January/February 2023 Reading Wrap -Up
On Instagram, I like to do reading wrap-ups to catalog stats about my reading for the previous month. It's easier to compile all of my stats at the end of the year if I do it every month. I do not share every single book I read throughout the month, though, because the space you get in the Instagram caption section is precious, and I can't express a lot about the books I read in it.
I'm also not usually a review giver because the stars speak for themselves, in my opinion, but I'm gonna try to expand more on my feelings here.
So here I've prepared a quick blurb for each book, my general thoughts on them, and the emojis I would use to describe them. We're going from my two-star reads to my five-star reads, so I hope you enjoy it.
Two Star Reads
These are books that really didn't hit the mark and, at the end of the day, are really disappointing to have on my Goodreads. The idea might have been great, but the execution was not.
If I give a book a two-star rating, I'm saying that there was nothing spectacular about this book, and I didn't like it.
Broken Perfect Lies by Katie Wismer (February)
A Bodyguard Romance with a Hannah Montana twist. A pop star who lived a double life gets a new bodyguard after a tragedy rocks her world, and she needs protection from a crazy fan. Neither of the characters is interested in the other at the beginning, but there is a spark between them that could turn into a flame.
I really wanted to like this book because I follow the author on YouTube and I enjoy her content. She is also a self-published author, which I aspire to be, so I love seeing how she markets and promotes her book. I was also intrigued by the idea of a Hannah Montana-inspired book because I grew up during that era of Disney Channel.
But overall, this book, for me, lacked any character depth, and the reason why people are angry at our main character for having a secret identity just really didn't get explained. Like there was no deep dive into WHY people are angry with her once her secret was revealed, which made the story fall flat for me at some points. Also, the author introduces it as a Spicy Romance, but the spice level I would give this book is black pepper. It had two meh sex scenes near the end of the book and a little bit of dirty talk between our main two before then, but definitely not enough spice to constitute marketing this as hot and heavy.
I was intrigued enough to finish this book quickly, but that was so I could move on to something else and not have this book sitting on the back burner.
This Book in Emojis: 🎤👀🥴📓
Three Star Reads
These are the books that I don't love, but I also don't hate them. Very much a middle-of-the-road read where you can stay on my shelves, but if I need more space, you will be the first to go.
My biggest issues with most of these books are that they didn't give me enough of what was promised in the premise, or they had some good moments, but the payoff was not good enough for me.
The Holiday Temptation by Tiffany Patterson (January)
Ex-lovers are forced to work together after not seeing each for years after an accident paralyzes one of them.
This is a novella that is part of a series that I started last year. It follows the brother of one of the protagonists and his second chance romance with his ex-girlfriend, who he has to work well with to get promoted.
Overall, I think this book had fun moments, and we get to see the hero be protective over the heroine, which I love seeing in books. My main problem is that since this was a novella, it didn't go into depth with the characters too much. We got enough to keep it from the two-star mark, but honestly, I just wanted more of their relationship than we got in such a short book. Also, it had a nice amount of spice in it.
This Book in Emojis: 💔👨🦽🗄❤️🩹
Brutal Prince by Sophie Lark (January)
Two children of feuding mafia families are forced to marry to form an alliance between their groups.
Not gonna lie, younger me loved a mafia romance, so I felt a bit of nostalgia diving back into this type of content. The main problem with this book is the same problem I have with a lot of enemies-to-lovers stories, we have two people who despise each other and will eventually fall in love, but I didn't see enough of a shift from hate to like to love. For me, there needs to be that in-between state of them realizing "Okay, you're not so bad." before we get to the love.
This is why I don't mind long romance books as much as others do. Some people complain when a romance is 500 pages long, but I like seeing the little increments of how a main couple's relationship changes over time. It makes the payoff so much more worth it in the end, and that's what I needed to see more of here.
But it was a fun, quick read, and I did not know that this book had illustrations in it. Spicy ones at that, so well done Sophie.
This Book in Emojis: 🍓🔥🧱🌆🌶
The Beauty and The Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (January)
A young woman is brought to live with a beast after her father makes the mistake of stealing a rose from him.
There's not much I can say about "The Beauty and The Beast" because it's so well known in pop culture by the point, but it was very interesting to read this version of the story. This is the ORIGINAL fairy tale that was rewritten by another author into the simplified fairy tale that we all know today.
Seriously, there is so much more to the original story than I never realized existed. The whole book is 9 chapters, and the rewritten version took out 5 of them, and the worldbuilding that was in those five chapters is very underrated. If you want to know more about the original tale, I recommend giving this book a shot.
This Book in Emojis: 🐘🪞🌹💍🌬
Nonverbal by Raina Ash (February)
A non-verbal autistic woman goes to live with her best friend and her older brother after running away from home.
Let's just get one thing straight right now: THIS BOOK INVOLVES A LOT ABOUT SEX!
While there are not a ton of sex scenes between our two leads, sex is at the forefront of the main couple's minds in the beginning, even though they are not sleeping with each other. There is voyeurism, adult videos, fantasizing events, the act itself, and pretty much the works. So if you are not into that bookwise, just skip this, it's not for you.
Overall this book wasn't horrible, but this is a spicy read where sex took over the narrative, and the plot was an afterthought. But it still gave a lot of character and relationship development, which made it a three-star read in my book.
This Book in Emojis: 🥵🐼🥴🎧💋
Lunatic by Onley James (February)
Enemies with benefits have to work together, and a threat against one of them brings them closer together.
This is the sixth book in the Necessary Evils series that follows a group of psychopathic brothers finding life partners. In this book, we have a workplace romance between "enemies," but, again, we run into the fact that there was no switch between the hate, like, and love phases. Overall, I just didn't enjoy this book as much as I have with the others in this series, which were all four-star reads for me. The continuing return of my favorite characters from the previous books made a three-star for me, but it could have been much better.
This Book in Emojis: 🥵🥃📸🥊
Maniac by Onley James (February)
After a secret from his past resurfaces, Thomas, the patriarch of the Mulvaney family, is forced to go to Aiden, a young man who ended up in his care long ago. Their forbidden attraction and longing come to a head as they try to figure out who is trying to ruin their family.
This is the final book in the Necessary Evils series, and it was somewhat disappointing for me. The relationship in this book has been building up since the beginning of this series, and when we finally got here, we got no backstory to the relationship. Everything that built their relationship to this point happened in the background or is alluded to in the other books, and none of that is explored in this book, which disappointed me.
The main conflict in this book was intriguing, along with the spicy scenes, so I gave it a three. Also, I'm just happy to cross a series of my series tracker.
This Book in Emojis: 🌲🥵🗯😢🗄
Four Star Reads
Four Star reads, to me, are truly underrated when it comes to recommendations. These are the books that I really did enjoy, but there might have been some elements in them that weren't MY cup of tea, or they didn't have everything I needed to truly love a book. Also, maybe it had some flaws in the book that I just had to deduct a star for, like a plot point I don't like, or the writing style doesn't read well for me.
But overall, if a book did make me feel something, it will usually end up with at least a four-star rating.
Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman (January)
Nick and Charlie, a young couple in high school, are forced to deal with the future of their relationship as Nick prepares to go to college.
If you have been on my Instagram, you know that I love the Heartstopper universe. It's my favorite romance of all time, so I'm very familiar with Nick and Charlie. While it was great to see more of them in this book, it did feel a bit generic in comparison to the graphic novels. The original book was published in 2015, four years before Alice published the first graphic novel, so they have definitely changed as characters.
This book lost a star because of communication issues but stayed a four-star because of the tenderness I have in my heart for Nick and Charlie's relationship.
This Book in Emojis: 🏳️🌈🛏❣️📬
Stolen Heir by Sophie Lark (January)
A mafia leader kidnaps the youngest daughter of a rival mafia family in retaliation for killing their former boss.
This is the second book in the Brutal Birthright Series, after Brutal Prince, and I definitely preferred this one to the previous book as it is also a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I felt that both characters were well-rounded, and it was interesting to see how their dynamic changed over time. Also, our main girl, Nessa, is naive to her family business, but not a passive protagonist in the slightest, which we love to see with this trope.
Overall, a fun and spicy read that might keep me reading from this series.
This Book in Emojis: 🩰🎼🥵🖤📚
The Green Piano by Roberta Flack (January)
A young girl discovers her love for music as her father acquires and fixes up and piano that he paints green.
This is a children's book biography about Roberta Flack, a musician, and it was a very cute read. Not much else to say about this one because it was very short, but it's also fun to learn something new.
This Book in Emojis: 🎹💚🎶
Damaged by Onley James (January)
Dimitri and Arlo are forced to cover up the murder of Arlo's abusive ex-boyfriend in one night.
This book is a novella in the Necessary Evils series that follows the son of the family's tech expert and the boy he's been attached to since he was little. It was a quick read, so there was not too much depth to this story, but regardless, it was fun and spicy, and I liked seeing the Mulvaney brothers in this. Already knowing some of the characters and the fact that this was meant to be a quick one-night narrative helped make it a four.
This Book in Emojis: 🌆📱❤️🔥☕️
Keep Going by Austin Kleon (January)
A book on how to keep working with your creative craft, even when it gets hard.
This is a nonfiction book by Austin Kleon, who is probably best known for his book, Steal Like an Artist. This is part of the continuation of his artistic advice, and it did have a lot of helpful things in it, so if you need a motivational book to keep trying to reach your creative goals, I suggest this one.
This Book in Emojis: 📘📱📝🧗🏽
This Winter by Alice Oseman (February)
The Spring Family go through a dramatic Christmas after a harrowing event in their family changes the dynamic.
Another book from the Heartstopper/Solitaire Universe that follows all the Spring siblings. This follows the Christmas that was featured in Heartstopper Volume 4, and it's great to slow down and explore this night in the family from the three perspectives we get. I love that we get a chapter from Ollie's perspective because he is such an underrated character in the universe. Kids have great insight into things. I've finally started reading Solitaire, so I should be caught up with the entire universe up to this point soon.
This Book in Emojis: 🎄🌧🏠😣
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert (February)
Two former best friends end up joining a youth leaders conference and reconnecting.
I read all of the Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert last year, so I was excited to give her first YA novel a chance. This one is really cute, and I love to see our main two go back to being friends after being out of touch for some time and eventually becoming more. The main reason why this one lost a star is because the reason their friendship ended, and the third act breakup scene was caused by a miscommunication issue, and I don't like the miscommunication trope.
Overall, seeing them work together was really cute, and seeing how they find their way back to each other is fulfilling while they both work on their own goals.
This Book in Emojis: ❤️🩹😏🌲⛺️
Like a Love Song by Gabriela Martins (February)
After a teen pop star's humiliating breakup is accidentally broadcast on worldwide television, she needs to fake date an indie actor to keep her career from going in the toilet.
A fake dating book will usually go over well with me. Why Nati needs to fake date someone seems wrong to me, but seeing her character growth in this book is great as she tries to be more confident in embracing her cultural background. Also, seeing her relationship with William grow is great, but I wish this book was longer so we got to see more of their relationship, and so they could grow together at a slower pace. But overall, a good read that made me tear up, so it earned a four-star rating.
This Book in Emojis: 🎤🏖🎬✈️
Five Star Reads
Finally, my five stars. My perfect books, for the most part. Maybe there was an element or two that I didn't love in this book but overall, it did everything I needed it to do, and I was completely immersed in this book so much that I had to give it five stars.
These are the books that you will most likely see on my Instagram over and over again.
The Mindf*ck Series by S. T. Abby (January)
A serial killer and an FBI agent start to fall in love amidst her journey to revenge, and his hunt to find a killer that he doesn't know is her.
I already spoke about this one in my five-star books of last year, but that was when I was reading the individual books on Kindle Unlimited. I reread the physical bind-up of the series at the beginning of this year so I could annotate it, and it holds up. If you love a good spicy thriller with Criminal Minds vibes, try this one out!
This Book in Emojis: 🔪🩸📼🥵
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon (January)
A book sharing how to share your creative work with the masses.
The other of Austin Kleon's artistic advice books. I gave this one a higher rating because it got me motivated to share more of the progress of my projects online. It also gave me a lot of content ideas, so I appreciate what this did for me as a creative.
This Book in Emojis: 📲📒📸💡
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones (January)
A book dealing with the history that brought African Americans to this country.
You've probably heard some things about the 1619 Project since it tackles critical race theory. I do hope to read that book one day, but this children's version of the book was still poignant in itself. Not knowing the full extent of your family history is something I can relate to, and this book talks about it very well, and it's beautifully illustrated.
This Book in Emojis: 🛖⚓️🌊🌫✊🏾
By the Book by Jasmine Guillory (January)
A young woman working in publishing goes to work with a prickly nepotism baby who is writing his life story.
As much as I don't want to use the word nepotism to describe our male main character, the only reason he's been asked to write a book is because his parents are famous. This is another Beauty and The Beast retelling, but this one was actually commissioned to be written, so do with that what you will. I really enjoyed having a Black Girl as our Beauty and noting her struggles of being one of the only people of color at her company. I've been the token person of color before, and as much as you love the job, it can get annoying when people try to come to you as if you represent all minorities.
But really, I loved the relationship-building in this book, and the main couple has good communication for once. There's some miscommunication in the beginning when they don't know each other at all, but it is quickly resolved, and this whole book felt very relaxing to read, which is always great.
This Book in Emojis: 🍊💻🌴📑🍫
King of Wrath by Ana Huang (January)
A young woman is forced into a marriage with a billionaire, and neither is thrilled about it... at first.
I adored reading the Twisted Series by Ana Huang last year, and I am so happy to read her Kings of Sin series. This series is actually kind of a spin-off of the Twisted Series, and this first book actually has some overlap in events with Twisted Lies, so I had fun with that.
The arranged marriage/fake dating trope is one of my faves because seeing two people going from faking it to feeling real things for each other is always a pleasure in my book. I am also a sucker for a billionaire romance cause not gonna lie would love it if someone else paid my bills. This book is very luxurious overall, and the chemistry between our two leads is immaculate, so I highly recommend this one, and I can't wait for the sequel.
This Book in Emojis: 💍👜💰🥵🥃
Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser (February)
Four women of color go through their hair care routines as they deal with their personal lives.
I loved that this book resembled a part of my life so well. Literally, I had a wash day last week, and when you do it, your day is booked just for that. But, I also loved seeing a great friendship group come together and support one another while they live different lives. So cozy and a quick read that I recommend it if you want some slice-of-life content.
This Book in Emojis: 🛀🏾💅🏾🚿👯♀️👡
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree (February)
An orc warrior retires from a life of pillaging and starts a coffee shop in a town where no one knows what coffee is.
This book is actually the first one that I've read strictly through the audiobook. Usually, I might use the audiobook when I'm doing something else, but I usually end up reading my physical copy because it helps me focus on the story better. But this one was so immersive that I just went through the whole book with it. It's actually read by the author, and he does voices for each other of the characters, which I love in an audiobook.
This book is just as cozy as everyone says it is. It feels like you're drinking a warm cup of coffee, and I highly recommend having some sort-of cafe treat near you while you read it. The whole story is exploring something new, and the slow-burn romance vibes are so sweet. I loved the atmosphere that this book created, it was like being in a Studio Ghibli film. I hope I can find more books like this in the future.
This Book in Emojis: ✨☕️🥐😌
Play with Me by Becka Mack (February)
A hockey player ends up falling for his teammate's little sister, and things get complicated when they end up living in the same apartment complex.
Becka Mack writes hilarious books, let me just start off with that. The hijinks that these characters get up to are so funny, and we get the return of the king of comedy, Carter Beckett, who has a scene blowing bubbles in his chocolate milk in this scene, which makes this whole book a five-star read already.
But beyond that seeing Garrett and Jennie's relationship grow over time is so heartfelt because it feels nice to see how much it changes from the beginning to the end of the book. Also, the spice in the book is top tier, the title of the book actually comes from the fact that Jennie has some "toys" that they use throughout the book, which adds to how attentive Garrett is to her, and we love to see it. Can't wait to see what else happens in this series.
This Book in Emojis: 😳🏒🥵🪠😏
Wires and Nerves: Volumes 1 and 2 by Marissa Meyer (February)
A Spunky android goes on a quest to seek out the rest of the rogue soldiers who threaten to ruin the peace that has been precariously restored between Earth and Luna.
Last year, I finished reading the Lunar Chronicles for the first time, and it was amazing! I really enjoyed the series as a whole. But then I looked to see that I had missed these two companion graphic novels, so I gladly took this excuse to dive back into the world.
Iko was such a great character in the novels, and it feels great to expand on her more while also seeing the rest of the Rampion crew come in for their moments. All of them are iconic in their own ways, and I really just wish that I had read this whole series earlier but better late than never.
These Books in Emojis: 👾🛰🐺💾🛠
So these are all the books that I read in January and February of 2023. Did you read any of these? If so, what rating did you give them? Tell me in a comment, and I'll see you in the next post.
