Stats

Total books read: 9

2023 releases: 3

#readmyowndamnbooks: 3

Babel by R. F. Kuang (5 stars) – I started reading Babel at the very beginning of the year, and this weekend I finally finished it! Sometimes when I’m really loving a book, I read it extremely slowly, until I get to a certain threshold and need to devour it. I knew when I started it that Babel would be a 5 star read for me (and all of the glowing reviews were further clues in that direction) but it’s hard to prepare yourself for a book this devastatingly powerful. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long, long time.

Magic Tides by Ilona Andrews (4.5 stars) – Ilona Andrews is bringing joy to the world by coming out with new novellas starring Kate Daniels, heroine of their 10-book series (and my favorite UF series of all time) that take place after the end of book 10. I knew I’d love this book, but it was actually even better than I expected, possibly because I love Kate and all of the side characters so much. This was a great first-in-series/follow-up-to-series which made me immediately wish the next book was out. Luckily, it’s out in June!

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (4 stars) – Contemporary paranormal romances have been a mixed bag for me, so I was initially skeptical of this one until a friend convinced me to give it a try. And it was extremely cute! All of the side characters were delightful, and it was a very happy book, which is very much needed sometimes.

Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell (4 stars) – A nonfiction book that was both interesting and informative that I’d recommend to readers of feminist works who are also interested in history and etymology.

If Only You by Chloe Liese (4 stars) – This is the 6th book in Liese’s contemporary romance Bergman Brothers series, but it’s only my second read in the series since I’m approaching it very out of order. I previously loved her modern Shakespeare retelling Two Wrongs Make a Right and enjoyed her Christmas novella The Mistletoe Motive, so now I’m jumping into her longest-running series. I’m not usually interested in sports romances, but Liese’s focus is much more centered around emotional growth and mental health, which keeps me coming back to her work. Ziggy is a great main character to root for, and I enjoyed both the romance and Liese’s writing.

Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey (4 stars) – I’ve gone back and forth a lot about Tessa Bailey on this blog; Secretly Yours was one of hers that worked for me. It’s cute and enjoyable, although I did want the main characters to communicate more. I do plan to pick up its follow-up, Unfortunately Yours, featuring side characters introduced in this one.

Sweep of the Heart by Ilona Andrews (4 stars) – After Magic Tides, I needed more Ilona Andrews in my life, so I picked up their 2022 scifi release that features an alien version of The Bachelor but to pick a consort for the ruler of a bunch of planets. It was a really fun read, even if this isn’t my favorite series of theirs.

Book of Night by Holly Black (4 stars) – I wasn’t a huge fan of Holly Black’s Cruel Prince trilogy (I know, don’t hate me) but I enjoyed some of her earlier work enough to pick up her adult debut, Book of Night. I saw it getting so many negative reviews from fans of her YA that I wondered if, conversely, I might like it, and that instinct seems to have been correct. It’s a contemporary fantasy set in Western Massachusetts about 25 years after the art of shadow magic has been introduced to the world, and our morally grey protagonist is just trying to take care of herself and her sister while staying distant from her former life of crime. But when a man is murdered over a stolen book, she gets drawn into a mystery. The writing is skillful and I was a fan of Charlie, our “unlikable” protagonist, that we get to know both through her present as a bartender and her past getting drawn into becoming a thief and con artist due to a difficult childhood.

The Pisces by Melissa Broder (3 stars) – A disappointment after I enjoyed/was impressed by her sophomore novel Milk Fed. This just didn’t feel interesting or innovative enough for me despite the fact that one of the main characters is a merman.