Offbeat Offline: January-February 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 during this latest hiatus to yours truly? Lots of reading/reviewing, which negates the very purpose of a blog hiatus. Apparently, every time I take one, it's only to spend my time reading and writing reviews for when I come back. The days fly and I have nothing to show for it. I'm too tired and overwhelmed (sound familiar?), and I guess I'm rebelling against this life...but in the meantime, the house is crumbling around me, so I despair even more to be able to get things under control, which brings me to do even less because "it's a drop in the ocean" and "what's the point", and...the circle never ends. Anyhow, here's the rundown of these latest weeks...

📚 LOOK MA, FULL REVIEWS. OK, I read A LOT during my hiatus, and I fared well with my approvals, but most of all...after a plethora of mini reviews, I'm pleased to say I finally managed to write three full ones - damn good ones, too, if I say so myself. My latest full review had been in October, for goodness'sake - but they take so much time usually, and can be so brain-racking, that more often than not, I've been resorting to minis to spare myself the pain. These three, though, felt like old times for me, when I didn't have to work so hard...the second review in particular (for The Children by Melissa Albert) practically wrote itself, plus it took on a more, I don't know, conversational tone than I typically use? which was a pleasant surprise and worked very well. Anyhow, I'm proud of all of them, and relieved to have managed such a feat...even if I'm sure that it doesn't mean I overcame my reviewer's block. They're all different beasts...

Approvals (3+1):

• The Door in Penrose Forest by Sean David Robinson (Adult, sci-fi/multiverse)

As a boy, Nico once accompanied his mother on a research trip to investigate a stalled migration of monarch butterflies. One night, upon hearing her sneak out of their rented cabin, he followed her to a clearing in the forest where a famed mansion once stood. Paralyzed with fear, he watched his mother climb a staircase and vanish, along with the stairs and the strange glowing door at its peak. No one believed his story, and as he grew older, he too stopped believing it was real. 

As an adult, Nico returns to his hometown to care for his ailing father. But something strange is happening to the town. There are unexplained power fluctuations, people are going missing, and, reportedly, phantoms are roaming the woods. When Nico finds his mother’s field journal from the week she disappeared, including her account of the vanishing staircase, he begins to pick apart the mystery. 

All the tangled strings trail back to the same starting point: the gilded age family whose mansion burned down under mysterious circumstances in those very same woods where his mother vanished.

Equally a compelling mystery and a moving story of family and destiny, this speculative novel will spellbind readers of Emily St. John Mandel and Susanna Clarke.

• The Children by Melissa Albert (Adult, SPOILER! Seriously, it's better to go in without knowing, because it will enhance your reading experience...)

Guinevere Sharpe has two childhoods.

In one, she lives in the wooded shadow of her family's isolated Vermont farmhouse; in the other, the pages of her mother’s world-famous Ninth City books, where her magical adventures have made her a household name. In reality, Guinevere's childhood isn't the enchanted idyll her mother’s readers imagine: she and her older brother are growing up near-feral, unwashed and underfed, escaping each day to the lichen-clotted woods they’ve made their playland. As Edith Sharpe’s books explode into epic popularity, the threats of a rural childhood give way to the escalating perils of fame—until the night it all goes up in flames, leaving Edith’s series unfinished and her children the sole survivors.

Now an adult coasting on her mother's name, Guinevere is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir when her estranged brother, an artist who has until now spurned his family's legacy, announces an upcoming installation titled Mother. As rumors swirl around a death connected to his last show, unsettling recollections from Guinevere’s childhood begin to surface. Her public facade starts to crack, forcing her to confront the questions she's spent the last twenty years running from: What really happened the night of the fire? And what dark history lies behind their mother’s creative genius?

• The Bone Door by Frances White (YA, fantasy? multiverse? I haven't started it yet, so I'm not sure)

When Hop awakens in an ancient labyrinth, he has no memory of his life before, or how he got here.

He does not recognise the mysterious girl trapped with him.

And he certainly cannot identify the shadowy figure stalking him, whispering terrible things...

But there is one thing he is certain of.

He must escape.

The only way out of the labyrinth is through the Bone Door. But it lies behind a series of other locked doors hidden across an array of strange realms. To open the way, Hop must complete impossible tasks before his time runs out.

As Hop travels deeper, he discovers that he and his companions may be more connected to the place and its horrors than he could ever imagine.

Unless Hop is able to unravel the true mystery of the labyrinth, including his own role within it, the Bone Door and any hope of escape will be lost forever.

• What Feeds Below by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne (YA, fantasy – free to download on EW)

At the edge of the City of the Void, a massive chasm extends miles into the earth, its treacherous terrain overrun with vicious monsters and carnivorous plants. For orphaned best friends Petra and Jade, guiding treasure-seeking tourists down into the Void is the only way to earn enough to pull themselves up out of the slums for good.

Petra prefers to play it safe and take jobs only in the Void’s upper levels, where the dangers are better understood, while Jade wants to risk a descent to the deepest and most mysterious Sixth Layer. Because the deeper they go, the better the payout, and the sooner their dreams can become reality. Their friendship is Petra’s whole world, and Jade’s approval means everything—so Petra agrees to do it Jade’s way.

When their job goes wrong and Jade is lost in the Void, Petra must plunge deeper than she’s ever dared to save her friend. But she doesn’t know the truth of the Void...or what really waits for her in its depths.

Reads (12):

• Through Gates Of Garnet and Gold (Wayward Children #11) by Seanan McGuire (YA, portal fantasy)

In this installment McGuire balances the core group of old friends with a new, intriguing character, delves deeper into the mythology of the Doors, surprises us with a couple of twists no one could see coming (though they are, indeed, earned), and in the end pulls the rug from under our feet - except we were warned somehow - with a very last twist that makes complete sense, even if it apparently upends one of the foundations of the series.

• Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves by Quinn Connor (Adult, supernatural/magical realism)

Cicadas deals with a dark page of American's history, and sacrifices the big twist(s) for a slow but steady crescendo of reveals, a trickle of often uncanny details painting the picture of a small lakeside community and the way a tragic event that occurred many years prior continues to shape its present. A quiet (yet vibrant) gem, nailing the small-town vibe and at the same time conveying the urgency of secrets that - literally - refuse to stay buried (or in this case, drowned).

• The Door in Penrose Forest by Sean David Robinson (see above)

The Door in Penrose Forest is a soft-sci-fi novel that reads like a portal fantasy, thanks to its blend of beautiful imagery, clean yet lyrical prose and emotionally charged plot. It's a story where past and present (or you could say, future) intersect, multiple dimensions live side by side, and cause and effect loop on themselves - but it's also a very human story of grief, regrets, family bounds, unwavering love, hubris, hard choices and sacrifice. Totally recommended even if sci-fi isn't in your wheelhouse.

• The Children by Melissa Albert (see above)

I won't tell you if The Children is a contemporary book with an unreliable narrator, or an exquisite (if dark) exercise in magical realism, or a straight-up supernatural tale, or all these things combined. But I will tell you this: The Children is an ode to the power of art - the power to save, or the power to damn, depending on certain circumstances. It's a dark fairy tale unleashed in the real world. It's the story of a dysfunctional family and a predatory house. It's horrifying and spellbinding, bitter and beautiful, very meta yet unmistakably human (with all that entails). If you're like me, these things alone will probably seal your deal with this novel. If not...full review's coming 😉.

• What Feeds Below by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne (see above)

What Feeds Below is the most (relentlessly) brutal book I've read in my whole life - so, if you're in for the dark stuff, you'll get everything your heart desires here (and probably even something it doesn't). I did enjoy the worldbuilding and the horror stuff, but it was difficult for me to buy that these teens could be able to withstand all the ordeals they did. I enjoyed the main character's coming-into-her-own-strength arc...well, until the ending did something that rendered it moot. Not a bad book by any means, but I wanted more.

• After Death by E.J. Guignard (Adult, afterlife - anthology)

An eclectic, imaginative, both heartfelt and tongue-in-cheek mix of afterlife and afterlife-adjacent stories, spanning (different kinds of) Hell and Heaven, religion and mythology, reincarnation and digital eternity, humans and other forms of life, with a musician or two thrown in for good measure...Everyone looking for a bite of the Great Unknown will find lots to sink their teeth into in this collection.

• Lost Girls of Hollow Lake by Rebekah Faubion (YA, supernatural - see below for link and cover)

The story weaves trauma, unspeakable secrets, romantic feelings that refuse to stay buried, gruesome finds, and a new, impossible menace that gets real very fast. While the tension and the horror - both supernatural and mundane - work very well, and the epilogue is appropriately empowering for once, some aspects are not equally developed. Regardless, LGOHL is worth a read, with its gripping mix of horrors/trauma and resilience/coming-of-age and its lesbian romance angle...as long as you can stomach graphic violence, mutilation, near-drowning, bug horror, fire injury and more.

• The Memory Eater by Rebecca Mahoney (YA, supernatural)

I loved it! But I decided not to write a mini for it right now - it's a story that puts a lot on the table, so writing a temporary mini review would be such a pain in the ass that I'd rather save my efforts for the full one 😁 (later though - I want to reread it before I do that). So I don't have a review to quote from. Suffice to say, Mahoney writes some of the most thoughtful and engaging YA books out there, in a lovely voice too.

• The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf (YA, supernatural - see below for link and cover)

A thought-provoking study of male entitlement and certain women's complicity in it, a compassionate look at trauma and victim dismissal, and an uplifting celebration of girl solidarity and empowerment in spite of the individual differences, ultimately amplified by the supernatural context. Why did it fly under the radar, dammit?

• The Infinite Miles by Hannah Fergesen (Adult, sci fi) – reread [pub. 2023])

Ferguson pays homage to Doctor Who with a novel that puts a number of spins on its source material and creates its own independent mythology, while ultimately conveying the same message of hope and love (self-love, too) being the biggest weapons. If you enjoy flawed characters time-traveling their way through grief and anger and queerness and alien threats in an impossible spaceship to the tune of a rock soundtrack, and you believe that love can move mountains (or remake planets...sort of), this book is for you. Here's my old ARC review.

• Over The Woodward Wall (The Up-and-Under #1) by Deborah A. Baker (MG, portal fantasy – reread [pub. 2020])

An Oz-reminiscent MG version of the Wayward Children series (same author using a pen name here), only with characters not looking for their door (unless you think one of them was, to an extent) and a focus on overcoming your differences and thus forming a life-saving bond. Here's my old review.

• Along the Saltwise Sea (The Up-and-Under #2) by Deborah A. Baker (MG, portal fantasy – reread [pub. 2021])

A charming little story offering more in the way of world building and character insight/development than the first one did (though it has no real plot to speak of). I loved to see Zib and Avery grow into their friendship (though they don't dare to call it that yet) and the side characters get their chance not only to shine, but to learn as well. Also, welcome, pirate queen 🤗. Here's my old review. 

Reviews (10):

• Getting Even (Cheerleaders #2) by Christopher Pike (YA, contemporary)

Mini review posted last month.

• What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould (YA, supernatural)

Mini review already on GR, on the blog later in the month.

• Through Gates Of Garnet and Gold (Wayward Children #11) by Seanan McGuire (see above)

Mini review already on GR, on the blog later in the month. Please notice: when I started reading this series, I used to write full reviews for each and every book. Nowadays I only do minis for novellas (like these), but the completionist in me won't let me break up with the tradition I established since I read the first installment of Wayward Children - so, I'm going to produce a full review later...

• Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves by Quinn Connor (see above)

Review to come in a few days.

• The Door in Penrose Forest by Sean David Robinson (see above)

Mini review to come near pub date.

• The Children by Melissa Albert (see above)

Review to come near pub date.

• What Feeds Below by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne (see above)

Mini review to come near pub date.

• After Death by E.J. Guignard (see above)

Mini review already on GR, on the blog in a few days.

• Lost Girls of Hollow Lake by Rebekah Faubion (see above)

Mini review on GR for now.

• The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf (see above)

On the blog later this month.

Here are my scheduled reviews for this month:

• Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves by Quinn Connor (on Sun. 8th);
• What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould, Through Gates of Garnet and Gold (Wayward Children #11) by Seanan McGuire and After Death by Eric J. Guignard (in a mini-review round on Mon. 16th);
• The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf (on Tue. 24th).

Reviews aside, I have a Tell Me Something Tuesday round-up scheduled for Tue. 31st in which I answer all the March questions. In the meantime, here's the TMST prompt list for the month of March, in case you want to join in:

• March 3rd: Which made-up thing do you badly wish was real? (a question I submitted)
• March 10th: If you could have any celebrity be your best friend, who would you pick? (a question I submitted)
• March 17th: Do you prefer single narrator, duet/dual narration, full cast, or "graphic audio" audiobooks?
• March 24th: What’s your go-to coffee/tea order?
• March 31st: What's your favourite colour? (a question I submitted)

🏥PARENTAL MESS. So this was the month when both my parents had health issues, albeit not serious ones. First my dad was riding his bike when a guy opened his car door without looking and sent him sprawling on the concrete. Luckily, my dad walked away with nothing worse than ruined clothes (that the insurance will repay) and a broken pinkie, though he had to spend 24 hours at the hospital in order to get cleared. After a few days, my mom lost consciousness for the second time - you might remember that it had already happened to her one year ago and she had been admitted to the hospital for a week. This time, though, when the paramedics arrived, she had already regained her senses, and her vitals turned out to be good, so the doctor on board blamed her new blood pressure medications for the episode and she wasn't hospitalised. The day after, she talked to the doctor that had changed her medications, and he suggested taking only one of the pills (the morning one), since she'd been sick after taking the night one, and the other was having the intended effect already anyway. But gah, one scare after another...and one more reminder that I won't have parents for much longer anyway (especially my mom - she's got a ton of problems).

😫COPING MECHANISM. As I said above, this was another fruitless hiatus, chore-wise. I'm overwhelmed, alone in taking care of everything, and my spirits are so down that I end up doing the bare minimum and spending my time on books and at the computer instead of adulting (to be honest, though, the weather was trash until a couple of weeks ago, and you can't do much when it rains). Add to it that the house is 23 years old (I mean the inside), and everything's going to 💩, but we don't have the money to start anew, plus it's difficult as hell to remodel a house (especially the bathroom and the kitchen) when you're living in it, and one of you is disabled on top of that. The real problem, though, is that things have gotten so out of hand that I don't even know where to start anymore. But I can't keep living like this. I was thinking about taking a new hiatus in April and trying again, except I'll probably end up losing myself in books and reviews one more time...

Funny gif, except the situation is anything but...

🩸LAB NEWS. I went for one of my routine bloodworks a couple of weeks ago, and both my leukocytes and lymphocytes number had increased. This is pretty normal with chronic lymphocytic leukemia - there's a constant ebb and flow - and still below the spike I experienced a couple of years ago, but well...not pleasant. My next exams are due at the end of April, and I'm seeing the hematologist next (in May) for the usual six-monthly check-in. I hope I can go on a bit longer without having to start treatments, though I've been told they're nowhere near as invasive as the ones for other types of cancer...I mean, my hair won't fall off, for one, so yay...

Since I was on hiatus, I haven't blog-hopped at all until a few days ago, 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 March 8th, and it will be the review for Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves I mentioned above.

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