September and October 2025 Book Clubs: The Legendary Inge by Kate Stradling, and The Dollmakers by Lynn Buchanan

The last two book club books have been my favorites that we've read all year.

 

September-

 

The Legendary Inge by Kate Stradling 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content:Clean

 

Plagued by misfortune, Ingrid Norling treks into the woods to clear her head. She emerges a monster-slayer, the shaken executioner of a creature so ferocious that even the king’s strongest warriors could not destroy it. In a land that reveres swords and worships strength, this accidental heroism earns Inge an audience at court and a most ill-fated prize: King Halvard impulsively adopts her and names her as his heir.

Under constant guard to prevent her escape, Inge confronts the ignoble underbelly of the royal court: a despotic king, a clueless princess, a proud warrior, and a dangerous intrigue. As secrets unravel around her and the castle threatens to become an elaborate deathtrap, Inge must keep her wits close and her weapons closer. The monster in the woods was only the beginning.

 

This cute YA fantasy was based on Beowulf. It was such a cute story! I especially liked the forward the author wrote about why she wrote it. I adored the characters in this. While I found the story pretty predictable with no real surprises, it was a delight to read.  

 

 

 October-

  

The Dollmakers by Lynn Buchanan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

In this dark and enchanting stand-alone fantasy from debut author Lynn Buchanan, discover a world centered around destructive, all-consuming monsters; the magical dolls designed to fight this force; and the artisans tasked with creating demon-slaying dolls. A touch cozy fantasy and a touch horror, The Dollmakers is perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli films, the works of TJ Klune and Travis Baldree, and readers of Juniper & Thorn and The Goblin Emperor .

In the country called One, dollmakers are vital members of the community. An artisan’s doll is the height of society’s accomplishments, while a guard’s doll is the only thing standing between the people of One and the vicious, cobbled monstrosities that will tear apart any structure—living or dead, inanimate or otherwise—to add to their horde.

Apprentice Shean of Pearl is a brilliant dollmaker. With her clever dolls, she intends to outsmart and destroy the Shod, once and for all—a destiny she’s worked her whole life toward accomplishing. But when the time comes for her dolls to be licensed, she’s told her work is too beautiful and delicate to fight. A statement that wounds and infuriates her; the Shod killed everyone she loved. How could her fate be anything but fighting them?

In an attempt to help her see a new path for herself, Shean’s mentor sends her on a journey to the remote village called Web, urging her to glean some wisdom from Ikiisa, a reclusive and well-respected guard dollmaker. But Shean has another if she can convince the village of Web of her talents, the Licensor Guild will have to reconsider and grant her a guard’s license. And what better way to convince them than challenging Ikiisa and instating herself as the official dollmaker of Web? Once she’s done that, proving her dolls’ worth in the fight against the Shod will be simple. As simple, that is, as calling the Shod to Web... 

 

I was hooked from the beginning. The world was very interesting even though the main character was very unlikable for the first half of the book. In the end I liked her, but it took a while to get there. Though I do feel like she should have had more punishment for the things she did. I found the supporting characters to all be interesting and they were what really kept me reading. Ikiisa and Roque were interesting characters that I want to know more about. I've heard the author has plans to write more in this world and if she does I hope we get to learn more about Roque in particular in those books.

 

There's some beautifully done artwork in the book. Here are a some of the pictures-

 

This looks to be Ikiisa with her dolls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Spiders

 

 

For book club we made some of our snacks into a doll workshop with pieces and parts of dolls, and we added spiders and spider web as decorations to go with the spiders in the book. In the photos it looks kind of like a mess. I think it looked better in person.