August | September | October 2022 books
Magpie Murders by Anthony HorowitzMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
3.5 stars, rounding up. It was good but it should have moved faster than it did. It just wasn't quiiiite delicious enough to justify the length. I did thoroughly enjoy basically getting to read an Agatha Christie novel-esque detective story, though!
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Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlaneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I seriously love this author's books - it is so fun to read about grown-up people being grown-ups and using their words to navigate relationships (with partners and friends) and going to therapy and being honest with others about their shortcomings!! If that isn't romantic, I don't know what is!
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A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. ArmentroutMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Another DNF. I am ruthless!! But wait - IS it ruthless to DNF a book when you're at 57% (of a 647-page book!!!!!!!) and the basic, main action of the plot as mentioned in the blurb has only JUST happened?? It's 2022 and I don't have time for these shenanigans.
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The Dead Romantics by Ashley PostonMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Maybe I'm the one who's dead (inside) because I could not finish this book! I thought a spooky, light romance would be the perfect thing for this time of year but it was just. so. SLOW. Just not for me, not right now.
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The American Roommate Experiment by Elena ArmasMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.5 stars. It was good, but with this premise (girl has a longstanding instagram crush on a guy who for convoluted reasons ends up being her roommate and then takes her out on dates to help her get ideas for the romance novel she's writing) it should have been even better. I also usually like my romance novel heroines to be sliiiightly more emotionally intelligent than Rosie was, but Lucas sure was a lot of fun!
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Persuasion by Jane AustenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This. Book. I had to re-read it to get the gross taste of the new Netflix movie out of my brain and it did not disappoint. This is my favorite Austen and it is EXTREMELY swoony. The part where he PUTS the LETTER on the TABLE, all CLANDESTINE-LIKE, and then POINTS AT IT and MAKES EYE CONTACT with her. I mean.
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It Ends with Us by Colleen HooverMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was really caught off guard by how much I liked this book! It's technically a romance but there is a lot more going on than you might expect - lots of really important and interesting perspectives on intimate partner violence, specifically.
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These Hollow Vows by Lexi RyanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have so much to say about this book! Where to begin...
OK, the blurb. My copy says "for fans of The Cruel Prince and A Court of Thorns and Roses." Let's unpack that a little. This is a faerie book so in that sense, I guess, this recommendation holds true. And it starts out YA enough to fit with TCP (which honesty is thiiis close to Middle Grade) but halfway through the book it's BAM, swears and sex. It was so weird! Literally as gentle and pure as could be and then f-words and shower kissing! But that's where ACOTAR, the other half of that recommendation, comes in, I guess? A better name-drop for the blurb would have been ACOTAR author Sarah J. Maas' other series, Throne of Glass. It started out similarly YA and then grew into more New Adult. This book does that but all within its own pages.
The blurb 2.0: there's a case here for adding in The Selection, now that I think about it! Also Cinderella! And even a little bit of Beauty and the Beast! Put those all in a blender with Throne of Glass (and some f-bombs and shower kissing???) and you get this book.
NEXT: the love triangle. I mean, it's literally in the cover art so this is definitely a case of I Knew What This Was When I Picked It Up. And I enjoy a good love triangle! But these dudes - oh, excuse me, MALES - one's personality is Smolder and the other's personality is Handsome. The heroine's personality is Redhead.
But: there were some really fun misdirects and reveals and betrayals. That definitely kept me reading.
All that said: it just wasn't for me. I would rather have re-read any of the books I've mentioned in this review, and that's ok. Someone will pick up this book and it will be just the thing for them! Especially if they want A Love Triangle, Any Love Triangle, and really like faerie books. Because I still have this thing where I don't really like the concept of faerie books in general but I keep reading them. Maybe this is a me problem after all!
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The Queen of Nothing by Holly BlackMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
An exciting conclusion to the story! Really solid series.
I really appreciated how the author dealt with the primary relationship. There must have been a huge temptation to give it the "good girl fixes bad boy" treatment, but instead, the bad boy comes to realize he is worthy of love and fixes HIMSELF. And also, Jude is maybe not a good girl!
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The Wicked King by Holly BlackMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Not quite as good as the first book, but still a good time. It was ever so slightly underwritten, which seems unfair to point out since once of the things I liked about this book (and its predecessor) was that it skimps on description and backstory in order to propel the main action of the plot. But here, I would have liked the book to breathe just a bit and give us more of a sense of the stakes at play for the main characters. Without knowing the stakes, it took an extra half-beat to realize the significance of this or that plot point. And you DO realize it, but it would have been better to have it sink in slightly more.
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The Cruel Prince by Holly BlackMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Oh this was so much fun. I stole it from Miriam and I do not regret it one bit! There's a similar kind of energy to this book as The Diabolic, in that a ton of stuff happens and maybe certain sideplots or characters aren't completely fleshed out but WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT, WE ARE DOING THE THINGS RIGHT NOW. Delightful.
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Paradoxical Glory by Nancy HeissMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
My friend did write this book but this is a legit five-star rating. Several of these poems gave me goosebumps when I read them and I'm not even a big poetry person!
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The Hidden Palace by Helene WeckerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I absolutely loved this book (and its predecessor) and I wish for the author to immediately write more, please!
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