November 2023 Reading Roundup – A Book Review
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We’re almost to the end of the year! November… It brings cold weather, winter coats, rain, and snow boots. It hasn’t snowed in Georgia since my first winter back here a couple years ago. But I still got those snow boots and I rock them often ’cause they’re cute. What? And they go perfect with black leggings. Check out my article on that here.
But I digress. I say all that to say this. Cold weather is perfect for snuggling up in your bed and reading a really good book.
This past month I read and/or listened to 13 books. I believe that’s a new record for me. Lots of listening and scrubbing dishes I tell you. That’s how I got it done. This particular month, I read a lot of romance ’cause that’s my jam. I also read a family drama, a fantasy, a thriller (my 2nd favorite genre), a comic book and a self-help book. Yeah, I was all over the place. But as you know, I read when books become available and I don’t really have a rhyme or reason to it. I just read what I want when it suits me.
Without further adieu, let’s get to what’s good, what’s just ok and what you can skip.
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Exodus (Book 2 of The Ravenhood Series) by Kate Stewart
I listened to this one on audible. You can check out my review on book 1, Flock, here. People on TikTok love this book and get so emotional when reading it and talking about it. I wasn’t one of those people. I mean it was sad and surprising when one of the characters dies, but I wasn’t crying and screaming out “why!” to the universe. The FMC, Cecilia, was so whiny and desperate and pathetic for the men in her life (Dominic & Sean). She was begging them to not leave her and take her back. It was hard to get through. I just wanted to grab her and tell her, “Girl, stop being so thirsty. Have some self-respect!”
Lots and lots of sex with Tobias, the Frenchman, Dominic’s brother, who was introduced mysteriously at the end of Flock. It was an enemies to lovers type relationship. The sex was hot. This author knows how to write a good sex scene, which was nice. Overall, this one was just okay to me. So much melodrama and desperation between her and Tobias. I started not to like Tobias so much when we discover what he did to get Cecilia all to himself.
More layers of the story are uncovered about her complicated relationship with her mom and dad.
I wouldn’t say don’t read it, it was definitely entertaining. I get why people love it. I just didn’t love it. I liked it, didn’t love it. Should you read it? Yes, but read Flock first of course.
3.5/5
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Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I read the hard copy from my library. This is not my typical read, but I gave into the hype. A friend of mine read this book before me and said it was incredible, so of course I had to give it a try. I get why people love this kind of story – a mythical fantastical war land involving dragons. Was it my cup of tea? The relationship part was.
While reading this, I often felt like I was in school because Violet was quite literally in warrior school. I realized I don’t really like reading action scenes. I’d much rather see it visually. I enjoyed the love story, though it was frustrating because Xaden kept his feelings under wraps so much. The spice was nice once you got to it. I liked hearing the story from Xaden’s POV in the last chapter.
It didn’t really get good for me until the last 150 pages or so, so hang in there. The ending was quite nice. This took me a long time to get through. So many words and almost 500 pages. Should you read it? Yes!
4/5
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A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
I listened to this one through my library’s audiobook system. It’s a serial killer mystery. The main character, Chloe’s, father went to jail when she was a child for killing something like 6 young girls. Then fast forward to Chloe as an adult, she’s a therapist now, she’s engaged, and more young girls are getting killed again. She suspects a copycat is on the loose since her dad is still in prison.
The book kept me guessing the whole time and when I got to the end, I still didn’t guess right. There were so many twists and turns. Lots of misdirection. What a wild ride. Highly recommend!
4.5/5
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Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
I read the hard copy from my library. I only read this one because it was on the bestsellers list for so long. This one was soooo long and boring. I never looked forward to picking it up. It could’ve been told in 100 pages, not 350. It was tedious to get through. There were so many mundane things described in this book, like cars breaking down and grocery shopping. Like who cares?
Tova was a stick in the mud and Cameron was unlikable. The best chapters were the ones involving the octopus. And that’s saying something. Once you figure out the connection between Cameron and Tova, the mystery could’ve been solved in a few pages, but then you wouldn’t have a book I guess. So of course, let’s have the characters be stupid and make assumptions. Let’s draw this out for as long as we can. We’ve got a book to sell. It was frustrating. I only gave it 2 stars for the octopus’s story. Don’t waste your time.
2/5
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The Finish Line (Book 3 of The Ravenhood series) by Kate Stewart
I listened to this one on audible. This was probably my favorite book of the series. It starts with Tobias having to win Cecilia back. It’s awkward at first between them, like they don’t know how they fit together anymore. He’s vulnerable for her and she was strong for him. It was cool seeing things from his perspective. We see his past and how he got to become the leader he is. Their love was so strong. The ending tied up everything nicely. I’d recommend read the first two just to get to this one.
4/5
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Jem and the Holograms: Enter the Stingers by Kelly Thompson
This was a graphic novel/comic book. I picked this one up on a whim from my library since I’m a huuuuge fan of the original series.
It felt like I was reading fan fiction but fan fiction that regurgitated the original story lines from the far superior 80s cartoon created by Christy Marx. There were no original stories here. It featured the same story line from season 2 (Jem finding a new drummer and Shana going to do a fashion internship) and Riot and Jem’s infatuation with each other right from the start. It ended on a cliffhanger and I had no interest to read any more.
The changes they made, making Stormer and Kimber date (I guess since also in season 2 of the series, Stormer and Kimber do pair up to make one song together without their respective groups) were ok. Some other changes: Rio is now press, Raya originally drums for The Stingers, Stormer being plus size; Kimber being androgynous, adding a Misfit named Blaze; adding a spy drummer named Fox were meh. I thought they were gonna add some substantive new stories here but nope. Plus there was some incredibly bad artwork in the 2nd half of this book. It tried to be funny which I appreciated but I’d rather re-watch the original series.
2.5/5
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After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I listed to the audio through my library. It felt similar to another book she wrote called One True Loves which I reviewed here. It was so this happened and then this happened and then this happened.
The main characters were bland. Their separation was an experiment that neither of them truly wholeheartedly wanted. They took a break to see what else was out there and then after a year of separation, to see if they still wanted each other.
Their fights were pretty constant and silly. But they were so new to marriage, that they just didn’t get that what they were ultimately lacking was communication. If they just communicated with each other, they could’ve saved themselves all this heartache.
This book could read like an instruction manual for those new to this whole marriage thing, but for me as a seasoned pro, it was a pass. It wasn’t boring but kinda blah. You can skip this one.
2/5
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Atomic Habits by James Clear
I listened to the library audio, but I wouldn’t recommend doing that. You see, when I listen to a book, I’m driving or doing dishes or laundry. With this type of book, I found myself wanting to take notes when I couldn’t. What I would recommend is buying this book, highlighting the important parts and referring back to them as necessary.
I found it well researched and simple enough to implement into one’s daily life. One piece of advice that stuck out to me was habit stacking, where you pick one of the good habits you’re already doing and then stacking another good habit on top of that one ’til it becomes second nature to you. Excellent idea. Buy this book!
5/5
One Last Rainy Day by Kate Stewart
I listened to this one on audible. This was a love letter to Dom and meant for only hard core fans of the series. It was weird to know how it ends for Dom and watch the love story between him and Cecilia knowing she will ultimately not end up with him. It was kinda like why go through this pain? It was ok. I’m not sure I need to read any more in this series, especially if the author is just gonna tell the story from another character’s POV, like Sean’s or something. It’s unnecessary. Cecilia ends up with Tobias. Let’s be done.
2.5/5
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American Queen by Sierra Simone
I listened to the audible. This book is told from Greer’s POV. Lots and lots of spice. So much spice, I didn’t know a book could contain that much. This was a tiktok recommend. I agree with other tiktokers that if there were no spice, what do you have? Who are these characters? They’re not distinct and don’t feel like real people, at least not in this first book. In this one, the characters in this throuple are depicted as just a bunch of freaks who are figuring out what love means to them. They are a slave to their lustful kinky bodies. I unfortunately didn’t care about any of them.
There were some surprises though. You think something’s one way, when it’s another. So that’s good. I’d say read this one just so you can get to the next one, which was way better and told from the POV of a much more sympathetic character, Embry.
2/5
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American Prince by Sierra Simone
This is book 2 in the American Queen series. I listened on audible. If you can believe it, it seemed there was more sex in this one than the last. From Embry’s POV, we learn about how Embry and Ash initially fell in love. Embry was a bit tortured. Some scandalous secret stuff goes down. Greer’s cousin, Abeline, was so annoying. Her scenes with Embry were laughable because she’s such a comically evil person.
Greer, Ash and Embry have a complicated love, that’s for sure. To them love and sex are equal. There was a really nice spicy scene between Greer and Ash after a sex tape of Greer and Embry is leaked to the press. The sexism that followed after that tape was leaked was handled well.
What worked for me in this book was how much I cared for Embry. He never really knew if Greer and Ash loved him. He was always left wondering, oftentimes feeling like the third wheel. It was heartbreaking.
4/5
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Beach Read by Emily Henry
I read the hard copy from my library. I had a hard time getting through this one. It was boring and slow. January was annoying, especially toward the end when she was crying because she still wasn’t sure if Gus wanted to be with her. I liked Gus though, he felt like a whole person. I understood when he got weird around her ’cause of their shared past and he wasn’t sure of her feelings toward him. He was simply reacting to her and wasn’t used to her staring at him.
I liked how they were honest with each other. I didn’t like how she ignored his call at the end because she was afraid of what the worst case scenario would be. Like, grow some balls! That trope is so annoying to me when characters get all afraid of what they think might happen. I didn’t like the ending either. I wanted Gus’s speech at the end to be better. Not my favorite. You can skip this one.
2/5
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Conclave (Book 3.5 of Devil’s Night series) by Penelope Douglas
I read this on kindle. It’s a short novella and parts I & II can be read for free on Penelope Douglas’s website here & here. I love this group of friends. Loved checking in with Damon and Winter again. I think Damon’s my favorite character. It was nice to hear from Rika’s POV again. There’s a hot voyeur scene with Michael and Rika. If you love the Devil’s Night series, this one doesn’t disappoint. Read it.
4/5
Happy Reading!
