to the publisher for the free ALC!

This collection of short stories by Olvie Blake was nothing short of amazing. And the narrators were excellent at bringing each story to life and keeping you engaged in the story. My favorite was The Wish Bridge, so beautifuly written, I would read a whole book just about Nile and Lila.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Januaries is a series of short essays by Olivie Blake. One thing that really drew me to this book, other than being a fan of Olivie's previous works such as the Atlas Six and One For My Enemy, was that there was a fantasy element to these. It did not disappoint!

My favourite was the Wish Bridge. It was a strong opening but it definitely made it hard for the rest of the stories to live up to it. The Animation Games, Sensual Tales for Carnal Pleasures... and the one with the vampires and witches (I am sorry I forgot the title name! It is hard to keep up with the audiobook since the chapters are not titled) were equally great. I was also quite fond of Sous Vide due to the nature of all the Filipino food mention.

I wished some stories were expanded, but overall, this was a great curation of stories!

I am a huge fan of Olivie Blake's writing so I was beyond excited to dive into her short story collection. All of these stories are essentially about love, but often in unexpected ways. Toxic love, platonic love, motherly love, obsessive love. Interwoven throughout all of the stories is a kind of dark, fairy tale magic that changes from story to story but also felt cohesive. As with all short story collections there were standout favorites and some that I loved less, but overall this was an amazing collection. I'm already planning to return to on Monsterlove once I have children someday because as powerful as it was now, I'm positive it will be exponentially more powerful in the future.

The audiobook was a delight with different narrators to best fit each of the short stories and I definitely recommend this to Olivie Blake fans and anyone looking for an intro to her writing.

I enjoyed this fun new short story collection from Olivie Blake. I've enjoyed her writing for many years so it's fun to see her work on a new project now that Atlas Six is completeted. My favorite story is the one with the moon bridge, super cute and felt like it came full circle. Excited to see what she has come out next!

I did like most of the narrortors too!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this earlier copy in exchange for my honest review.

I recently listened to the Januaries audiobook, and it was an incredible experience! The multiple narrator's voices brought the stories to life, perfectly capturing the emotional depth of each character. The themes of choices and second chances resonated deeply, making me reflect on my own life. The pacing was just right, keeping me engaged from start to finish. I highly recommend this audiobook for anyone looking for an inspiring and thought-provoking listen!