I've come to the conclusion that short story collections just aren't for me.
While I loved the first story in this collection and wished it was longer. I didn't care for any of the others. Some felt like it dragged on even though it was a short story.

"Is love beauty?"
"Yes. But not always beautiful."

A collection of stories contemplating human existence, relationships, and the pain of loving and living and leaving divided into seasons.

Overall, sadly more misses than hits. I think this was too chaotic and melancholic for me. It felt like a brain vomit, but also sometimes a cathartic experience?

Notable mentions:

SPRING

The Wish Bridge
This is a story about the guardian of a bridge that appears with every full moon who is able to grant wishes.
This has the biggest case of miscommunjcation, unrequited or misplaced love, and murder as a backdrop to a persistent wanderer who can't make up his mind who wants the guardian to wish for herself.

The Audit
The Life Audit pilot program uses the latest AI technology to determine a person's capacity for accumulated lifetime wealth which is given as an up front as a loan before the age of 30 where the person must work to pay it back.

Blake satires the fear of growing older, the mislabelled freedom of youth, and the bonds between people.
Money doesn’t buy happiness.

What do I want? I have all the money in the world. What do I want? What do I want? Time feels like it's slipping away from me. It's already been five days. I can't breathe.

Sucker For Pain - Not a huge fan - problematic.
Nora, an ordinary human, is adopted by an immortal cruel woman to be little more than maid, plaything and co-student for her son who is training as a witch.

This one made me uncomfortable. Not only is the nickname ‘kitty’ used, Nora is seen as a pet. This had a great urban paranormal setting, but the storyline left me feeling icky.
For a similar recommendation I adored - A Sorceress Comes to Call by T Kingfisher.

SUMMER

The Animation Games
With a boy like Bran Barza and a girl like Rhosyn Viteri, sparks were no doubt going to fly— but this is no tale of ordinary love. Rather, it is a twisted story of murder, revenge, and obsessive, toxic love.
Think the currently popular serial killer romance book ‘Butcher and Blackbird’, but with haunting reanimations.

To Make A Man:
A story about a being which seemingly isn’t human and the fighter who she confides will die in one year unless he changes.

Repetition is the beast of captivity, habit the tyrant of awe. He would have traded euphoria just to keep her, to make her the subject of his tedium. To live a colorless life in the shade of her bones, in the sound of her breath, knowing and eternally recounting the monotony of her details until he ground himself down to nothing, never learning or experiencing another beautiful thing,

Monsterlove
What the heck?! What. No. Just no.
What did I read?
My least favourite by far.

Fate and Consequences<m
Guy Carrington’s thread of fate was mistakenly cut which finds him meeting Hades’s and suffering in the Underworld.
Do we deserve our fates? What determines our actions?

Sous Vide<
Cooking for demons.

I don't get how people can say that money doesn't buy happiness. Because my whole life revolves around money. It has to! That's the system I'm plugged into! You know? You can't be happy without money, because in order to be happy you need choices, you need freedom, you need the ability to think and dream and wonder and you just simply cannot do that if you spend all day and night thinking about how you'll pay your next bill.

WINTER

A Year in January
Using Craigslist to find a roommate may have been a terrible idea, but it finds her January. January is odd for sure, but very endearing.

This was one of my favourites! This reminded me of the books Beautyland!

I explained that I'm more like a place than a thing; I have seasons of poor weather, tourist seasons, El Niño or Santa Ana winds. At my foundation I am always the same, but atmospherically there can be issues.

“Transcendentally it's an issue of work product."
"What type of work?"
"Well, the canvas is me, I suppose? But the debilitation of creation is such a competing factor."
"Shouldn't the not-knowing keep it interesting?"
“Yes, I think so? But it's also quite exhausting," I said, referencing where I lay on my bed.

Thank you to Tor for providing me the arc in exchange for a review!

4⭐️
This collection of stories focused around love, magic and betrayal was so good. Some of the stories had like a similar vibe but there were different. There seemed to be a story for everyone is this collection. In most of these stories I connected with the characters and the story within. I really enjoyed reading this and it showed off Olivie Blake’s talents and ability to write different stories with ease. Thank you for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.5
I am rarely a fan of short story compilations. However, the description of this one really piqued my interest.

Olivie Blake’s writing is exceptionally beautiful and all of these stories are so varied! Though pretty much all have some kind of fantasy/sci-fi element.

I’m in awe of the craft of writing short stories and cramming so much into such short pieces of writing. However, this did confirm for me that they’re not my favourite. So many of these were honestly great, but I just find I’m like ‘oooh I’m getting into this’ and then bam its over. If you like short stories this will probably hit the spot. I just much prefer novels.

However, I will say I absolutely adored a couple of these. Particularly, the first story about the wish granting woman on the bridge. 🥰 I think in some ways because I loved that first story so much, the rest just didn’t quite match up to it for me.

For short story and Olivie Blake fans I’m sure this will hit the spot. Was just mixed bag for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

HALF OF THESE ARE FROM FAIRYTALE COLLECTIONS!!! I was so sad I couldn't buy third book, cus two first were phenomenal and OMG I LOVE THE ANIMATION GAMES SO MUCH

These fairytales will haunt me, they were twisted and gruesome and strange and beautiful, Olivie Blake ate with this one, everyday thinking about this collection of short stories, my absolute favorite is The animation games, it's such an amazing love story, literally nothing says ily better than repeatedly offing each other. some stories hit me more, some less, but they were all fascinating, my other favorites: The wish bridge and Sucker for pain

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

There's nothing I admire more in Olivie Blake's writing that the ability of getting me hooked on a story by just a few sentences. I find it terribly hard, but in this book she just shows her art and her capacity to create new worlds, characters and plots that are as incredible as her bestsellers.

I loved every single story. The lyricism, the characters...I feel this book is a gift to those who enjoyed other books of Olivie, but also an incredible way of introducing her style and her amazing mind. I never enjoyed reading about human emotions and feelings, (and specifically about love) as much as I do when it's a Blake book. And this happens over and over again.

4 stars

Oh Olivie Blake!!! The writer that you are!!!

I never thought I would actually be getting an ARC of one of my most anticipated reads. So, thank you Netgalley & Pan Macmillan for this pinch me moment!

While I haven't read all of Olivie's books, the few I have read I have absolutely loved!! ('One for my Enemy' is my Roman Empire!!) So, you better believe me when I say my expectations where through the roof for this one and it did not disappoint!!!!! As with short stories there were definitely some I loved more than others ( 'The Wishing Bridge' was just the cutest thing ever!). Some actually had me laughing out loud ('The Audit') while others had me questioning what actually goes on in Olivie's brain! (The Animation Games).

I finally decided on 4 stars because while I loved the majority of them, having to start a new story everytime took me out of it just a little bit and almost made it feel like I was starting a new book - which I guess is an attribute to any anthology..

I definitely think this is one I will be recommeding for a long time and I can't wait to get my hands on it once its published!

*ARC REVIEW*

Thank you to Pan MacMillan and net galley for this arc copy.

Olivie Blake’s writing is absolutely amazing she has such a stunning voice throughout that somehow has a different cadence to it for each story. I think with any collection of short stories there will be some that fall short but I found there was very few in this and I enjoyed most of them.
With a lot of the stories I felt that I wanted more not in a bad way more like I wished the story was a whole book. This is especially so for sucker for pain, fates and consequences and even chaos theory which I would say was one of my favourites it had such a cool premise to it that I think would make an amazing book. Overall I think this is a great collection of short stories and I am constantly amazed at how beautiful her writing is.

Another hit by one of my favourite authers! I love Olivie's writing style a lot because she makes the simplest things feel special and worth reading. I enjoyed these short stories a lot because you got through them very quick. Some of them I enjoyed more than others but I guess that's very normal with a collection like this.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I haven't read any of the Atlas Six books (despite them being absolutely everywhere at the moment) so I went into this with no real expectations of the writing.

Januaries is a collection of short stories and as with any book of short stories, some appealed to me more than others. The first story, The Wish Bridge, really captured my attention as did many of the stories. There's a real variety of different tales being told and I enjoyed reading this book. Blake's writing style drew me into the different worlds and I'd probably give her novels a go in future.

Januaries is so quintessentially and outrageously Olivie Blake. Each story in this collection just oozes her exact brand of gorgeous prose. More than any other author I’ve ever read, I just feel like she has a window into my brain and manages to put into words feelings I’ve never been able to articulate. As is always the case with a collection of different stories, there are some I prefer to others, but each one had at least one like that took my breath away.
If you already love her writing, then this anthology is a must-read.

My favourites:
The Animation Games
The Wish Bridge
Monsterlove
Chaos Theory

Thank you to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC. All opinions are my own.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

I say often that Olivie Blake is one of my favourite authors. And reflecting on that, I think she is, despite me not loving *all* her work. I have loved her stand-alones, and I loved this anthology of short stories. I feel like this is where she thrives, where is can be weird and whimsical and sad and joyous and none of it really has to make sense.

Not every story appealed to me, but enough of them did that I flew through this. They all had that unique Olivie Blake flare I’ve come to love.
The Wish Bridge is a very strong opener. The Animation Games were insane. The multiverse story came together in the most satisfying way. And A Year in January is the perfect closer.

If, like me, you’ve enjoyed Olivie’s writing more for the vibes than the plot, this is for you.

4.5⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Olivie Blake books are always a big hit or miss for me, I either really love them or I don’t really understand what she meant with it and it falls a bit flat for me.

This was a bit of a miss. Some of the short stories I really liked and could have been longer for me and others I felt needed more pages to better understand them. I didn’t really see a general theme or something connecting the stories with each other. Which made me lose interest at some parts.

Overall I get wat was attempted but in my opinion it was not successfully executed.

I'm a big Olivie Blake fan since she was self published - she is an excellent writer! Unfortunately this was a little flat at times - I couldn't quite understand what the overarching theme was tying everything together, though the prose was great, if a little sparse at times. Some stories popped more than others (the wishing bridge! & to make a man!!), whereas some felt convoluted (sucker for pain - though it was still a fave of mine of them all). A little more cohesion was needed but it wouldn't put me off buying anything else she put out

Januaries is an anthology of short stories spanning themes of love, revenge, mental health, motherhood, betrayel, retellings and so much more! This was the first book I had ever read by Olivie Blake and I was blown away by some of her writing in this anthology!

The stories themselves are similar in length for the most part but they are different in every way. The pacing worked well for most of the stories, and a lot of them had me wishing for more.

Don't get me wrong, I do wish some of the stories were more developed than others as some felt disjointed to read: but perhaps that was me just not getting the message behind the stories.

Overall I enjoyed each story, and several I could see being expanded on in a full novel.

My favourites were;
- The Wish Bridge
- The Audit
- The Animation Games
- The House
- Chaos Theory
- A Year in January

I have rated this 4 Stars because there were some I obviously didn't enjoy but it is still a great anthology of stories, and I know the ones I did not like, someone else will like them instead. I will have to check out more of Olivie's work!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the e-arc in exchange for a free, voluntary review.

4.5 stars for most of the book, 2 stars for the last few stories.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the arc.
I’ve realised that I very much have a love-hate relationship with Olivie Blake’s works depending on where on the overwritten, pretentiousness scale her writing falls at any point. I loved the first 2 volumes of the Atlas trilogy, thoroughly enjoyed Masters of Death but basically wanted to prise my own eyeballs out with a wooden spoon whilst reading Alone With You in The Ether and Atlas 3 as they were SO tiresomely full of their own perceived cleverness. This new volume of short stories by Blake is a frustrating mix of these two extremes. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed around the first 70% of the book. The stories were beautifully crafted, inventive, haunting and so tightly written that I thought that yes, here is a genre that keeps Blake’s writing contained (to its advantage) and curbs her excesses. Then we got to the last section, Winter, and oh dear. The last few stories are rambling, self-indulgent, too long, over-written, and frankly boring. It was such a shame to end what was otherwise a fantastic read on such a dud note.

Short story collections are most often hit or miss, and I’m disappointed to say that Januaries was a miss for me.

The first thing I’d like to say, which has nothing to do with Olivie Blake and everything to do with the publisher, is that it annoys me to no end that they marketed this collection as ‘iconic’ before it was even published. You don’t get to decide that something is going to be iconic, especially when this collection has nothing iconic. It’s not groundbreaking, it’s not a literary masterpiece, it’s not even daring or particularly original. It’s not a bad collection, but it’s not a good one either. For the most part, it’s just unremarkable.

Most of the short stories had a lot of potential, but that potential was almost never correctly exploited. I always felt like Olivie Blake was trying too hard to be quirky, trying too hard to be exceptional and iconic, and the result was that it was merely an okay collection, underwhelming and fairly boring. I also had the impression that the technique of short stories wasn’t fully mastered. For a short story to be good, you have to quickly hook the reader, and deliver a fantastic ending. While the initial hook was there, the ending was sometimes only mid and left me indifferent.

In short, while this wasn’t a bad collection, it wasn’t good either, and as someone who loved the Atlas Series and especially enjoyed Olivie Blake’s style in that series, that was a huge disappointment.

Thank you to Netgalley and PanMacmillan for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Olivie Blake/publisher for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Januaries” is a collection of short stories split into the four seasons that range in themes and genres. From love to betrayal this collection had something for all and I loved it! Some stories I connected with more than others, which you’ll find in a collection of short stories but overall I was impressed with the range of tales Olivie wrote. She is amazing at seamlessly switching genres and themes with her astounding way of writing. You’ll find classic tales reworked, multiverse adventures, what it means to be human and so much more within this book.

Some of my favorites include
-The Wish Bridge
-The House
-A Year in January
-Fates and Consequences

Thank you to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions

I really enjoy Olivia Blake's writing style. I think it's (in a way) very different from what I usually read and very captivating. Although I'm not a big fan of short stories I really enjoyed reading this small collection of stories.

Yknow what this is? Literally a bedtime storybook for adults AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

Most of the stories have ambiguous endings that make you reflect and question reality/choices in life. Ngl it’s quite astounding to see how many genres and concepts Olivie Blake can actually write-so many have the potential to be full blown books. Special shout out to one of the stories: Wish Bridge! I really hope there’s more to this bc the concept of star-crossed lovers in that context is french kiss👌🏻

I must admit I wasn’t a huge fan of Blake’s writing but I’ve always believed in second chances and I’m glad I took a leap of faith in Januaries bc I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My only question: idg why the book title is called Januaries. First of many? Many firsts?

Thank you Pac Macmillan and NetGalley for this arc!