January 2024 Wrap-Up
Happy month of love, bookworms!
I’m super excited to take part in the Smutathon again on bookstagram, and I’ve got my TBR all planned out. In terms of reading for this month, I think I did a surprising amount, given that I had 2 editing projects and went on a vacation! It was my first time on a plane in YEARS, and I had a blast in Honolulu. We ate so much food 😂 I think one of the highlights of the trip was seeing all the chickens out in the wild as chickens are one of my fav animals. Anyhoo, for my reading in January, I managed to finish 2 audiobooks and 8 books! For February, I have 9 prompts for the Smutathon and 4 books I’m carrying over from this month, so lets see how many I end up finishing! Good luck to me 😂
In regards of editing, I have some availability in March, so if you’re looking to get any edits done, or need some editing advice on your manuscript, check out my Editing Services page for more info 😊
My Library
Betting on You by Lynn Painter
Review:
Thank you @instalovewithbooks for the rec! This was such a freaking cute romance, and I was obsessed. The main couple, Charlie and Bailey, had such great chemistry and banter. Bailey had like 85% of the chapters though, but it worked well for the story. The ending scene with the cat was just too heartwarming and thoughtful, and every girl deserves a Charlie (except when he was being an avoidant wimp lol). The characters were so well-written and I really felt for Bailey’s worries regarding her divorced mom’s blooming love life. I wasn’t a fan of how Charlie reacted after the night with Bailey, so I hated that part of the story, but aside from that, he was such a great guy. It was also pretty neat how Bailey has a bookstagram, and it was fun to see how relatable her mentions of it were. I’d highly recommend this if you need a cute romance in your life!
4.5/5⭐
Once Upon a December by Amy E. Reichert
Review:
This was such a sweet Christmas story. I love how it has a fantasy element to it with the Julemarked (Christmas market). It was such beautiful world-building that I really wanted to visit. Also, I need to try those kringles! The beginning was a bit repetitive with how characters get introduced multiple times, but I gotta say the cast of characters was awesome. I also absolutely LOVED the female friendships in this book. These girls were such a great example of a ride-or-die friendship. Regarding the main couple, I thought they were so adorable! Astra was such a fun character to read about and I loved how she’s a librarian. Her dog was honestly the star of the show, though. Jack, the male MC, was so loving toward Astra and I’m so glad with how the story ended. He does have a moment at the end where he asks a brainless question and you wanna smack some sense into him, but aside from that, he’s great. I highly recommend this story if you want to keep the Christmas spirit going. And thanks @Princessreadsalot for the book!
3.5/5⭐
Goodnight Pun Pun Vol. 1 & 2 by Inio Asano
Review:
TW: Domestic violence, sexual content, creepy old men hitting on young girls, teenage pregnancy and abortion, child abuse, attempted suicide, depression, etc.
I went in thinking this was going to be an adorable manga, just based on the title and cover featuring the main character. However, this manga is FAR from adorable. It’s dark and depressing and the characters’ views on life reflect that vibe. It’s an interesting coming-of-age story, though, with how Pun Pun family life affects him and how he interacts with his friends and his crush. I felt uncomfortable reading this because everything was just so graphic and the art style screams at you, but for some reason I just wanted to keep reading. There are only 7 volumes, so I think I’ll just finish the series, mainly out of curiosity for what happens to Pun Pun.
3/5⭐
Matcha Made in Heaven Vol. 1 by Umebachi Yamanaka
Review:
I love matcha and this manga was on sale, so I decided to check it out. Needless to say, I will definitely be continuing with this series. It was so cute! It has the fake marriage trope, which I’m excited to see how that plays out because they have to keep up appearances so the kid, Futaba, won’t get sad about losing another parental figure. Also, Futaba was freaking adorable and such a little sneaky child in getting Chako and Isshin to fall in love. I also loved how Chako was such a feminist and refused to take any shit from men. The beginning is a little hectic with how their fake marriage forms, especially with a simplistic backstory, but I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing more development and backstory of the side characters.
4/5⭐
Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton & Faith McClaren
Review:
This was a great horror story and honestly felt like you were in a horror movie. I binged this on the plane home, and loved all the spooky bits, but I wish there were more ghost and supernatural mentions. There were a lot of epic psychic moments, though. I loved Kiki's and Emma's character and I love how things worked out for them. There's a lot of instalove in this story, but it all works out in the end, especially since this is such a short read. Check this out if you like gory and ghosty horror 👻
3.5/5⭐
Netgalley eARCs
Kawaii Drawing by Becky Castaneda
Review:
I love kawaii books and I love doodling, so I was excited to learn more from this book. There were some helpful tips in the beginning, like how to make drawings unique to your personal art style, but after that it was a step-by-step guide on how to draw specific images drawn by the author. I'm not a huge fan of those types of learning-to-draw books because then I just want to recreate the exact image in the example. I still think some people would find this book helpful though, so I would still recommend it.
3/5⭐
Ruined by Sarah Vaughn
Review:
Oooh the vibes from this graphic novel. I loved this story so much! It really gives Pride and Prejudice. There are some explicit scenes which I wasn’t expecting, but I didn’t mind them at all. I loved the side-character arcs, and I thought the progression of Catherine and Andrew’s relationship was just so relaxing. They fall in love in such a slow pace, but it’s so cute to see how the little things bring them closer together. I loved the queer rep in the story as well. The ending was so sweet, and you just have a general feeling of soft happiness while reading this.
4.5/5⭐
Other (e)ARCs
I did manage to start quite a few ARCs this month, but I haven’t finished any of them, so they’ll carry over into February.
Audiobooks
Their Vicious Darling by Nikki St. Crowe
Review:
It took me quite a long time to finish this audiobook because my attention was lagging by the end. There’s more characters involved in the story now and another side plot that will probably be solved in the next book. I’m a little intrigued about the side plot, but I’ve grown tired of the series and don’t care too much to slog through another audiobook to find out. I usually have a hard time sticking with a series, though, so that’s on me. I would still recommend this, though, especially if you’ve read the previous books and love the characters.
3/5⭐
Still Hung Up on You by Liz Maverick
Review:
This was a fun and quick rom-com audiobook. I finished this super quickly because it was so short. I enjoyed the premise of the story and it reminded me a little of Cara Bastones’ books. I thought the male MC was adorable and he had great chemistry with the FMC. The part about their mothers was hilarious and relatable. One thing I wasn’t a fan of was how the characters seem to have lots of moments where they talk out their actions and rational to themselves, which kind of took me out of the story because it felt a bit robotic, like they were reciting a speech. Overall, this is a fun story that I would recommend if you’re looking for a short, pick-me-up rom-com.
3/5⭐
Do you have any fun plans for February? Any fun reads that aren’t the latest SJM book? Let me know in the comments below 😊
Happy reading!
