Offbeat Offline: June 2026

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? The heat hit, I read a ton and...a new and improved health problem arose, because of course. As you may remember, I'm fond of saying that uneventful months are welcome in my household, because if something happens, it's always bad. And, oh, look! Surprise surprise. Anyhow, more about that later. Let's start with the bookish stuff as usual...

📚 OVERBOOKED. I spent my hiatus reading and reviewing like a madwoman, which is counterintuitive, but oh well. Or maybe not, since I managed to build enough content for my blog to keep it going for a while without the pressure to have to do it for the current month. Also, I wanted to knock as many books as possible off my TBR list because it was starting to give me anxiety (not to mention, the summer is PACKED with new releases I'm interested in)...except I'd rather read at a leisurely pace in order to savour my books...so, either way, I can't win 🙁. I mean, I can still reread said books at some point, but I have so many now, it's getting harder and harder to find the time. Anyhow...at least this was a good reading month. So, here goes...

Approvals (0):

LOL, it's been a while since it last happened. It's probably for the best, though (see above...).

Reads (9):

• The Whisper by Chelsea Iversen (Adult/YA, supernatural/mystery)

Both a psychological thriller and an intimate portrait of three women whose lives have been shaped by trauma and grief, and who come back together to finally find closure and make peace with their past. Come for the magic (and its different manifestations, and its twists you won't see coming), stay for the flawed, so very human characters rebuilding themselves and stumbling back to each other.

• Temple Fall by R.L. Boyle (YA, supernatural)

A deliciously creepy, and at the same time heartbreaking, mix of elements - haunted house/liminal space (completed with temporal anomalies), fractured/mended friendship, found family, generational trauma, powers that work as a metaphor for dissociative disorder, and a complex, lovable main character - plus a very interesting twist on the Final Destination formula/Final Girl trope. A solid, entrancing, emotional story (full of lyrical passages, too) that deserves more recognition.

• The L.O.V.E. Club by Lio Min (YA, sci-fi/fantasy - backlist)

Don't be fooled by the Jumanji-like premise: TLC ia an atmospheric, whimsical and touching novel that tackles heritage/generational trauma/familial abuse, repressed memories, messy/toxic/all-consuming friendship, growing up and apart, learning to be your own person...oh, and transness, in a very honest, empathy-inducing way. I did appreciate how, while the girls' story gets closure, the ending extends beyond their experience, addressing the neverending cycle of being young and finding your tribe, but also having to evolve and leave a part of your teen self behind.

• The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry (Adult, supernatural - backlist)

This is as much a coming-of-age-meets-found-family story as it's a cosmic-horror-centered one, and it succeeds on both counts. Then again...I'm ambivalent about the ending. I mean, on one hand, it's emotional and bittersweet, but it's also extremely rushed and anticlimactic. However, if you're looking for an evil/haunted-house story where the house is a character of its own, but you'd rather it had a dose of character development and a heart (no pun intended), TPWTBYH absolutely fits the bill.

• Seconds To Spare by Rachel Reiss (YA, sci-fi/magical realism)

Time loop meets locked-room mystery by way of the butterfly effect: the result is an entertaining, adrenalinic story (if with enough reflective/emotive beats) that, despite its premise, never gets repetitive. I have a few qualms about it (hence my rating)...BUT! the actual loop is very well done, and trying to beat it doubles nicely as a metaphor for choosing to face the future and not remaining prisoners of the same patterns in life. That's why STS will appeal both to adults who enjoy temporal paradoxes with an emotional layer, and teens who love action, mystery, coming-of-age and a pinch of romance.

• We Hexed the Moon by Mollyhall Seeley (YA, supernatural/contemporary)

Underneath its exhilarating (and crazy) premise, WHTM has a lot to say about girlhood, the complexity and messiness of teen female friendship (and lesbian awakenings), being afraid of change yet wanting out of your own skin, leaving your teen self (and your tribe) behind at the end of high school, and processing that loss while turning over a new leaf. The ending is absurdist, harsh and emotional at the same time, with a late twist you won't see coming, but that ties in with the story beautifully (in the middle of all the mayhem and heartache, that is).

• Inkpot Gods (Alchemical Journeys #4) by Seanan McGuire (Adult, supernatural)

In a double timeline, we're both treated to an insight into the life of Asphodel Baker (the first female alchemist, to whom a number of the series' protagonists owe their non-human existence) and introduced to Lilianne (a trans woman and a budding alchemist herself, whose life becomes entwined with the rest of the cast's). The book is a mix of necessary exposition and exciting, horror-soaked action, all the way to a game-changer that had me on pin and needles for the last installment...I mean, a two-year wait is torture!

• Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire (Adult, afterlife/mystery - novella - reread [pub. 2027])

Melancholic (with a touch of funny) and warm, with a lead who, albeit not a hero, strives to do the right thing, a strong supporting cast and a cool magic system that - while building on familiar tropes - brings lots of fresh elements to the table. Not to mention McGuire's peculiar brand of strong, evocative writing. Here's my old review.

• Absent by Katie Williams (YA, afterlife/mystery - novella - reread [pub. 2013])

Three deceased teens stuck in their dying place (the school they all attended), a mystery to solve, and themes of forgiveness and acceptance. One of them finds a way to interact with the living, and wants to demonstrate that her death wasn't a suicide. In the process, she will discover startling and not-so-startling truths about her friends, living and dead - but ultimately, more than anything, she will grow as a person, if a dead individual can do that. Here's my old review.

Reviews (7):

• The Whisper by Chelsea Iversen (see above).

Mini review to come later in the month.

• Temple Fall by R.L. Boyle (see above)

Mini review on GR for now.

• The L.O.V.E. Club by Lio Min (see above)

Mini review on GR for now.

• The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry (see above)

Mini review on GR for now

• Seconds To Spare by Rachel Reiss (see above)

Mini review on GR for now.

• We Hexed the Moon by Mollyhall Seeley (see above)

Mini review on GR for now

• Inkpot Gods (Alchemical Journeys #4) by Seanan McGuire (see above)

Review to come.

Here are my scheduled reviews for this month:

• Unnamed Bones by Lora Senf (on Sat 11th);
• The Hazel Wood | The Night Country | Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert (in a mini-review round on Sat 18th);
• White Rabbit by Abigail Rose-Marie, A (Dead) Thing Like Me by E.G. Young and The Whisper by Chelsea Iversen (in a mini-review round on Sat 25th).

Speaking of posts that aren't reviews, a reminder...the Tell Me Something Tuesday meme is on hiatus for the summer - it will return on the first week of September. I'll post the schedule as soon as there's one available. I've been toying with the idea of doing other non-review posts for a while, but I need to be in the right headspace for those. We'll see...

🏥 MURPHY'S LAW. So, I had my biennial mammogram screening, and...it didn't go well this time. I got a phone call FIVE WEEKS after the exam, telling me to go back in five days for a "recall". The worse thing is, you get the call from the appointment office, not the doctor's office - so you aren't given any explanation, which is terrifying. (BTW, I lately found out the reason for the delay - too many patients, too few doctors to examine the X-rays...🤬). Of course I went on the internet and learned that there can be many reasons for a recall, including unclear images, but still - I spent the next five days making a poor job of not freaking out. So, on Tuesday 23rd I went back, and I found out that there were 13 other women in the same situation as me, which made me feel a little better - I thought, hey, we can't all have "something bad", can we? I underwent a new (tridimensional) mammogram on the left breast, then the technician told me that the doctor would see me for an ultrasound. It's funny, because by then I was starting to relax (surely it's a lymph node, surely it's a calcification), but of course, me being me, it COULDN'T be that simple. The doctor informed me that I have a fibroadenoma (lump) of 0,66 inches 😮 (remember...there wasn't ANYTHING two years ago), and proceeded to perform a biopsy. She told me I would receive a call when the results were ready (hopefully in 10-15 days), and I asked her what were the chances of the lump being malignant. At that, she told me that she didn't think it was the case, so at least there's that - but of course, only the biopsy results will be able to rule the other option out. As soon as I got home I went on the internet again, and I got confirmation that fibroadenomata are usually a benign breast condition...but still. I guess they can be anything, or there wouldn't be any need for a biopsy. I guess they can mutate. I don't know. I'm trying to keep a positive outlook (I should get the results any day now), but still. And I'm like, why me, AGAIN? Didn't my life suck enough already? BTW, I haven't even told anything to my parents for now - my mom would worry herself sick (or, sicker than she already is). I hope I won't have anything to tell them in a handful of days (because if it's benign, I'll never address the thing).

Anyhow (please brace yourselves VERY TIGHT)...I didn't want to use a super-sad gif here, so, apropos of nothing, here are some silly selfies I took after getting my perm...I wanted to show you my hair, after talking your virtual ears off about it for so long 😉. Let's have a moment of levity...

🥵 IN THE OVEN. Apart from the health drama...we've had some weather drama. Around mid-June, the heat started to ramp up like a beast (by the end of the month, there were 30.5°C/86.9°F in my house 😫). So of course my deep-cleaning plans got derailed...again. And the cycle of cold cuts, (quick) pan-seared dishes, eggs, stuffed tomatoes and ice cream started anew (I shouldn't even eat ice cream, because you know - lactose. But, I can hear you say, sure there's lactose-free ice cream! Actually, nope. Not here, anyway. Only the non-dairy kind in, like, two flavours...neither of which I like).

Since I was on hiatus, I haven't blog-hopped at all in June, so I've got nothing 🙁. But I'm getting back in the game, so this section will be operative in my next monthly recap!

That's it for now. My next post will be up on July 11th, and it will be the review for Unnamed Bones I mentioned above. Unless I have bad health news before that date, in which case I'll let you know. If it's good, I won't bother with a separate post, but I'll cover it in my July monthly recap.

So, what were your highs/lows in the past month?