2026 mystery reads!

My sisters and I carried on our tradition of wrapping TBR books for each other so we have one to reveal and read each month. I'm glad we did, I really loved doing it last year, and I think having those mystery reads has kind of shifted my mindset when it comes to reading from my TBR shelf and purchasing new books. Even outside my mystery books, I made a much more concerted effort to read books from my already owned TBR list over something else, and I specifically pulled from my TBR for my Read Harder books before I looked outside it for ideas. Also, I used the library (yay!) way more, particularly for Read Harder and book club books - I bought less than half the number of new books in 2025 versus 2024. It's interesting, to me anyway, because this honestly wasn't even a conscious thing that I decided to do, it just happened naturally by being more aware of the books I have waiting for me to read.

That said, I did finish 100% of the books I bought in 2024, while I only read about two-thirds of them in 2025...but we don't need to talk about that. It was mostly my monthly subscription books that I didn't finish last year, and I'll get through them!

Anyhow, my shifting book purchasing and reading habits aside, it's mystery read time! I've been giving it some thought, and something I'd wanted to be more consistent with last year and wasn't was actually sharing my thoughts after reading each book. It was tricky posting the book reveal at the start of the month and then either circling back to the last month's in the next reveal post or trying to slot in a review after already having posted about that book once, so after this week's post, I'm going to make a change and start recapping each month's Read Harder progress at the start of the following month and then reveal AND review the mystery book at the END of that month. That way I'll have already read it, instead of posting about a book I know nothing about and being like "shrug, hope I like it!"

All that said, this month's mystery read is Greenwild by Pari Thomson, and "shrug" I hope I like it! 

It's a middle grade realistic fantasy described as The Secret Garden meets A Wrinkle in Time, which seems promising, and I've already read the first few chapters and am very intrigued. It's the first of at least three books in a series, so we'll see if I end up reading the whole series or if I gripe that it didn't need to be more than one book.

A Whisper of Curses - J. Elle

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"While the new Magick Academy is under construction, an invitation to Retreat Week arrives! Before the students leave Park Row, Kyana is grabbed by an Available and, even after she slips from the spirit's grasp, can't stop either laughing or crying. Ashley thinks whatever it is, Dr. Minzy, a famous teacher at the retreat, will know what to do. But when the portal to the retreat suddenly dissolves, trapping everyone, Ash thinks Availables are involved. With Kyana acting weird and Russ live-casting everything to the MagickWorld, should Ash say something to the directors (even though she isn't sure she's right) or mind her business and trust that Dr. Minzy will fix it?"

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It's always a pleasant surprise when I learn that a book I like has a sequel out that I didn't know about, and this was no exception. I reviewed book one, A Taste of Magic, a while back and really enjoyed it. Very fun, unique take on magic and how it fits into the regular world. I loved the way this book expanded not only on that world, but on the characters within it. Using a dual perspective to let readers get to know Ashley better and featuring Russ more was so fun, and even through all the drama, I loved the way their different strengths complemented each other.

I also found the mystery intriguing. It seems like a hard thing to balance, giving the reader enough information that they aren't totally lost and confused without giving them too much and making it boring and obvious, and I thought J. Elle did a great job of finding the sweet spot. I think my one wish would have been, in a surprise twist for a middle grade review, having a little bit longer of an ending. Shocking, I know. I'm impossible. It didn't need to be much longer, and overall I thought the length and pace were great, but there was some stuff that ended up getting a quick recap instead of showing it play out that I think giving us a teeny bit more would have made more exciting. That's my tiny gripe.

Other than that, great story, very intriguing, and I found the way that stress and pressure was incorporated and influenced the way the characters acted was a really solid way to address the way adults, sometimes unconsciously, put their expectations on kids and create that pressure and a sense that they have to perform to a certain level in order to be "worth it" or good enough. It was a big theme of the book and something I don't see often. Excellent.

No Place Like Home - Linh S. Nguyen

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Lan, a teenager who recently came to Canada from Vietnam, spends every day searching for a sense of belonging. Books are the only things that make her feel at ease. But it comes as a shock when a mysterious wind whisks her right into the pages of her latest fantasy read. More shocking still is the fact that she herself summoned this wind!

Plunged into the magical world of Silva, Lan realizes she has much to offer protagonists Annabelle and Marlow. Once a homesick reader and bystander rooting for the very characters that now stand before her, Lan is a budding witch who suddenly has the power to help their quest. Somewhere inside her lies the ability to not only save Annabelle and Marlow's home, but also to shape a familiar tale into something new. 

As Lan faces off against tree guardians, moving corn mazes, heart-eaters, and thoughtless kings, she finds that Silva is not so different from Toronto: new homes can be messy. Now, torn between several places at once, Lan begins to confront an important question: how do you redefine a lost home?"

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Reading this book was kind of like making a peanut butter sandwich with chunky peanut butter when you're expecting smooth. You expect the story to unfold smoothly, spreading across the page, and then you're like wait...this isn't...hold on... Is this a weird metaphor? Yeah, it is, but that happened to me recently, so it was what came to mind. What I'm saying is that some of the transitions between action and the plot development were a little clunky. It's fine, it was still a good book, it just took some getting used to.

Aside from that, I enjoyed the story. I wish there was a little more natural, gradual character progression, but their adventures were exciting, and I loved the time they spent with the centaurs and the dryads. Part of my issue with the pacing and the way things unfolded was that the story jumped from one adventure into the next relatively quickly, and I kind of wanted the story to be a little longer, so we could get more detail and more development. Admittedly, though...this is a kid's book, and the quick movement from one challenge to the next might keep them more interested. So, take my reaction with a grain of salt.

Pet - Akwaeke Emezi

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster - and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also uncover the truth, and the answer to the question - how do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?"

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Wow, how to even talk about this book. It clocks in at just over two hundred pages, so while it's heavy, it also went by in a blur. I think that was equal parts the length and the writing style - like their main character, Akwaeke Emezi doesn't mince words. The world is introduced and established quickly, Pet emerges from the painting, and the hunt begins. There's no meandering, no side quests. ONLY the hunt. 

I thought that directness was very suitable for the story being told, and I also really appreciated the way what the monster has done was made clear without actually saying "this is what you did, how dare you?" It's difficult to write about sensitive topics like this and strike the right tone/balance, and too often it almost veers into voyeuristic territory. I know it isn't intentional, and it's not like I think authors are out here relishing writing about such terrible things, it's just that sometimes the quest to paint the picture becomes...too much. This was an expert demonstration of how to tell a vivid, heartrending story without spelling out every little detail.

I also love how effortlessly inclusive this book was. Jam, the main character, is trans and chooses not to voice often (extra snaps for specifying VOICING and not SPEAKING), instead preferring to use sign language. Others in her life have learned sign in order to communicate with her, including the town's librarian, who is a wheelchair user, and her best friend, who lives in a three parent household. All of these details are woven into the story with no fanfare. It isn't something different or unusual, it's just life. It's how things are. That's so unusual in the majority of books, and we need more of it. Just...all around, such an incredible book. 

Finally, since I can't end this without saying something about him, Ube is the best example of what a librarian should be. Welcoming, inclusive, and a believer that even if someone is a kid, they deserve access to the truth and to accurate information. They deserve to be given the tools they need to make their own educated decisions. I aspire to be like Ube.