My January 2025 Reading Roundup – A Book Review

Photo by Kateryna Hliznitsova on Unsplash

January. Another month that went by in a blur. I blinked, and suddenly, January turned into February, and I’m planning my Valentine’s Day. Like what?

Let’s recap the month. On New Year’s Day, I went to go see a drive-through Christmas light show with my family. The lights were synchronized to various Christmas songs, including Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas is You.” It was pretty cool.

In Georgia, it snowed! Twice! And then consequently shut schools down for 3 days in a row! People cannot drive in the snow out here guys. Myself included! So we just stayed home. We cooked. We chilled. It was kinda funny. We got less than inch of snow I think, but it truly shut everything down. It was because it was so cold, the ice just stayed on the roads, causing dangerous driving conditions. And now it’s averaging 70 degrees outside. Wild weather baby!

So what did I do with all these snow days? I read and I wrote! I’m wrapping up the final revisions on chapter 11 of my vampire coming-of-age story. As always, if you’re interested in reading my first novel, The Secrets We Keep, it’s available to read here.

As for the books, I read and listened to 8 books in total. Let’s get into it!

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

I listened to this on Libby. This is the first historical fiction book I’ve read. I didn’t really feel anything until the really bad things happened, which I won’t spoil here. But they happened towards the end of the book.

I didn’t feel like the characters were real characters. They felt like ideas more than anything. It was simplistically written, like historical fiction for dummies.

I certainly didn’t like when the bad things happened to the main characters. It was hard to read when the rebellion sister was beaten, thrown into camps and forced to work ’til death basically.

I did not like the idea that Vienne was falling for the nice nazi. Just no. Nazis are nazis. Romanticizing that was a faux pas for me.

I read it only because it was a bestseller. This wasn’t for me, and it wasn’t the best written in my opinion. Maybe it would be better on film. Though I’m not a big war movie person either. I did not cry, but I’m not a big crier. This was meh to me.

3/5 stars

Twisted Love by Ana Huang

I listened to this on audible. It started off with no plot, and then there was plot, and then it kind of dragged on and on ’til the end.

This was another instance of where I felt like the girl made the guy try too hard to win her back. I felt this way after I read The Mistake back in 2023. I understand why she couldn’t trust him, but come on. He showed how much he cared in so many different ways, but still she didn’t give in. I don’t like that trope.

There were definitely some twists thrown in there that I didn’t see coming, which was very nice. Sometimes Ava was stupid, like when it took a little too long for her to figure out who bought all her photos.

I liked Alex. He was moody, but a sweetheart underneath. And so possessive. Touch her and I’ll kill you type stuff. Plus, he made life miserable for his enemies. He was a good book boyfriend.

Overall, a mostly fun read.

3.75/5 stars

The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden

I listened to this on audible and finished it in two days.

Misdirection queen! I had to go back and reread the Olivia chapters, because how did I miss that twist? And then that cliffhanger, leading us to believe maybe we were right all along.

Liam did some crazy shit as a kid and he was not a normal teen. I didn’t leave this book knowing who Liam or who Jason was. I suspected this one guy for a minute and then I was like, nah, and then it turns out I was wrong.

I couldn’t stop reading. I still don’t know what to think. This book was crazy!

4/5 stars

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

I read both the hard copy from my library and the kindle loan from my library.

I’ve been reading this book for several months, off and on. I got 57% of the way through it and I just couldn’t anymore. The terrible things that happened to Jude when he was my son’s age, I felt disgusted and like I wanted to kill Brother Luke. He was sick. They all were sick, and I no longer wanted to go on that journey. DNF.

JB making fun of Jude’s limp was terrible, but a great scene. Willem being an amazing friend. Harold being an amazing father figure. All good.

It was hard to love the stubborn Jude. He was frustrating at times because he refused to get help. He wouldn’t open up to people. Caleb was just awful. I wonder if the bad guys got theirs, but not enough to keep reading.

Jude’s life was a nightmare. Long pages of long passages of words, with barely any dialogue or paragraph breaks. It was so long. You definitely have to commit. There are no chapter headings that let you know whose chapter it is. You just have to know the characters and keep up. Because it was well written with many words I had to look up, I gave it 2 stars.

This author, though, I wouldn’t read again. She just wanted to torture her characters and I don’t know why. When I decided to DNF it, I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. What does that tell you?

I wouldn’t say don’t read this. For people who can separate themselves from these fictional characters and remind themselves that it’s fake, they could probably get through it. But the fact that you do have to get through it, is something you’ve got to ask yourself – why?

2/5 stars

Binding 13 (Book 1 of the Boys of Tommen series) by Chloe Walsh

I listened to this on audible. Thoroughly enjoyed. I did find it repetitive though, and found that a lot of it could’ve been cut. We didn’t need to know every single detail of their lives. Although, it did help to really get to know the two main characters – Johnny and Shannon.

I loved Gibsy as Johnny’s best friend. They shared everything. They felt like real people. It was definitely a slow burn. We don’t even get a halfway-through kiss. I think it happened around 75% and it was terrible.

Shannon got annoying sometimes with her lack of self-confidence. Oh god. She said that a lot. She worried about everything. Everything! And he did too. Not wanting to go after her since she was 15 and he was 17. They both were clearly pining for each other. The whole time.

She kept asking him if he wanted her around, and he kept having to say, over and over again, yes. I felt it was kind of a cop-out that Johnny didn’t spill his heart out to her until he was heavily sedated due to his injury. But that scene was pretty funny.

It was the characters for me. The dad was horrendous. Like he needs to die or go to jail or something. Overall, it was a slow burn I didn’t mind, and knew I wouldn’t stop reading.

4/5 stars

Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

I read the hard copy from my library. Overall, I thought it was a cute romantic comedy. When it was obvious they were gonna be together. There was still like 100 more pages to go. So of course they bring back the ex.

I thought the story was too simplistic. Not much plot. When he suggested she go for Tyler or whatever the other guy’s name was, I rolled my eyes. Just a waste. It became super predictable after that. And it was like they ran out of ideas, so they added this lame plot point that really did nothing to add to the story.

I didn’t like the time jump at the end. I liked their friendship though. Hazel was a quirky, likeable girl. I liked her mom too.

Josh’s sister and her husband were very much in the background with not much to do. How Emily pushed them to hang out in the beginning was kinda like, okay I guess. The double dating thing was like okay, why? Again very simple story. Short. It just over okay for me.

3.25/5 stars

The Women by Kristin Hannah

I listened to this one on Libby. I liked it much better than The Nightingale. I felt the author kept tossing shit onto the main character, Frankie. Nothing worked out for her. The woman never seemed to get what she wanted.

She held onto her morals and didn’t go there with Jamie, the surgeon. Rye was… complicated. I don’t want to spoil it here, but Frankie and Rye went through a lot. I liked Henry, but the poor guy was doomed since she was still in love with Rye.

She went through PTSD for real. Depression, anger, hallucinations, drugs, alcohol. DUI that almost killed that bicyclist. She went through it all. That was quite a journey. And the war itself. Watching babies die. Soldiers die. The realities of the bugs, the humidity, the smell. Making lifelong girlfriends. It was just a great, great read.

She was a full character with flaws. When her friends were going through things, sometimes she wasn’t a good friend back to them. She was selfish, and never really had to work for anything financially, since her parents supported her. This story really was kind of a rich white woman story. But her life certainly wasn’t all rainbows. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

There was even a surprise at the end that left me wondering where the characters might go after that. Highly recommend.

5/5 stars

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

I listened to this on Libby. My least favorite book so far by this writing team. I was shocked they killed someone like 25% in. And this book is listed as a romantic comedy, but nothing in it was funny to me. They combined camping with escape room-type riddles. Two things I hate.

The two main characters were boring. There was nothing keeping her away from him. Especially after it was explained that she just didn’t get the message that his mom died and it was all a big misunderstanding. Him still loving her after 10 years? Okay I guess? They had no chemistry. It wasn’t hot. The twist at the end with one of the characters pretending to be something they weren’t, I didn’t see coming. But it still wasn’t satisfying.

The vibes were all wrong and off. And then her best friend and the meek guy Walter kissing at the end? Nope. And the dad not getting her the message about Leo’s mom dying. Was that ever explained? The way she found the gold in the house, I just didn’t care. This was not it for me. Wish I didn’t waste my time.

2.5/5 stars

Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed reading and are feeling a little generous, consider buying me coffee here.