The Boy and Girl Who Broke the World by Amy Reed
Started: 4/12/23
Finished: 4/19/23
Weird and sad and lovely and weird. And sad. But good! But weird.
The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
Started: 4/8/23
Finished: 4/14/23
I found this book mostly annoying. The conflict was predictable, and the two “main” characters should NOT have ended up together. The guy was truly awful, and sure, he got better, but he was specifically awful to the woman he ended up with, without EVER apologizing to her for being awful TO her! I don’t think it was in character for her to not insist on an apology or an acknowledgement or whatever. No happily ever after for them!
The Outside by Ada Hoffman
Started: 4/1/23
Finished: 4/12/23
According to my notes, I read this book, but I have no memory of it. Really. I’m borrowing it again to refresh my memory.
Oh, there it is. Yeah, the mechanics of this far-future, alien planet, super-all-powerful (except not) gods book didn’t speak to me. But I finished it! I’m just not interested in continuing the series.
Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell
Started: 3/14/23
Finished: 3/19/23
After giving up on three books in a row, I reached for a sure thing, and it was so nice. Another love story, the characters are a bit more complicated, political intrigue. Good stuff.
The Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
Started: 3/14/23
Gave up: 3/14/23
I think this is supposed to be a romance, but it starts with someone in captivity, and I am NOT into that. I’ve heard that nothing happens until they’re on equal footing, but I didn’t care enough about the characters to find out.
The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang
Started: 3/9/23
Gave up: 3/10/23
I just couldn’t get into this one. I read the summary, I started the book, and I was pretty far into it (maybe 20%?) and I still had no idea what was going on. Not for me.
Deal With The Devil by Kit Rocha
Started: 3/9/23
Gave up: 3/9/23
I didn’t last long with this one. It sounded so promising! Mercenary librarians! But no – annoying characters, and despite starting in an action scene, NOTHING HAPPENED for entirely too long.
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
Started: 2/26/23
Finished: 3/5/23
Man, I love a good love story in space. Good people who are good and want to do good. Yay!
You by Caroline Kepnes
Started: 2/25/23
Gave up: 2/28/23
Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. I was grossed out by the show and thought maybe the book would be easier to take, but I got the audiobook and I noped right on out of there. The narrator is the worst, and I do NOT want his voice in my brain, thank you very much.
They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall
Started: 2/18/23
Finished: 2/24/23
A thriller, audiobook, and I don’t even remember finishing it. I also don’t remember how it ended…who was the killer? This clearly made an impression.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Started: 2/10/23
Finished: 2/21/23
SO GOOD. Historical fiction, started out by making me laugh, ended up making me cry (TWICE). I have been recommending it to everyone.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
Started: 1/26/23
Finished: 2/10/23
And THEN I started her third series. The writing was IMMEDIATELY so much better, even though the mix of tech and magic was a little hard to get into in the beginning. But someone dies 50 pages in and I CRIED because I was already that invested, so I declare this series good.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Started: 1/21/23
Finished: 1/25/23
And then I started this series, too. This one was the author’s very first book, and it shows. I enjoyed the premise enough to keep going (and then to keep going and going and going), but her writing had LOTS of room for improvement, and I was SO irritated by the ages of the characters. Our main character is a world-famous assassin who was caught and sent away at the ripe-old age of SEVENTEEN. She’s 18-19 in this book, and her love interests are 21 and 23, and I just can’t. Can’t they be at least 25?
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
Started: 1/9/23
Finished: 1/24/23
If I’m going to listen to an audiobook, I prefer a thriller or a mystery, usually. This was a thriller, and every thriller has a twist, and while I didn’t guess this one, I was also underwhelmed by it. Not creepy enough, maybe, and the twist made the whole story stranger.
The Last of August, A Case for Jamie, A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro
Started: 1/7/23
Finished: 1/20/23
Sequels to A Study in Charlotte, which I read FIVE YEARS AGO (way to be timely with continuing the series). It’s enjoyable, but I think the first book was the best in the series. It gets into teenage angst, but in a stilted way – which makes sense because Sherlock Holmes, but still – and the angst reminds me of the COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY angst in the later books in Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles. So that was a little irritating. And the plots of the later books do that thing where it’s impossible to figure out the twists and turns. I want the mystery to be difficult. I don’t want information to be withheld in such a way that I would never be able to figure it out.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Started: 1/16/23
Finished: 1/18/23
Yes, I started this series. The writing was okay, but this was clearly a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I like fairy tale retellings. The hero seemed pretty great, except when he didn’t, and the answer to the “riddle” was so obvious I thought I couldn’t possibly have it right. But also I didn’t care that much. I finished it to see what the hype was about. It was okay.
Lethe by Tricia Sullivan
Started: 12/30/22
Finished: 1/5/23
Recommendation by some author I like (probably Rainbow Rowell?), but I don’t know about this one. It took a LONG time to get into it. Also, the paperback I have has a TERRIBLE cover.
It’s set in the future, people can turn into dolphins swim with dolphins something about dolphins, there’s another planet and maybe a wormhole and maybe a giant conspiracy to keep the little guys down and also a forest with memories? It was odd in a not-fun way, and I don’t think I liked it.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Started: 12/26/22
Finished: 12/29/22
Another big happy sigh for another wonderful story that is a witchy family story plus a little romance. Loved it.
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green
Started: 12/15/22
Finished: 12/26/22
Sequel to A Truly Remarkable Thing, where the other characters get to narrate, which is pretty interesting. Gotta save the world now!
The Seep by Chana Porter
Started: 12/13/22
Gave Up: 12/14/22
The alien invasion is microorganisms that came in through the water! And everyone loves everyone. If you don’t conform, after many gentle warnings, you get ostracized. Anyway, it didn’t grab me, and I gave up.