Hey everyone!
I hope you all are doing great! Winter has started to let up a little where I live, even though it's still pretty cold. I've been having a great reading streak lately. CBSC keeps overturning our lives. What else is new?
I'm not used to doing regular monthly wrap-ups, but this time I was more mindful of reviewing every single book I read, hence even though I'm so late it's not even funny- I decided to just go ahead and post this since I didn't want to waste all the effort that went into it.
Table of Contents-
My Top 2 Reads this Month
General Book Reviews
Content from the Blogosphere
My Top 2 Books This Month
1) Antisocial by Heidi Cullman-
RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Antisocial was a book that I was actively searching for, to complete a prompt for Book Riot's Read Harder 2022. I'm so glad I found this because I have a feeling that it is going to be one of my best reads this year.
The cover was the first thing that caught my attention. It was a gorgeous mix is purple and pastels, plus the anime-like artwork that I am a sucker for.
It's about two boys in college who run in very different circles and couldn't have been more unlikely friends, but as fate would have it, they meet and are instantly drawn to each other.
Xander is a shy, socially inept artist whose love language is painting. And then there is Skylar, who is a rich, charming, social butterfly suffocating under his father's expectations. Skylar approaches Xander for tuition classes, and in exchange takes Xander on his little project to turn him into a more social person.
The way it talks about identity, sexuality, and the stigmas around it- it's not merely careful and meaningful, but it's beautiful. It doesn't be vague or dance around the issue. It goes in-depth with it and explores very naturally.
Some of the scenes just about made me cry and made my heart swell with love. It ties the intimacy between two people with art, and gives it so much meaning, especially in context with how many ways there are to express yourself and show your love.
I can just keep going on and on about its praises and we would be here all day. The way it handles parental pressure, social anxiety, and has themes of friendship, self-care, and growth is remarkable.
2) Icebreaker by A.Z. Graziadei-
RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Icebreaker was one of my most anticipated releases this year, and I pocket it up the moment it came out.
It has been pitched as, "A. L. Graziadei's Icebreaker is an irresistible YA debut about two hockey players fighting to be the best—and the romance that catches them by surprise along the way."
I have a full review with a mood board coming up for this book, so stay tuned for that. I'm not gonna say too much except that it is a great fit for YA as well as NA since it follows our MC in his freshman year of college.
General Reviews
3) Fence- Striking Distance (#1) + Fence- Disarmed (#2) by Sarah Ress Brennan-
RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Fence comics were written by one of my recent favorite authors, C.S. Pacat, and I (very predictably) loved those. But I was all the more excited when I saw that Sarah Ress Brennan, another author who has co-written a lot of my favorite works, is the one to write a story about these characters and take it forward.
Spoiler alert- I loved everything about these books. "These books" as in the first book, Fence- Striking Distance, and the second book, Fence- Disarmed.
Safe to say, the author nailed the characters and the story. I already love her writing, but I especially appreciated the way she differentiate between character voices. We have four major POVs in both the books and each of them is very distinct. If you know the comics, you would know that Seiji is a stringent, sort of formal character. And that is reflected in his behavior, his dialogue, and the writing in chapters that are from his perspective.
The same goes for the other characters like Nicholas, Aiden, and Harvard.
There's tons of drama, secrets, unrequited feelings, pranks, and things going wrong to keep you flipping the pages.
The author gives the fans exactly what they've been (very loudly) craving in all the fanfics and headcanons- but better.
She slows down the slow-burn between two characters but you know it's simmering at just the right degree and turns up the heat for another couple.
4) The Magpie Lord (complete trilogy) by KJ Charles-
RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
For some reason, The Magpie Lord series, even though it's historical, is a little similar in line with the Covert Affairs series. The Magpie Lord centers around two characters and their relationship in a historical Victorian setting in London.
Even though it has magic, I think it would be better classified as paranormal than fantasy. It has a lot of elements of horror, and not the typical ghosts and possessions. It also heavily incorporates elements from the Chinese myths and stories, which I was pleasantly surprised by. One of our main characters, Lucien, spent around 10 or 20 years living in China, with no experience of being away from home or knowing the language or way of life in that country.
He has to make a living there from the toughest job on the street to even smuggling to stay alive. But it gives him a lot of knowledge and awareness about things relating to the supernatural world.
And when he comes back to London, strange things start happening to him and enlists the help of a shaman or a practitioner, Stephen Day.
The whole series revolves around these two characters, but there is always an engaging mystery and action-filled plot to keep you hooked to the page. Sometimes this storyline even sidelines the romantic subplot, employing the tension from their relationship and letting it escalate the stakes.
It's fast-moving, full of plot, and yet leaves room for character growth and humor.
It's a combination of complex characters, an engaging romance, and a little creepy but very intriguing murder mystery in every installment.
5) Head Games by Onley James, Neve Wilder (Wages of Sin #3)-
RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Since I've discovered this author duo, I've checked out quite a lot of books from their backlist and enjoyed the majority of them. I'm still not sure if this was the one that I enjoyed the most, but I did like it quite a lot.
Both of our main characters had made previous cameo appearances in previous books in the series and were immediately intriguing.
Tristan and Syren are both complex characters with a dark patch on their personalities and twisted morals. It's always a given when you lick up a book on this series that there is going to be violence, bloodshed, and action. But this particular installment had more of a domestic focus, obviously killing and murdering, but less of action and fast-paced plot.
It's a fun ride with bits of dark humor and fluff between an almost-psychopath and a murderer. They have great chemistry and it's incredible to see them together.
6) Face-Offs and Cheap Shots (CU Hockey #2)-
RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Again, this was another series that had me hooked to all its characters, be it the main or the side.
"Always so dramatic. I thought Harvard would’ve removed that and filled you with pretention by now.”
"No, that happens sophomore year."
This book focused on two characters, Jacobs and Beck, who couldn't be more different, and for the cherry on top, they are competing for the position of captain on the hockey team.
Their tension begins with their clash of class. Jacobs thinks Beck is a pampered, rich brat, and Beck thinks Jacobs is a no-fun guy always focused on hockey.
"Hey, Topher?” “Yes, Teddy?"
But when they are forced to do stupid challenges to compete for that position, something more emerges out of them. Sparks fly, and as they slowly get to know one another and shed their layers to let each other in, they are on the way to falling in love. But there are more obstacles in their way and it's amazing to see how they overcome them.
"Ooh, the scowly one is cute. Who’s that?” the second blonde says. I look over and smile because that one’s coming home with me."
There is chemistry, there is unrivaled banter and comedic fun and heart-softening moments. It's sweet and hilarious and you are instantly endeared to the couple.
7) Castles in their Bones by Laura Sebastian-
RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Castles in their Bones looked like a pretty typical YA fantasy book at first glance, but it has the special quality of balancing familiar and unique plot points well.
The story follows the story of three sisters (triplets)- and princess's no less, as they are married off to three different kingdoms by their mother's master plan to bring them all under her control.
You can find my Top 5 Reasons to Read this Book and Mood Board here!
Books I Didn't Like
8) Silk and Fire (#1) by Ariana Nash
RATING- ⭐.✨ (it was just meh)
Content from the Blogosphere
Let's Chat!
Thank you for reading till here. I hope you enjoyed reading this post and are having a great February! I'd love to know your thoughts. What are you currently reading?
Until then,
Bye!
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