December Wrap-Up
🎉 HAPPY 2023, BOOKWORMS 🎉
How was your holiday season? Do you have any resolutions or bookish goals for 2023? Mine is to read more of the books I own, grow my editing business, and go out on adventures by myself a bit more to build up my independence and get out of my hermit shell 😂 This wrap-up is a bit late because I’ve been catching up on everything and preparing things so I start this new year fresh. I’ve been having lots of fun organizing my house too 😂 I didn’t get much reading done in December, but I did enjoy the books I read, so there’s no regrets there. I want to try to read more this year though, and set aside time to read. Anyhoo, here’s my wrap-up!
My Library
A Queen of Broken Realms by Brynne Weaver
Review:
Huge thanks to Brynne for the eARC! I can't believe this trilogy has ended 😭 I'm still reeling from that ending and I need more Ashen-Lu happy time. They're the power couple supreme and are perfect for each other in every way. Ashen is such a sweetheart and I was low-key bawling at their serenade scene with the butter lyrics. This book was so good—as is anything written by Brynne—and the smut was absolute fire. Now I have a whole thing for wings and thrones 😜 There's betrayal and death and so much emotional turmoil in this book, so you definitely want to read this sitting next to a box of tissues. I'm also so excited that we'll get to see more of Ediye, Cole, and Eryx , cause they are such a wholesome throuple 🥰 Anyhoo, you just gotta read this series 😍
4.5/5⭐
Exterminatrix by Brynne Weaver
Review:
I finally got to read this great smutty book and I freaking lost it at the foreword. The inception story of this book is quite a wild ride 🤣 The MC, Castro, seemed so sweet at the beginning too and I thought he was so precious. Pacing of the story is super fast since it's only like 50 pages long. You can totally binge read this! It has knots, and Shirley Temple sexy goo. Lots and lots of sexy monster goo. The chin dick was a super fun touch and made for some super convenient positioning. I loved the ending and love how it makes room for another fun story. Gumdrop, oh poor Gumdrop. I just know he's gonna get some epic action in the next novella, whenever that'll be published 😅 Overall, this was another spectacular book by the great smut queen, Brynne. She’s definitely one of my auto-buy authors and I always look forward to what she’ll publish next 😍
5/5⭐
Netgalley eARCs
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
Review:
TW: Bullying, sexual assault, and the death of a sibling.
This was such a freaking good book! I absolutely loved it and it made me tear up a little near the end.. It was a really emotional ending. There were so many plot twists and reveals throughout the second half of the story that kept me super invested in the story. I like how things got revealed slowly, especially the reasons why each kid was in the castle to begin with. I love how everything was connected. Everything worked out so nicely. The castle seemed like such a nice escape and I love the camaraderie the kids formed during their time there. This book also shows how kids can struggle with the school system in Japan and how education can be stressful and anxiety-inducing. I highly recommend this book. I didn’t really like it when I first started it, but I gave it another chance and I absolutely LOVED it.
6/5⭐
Other (e)ARCs
From Simon & Schuster
Road of the Lost by Nafiza Azad
Review:
I loved Nafiza’s previous book so I was super excited to read this! And gosh, reading this book was like walking in a dream. It was pretty relaxing given all the plot twists and reveals that seemed to be revealed so subtly. The second half of the book after the Red Caps is epic and I loved the history of the forever king. This book also has great revelations about family. Also, I really want to visit the Caislean. It sounds so pretty 😍 This was just such a beautiful and calm read! Her books are always so calming to read even though they can cover such hard-hitting topics. I’m always nicely surprised by her writing 😊
4.5/5⭐
Audiobooks
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
Review:
Content Warning: Abusive relationships, violence, blood, depression, and sexual content.
Goddamn, this story. I freaking LOVED this book. It's so ethereal and gothic and haunting. I didn't expect it to be so sensual, but I'm not complaining 😅 I really liked the non-monogamous aspect with Dracula and his wives/consorts, and how everyone had their own dynamic. I especially loved the relationship between Constanta and Magdalena. I thought the portrayal of how Constanta realized that Dracula’s love was abuse was really well written too. I was utterly entranced by this story, the prose was so beautiful, and the narrator was amazing. I want to go back in time and experience this book again because it's just so good 😍
5/5⭐
The Weirdies Get Weirder by Michael Buckley
Review:
I absolutely loved the first book and I was so excited when I saw there was another book in the series. However, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first one. It felt like nothing really happened and I didn’t realize the book ended when it did. It felt like the story ended really quickly and unexpectedly, like it was just the end of a chapter not a book, so I was left hanging and feeling blindsided 😅 I did still love getting back into the world of the Weirdies though and I enjoyed the story while it lasted. Also, Kate’s little jibe at the floating door debate from the Titanic was funny. I hope the next book will be a bit longer and have more stuff happen because I could literally sum up the plot in one sentence and you wouldn’t even have to read it.
3/5⭐
That’s a wrap on 2022! I’m so excited to see what books I can read and what I can accomplish in 2023 🥳 Let me know in the comments if there are any books you’re excited to read, and what you’re looking forward to this year. I hope everyone has a great 2023 😄
Happy reading!
