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Find out what I’ve been reading and loving lately before you reach for your next book!
I was in a bit of a reading slump at the end of January/beginning of February.
After I finished House of Earth and Blood, I experienced a book hangover. I tried another fantasy book even though I knew it would not compare to Crescent City.
I only completed three books in February, but since one of them was 800 pages, I don’t feel bad about that number. I do hate that I was in a slump before House of Sky and Breath released because now I’m battling a book hangover!
The bonus reading challenge for my book club members was to have someone special pick your TBR. This was a bit of a fail for me, but when I planned out the year’s challenges, I wasn’t anticipating House of Sky and Breath because I had not read the first book yet.
My husband picked two books for me. I finished one and then started the other before HOSAB released and now I haven’t picked it up in over two weeks.
I ended January with 89 books on my unread shelves. I attempted to finish a book I previously DNF’d but ended up not finishing it again in early February, so I unhauled it and the sequel, bringing my unread shelves to 87 books to begin February.
I skipped Book of the Month again in February, but I took advantage of Amazon’s buy two get one free sale, plus I preordered House of Sky and Breath. I am going to unhaul some more books to even things out. I have a lot of books I am no longer interested in or could grab them from my library if I ever do want to read them, so I am planning to start selling some books on Pango Books in March.
Now let’s talk about all of the books I read in February.
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles
The cover is gorgeous and I liked the concept, but there just wasn’t enough world-building in Where Dreams Descend.
There is a magical competition that isn’t fully explained and a magic system that I wanted to know more about. I feel like I was just dropped in the story without much explanation, and I could not stay interested. I was trying to explain it to a friend and realized I didn’t know what was happening and didn’t really care.
Rating: DNF’d
#readwithallison2022 Prompt: N/A
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is a campy tale about a group of Southern women in the 90s who begin to suspect something is not right with their new neighbor.
As a Southern women myself, I found myself laughing at the gossip-y ways of the women and some of the familiar Southern sayings that were sprinkled throughout the novel. I stopped reading several times to thank my husband for not being like the men in this novel. Although infuriating, I realize the intent of the sexism in this book was meant to paint the men in a bad light, not imply that it was an appropriate way to treat women.
Overall I think this could have been shorter. There were some genuinely creepy parts, and certain passages are not for the squeamish. I am not a huge fan of vampire stories in general, so I wasn’t expecting much from this one. I was hoping it would be scarier, but it definitely falls more to the side of campy horror with a dash of gore.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
#readwithallison2022 Prompt:
You’ll Be The Death Of Me by Karen M. McManus
Look, I’m going to be honest. I’ve already forgotten almost everything about this book. I think it is time for me to accept that McManus’ books will never live up to One Of Us Is Lying. And maybe I am part of the problem because I know YA mysteries aren’t going to be for me 90% of the time.
You’ll Be the Death of Me is about three high school students who used to be friends. They decide to skip school together for various reasons and end up at the scene of the murder of one of their classmates.
I think 95% of this book took place in one day, so that didn’t really work for me because there just wasn’t enough happening in the plot. The same past issues were brought up multiple times and I thought the ending was really bad. The book started off strong and I was interested, but it started to lose steam for me.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
#readwithallison2022 Prompt: Genre: Young adult
House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas
I will probably not shut up about this book until we get the next (final?) book in the series!
Look, I am not much of a fantasy reader, but I still recommend this book to anyone who is willing to take a chance on the genre. Both books in the Crescent City series have mystery elements driving the plot, which is right up my alley! Add in some smutty goodness and characters that feel like friends and you have the perfect book for me!
I will say I am cautiously optimistic for the next book. I was not a fan of the final chapter (please don’t post about it in the comments if you’ve read HOSAB!) but feel free to email me or message me on Instagram if you want to know my thoughts! I still gave this five stars and it could very well end up being my favorite book of 2022.
Rating:★★★★★
#readwithallison2022 Prompt: A Hyped Book
Carry Over TBR
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
I bought the first three books of this series because I knew I would have a book hangover after reading HOSAB. So far this is just okay, but it is a fan favorite so I am going to give it a fair chance! I’ve been told it takes a couple of books before it really gets good.
The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter
This is the second book my husband chose for me to read as part of the book club reading challenge. I asked him to pick something that looked short so I could read it before HOSAB. That didn’t happen.
The Photographer is an ARC I received in 2021 but never actually got around to reading it. I have a feeling it is going to be like A Flicker in the Dark and be pretty predictable, but we’ll see! I’ll most likely grab the audiobook for this from Scribd and try to knock it out next week.
Related: Best Audiobook Services 2021
What books did you read in February? Did you read any books for the 2022 Reading Challenge? Let me know in the comments!
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