NOVEMBER 2025: Best and Worst Books of the Month

Hi everyone. Today, I’ll be talking about the best and worst books I read in November. Here are my thoughts on both of them:

1. WORST BOOK OF THE MONTH:  The Fox Wife by Yangzse Choo

This book had the potential of becoming my favorite read of the month. But then, the author included a small mystery subplot into the story and it all went downhill from there. As you know, I have a love/hate relationship with the mystery/thriller genre. I read a lot of historical mysteries but I cannot seem to finish (or be able to finish) those that take place in a more contemporary setting. And thrillers…well, thrillers are my least read genre overall (though I am trying to read more of them). This one had a touch of Chinese folklore and magical realism in it, and I liked that. In fact, the relationship between the three foxes was one of the best things about this novel but the mystery itself (or the resolution of it at the end) was lackluster and disappointing. I also think that the author focused too much on that mystery on the second half of the novel, and the possibility of delving more into the relationship between Snow, Shiro, and Kuro was left dangling or put unceremoniously in the background. In other words, the book went in a direction that I was not really into that much. However, I will say that the book was beautifully written. But it was not my favorite. I didn’t hate it or dislike it, but it was not my favorite.  

2. BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH: Daughters of Olympus by Hannah Lynn

This book is a retelling of the myth of Demeter, Persephone, and Hades, which explains the changing of the seasons. At its core, this myth is about love. Love between Persephone and Hades, yes, but also between a mother and her daughter; between Demeter and Core, who changes her name to Persephone once she becomes the Queen of the Underworld. Here’s what I liked most about this book:

The author focuses solely on Demeter and Core’s personal journeys. Yes, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are all present in the story but they never take prominence in the novel and we see how each one of these goddesses grows from a young goddess into strong and powerful goddesses of the harvest in their own right. Demeter’s journey, however, is the one fraught with more trauma and suffering. She deserved so much more, and when she finally finds love it is taken away from her in spite and jealousy. I know that the myth says she and Iasion lay together one night, at the marriage feast of Cadmus and Harmonia, before Zeus kills him with a thunderbolt, but in the book the retelling of this myth (to which the author is faithful) comes across as insta-love, and it was hard for me to fathom Demeter mourning him for as long as she did. I understood, however, that ultimately, the book was not about Demeter’s romance with Iasion. On other hand, Core’s relationship with Ione, to which the author gives more time and space, was more believable, and it was easier for me to accept that Core would be devastated, yes, by her death. However, once in the Underworld, I couldn’t help but root for her and Hades. Hades is, after all, the one that helps her become the woman and powerful goddess of the harvest that she becomes.

I have tried to read some of Hannah Lynn’s other retellings of Greek mythology, but I have not been able to finish any of them.

CRIME AND LEGAL THRILLER (DNF): The Testament by John Grisham

Remember when I said I was trying to read more thrillers? Yeah… I picked this one from one of the most prolific legal thriller authors out there and didn’t finish it. Maybe I didn’t pick up the right book; sometimes that happens when you want to start reading a new author, but I did have some problems with this book. The main characters, for starters, appear far too late into the book for us to have a chance to connect with them. I did like that Nate was anything but perfect; however, he shows up too late into the story for us to connect with him. Rachel is even worse. For most of the book, she is looming in the background and when she does appear she is not likeable at all. Moreover, I thought that Grisham was writing two different stories: one in Virginia and another in Brazil. Once Nate is introduced, everyone in Virginia shifts to the background and we are left in limbo as to what happens to them (even though every single one of them is despicable) in the legal battle or contesting of the will, and we spend a good chunk of the middle of the book in Brazil. And frankly, the parts of the book set in Corumba were boring. So, I DNF’d it.

That is everything for today. Thank you for stopping by.