This is the 1st Maas book out of the 9 I‘ve now read that I genuinely enjoyed. But darn, it should not take until the 5th book in a series to feel invested…also, there definitely are some plot choices that feel weaker than they should given the build-up. P.S. peep those lil toe beans!

What a pleasant surprise! I was genuinely expecting the stakes to be too low given the whole “every character is already dead” premise, but Marie sure found a way to make me care. Yes, it‘s obvious YA fare, but well-executed nonetheless.

This was quite fun, and thankfully does not read in a way that forces you to actively consider the inspiration. I especially enjoyed the sassy deofols, and the dark humor throughout.

Finally got around to this one! It‘s a lot of fun, but unfortunately fails to deliver on the horror aspects of the first title. The plot is also a bit thinner, and some aspects of the magic aren‘t very solidly constructed.

Just read it, folks. It‘s basically “grimdark, but for the ladies” and I loved it tons.

What better company could a gal want on a comfy Saturday night (also present is husband and his book).

This was unexpectedly great! It‘s funny (decidedly on purpose, not due to poor writing) both in terms of the plot and imagery, and the romance isn‘t cringy at all despite the husband being a part-time horse.

This one‘s almost a 5/5, but the reasons everything happened in the earlier timeline are just a little bit too petty for the sense of danger to ever truly build and figuring out who the “villain” (a term I use very loosely) in the current timeline is was a little bit too easy. Overall, I just wanted the emotions to be punchier, I think—especially the bittersweetness of youth gone slightly wrong.

This one‘s middling, but also the best thing I‘ve read by Schwab whose style is perhaps just not for me. I wish there was more ending, and much less beginning, or maybe just less fluff in general since the whole thing ended up feeling oddly like reading an anime filler episode.

This was excellent! Not ultimately super scary, but such a great exploration of toxic family dynamics!

Almost as fun as the first one, but with a lot more—honestly welcome—philosophical musings on what it means to be sort of immortal. If you like irreverent, self-aware, and slightly silly fantasy, this one‘s for you!

I was excited for this, but it turned out to be a weirdly laborious read. Not enough happens, the characters are too static/develop in ways that aren‘t dramatic enough, and I just felt like Wiswell doesn‘t quite make the claims about monstrosity that he seems to think he does.

I enjoyed “Starter Villain” a whole bunch, so my expectations were very high…they sadly went mostly unmet, though. The KPS is a neat idea, and all of the Sci-Fi references peppered throughout were fun, but it weirdly felt like this wanted very badly to be a short story rather than a little novel.

This is so good, especially in terms of how it straddles the line between fantasy and horror. I read it at breakfast, I read it driving back from a Germany shopping trip…in short: it came everywhere for 3 days. The only downside is that now I‘m mad I‘ll have to wait until I‘m back from seeing my mom in Denmark to get the sequel (I bring all the books I read overseas because they‘re silly expensive here).

What a weird, fun, read! The ending fell a little flat for me as I felt there were too many untied threads, but I‘d still recommend it to anyone who is looking for a slightly unusual mystery!

Given the premise I expected something a bit silly, but it‘s actually a pretty serious book—and a good one at that! I loved the ethical questions raised throughout, and the ending twist was super neat. It‘s also a lil‘ spicy, but not gratuitously so, which is nice to see in a current new adult release.

It‘s basically the TV show “Succession” with magic and some interesting stylistic choices; pretty entertaining, though!

The Hunger Games are a pretty integral part of Millenial culture, so really this one needs no explanation. Still as good now as it was 15 years ago, though.

This was excellent! It‘s not really about the central mystery as much as it‘s an examination of the relationship between the “haves” and “have-nots” of small communities.

Good book + good pup = excellent Sunday evening.

It‘s cute, but that‘s about it.

This was so good, my first true 5/5 stars of 2025. I especially love how clearly the fictional communities derive from the real Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, and how the ending plays out.

I was ALL in for the first 85%, but oh boy…that twist…I just could not. It felt lazy and overtly silly and it didn‘t do very much to resolve the plot in a satisfactory manner. It went from a book I‘d consider “serious” YA to “is this an 8th grade writing exercise and we‘ve hit the word count?” so shockingly I‘m not sure I‘ll ever recover.

How is the twist of this one somehow simultaneously the smartest and dumbest plot choice ever? It‘s wild.

This is really dumb, but also really funny. That‘s all.

EURGH, am I glad it‘s over. I had to walk away and read a whole other book in the middle of this one, and while I usually enjoy Klune it was just not for me at all. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn‘t abstract from why Art is in her physical form (which makes every cute thing she does AWFUL), and the “gay subplot” was awkwardly done. This is thematically like if “Cerulean Sea” was written by toddlers and it just felt so hammy in the end.

I haven‘t read any of Aster‘s books other than this one (forthcoming for 3/25), but I might have to! Her writing style is fun, and she manages to stay away from some of the most common clichés in modern romance while also providing the sort of comfortable predictability I personally want when reading this genre.

I didn‘t mind this, but that‘s honestly the nicest thing I‘ve got to say. The ending feels reaaaally rushed and if you want a character‘s death to resonate I feel like you need to build them more of a personality than the average member of the ensemble cast gets (which Rebecca certainly succeeded at doing in book 1, but not so much here).

Adrienne Young is one of my “autobuy” authors, and will remain so, but I couldn‘t help but feel this one was a little pale in comparison to her other two adult titles. While the setting and overall plot were neat, I longed for a stronger lean into the folk magic undertones that made “Spells for Forgetting” so wonderful.

I‘m definitely the target demographic for this, even moreso than I am for a lot of the books I love, but all I‘ve got it “meh.” It‘s too highfalutin, and not ultimately about very much—especially because the catalyzing event feels a lot less damning than how the characters view it.

This was surprisingly fun and quirky, while also being a little bit sad. To be honest, I‘m not sure cozy mystery is the right genre for this, since it honestly felt more like literary fiction that just happens to involve a murder.

Loved it. 11/10. No notes except for this: my reading of this duology was heavily informed by having already read the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and while I love the crows on their own merit I am also confident I would have enjoyed their adventures a lot less if I didn‘t already know the universe and recurring characters.

What a delightful, weird end to my 2024 reading adventures. Absolutely a fever dream, and not something I would‘ve picked if my partner hadn‘t told me to read it, but great nonetheless. P.S. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This fun #jolabokaflodswap book was a very nice end to my “only silly holiday books in December” tradition for this year, and I‘d recommend it to anyone who loves a bit of spice in the romance. That being said, I did find the narrator inserts and the bits in verse a little jarring.

10000/10. This is so cute and quirky, and exactly how I remember Colfer‘s writing style from 20 (eeek) years ago.

This looks like it‘ll be a fun read, and I do love me some Andes! I just wish I knew who my #Jolabokaflodswap was so I could thank both them and @MaleficentBookDragon who did a fantastic job organizing!

This was pretty cute, and a nice break from all the other holiday romance books where it feels like the only plot point is whether the romantic leads will get together.

Hobson (and I) are wondering if this might be my #JolabokaflodSwap package?! It‘s got no markings to indicate that it is, but I didn‘t order anything and my name isn‘t spelled like a family member would. I suppose we shall see on Christmas Eve!

This was pretty cute, while also feeling like an exercise in how smutty you can make something that essentially feels like a cheesy no-plot-but-cozy holiday film.

This one didn‘t really do a lot for me, probably because it never managed to convince me that the presented problems were actually worth worrying about, given that each important character has some sort of “other option” the whole time anyways.

If a Hallmark movie was R-rated and very, very queer, this would be it! It could‘ve been funnier, and the cast of characters felt a bit too large for 350ish pages, but overall I enjoyed it.

The #JolabokaflodSwap package is all put together and ready to get mailed tomorrow! Thanks again, @MaleficentBookDragon for organizing this super fun swap!

This was fun! It‘s super modest, despite some outlets calling it spicy, but what it lacks in intimacy it makes up for in twists and genre homages. The whole “Marcie” thing is also just so deliciously mortifying, so it gets a bonus point for that.

This was fun! Could it be scarier? Sure! Could it make more sense? Sure! But none of that matters if you take it for what it is: a silly little holiday horror that pokes some fun at both the publishing industry and horror genre tropes.

Eh. It‘s fine. It‘s cute and light, but the shifting perspectives do nothing for me, since every voice feels exactly the same. It also doesn‘t quite manage feeling cozy or wintry enough to work for me as a “holiday episode,” but if you‘re into ACOTAR I‘d still encourage giving it a read.

There‘s some important meditation on grief and family here, which makes it a worthwhile read notwithstanding the absolutely BONKERS decisions made by both the FMC and love interest in the last 150 or so pages. Weirdly, it might have been better as a plain ol‘ fiction story rather than a romance.

This one was so good I had to buy a paperback when I forgot my BOTM copy at work on Friday! I liked all of the characters and the ending was cool, but I do think the twist of Tao‘s vision (all I can say without spoiling) went a touch dark for a cozy fantasy.

I just signed up for my first swap, the #JólabókaflóðSwap hosted by @MaleficentBookDragon , and I‘m very excited to see how it goes!

Overall, the story in this one‘s pretty interesting as a sort of “middle of the tale” part of the larger plot, but a touch on the inconsistent side. Also, I wish people who are 100+ years old would make decisions that reflect the weight of their lived experienced, even if they are immortal and/or young for their race.

I mean…it‘s Dracula and it takes 6 months. But Dracula in chronological order and with fun accompanying content (as above) in the margins is obviously far superior to just plain ol‘ Dracula. My only issue was with the weight of the book, which is very pretty but far too heavy to read comfortably in bed. Note: you can sign up for Dracula Daily as an email newsletter, but then you miss out on the extras.