February 2024 Wrap-Up
Happy birthday month to me!
How was everyone’s February? I had so much fun participating in the Smutathon hosted by @bookishly_vintage and @zoereadss. I did this readathon last year, but I managed to read way more books this year! I’m super happy with my reading this month because I’ve been trying to prioritize reading time more, and it totally helps that work has been dead so I can basically read for most of my shift 😅 I managed to read 11 books and listen to 1 audiobook this month. I really enjoyed most of my reads, except for the potato shifter one. That was an oddball. During this month, I also tried many hot chocolates to enjoy while I read, thanks to my city’s YYC Hot Chocolate Festival. You can check out my reviews for all the hot chocolates I tried here.
Editing Update: I’m happy to say, I’m officially fully booked until the end of April 🥳 I’m currently editing a dark romance that sounds like such a fun story. I’m super excited for it to release so y’all can read it. I would love to work on more dark romances, so if you’ve got a manuscript that you’re looking to have edited, check out my Editing Services page for more info. I also edit numerous genres, so you can look at my Meet the Blogger page for more info about my manuscript wish list.
My Library
Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
Review:
TW: Sexual content, blood, gore, icky skin gore, cannibalism, etc. For a list of complete TWs, check out Brynne’s website.
5 STARS. 100% a 5-star read for me. I freaking LOVED this book. I can’t believe it took me this long to read it, but I ended up devouring it in 2 days. Sloane and Rowan were just such a perfect serial killer couple. I loved their chemistry, and their banter was absolute fire. Rowan was such a simp for Sloane, and I was totally here for it. He was such a sweetheart, and the romantic gestures he did to prove his love for her were just so sweet, I was basically crying. This man is the exact opposite of the bare minimum. If Sloane asked for the moon, I swear he would find some way to get it. Regarding the gore, Sloane’s killing style was such artistry. I desperately need some fan art of her webs! Also, I have never really felt sick from reading gore, but that mandolin scene . . . HOLY F*CK I was so close to throwing up while reading that. So kudos, Brynne, for writing a scene that actually made me extremely nauseous. I loved the bit about the accidental cannibalism too! I was wondering why everyone didn’t like cookies and cream ice cream anymore, and oh boy, now I know . . . 🤢 I also really loved the side characters. I loved the banter between everyone, and I can’t wait to see more of them in the next book. I really want to see more of Fionn and Rose though! Overall, this was such a spectacular book. Rowan is definitely my new book boyfriend. I highly recommend this to everyone who likes serial killer romances with a touch of sassy banter, hot chemistry, and bloody murder. Just don’t read this with a full stomach 😂
5/5⭐
Goodnight Punpun Vols. 3 and 4 by Inio Asano
Review:
TW: Domestic violence, sex with a minor, caner, death of a parent and death of a family member, contemplating suicide, graphic sexual content.
My goodness, this series just keeps getting darker and darker. But, way more immersive and has some really great thoughts about life and the meaning of life and happiness. Punpun is now in high school and is experiencing more relationships and really wants to “do the deed.” There’s a lot more sexual content as he gets older, but there’s one scene that I would caution you with a TW in Vol. 3. Honestly, the more you read this, the more you realize this is some twisted work of art.
4/5⭐
Shiver by Junji Ito
Review:
TW: Death by hanging and trypophobia.
I absolutely love everything by Junji Ito, so I was excited to read this from my library. It definitely did not disappoint, and I was so creeped out by the short stories. It was cool to see the blurb with each story about how Ito came up with the idea for it. The story with the guy who pops his oily pimples gave me shivers because I could just imagine the texture and ugh, he nasty 🤢But if you love horror, I highly recommend checking out this manga and his other work!
5/5⭐
All He Wants for Christmas is a Fingerling by J.P. Sayle
Review:
I don’t even know wtf I just read. Thank you @bookishly_vintage for this beautiful recommendation… I don’t usually read many shifter books, especially ones with wolves, so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this one, but oh gosh I would not wish this book upon anyone. Some things that threw me off were how this potato always giggles, wiggles, and can be chopped up and eaten. The potato pregnancy was just odd, especially with the mechanics of the pregnancy, but their pups sound adorable. I love how Tala refers to them as blobs. This book has a grumpy x sunshine trope, but the characters were just so random. Everything in the story felt rushed, especially cause it’s so short, but overall it was such an odd book.
2.5/5⭐
Death’s Obsession by Avina St. Graves
Review:
I had this book on my TBR, and it was a perfect quick read for a Smutathon prompt. I loved the premise of Death stalking Lilith, because I tend to love all books that have one main love interest being Death. He was such a sweetheart in this book as well, especially with all the love letters he leaves Lilith, and how he always cares for her and helps her heal from her grief. There was some great character growth happening throughout the story, which was great! The spicy scenes were spiiiicy, and I especially enjoyed the dreamland ones. I’d recommend this if you’re looking for a quick, lovely yet dark, read.
4/5⭐
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
Review:
Thank you Nicola from Slow Burn Books for the recommendation! I really enjoyed this one! Vektal was an absolute cinnamon roll sweetheart. I loved his boyish charms and his unwavering devotion to Georgie. He appears to accept everything about her. I love how the author dealt with the language barrier and how it was communicated in each POV. The solution for the language barrier was a bit too easily solved, so I wish there was more on the learning to integrate in their culture instead of just magically learning the language. I really enjoyed the bonus stories in the special edition too. I definitely want to continue with the series, but I don’t think my attention span will allow me to read all 19 books 😅
4.5/5⭐
A Court of Sugar and Spice by Rebecca F. Kenney
Review:
I didn’t expect much going into this book, but I was just blown away by how much I liked it. You get 2 couples in this book: Clara and Fin, and Louisa and Lir. I absolutely LOVED Clara and Fin’s relationship. They had safe words, spectacular chemistry, and their banter was so entertaining. Clara’s paintings sounded so beautiful, and I am curious if there’s fanart for the paintings and the setting of the book. I’m so excited to check out the next book in the series since we get more of this couple. Lir and Louisa’s romance was much more of a slow burn, but I have to say it was really well done. i wasn’t a huge fan of the ending with Drosselmeyer, because I think it was resolved too easily with how he doesn’t put up much of a fight. This would’ve been a 5-star read, but the ending kinda killed it, in my opinion.
4.5/5⭐
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Review:
I saw a post of someone reading the first paragraph of this book, and I loved how poetically the author described H Mart. I love shopping in these grocery stores, so I was curious about what the book would say about H Mart. I was expecting the story to be more along the lines of food, and immigrants connecting to their culture through food, but I was definitely not expecting this to be about the author’s relationship with her mother who is dying of cancer. This book had a way bigger emotional impact than I was expecting, and there were a couple times I was tearing up at work. The story was just so beautiful. Being half Filipino and half Polish, I could kind of relate to some of the sentiments of relating to one side of culture more, and being able to show love through food instead of words. Overall, I wasn’t expecting to like this book as much as I did, so I highly recommend checking it out!
4.5/5⭐
Netgalley eARCs
I did not have any Netgalleys to read at this time because I’ve been trying to focus more on reading my ARCs. I do have some in line for this month though, so stay tuned!
Other (e)ARCs
From Wednesday Books
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez
Review:
I was always interested in Egyptian mythology and ancient history when I was a kid, so when I saw this book had Cleopatra, I was so excited to read it. This book ended up being one huge emotional rollercoaster. There were so many plot twists and betrayals that I could barely put the book down. The ending absolutely killed me, and I’m so sad about what happened to a certain female character. i didn’t want to believe what happened to her was real. I thought the magic system was creative, and I loved the world building. The scenes about the archaeological digs and discoveries were so adventurous and exciting to read about. I felt like I was discovering the tombs right along with the rest of the crew. The artwork was described so beautifully, and now I really want to go to Egypt. The romance was such a great example of forbidden romance, and I thought Whit and Inez had smoldering chemistry. Overall, I would totally recommend this book!
5/5⭐
From Jamie Applegate Hunter
Viciously Yours by Jamie Applegate Hunter
Review:
This was such a cute touch-her-and-die romance! Rennick and Amelia had such great chemistry, and i loved their scenes together. Rennick went through such lengths to prove his devotion to her, and it was sweet to see his growth from a bumbling, clueless child and teen, to a fiercely protective and thoughtful man. I loved their letters to each other in the story, and I thought the writing style accurately represented their feelings through their time growing up. i was so happy with how everything turned out for the side characters too, and I can’t wait to read about them in the upcoming books! On a side note, this book was super fast-paced, so there’s no time to establish any world building or character descriptions. All information that you need to know is listed at the beginning of the book, so you can just focus on the romance when you’re reading. I would definitely recommend this for a quick romantic read!
4.5/5⭐
Audiobooks
King of Wrath by Ana Huang
Review:
I ADORE this book, and I think Dante Russo may just be my new book boyfriend, aside from Rowan Kane. I’m so glad I listened to the audiobook version, because listening to “mia cara” just gave me goosebumps every time I heard it. I loved Dante and Vivian’s chemistry, and I’m so happy with how everything worked out for them. They had some super spicy scenes, and I was absolutely shook with the one at Valhalla and Bali. It was so cute to see how Dante kept saying he didn’t like Vivian, but his jealous side and protective tendencies kept poking out. When he fell, he fell HARD. I loved how their initial love confession was so normal with no grand gesture, but Dante definitely made up for that with all his grand gestures later on. This man literally is also the opposite of the bare minimum. I was definitely crying with the dumplings and the observatory dates. He remembers every little detail about her, and it’s just the sweetest thing ever. I liked how everything turned out with Vivian’s family too, and I thought her reconciliation with her mother was so relatable. Also, I loved how there’s a bit of Filipino rep in the book! Anyhoo, I definitely want to read more books in this series, and I would definitely reread this because it’s spectacular.
5/5⭐
That’s a wrap! I would love to hear your thoughts on any of the books listed, if you’ve read them. And if you have any adorable romances for me to check out, kindly list them in the comments below 🥰
Happy reading!
