❄ November 2025 Reading Round Up
2025 GoodReads Reading Challenge: 88 Books Completed Out of Goal of 52 (169%)
This blog may contain affiliate links for products or services that I trust. That means if you make a purchase from those links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you in advance for your support.
November was not a great reading month for me, simply because I got a wee part time job and wasn't able to read as much as usual. Hopefully I'll have a bit more time in December.
Martha, Written By Emma Smith
My Rating: 💜 💜 💜 💜 💜
This book totally blew me away. It was the book of the month for one of my Chapter 25 Book Club picks, and it's not a book I had heard of. It sounded right up my alley, and it sure was. This is going to be one of my top books of 2025.
We are in 1968, and following 17 year old Ellie. When Ellie was three years old, her two older sisters, Martha and Susan, were kidnapped right in front of her. She managed to get away, but the loss of the two girls has made her parents overly protective of Ellie. But now that she is a teenager, she wants more freedom. Her and her best friend Tilly are determined to enjoy themselves, but must sneak around to do it.
Ellie's world is turned upside down when her oldest sister, Martha, turns up at the local police station. She doesn't say anything, but she looks well fed and cared for so her kidnappers have obviously been taking good care of her. She won't say what has happened to Susan. Her parents and the police believe she needs some time to reacclimatise to being free, but Ellie isn't so sure. There is something wrong, and she can't figure out what it is.
As Ellie tries to continue living her life she can't hide her curiosity about her sister. Why isn't she talking? Why won't she tell everyone where Susan is, or even if she's still alive? She and Tilly take it upon themselves to start investigating. What they uncover will change their lives forever.
My emotions were all over the place with this book, and my heart was pounding throughout. It really puts you through the ringer as a reader, but it's worth every heart pound.
The only challenge I had with this book at times was that the book club I was reading it with is a chapter a day club, or in this case 2 chapters a day as there are 60 chapters in total. I managed to keep to the schedule right up until the final few chapters, when I could not put it down.
If you like heartstopping drama and intrigue, then do yourself a favour and grab a copy of this book.
The Magician's Wife, Written By Lora Jones
My Rating: DNF
Thank you NetGalley and Vanish Publishing for this ARC.
When I saw that the ARC for this book was available on NetGalley, I immediately requested it and was delighted when it was accepted. I really wanted to love this book. Lora Jones is the author of one of my favourite books of 2025 - The Woman in the Wallpaper. That book is one that will stay with me, and I hoped I would love this first book in a new series. But I just couldn't get into the story.
So yeah, that was my November. Pretty much one book read. But it was one heck of a good book, and a definite favourite of the year.