ARC Review: The Dresden Files #18

Twelve Months by Jim Butcher

Publication Date: January 20, 2026

Summary from NetGalley:

One year. 365 days. Twelve months.

Harry Dresden has been through a lot, and so has his city. After Harry and his allies narrowly managed to save Chicago from being razed to the ground, everything is different—and it’s not just the current lack of electricity.

In the battle, Harry lost people he cared about. And that’s the kind of loss that takes a toll. Harry being Harry, he’s doing his level best to help the city and his friends recover and rebuild. But it’s a heavy load, and he needs time.

But time is one thing Harry doesn’t have. Ghouls are prowling Chicago and taking out innocent civilians. Harry’s brother is dying, and Harry doesn’t know how to help him. And last but certainly not least, the Winter Queen of the Fae has allied with the White Court of vampires—and Harry’s been betrothed to the seductive, deadly vampire Lara Raith to seal the deal.

It’s been a tough year. More than ever, the city needs Harry Dresden the wizard—but after loss and grief, is there enough left of Harry Dresden the man to rise to the challenge?

ARC provided by Berkley Publishing via Netgalley for an honest review.

Confession:

I didn’t discover this series until 2021, but I then devoured all 17 books that were available. It still took me a year, but it was nice not to have to wait for the books to be released. I also usually get bored with series that are this long, but this never happened. I love this series and this book was just as good as all of the ones that have come before. I really hope we don’t have to wait too long for the next one.

****Warning! This being the 18th book in a series, I cannot guarantee that there won’t be spoilers for previous books. I will try my hardest not to spoil anything from this one though.

Harry has been through a lot, and this book is all about his grieving and his ptsd from the events in the last book. The battle for Chicago, decimated the city, and took much away from the citizens. But Harry, being Harry, still needs to help and protect the survivors, even when he can barely get out of bed himself. As the title suggests, we get to see how Harry struggles through the next twelve months, dealing with his grief, trying to help his brother, and yes, dating a vampire. Mabs of course is up to her old tricks as well, which often puts Harry into difficult situations. But we still see growth in his character, and watch how his life changes, mostly for the good.

Many of the characters that survived the battle make appearances in this book. Some only briefly, but it was nice to see them. I never liked Lara Raith much in the other books, but she also has shown some growth and understanding of what Harry is going through, which made me like her more. I wasn’t thrilled with how Mabs has manipulated both her and Harry in this book, but hopefully they will be able to work themselves out from under her control.

A couple of new characters are nice additions to the story. Fitz is a minor character from a previous book who becomes Harry’s apprentice. I really like him and hope to see more of him in the next book. Lara also arranges for Harry to have a bodyguard in the form of a Valkyrie named Bear. I really liked her and hope she sticks around.

The story does move a little on the slow side at times, but so does grief. There are some heartbreaking moments when Harry is dealing with the death of Karrin Murphy and some of his friends. But there are also some light hearted moments too. The ending is amazing and a chance to see the powerful Harry at his best. I would have liked to see a bit more of Bob in the story, but his role at the end of the book was perfect, and so Bob. The ending was also a solid set up for what is to come.

This was a really solid addition to the series and fans will not be disappointed. I think there are at least four, but maybe five more books planned for this series. Hopefully we won’t have to wait five very long years between each one.

If you are looking for an urban fantasy series that you will not get bored with, this is one you should consider. The characters are wonderful and the stories never get boring.