Well, where to begin? This book is a really different pace to others I have read recently, and yet it sucked me in almost immediately.
The story is told by October, an 11 year old girl who has been brought up in the woods with her father. There is such wonderful details about their time together that made me wish I had those same experiences.
An accident suddenly changed October's world and we see how she adapts and copes with life in the 'real world'.
I really enjoyed the relationships within the story with Yusuf, Stig and her father.
A really lovely story.

What a stunning book full of feeling! 11 year old October has grown up in the woods with her father but then a terrible accident turns her world upside down and she is forced to move to the city with 'the woman who calls herself her mother'.
I really love Katya Balen's original style which really captured October's voice perfectly here. The imagery used throughout is so evocative and poetic; Balen portrays the woods and city vividly conveying October's feelings towards both beautifully. As with Balen's other book, 'The Space We're In', there are some heart wrenching moments in 'October, October' but ultimately the book is uplifting and will stay with you long afterwards.

Autumn is by far my favourite season and every single element about this novel exuded exactly what I so adore about it. The colour scheme and natural imagery adorning the cover, the wild and free-spirited protagonist, and the forest setting all immediately spoke to me and, mere pages into the story, I knew it was going to be a new favourite. I was not wrong.

This was the wildest, most whimsical, and wondrous of middle grade stories. I found the prose lyrical and evocative, the setting dazzling and magical, and the story-line both heart-wrenching and hopeful. Absolute perfection!

I absolutely loved this book!
It is a fictional story about a girl called October, who lives a wild life in the woods with her father.
While her father is unwell she has to learn to deal with living a very different life in London. The story delves into what it is to be wild and how we can find it wherever we go.

It is told from the point of view of an eleven year old girl. The descriptions of the wood she lives in with her father are stunning. It reads like poetry at some points and makes me ache for the countryside. I could so clearly see the landscape of the characters and feel the heat from their fires. I've read a lot of nature writing but I think what made this different was the innocence produced by writing from a child's perspective. Everything was so much more magical.

The writer Katya Balen has a great gift of describing the feelings of a young girl without it reading like a simple children's story. It was short and sweet and I think it is a good read for any age, I would have loved this book when I was younger.

Katya Balen has written a special book here. October is an 11 year old girl who lives with her father in the woods, it is an idyllic lifestyle for the wild young girl-she and her father are perfectly in tune with nature and the woods that they live in. She even finds an orphaned baby owl and rescues it. There is one dark cloud that lingers in the background however and that is October’s relationship with her mother or ‘the woman who is my mother’ as she is referred to throughout the book. October’s mother left when she was 4, she stuck out living in the wild as long as she could because she loved October’s father and they had a child together, but she didn’t seem to have the same wildness in her as October and her father and she couldn’t survive in the woods. She tried to take October with her but the wild little girl refused to go so her mother left her where she was happy, in the woods. Since that day, October had refused to speak to her mother or even read any of the many letters she sent to her in a desperate attempt to keep contact with the little girl she left behind. That is until the fateful day of October’s eleventh birthday when she turned up to see her daughter-it was on that day that October’s father had a terrible accident and she was forced to go to stay with her mother. This is the beginning of a difficult journey for October-a child who has only lived in the wild, has never been to school, never watched a television, never had a friend other than her father. Through this journey we see October grow and discover a wider world and learn more about herself and relationships and her place in the world. Alongside this journey is the story of the baby owl, who like October is a wild thing. The owl’s journey is a metaphor for October’s own and is as heart-breaking as it is wonderful.

This story engaged me from the start. It is written from the point of view of October and it is oh so well written-we see the world through the eyes of a wild eleven year old girl. Katya Balen writes like a poet, some of the sentences where so well crafted that I gasped in astonishment at the beauty of them. I won’t put any examples in this review as too see them out of context would rob them of their power but her precise command of language and her use of metaphor and imagery are astounding and remind me of the feeling I get when reading Frances Hardinge or Kiran Millwood-Hargrave. I loved this story of a wild girl thrust into the confining world of modern suburban life by the cruel twist of circumstances. It reminded me of the films ‘Leave no Trace’ and ‘Captain Fantastic’ which both show families existing in the wild spaces that can still be found on the edges of the modern world.
There is a strong story about relationships and coming to terms with your place in the world in this story. October is so filled with fear and guilt and anger at various points in the story and it comes through so vividly in how Katya Balen paints the words. The love of a life in balance with nature comes through loud and clear as well and although it is an emotional ride and heart breaking seeing the torment that October puts herself through whilst coping with being out of her natural environment it is also a very heart-warming story and it is a voyage of discovery for October as she grows and learn to accept her place in the world and finds a wider world to belong to. She is obsessed with ‘the perfect story’ but by the end learns a valuable lesson about life and how there often is no perfect ending to a story but that is ok.
Katya Balen is shaping up to be one of those special writers who shouldn’t be missed. Her first book ‘The Space We’re in’ was published in 2019 and was one of the best books I read last year. She seems to have a knack of taking relatively simple stories about people and writing them in a style that makes the reader become heavily invested in the characters and their journeys. Both books had me following the story of the main protagonists with my heart in my mouth at times, I became so invested in them. October, October is a wonderful story and it speaks strongly about balance and having space for the wild and the natural. I need to also mention the wonderful illustrations by Angela Harding which accompany the story and help give a connection to the wild world, October and her owl. The book is published on 17th September 2020 and I can thoroughly recommend it.

A beautiful story, stunning, it was absolutely wonderful. I enjoyed the story of October growing up in the woods and then being forced to live in the city so very much. I felt so close to this character that I thought she might be real. Her loneliness and fear were palpable. I would love to tell you all about the wonderful prose but I was so absorbed in the story that I can't really recall much but I do know it was wonderfully written.

October lives in the woods with her Dad but an unfortunate accident means she has to move to the city with her Mum. October struggles with all the sights and sounds until she makes friends with a boy at school and begins scavenging for treasure on the shore of the Thames.

The writing style is unusual in that the whole story is written in October’s voice. Most of the time that is a good thing as it focuses on her way of seeing things and her feelings but occasionally it began to irritate me. Speech is presented in italics rather than inverted commas. Because the whole story is presented from October’s point of view, the other characters, in particular Mum and Dad, are shadowy figures who don’t exist in their own right but just so much they affect October. Some of the sentences were overly long with multiple clauses joined by ‘and’ which gave the writing a childlike quality. The descriptions of the woods and October’s difficulties in expressing herself were beautifully described, using poetic language and many metaphors.

I enjoyed the writing and loved getting to know October but the story didn’t grip me all the way through. I think children will either love it or hate it.

This was an absolutely wonderful book, that I enjoyed as an adult and cannot wait to share with children. The main character, October, is a girl who lives with her dad, her mum having left when she was young. She lives a hard but idyllic life, cutting firewood, playing in dens and raising a baby barn owl, until her father has an accident and she has to move to London with her mum and start school. The lyrical descriptions of the woods and her love for her dad were just wonderful, and October is written like a very realistic eleven year old. I loved how she dealt with school, and the sensory overload of supermarkets and the hospital. She eventually comes to find out what she has in common with her mum as well, through mudlarking on the Thames, and the parental relationship was beautifully reflected in how she cared for the baby owl. This read like an absolute classic, and I loved the illustrations too.

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” ~ Anne of Green Gables

October, October is a powerful story of love, discovery, challenges, loss and rebuilding. 11-year-old October lives in the forest with her father. They are wild and love everything about their off-grid existence. They rely on themselves and the forest for life, joy and fulfilment. October thrives on their traditions and her close relationship with both her father and the natural world around her. She loves to find treasures and imagine their stories. Her collection of found things are precious to her and she is happiest when exploring the forest after a storm. As the story begins, October discovers her most special treasures yet. Their stories become key to October’s future and the unexpected turns life takes.

Cleverly told through a first-person inner monologue, Katya Balen gives incredible insight into the thoughts and intense feelings of her character. The reader is drawn right into the powerful emotions October experiences as she attempts to navigate her way through an unknown world. Themes of letting go, dealing with change, loss and gain shape the story into something truly special. Readers are encouraged to really think about what it means to be wild and free and how to find their own perfect ending.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Children’s Books and NetGalley for this unique book!

"We live in the woods and we are wild"

Until the year October turns eleven. That's the year October rescues a baby owl. It's the year Dad falls out of the biggest tree in their woods. The year the woman who calls herself October's mother comes back. The year everything changes.

October and her father live alone in a wooden house in the woods, isolated but content with their simple life. They live off the land, making only a yearly trip in the the rusty Land Rover to the nearest town for essential provisions. October is wild and free. She makes dens, climbs tress, builds fires and makes up fantastic stories about the treasures she has scavenged from the woods. Her house is filled with books and she goes on magical adventures with the characters within them.

This world is theirs and they are alone.

When October was four, the woman who is her mother was gone. And that's how it's been ever since, just the two of them. But a terrible accident on her 11th birthday turns October's world upside down and things will never be the same again...

October, is forced to give up her idyllic life, her animals and trees. She is plucked from her woodland home and forced to adjust to a new, alien environment full of cold white walls and her stories won't come alive anymore, no matter how hard she tries. And then the very last piece of her wild world is taken away from her and she shatters into pieces.

We follow October as she struggles to adapt to her new life and connect with those around her. We feel her pain, her anger and loneliness but also share the first green shoots of friendship that blossoms and grows.

October, October is a story of letting go, even when you love something or someone so very much. It's a story of forging new friendships, healing old wounds, making peace and moving on. This book explores the intricate nuances of family and presents an opportunity for children who have a difficult or strained relationship with a parent to identify with the feelings that October harbours for her mother. This is a heartfelt and emotional read throughout but I crumpled at the final words of the penultimate chapter which are so beautiful and sincere.

October, October is the perfect Autumn read - you can almost smell the damp leaves, crisp air and smoke from a distant bonfire. Children love the outdoors and would be desperate to cook potatoes on sticks and tell stories at the fireside - it would be an ideal book to read alongside forest school sessions. I devoured it in one sitting, truly enthralled in the atmospheric setting descriptions and swept away by the sheer emotion.

With thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for providing me with advanced digital copy to review ahead of publication.

This was one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read. So magical and emotional, it’s hard not to fall in love with October and her father. The writing so perfectly described the woods and London from October’s point of view that I felt like I was there with her and experiencing her joys and struggles. I adored the little stories she created for her treasures, such imagination! One of my favourite aspects is how there isn’t any actual speech (as in with speech marks); this is not something I’ve seen before but I loved it. Will read more from Katya Balen!

One of my favourite books this year. Beautiful and uplifting, a powerful evocation of nature and wildness that I found both surprising and incredibly moving. Tears were shed!