4¾⭐
I found myself completely absorbed in this story. Some aspects were tuff to read about…so you may want to check on the trigger warnings. Otherwise…this was truly fantastic I think this was even more stunning than The Kind Worth Killing. It also had fantastic narration played by a full cast.

Low Pick - 3½⭐
A unique take on a serial killer thriller. One that asks the question; what do you do when your sister is blackmailing you into helping her hide the bodies of her victim? While I found myself mostly engaged in the story, it may have needed a little too much suspension of belief.

4¼⭐
This is only available on Audio…but not only on Audible. I listened on Libby through my library. It did have a slight ya-ish feel to it since the characters are college-age but otherwise, it was a very entertaining story that was very well performed. The important thing to note is if you can‘t deal with the supernatural…then this isn‘t the audiobook for you.

3½⭐A light pick...that I gave a pick rating...since I loved his first two books. Although, it wasn‘t all bad because the ending alone upped the rating. But the middle dragged and it was difficult to follow the story…I thought about DNFing it, even. Overall, I am glad I stuck with it since the end cleared up a lot of my confusion. Also, the narration was great.

3⭐
Did the actual content live up to the amazing cover? Meh…I don‘t know. I found my mind wandering quite often. But overall this wasn‘t too bad…as long as you‘re okay with it feeling a lot like The Hunger Games but with less likable characters. There also could‘ve been some plot holes or maybe I just missed some things because I wasn‘t paying attention…I guess I‘ll never know…🤷‍♀️

3⭐This one is for all the rom-com lovers out there. Although for me personally, I think her more serious romance stories are what work best for me. I loved For Lucy…but this one just didn‘t hit the same as that one did. Of course, since I didn't care for the narration it could‘ve been wholly, or at least partly, due to that. Don‘t read too much into my 3-star rating because I‘m a tuff sell when it comes to romance.

3⭐
Maybe this wasn‘t the best choice as my very first true crime book. If they‘re all sort of similar to this one, I‘m not sure they‘re for me. Although I have a feeling they are not all like this one.

3⭐
I wanted to like this more than I actually did because this felt like something I would love. Honestly, though, I had trouble connecting with the MC and the beginning felt like a super slow burn with a side of boring. But when the past and present timelines collide…things did pick up…and I was mostly there for it. But overall it was, admittedly, far-fetched.

Short stories don‘t always work for me. They either aren‘t developed enough or completely flop the ending. This didn‘t do either of those. I was actually able to get to know the MC and I found myself thinking that I kind of liked her. I mean she has her flaws, but who doesn‘t...and at least she had some growth. While it did have some slight OTT at times it did make up for it by delivering a proper ending. ⬇⬇⬇

MY BOOKS...
GOOD RICH PEOPLE - 3½
LOVE, PAMELA - 4
A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES PT. 1 - 4¼
WHAT LIES IN THE WOODS - 4½
BATH HAUS - 4
A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES PT. 2 - 4¼
THIS TIME TOMORROW - 3¾
FINLAY DONOVAN JUMPS THE GUN - 3½
SWIFT THE STORM FIERCE THE FLAME - 3¾
MAYBE NOW - 3¼
THE NIGHTINGALE - 4½
WISH YOU WERE GONE - 4¼
RUN ON RED - 3½
EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN - 4½
THE DARKNESS OF OTHERS - 2¼
EVE IN OVERDRIVE - 4½
STONE COLD FOX - 3½

Here's how February's #bookspinbingo board turned out.

#bookspin finished. Love, Pamela
#doublespin finished. 2nd half of A Court of Thorns and Roses.

I think I counted a total of 5 Bingos. Only 5 squares are left uncovered...I think that's pretty good, especially for a short month.

Also, I only DNF'd 2 books...Missing Dead Girls and Family of Liars.

Well...it's MARCH. So here is my latest #bookspinbingo board.

#bookspin = a Libby Hold...so, we'll see what that what will end up being.
#doublespin = On the Savage Side (I started this yesterday)

@theAromaofBooks

Ugh…this book didn‘t work for me on so many levels. The setting occurs amid the big C…and it turns out, I don‘t want to read about that. The other issue is with all the POVs. The choice to have this narrated by only 2 narrators was basically just a recipe for confusion. Also, there were at least a couple, maybe more, POVs that could have been completely eliminated. So there's a possibility that reading over listening would solve these issues🤷‍♀️

After waiting years for the author to finish this series since originally this ended on a cliffy. She has finally rewritten the ending instead of opting for a sequel as planned, which I‘m fine with. Overall, I love how this ended because I love Atticus. I love Thais. I LOVE Atticus and Thais together. This story terrified me…it seems like something that could happen…all of it. It's so f-ed up…and so amazing. See my comment⬇for my small issues...

New #bookspin List for March!

Last month I started splitting up the long books into two spots and it really worked for me, so I'm doing it again this month.

@theAromaofBooks

Light Pick/So-So
3½⭐
This started out super intense and I was so into it. Unfortunately, it couldn‘t hold on to that kind of intensity because it burned itself out rather quickly and it was just okay and even slightly unbelievable. Which was disappointing since I loved this author‘s other book (Ask for Andrea).

4¼⭐The more you learn about the victim…the more you realize that he wasn‘t a good person and that maybe…driving his car through his garage was exactly what he deserved. But was it murder? I was feeling kind of meh about this story throughout most of it. But then the ending with its different levels of reveals was pretty clever and ultimately satisfying…making it one of those books that becomes all the better once you learn how it all plays out.

4½⭐
After I finished this, I went on GR and read some reviews for it and found a scathing one where she tore this entire story apart and realized that she made some valid points; so much so, that I reconfigured my rating. Although, I only shaved a half star off my original five stars because, despite its inconsistencies, I was really engaged throughout. I think that in the end, KH had the best intentions with the story and I was there for it.

3¼⭐(Light Pick)
Was this story necessary…no. Was it cute and even super cheesy…very much so. But I didn‘t hate it. Should you read this…I mean if you loved Maybe Someday, then sure. If you didn‘t love Maybe Someday, then maybe not. It might help some who saw this as a book about cheating to see what the author was really trying to convey with these characters.

3¾⭐I loved CTNFTW, and was all set to love this…but I really only liked this one. The MC in this book is Remy (bk #1 side char.) instead of Sena and therein lies the crux of my problem, it doesn‘t have nearly enough Sena and Iska. Otherwise, the world-building is great. The ending wasn‘t a cliffhanger but it did lead you to believe that there could be more adventures in store for these characters. So….why isn‘t this labeled as a series??? ⬇⬇⬇

Light Pick since it is a fun story.
3½⭐
I don‘t know exactly what it was about this that‘s not really working for me with this third book in the series. Maybe the hijinks are getting out of hand or the OTT moments are just too over the top. Or maybe, and I‘m leaning heavily towards this one, there are too many characters to keep track of now and I can‘t always remember who they are. I‘m not hating it, I‘m just ready for things to wrap up already.

3¾⭐
You know how Groundhog Day got to be really monotonous with his constant do-overs because he was trying to change one specific thing and couldn‘t get it right? That‘s what this was like. Was it a dealbreaker…not entirely. Well, if it weren‘t for the last couple of hours where the story mostly redeemed itself, it might've been. Overall, this wasn‘t my favorite time travel story but it was definitely not the worst. Also…what was up with the cat?

I first listened to this back in 2017 and I wasn‘t really into it. After listening to the Graphic Audio edition I can definitely say that I wasn‘t fond of the original narrator because I was able to stay in the story perfectly with the dramatization of this book. My overall enjoyment of this book was heavily influenced by the full cast narration because the story itself did have some problematic concerns. ⬇⬇⬇

4⭐
In the beginning, I was confused as to what his motivation for cheating was…but that is answered circuitously by the end of the story, for the most part, anyway. What starts out really slow eventually picks up and while you‘ll definitely guess some of what‘s up in this you‘re not likely to guess the full extent of it all.

This town has more secrets than Victoria…and they are just as ugly as a pair of sweatpants with the word pink splashed across the ass. There were moments where this got a little bogged down but overall I was completely engaged in the story about this small town with some deadly secrets. Karissa Vacker's narration was amazing as always.

✔Okay, so the dirt on Tim “the tool man” Taylor…eww. Yeah just eww.
✔On Tommy Lee –the more I learn about Tommy Lee, the less I like him.
✔Also…she really loves her sons and animals.
✔Overall, it was entertaining…but nothing earth-shattering…but that‘s okay.
✔She had a tendency to sound like she was just reading the book to us, you would think since it‘s her story she would have put more feeling into it.

3½⭐
On the surface this is a trash story with even trashier characters, I mean seriously, are the rich really that bored…but something about its air of WTF-is-going-on-here drew me right in and kept me listening. In retrospect, it was all so surreal…I really don‘t quite know what I think about it.

The narration was fantastic...

Low Pick 3½⭐
This freaking amazing cover just kept drawing me in…until finally I caved and listened to it. While I didn‘t love it, I did like certain aspects of it quite a lot. All of them happen in the last quarter of the book and I can‘t give those away, so that‘s all I‘m going to say about that. The only reason this is labeled “ya” is because the MCs are in high school…that‘s it. Otherwise, it is decidedly adult because of the graphicness.

4¼⭐
I liked it quite a bit but I wasn‘t blown away by it. My favorite aspect was the setting. I‘m from Michigan and I‘ve been to the Upper Peninsula a few times, we have ridden (SxS riding) through a lot of the forests up there. All the places that she name-drops in this book are actual places that I‘ve, at the very least, driven through.

My FEBRUARY #bookspinbingo board is all set. I've already finished Good Rich People😲

I've got a couple of big books in there that I'm breaking up into 2 squares...hopefully, that will give me more incentive to tackle those big books on my TBR. Technically, ACOTAR is a re-listen but this time around I'm listening to the “Graphic Audio“ which is different than the original recording that I listened to before. 🤞 that I'll like it more this way!

JANUARY RECAP
17 Books Total | 152 hours listened | 5 DNFs

THE FIRST TIME I DIED - 3½⭐
NEVER COMING HOME - 3⭐
MAYBE SOMEDAY - 5⭐
BRIARDARK - 3½⭐
SHE'S GONE - 4⭐
STAY AWAKE - 4⭐
ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS - 5⭐
THE INFLUENCER - 2¼⭐
THE LOCKED DOOR - 2½⭐
YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME - 3½⭐
YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS - 3⭐
REGRETS ONLY - 4½⭐
THE FINAL HUNT - 3¾⭐
PLEASE JOIN US - 3½⭐
THE SNOW - 2¼⭐
THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER - 4¼⭐
BENT HEAVENS - 3½⭐

Here is my list for #bookspin for February.

@theAromaofBooks

My final board for #bookspinbingo for January 2023.

#bookspin & #doublespin both completed.
4 Bingo's
5 DNF's (Thank you for Listening, Out of the Fire, Cul-de-sac, Home or Away, and Abandon) yes...I abandoned a book titled Abandon...lol 😆
14 Books finished from my board plus 2 that I couldn't fit on here since I used all my free spaces. I was being moody with my books the last few days.

Still a solid month!

@theAromaofBooks

3½⭐Almost a Pick...but not quite
You could call it a slow burn or you could call it boring and there were times when both of these were actually true. It reminded me too much of The Collective which I also had mediocre feelings for. Only the last 10% was exciting, especially since I didn‘t see that twist coming at all…it stepped up this 3-star story to a 3 and a half stars.

2¼⭐This has 5 books, each being novella length but they are all available on Hoopla on Audio. This was rather bleak…as if the constant blizzarding snow in July wasn‘t enough…there is also some kind of wraiths afoot. I wasn‘t a fan of the banter between the characters, it was seriously eye-roll-worthy. Plus his constant foreshadowing where he literally told you what was forthcoming was frustrating and because of this, I'm stopping at book #1.

3¾⭐
Okay, so this book didn‘t necessarily shine in the mystery department but it was a fairly intense ride, nonetheless. I was totally engaged throughout, which was something because I‘ve been dnfing books left and right so far this year. My only issue was the final reveal at the very end, it was a tad unbelievable with how everything played out…but it was easily overlooked in the name of entertainment.

4½⭐
This was chocked full of secrets, drama, and murder…seriously everyone has secrets in this. The author took all these elements and made them into a rather engaging story. Sometimes a whole lot of drama can feel eye-rollingly overdone, but not so in this. I highly recommend it for when you feel the need for some fun in your thrillers.

3⭐
I really enjoyed this author's debut book No One Will Miss Her, and I wish I could say the same for this…but I really can‘t. It felt like it was floundering to have an actual story until the last quarter of the book. It was supposed to be gothic but it was really just an old house with the wind howling through it. The story did pick up near the end and it was even kind of good…but the rest of it was boring.

3½⭐
This is one of those stories where while I was in it, I thought it was fairly good. But once I sat down to write something about it…I realized there were a lot of aspects that didn‘t quite work. That being said it did have a genuine portrayal of Postpartum anxiety, although it was rather repetitive with it all of its intricacies. Also, the secret, the one that the book blurb hints at on the cover, was really unnecessary to the story, overall.

2¾⭐I don‘t get how this has so many 5-star ratings. I don‘t know if it was the narrator or the mediocre writing…but I really wasn‘t into this. It wasn‘t so horrible that I couldn‘t finish…but it almost was. The ending was its only saving grace…I didn‘t see that coming at all. Despite my issues, I will give this author another try with her latest, The Housemaid, which everyone is raving about to see if she will work for me.⬇⬇⬇

5⭐
Another winner from Stacy Willingham. Her debut, A Flicker in the Dark, from last year is easily one of my top books for 2022. So I have no doubt that this one will probably be in my top books for this year. The pacing is on point with the way that she alternated the timelines to get all the reveals in at just the right moment. I found this to be basically unputdownable or unstoppable if you want to get technical.

4⭐
The constant tedious repetition of her waking up and not remembering what the heck is going on really got on my nerves. But then again, with that being said…it was a wholly original plot for a thriller. But by the end, when everything clicks into to place, I was left feeling rather satisfied with the story overall.

4⭐This was a super quick engaging listen that I finished in a day. My only qualm was how the author was always beating around the bush, so to speak, with most of the reveals, like I just wanted to tell them to spit it out, already. In real life, people don't dance around the truth like that, not if they are really wanting to tell you something. Eddie Lopez was killing it with his narration.

3½⭐/Soft Pick
I want to say that I loved this since the atmosphere, and the characters were both on point. Unfortunately, I was left confused most of the time. Basically, I think this is a story that‘s supposed to leave you feeling lost but I was a little too lost…since I couldn‘t keep my head in the story with the different POVs all being voiced by the same narrator. It would have been easier to keep straight if there had been a second narrator.

5⭐ | Reread on Audio.

I still love this book…and I know there are a lot of people who hate this book because they can‘t get past the cheating. This story is about so much more than cheating. Maybe those people haven‘t had the right…or in this case…wrong, life experiences to feel what Coho is trying to impart with Ridge & Sidney‘s story. Sometimes life is messy and sometimes love is even messier.

Okay…first off, the plot was sorta bonkers…like the whole premise seemed to be overly elaborate for what it was trying to accomplish. Second, the characters lacked depth, although…it is difficult to give your characters depth when you‘re killing them off left and right. Lastly, the ending was rather ambiguous…like WTF?. Overall, I just didn‘t connect with this…maybe it was a little too much Y for YA, since I tend to prefer the opposite of that.

3½⭐
There is something about this story that just missed the mark for me; it relies heavily on the supernatural elements for the mystery-solving to even work but then it keeps sweeping those same elements under the rug like they couldn‘t possibly be true🤷. That coupled with the blah characters left me feeling like this was just okay…but others have really enjoyed this, so I think I‘m in the minority here.

Between a Pick and a So-So
Chandler is my second favorite character from the show F●R●I●E●N●D●S (My fav is Monica), so I was really interested in his story. Did it live up to everything I wanted it to be…not exactly…but that‘s okay. Although, after listening to this, I have to say I like Chandler way more than Matthew Perry. He was a little too “woe is me” with his addiction, and then a little too full of himself with his fame.

Overall, this was good, despite the overabundance of sex scenes that felt out of place in a thriller. I liked the heroine even if she was a tad naive. I wholeheartedly hated the characters that deserved the hate, especially Taylor. But seriously, she went from “my Daddy‘s going to take my inheritance away” ⇦said in a whiney voice…straight to “I‘m going to kill him”, with almost no qualms once her friend suggested it.

My JANUARY #bookspinbingo list.

#bookspin = Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
#doublespin = The First Time I Died by Jo Macgregor (which I will finish tomorrow)