Someone You Can Build a Nest In [October 1, 2025]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

comment

[Nirkatze]

Seems to be sticking. Thank you!
This is a Spooktober thread. Read any time in October!

Check out the list of other scheduled spooky reads in the Spooktober [buddy read] thread, or seek friends for a plan of your own in the [planning] thread!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Started... couldn't wait any longer :D

Another one that makes me feel like a monster, lol...

The premise and MC has a smile on my face, even as she kills people...

The MC is a monster, but for the most part they just hibernate in their lair until monster hunters show up like delivery food...

Reminds me of Dragon Lore...

Read the first 4 chapters / 1hr, so far...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

The fact this is narrated by the narrator of the Lady Darby mystery series and the Verity Kent mystery series (both historical mysteries from Anna Lee Huber), is distracting me a little, lol... affecting the vibe :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Zooming along, continuing to have fun... Chapter 25 / 50% now... the dynamics and plot trajectory are reminding me a bit of A Sorceress Comes to Call...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chapter 38: Holy Moly... things keep happening... (view spoiler)[Shesheshen / Siobhan kills Homily's mother, only to find out Homily's mother was actually HER mother all along, faking a curse to explain the death of husband and wield power in human society...

THEN, when Shesheshen tries to confess her lies to Homily and love, it's actually Homily's younger sister in robes, and she gets knocked out with poison crossbow bolt...

THEN, Homily shows up, learns all the truths, including that the curse is fake, and has a bit of a mental break since her family has been mentally abusing her for years, and slits her sister's throat and is probably about to free Shesheshen...

I'm starting to think there might be hope for this messed up romance, lol... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

"We're going on an adventure"

Children of Ruin reference?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

And done... what a book... exactly what I hoped it would be, in general terms... impossible to 100% predict, going in, from blurb alone and tags...

I hope everyone else enjoys as much as I did...

[Paula]

I read it last year and I loved it. I had the same reactions and it was very fun

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Yea... by the end, it left me wanting more (view spoiler)[regarding raising a baby blobling...

Also the "pet" bear reminded me of Laken in Wandering Inn and his bear and bird companions... (hide spoiler)]

[Paula]

Yeah (view spoiler)[ I wouldn't say no to a sequel book or novella with a baby blob and their family drama.

Haven't read Wandering Inn, I am pretty intimidated... (hide spoiler)]

[Jennifer]

A bit late to this but just finished the first 4 chapters as well, part 1 :o I really like the narration so far - and never read a book from a monster's point of view like this before.

(view spoiler)[Her formless lumpy body and the way she used chains as a spine, stones, bones, organs, etc was so creepy haha. But so far, I'm really, really enjoying it! (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nah... October works different... 75% of the BRs are horror-themed, and just listed as October 1st, with the expectation people will read anytime in the month, unlike normal BRs, which are more spread out, and expected to be read closer to the start date, in general...

I'm the exception, going for a bit of a speedrun this year...

[Jennifer]

Made it to page 125

(view spoiler)[Laurent actually has my crying tears he's so funny (hide spoiler)]

[Jennifer]

Omg, I just finished the book (a bit late to the party, and made it right before halloween!). Anyways...
(view spoiler)[The blob was so cute! I was shocked that Homily ended up killing her sister, it almost seemed out of character. And I really, really disliked the name of the blob...epilogue is too quirky for me haha. Otherwise, it was really really sweet, and I totally dig the "cozy horror" genre now. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Jennifer wrote: "Omg, I just finished the book (a bit late to the party, and made it right before halloween!). Anyways...
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[it felt a bit left field, yea... but also, Homily was being emotionally abused by her family her whole life, basically... blob mom created a hostile family dynamic that her siblings thrived in alot more than she did... it's what made the romance work, too... any dribble of affection and she latched on... not 100% healthy, but enjoyable read nonetheless...

I'm reading Direct Descendant next month, which is another cozy horror read, in the Cozy November thread...

I also loved Love Crafted by Ravensdagger, a generally cozy author...

I enjoy author Thundamoo (Natalie Maher), and all her fiction has characters that question their gender/identity, and their bodies start morphing either in their control or out of their control... lots of healthy and semi-healthy character relationships:

Vigor Mortis: Volume 1-4 (finished, room for sequel series)
Bioshifter: Volume 1-3 (finished, room for sequel series)
Hive Minds Give Good Hugs (standalone)
Are You Even Human: Volume 1-2+ (ongoing)

T. Kingfisher also has a number of books that straddle the line (not surprising, when half their books are romance and kids books):

What Moves the Dead / What Feasts at Night / What Stalks the Deep
The Hollow Places (hide spoiler)]

[Jennifer]

Oooo, thank you so much for the recommendations! I might take a look at some of those books - I'm lucky enough that my school library is super willing to purchase any books we want (even fiction) if they don't have it in stock. So I'm really trying to take advantage of that before I graduate :o

Are any of these books planned to be buddy reads?

Interestingly enough, I'm usually not the biggest fan of cozy, but cozy horror seems to hit right between cozy and exciting for me :)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

We had/have a BR of Are You Even Human this week, and the new Sworn Soldier: What Stalks the Deep this month, and a Hollow Places re-read as well...

Everything else I've read before and I don't know of planned BRs / re-reads... most/all I read in the past 2 years as Buddy Reads around here...

[Nirkatze]

I'd also add Grady Hendrix in the cozy horror category... a few of those planned this month... His books tend to be less fantasy though--more traditional horror that's just a bit more accessible to make them cozyish.

Read this earlier in the week and enjoyed it, but maybe not as much as y'all did. I think I was a bit too stressed at the time to latch on properly. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, but there were parts where instead of being immersed, I kind of just wanted the story to move on already. When we hit the big OMG moment--(view spoiler)[when Homily's mother is revealed to actually be Shesehsen's, and she learns that everything both she and Homily thought was true and have founded their lives on was actually lies--that was when I started to get invested.

I really liked how the two of them were able to be each others' strength when everything else was going to shit... it was a nice surprise when Homily backed Shesheshen rather easily after the reveal... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Yea, I guess... the characters definitely have close friendships/familiar relationships... and they're repaired by the end... from the few examples I can think of...

[Jennifer]

Ohhh the part I liked about the ending was when Shesheshen wanted to make sure that (view spoiler)[Homily wasn't willing to let Epilogue hurt her since her past trauma makes it more likely... (hide spoiler)]

I've really been into wholesome endings recently just cause of stress in normal life :p

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

That's why we load up the holidays with cozies... or some of us do...

Different kind of cozy, but I/we love Beware of Chicken around here... especially the first 3...