Book Review: What January Remembers by Faith Gardner (The Jolvix Episodes #3)

My Rating: 4.5⭐

It’s Christmas and we’re back in the world of luxury solar-powered cars, flying feather dusters (I could really use one!) and lifelike companion bots designed and manufactured by Jolvix.

It’s been two years since all of the Jagger siblings came home to Santa Barbara for Christmas. The last time they were together with their widowed father Jeremy and his new companion bot January ended in an act of violence toward January committed by Jesse, the third sibling. The siblings’ mother committed suicide years ago and Jeremy’s acquisition of January came as a surprise for all the siblings. But while Josiah, Julianna and Jada keep their opinions to themselves, Jesse in a fit of rage, attacks January causing severe damage.

Fast forward two years and the family is together again with January (who has been repaired completely with a wiped memory, or so we are made to believe). It’s going to be an interesting (to put it mildly!) Christmas at the Jagger family home, “The Pink Castle”.  January’s equation with each of the Jagger siblings is different but there is a subtle but noticeable adverse reaction in her when Jesse is around. What does January remember?

Before their Christmas get-together each of the siblings received a cryptic message in the mail stating “Your Mother Was Murdered” – a fact that they initially hide from one another. The narrative is shared from the perspectives of the siblings and January with flashbacks to the siblings’ childhood from where we get to know more about their complicated relationships with their mother and January’s observations about the members of the family and her interactions with the different members.

Was there more to their mother’s death than what they know? If so was it one of the family members who was responsible? Who sent that cryptic message? Was it January?

With elements of domestic suspense, family drama and sci-fi, What January Remembers is a worthy addition to Faith Gardner’s fabulous The Jolvix Episodes series – the third one in the same year! Keep them coming, please! It’s hard to top Amen, Maxine but What January Remembers comes really close! I loved that the author gives distinct voices to all the characters in this story (including January and her fellow bot friend Six/June owned by their neighbor). The dysfunctional family dynamics, the mystery behind their mother’s death and the suspense about what January truly knows/remembers and how, make for an atmospheric, gripping read that reels you in and keeps you absorbed till the very last page!

I received a complimentary copy from the author and publisher via BookSirens. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. What January Remembers is due to be released on November 1, 2022.

Please note each of the books in this series can be read as a standalone novel.