OTP Book Tag

So my goal for the month of February is to post a love-related book tag every Tuesday until Valentine's Day. That's two. And one after, because I have three that are related to love and all that jazz.

If you can't tell, I don't read a ton of books about or even with romance. That being said, I do enjoy the occasion romance in books and I do have my favorite (and least favorite) couples. So to tell you those here is the OTP tag! This tag was created by Kirstin Reads; original video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGNDxjX6z00

1. An unpopular OTP that you ship
I don't really ship any unpopular OTPs. I mean, maybe Mal and Alina from the Grisha trilogy, if I had to chose. Honestly, I really liked all her pairings, and would have been fine if she ended up with any one of them, but we all knew from the very first page that Mal was endgame. The only one who I think had a chance against him was the Darkling (who also I loved for her and since I have a weakness for evil falls for good I might even have preferred him). As much as I love Nikolai, I don't think that was a serious ship. So I'm fine with Alina and Mal being together. Maybe another unpopular ship I have is Nikolai and Nikolai? I just like him being on his own, even though I wonder who's going to be king after he dies. I also get a bit of a gay vibe from him, not sure why.

Honestly, I don't get the hate surrounding this pairing when they're actually pretty cute together, but oh well.
Adorable pic courtesy of vindictev.deviantart.com.

2. An OTP that you didn’t ship at first but do now
I've really warmed up to Sean and Puck from The Scorpio Races. When I first read the book, I didn't think they really had much chemistry together, but now I'm all for them. Seeing all the cute fanart might also have helped...

Like this picture! Even if there's something off about this picture, though I can't put my finger on it (sorry, horseback rider here). I can't find the actual artist, so if this is your picture let me know and I'll credit you.

3. Your most hated NOTP
I don't really hate ships (except Cam and Risa- seriously, reread the first book and tell me Risa belongs with anyone whose name isn't Connor). I don't really like Kellen and Wavy together from All the Ugly and Wonderful Things, but I didn't hate their relationship either. Maybe Penny Landlow and Guy #2 from Hold Me Like a Breath. I really hated them together and though Guy #1 (Garrett?) worked better for her. Still, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

I couldn't find any fanart, so here are the actual book covers. Plus, I recently rediscovered my love for collage making, so no big loss.

4. An OTP that took way too long to get together
Ed Kennedy and Audrey from I Am the Messenger! This couple was seriously driving me crazy throughout the entire book and when they finally got together at the end I was practically cheering. Side note: If you haven't read I Am the Messenger yet you need to right now. It's almost on par with The Book Thief, and it's what solidified Zusak's place as one of my favorite authors.

Also like no fanart for this book, so we get treated to another lovely book cover.

5. Your favourite non-canon OTP
Don't usually ship OTPs that aren't canon, but right now Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova (from Scythe) aren't canon *yet* and I love the idea of them being together. It's so... Nick the Chocolate Monster and Mary Hightower (the Skinjacker trilogy). Actually, can I say Nick and Mary? They were in love but never actually got together (*sob* Everfound). I never shipped them as much as I shipped Mikey and Allie, but I still loved the idea of them being together.

Words can't describe how much I love this piece by the amazing wondernez.deviantart.com. It captures their relationship perfectly.

6. Your favourite BROTP
(*Tries to think of one that isn't Connor and Hayden since I don't want this tag being entirely about Unwind*). I really loved the friendship in The Lies About Truth. Their friendship is so real and not sugar-coated and utterly fantastic. I want a friendship like theirs- though preferably without the tragedy. I'd also say Ed/Audrey/Marv/Ritchie, but I already used I Am the Messenger and I'm trying to say a different book for each one.

Cover again because apparently I like more or less obscure books? Oh well, at least their friendship is depicted on the cover.

7. An OTP you adored in the books but not as much in the movie or tv adaptation
I don't really watch many adaptations, so for this one I'm just going to say what everyone says and go with Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. But everyone knows the movies suck anyway, so no big loss.

Seriously, it was like they were trying to find actors with the least amount of chemistry possible when casting this movie.

8. A popular OTP that no matter how hard you tried you just can’t ship it
Right now I'm trying super hard to ship Henry Schoonmaker and Diana Holland from The Luxe series (especially since I never liked Will and Elizabeth) but it just isn't working. Weird, too, since I usually get really behind OTPs. Maybe my dislike of (or if not dislike than general apathy towards) Diana is the reason I can't totally get on board with this particular ship. However, I've got two books left in the series so maybe I'll change my mind? Who knows.

Wow, another series with like no fanart (surprisingly) so here's Diana on the cover of Envy.

9. Your favourite LGBT+ OTP
I don't read a lot of LGBT fiction, so I have to go with Jesper Fahey and Wylan Van Eck from the Six of Crows duology. I freaking love them and find them absolutely adorable together. They're my second favorite couple in that series by far.

Impossibly cute picture from Random Tumblr Artist Taratjah. Because what's better than 2 beautiful boys kissing amiright?? Don't mind me, just trying desperately to be cool...

10. Your all time favourite OTP/s
If you didn't know, one of my favorite series of all time is the Unwind series. And that is in no small part due to my absolute love of Connor Lassiter and Risa Ward. They have been through hell and back, and are absolutely perfect together. I think the reason why I got so attached to them as a couple is because Shusterman perfectly balanced the romance. I didn't get sick of them being constantly romantic because most of the books was about what was happening to them and not necessarily in their relationship. God, I miss this series...

Not nearly enough fanart of this perfect couple, so I'm going to put two pieces up. This one is from the first half of the series and is by thecarmibug.deviantart.com.

And this one is from UnDivided and is courtesy of one of my favorite artists niktropolis.deviantart.com. Too cute I couldn't not include it.

So what are your favorite OTPs? Do you hate all my choices? Agree? Let me know down below!

Never Missing, Never Found by Amanda Panitch Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

“It's better to be missing than dead.”- Never Missing, Never Found, Amanda Panitch

A juicy thriller about a girl who returned from the missing. . . . Hand to fans of We Were Liars, Bone Gap, and Vanishing Girls.
  
Some choices change everything. Scarlett chose to run. And the consequences will be deadly.
 
Stolen from her family as a young girl, Scarlett was lucky enough to eventually escape her captor. Now a teen, she's starting a summer job at an amusement park. There are cute boys, new friends, and the chance to finally have a normal life.Her first day on the job, Scarlett is shocked to discover that a girl from the park has gone missing. Old memories come rushing back. And now as she meets her new coworkers, one of the girls seems strangely familiar. When Scarlett chose to run all those years ago, what did she set into motion? And when push comes to shove, how far will she go to uncover the truth . . . before it's too late?

Obligatory cover critique before I can get to the actual review: Doesn't really work for me. Kind of boring. Plus, the hardback is lame. Overall, it's meh at best.

Let's start with the negatives, because, if you can't tell, that's how I roll. Firstly, Scarlett had very little personality. It's funny, but while I was reading this book, I kept noticing little things that reminded me of Panitch's first book, Damage Done, and because they worked so little in this book I'm starting to wonder if they ever worked at all. Like Scarlett's "unreliable" personality. It seems Panitch is convinced that in order to write an unreliable character, that character's personality should be all over the place. However, in practice that leads to a very muddy character (and not in a good way). I couldn't connect to her at all, and her actions were confusing as a result. What do we know for sure about Scarlett? Well, she's obsessed with superheroes (or one superhero in particular), she likes Connor, and we are informed that she is "tough and smart" though we see no real evidence of that thanks to the murky way the author (probably accidently because no one would do this on purpose) portrays her. I think because of that, I couldn't bring myself to care too much about her and about her relationship with her sister, which made up such a big part of the book.

I also felt like this book had some serious pacing issues. There were too many contemporary-seeming parts with Scarlett and the love interest. He seemed too good to be true and I didn't believe their relationship for a second. Panitch needs to either learn how to write LIs or drop them completely. There was that completely unnecessary conflict with him having a girlfriend that also didn't work for me and gave me flashbacks to The Problem with Forever. Monica, the girl who went missing, was completely thrown to the side, and I had such a hard time caring about her because not enough attention was drawn to her case. That case also felt unresolved, like the author just forgot about her altogether. But then we would get these really gripping parts with the kidnapping and the actual mystery with Katharina and Scarlett and those were great and they worked really well. I wish the entire novel had been composed of those flashbacks, honestly. I also wonder where the police are in all this. Even if Scarlett refused to talk, the cops and even the FBI would still be all over this case because missing girls don't just reappear. They'd get to the bottom of this.

I'll get to the twist after we talk about what I did like. Because, besides from the parts I mentioned above, there were a few things. I liked both Katharina and the Stepmother, who were honestly the most fleshed out characters in the book. I liked the plot idea. Besides Panitch's character development and story structure problems, the writing is technically good- gets the job done. The disturbing factor could have been amped up, but the level it was at was okay. I didn't hate this book, but it could have been so much better. And now, on to the twist! 

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW

Frankly, the twist felt poorly done, cheap, and actually lessened by opinion of the twist in Damage Done (though that twist didn't feel as thrown in as this one since there were actual hints thrown in leading us to that conclusion) (plus, it was more disturbing and creepy). It felt so last minute, and was such a heel-face turn for Scarlett's character. There was nothing that lead up to it, no hints being dropped. Good thrillers don't just drop bombs on their readers. It was like someone gave me the last 50 pages of another novel. Not to mention that the reveal also caused the story structure to fall apart completely. The flashbacks, given the POV character, make absolutely no sense. The twist should have been left out entirely, for the sake of the novel. It also would have been more unique and interesting if the actual Scarlett was the main character, since she seemed to be a very well developed character and it would have also made the story a lot more unique and everything would have made a lot more sense. Also, a nitpick because I'm me: Katharina is not a Russian name. God, why do people keep confusing Russian names with German names? If it was Russian, it should be Yekaterina or Ekaterina. Hell, I would even take Katerina. (By the way, if you couldn't tell from my A Death-Struck Year review, I'm a bit of a name geek. It's one of my weirder interests).

MAJOR SPOILER SECTION OVER

I'm a bit saddened by this novel. Never has an author fallen from her throne as quickly as she has. As much as I liked Damage Done, I'm afraid Panitch has been knocked down to just mediocre. Even if this is just her sophomore novel, I feel like she's already become predictable. Still, I like her ideas, and while reading, I couldn't help but think about what a great crime novel this would have made. Imagine if someone like Tana French got her hands on this idea. This book would have been amazing. If only.

5.5 out of 10

A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

“It was a fine night to die.”- A Death-Struck Year, Makiia Lucier

A deadly pandemic, a budding romance, and the heartache of loss make for a stunning coming-of-age teen debut about the struggle to survive during the 1918 flu.

For Cleo Berry, the people dying of the Spanish Influenza in cities like New York and Philadelphia may as well be in another country--that's how far away they feel from the safety of Portland, Oregon. And then cases start being reported in the Pacific Northwest. Schools, churches, and theaters shut down. The entire city is thrust into survival mode--and into a panic. Headstrong and foolish, seventeen-year-old Cleo is determined to ride out the pandemic in the comfort of her own home, rather than in her quarantined boarding school dorms. But when the Red Cross pleads for volunteers, she can't ignore the call. As Cleo struggles to navigate the world around her, she is surprised by how much she finds herself caring about near-strangers. Strangers like Edmund, a handsome medical student and war vet. Strangers who could be gone tomorrow. And as the bodies begin to pile up, Cleo can't help but wonder: when will her own luck run out?

Riveting and well-researched, A Death-Struck Year is based on the real-life pandemic considered the most devastating in recorded world history. Readers will be captured by the suspenseful storytelling and the lingering questions of: what would I do for a neighbor? At what risk to myself?
An afterword explains the Spanish flu phenomenon, placing it within the historical context of the early 20th century. Source notes are extensive and interesting.

My library copy didn't have this cover and, not going to lie, I'm a bit bummed. Also, I apologize in advance if I misspell Ms Lucier's name anywhere. I will do my best to spell it correctly, but alas, I am not perfect and there's always apt to be at least one spelling error. Now that I've said that, let's get on with the review.

I'm going to get out my fine-toothed comb and do some nitpicking here. This is likely going to be common whenever I review historical fiction, because I believe strongly that all these little nitpicks added together can impact my rating of this book. So just bear with me. First complaint: Cleo is not a very common name for the time period it took place. While it was more popular then than it is today (likely due to the rise of the study of Ancient Egypt), it still felt very jarring and out of place. Also, Mateo should have two ts (making it Matteo) since his family was of Italian ancestry. Mateo, with one t, is Spanish. Other than that, the Italian was very good- Lucier even used the correct form when Elena was addressing Cleo!

That does bring me to my next issue, and this is definitely a research issue. Immigrants, and especially immigrants during wartime, did not speak their native language and especially not teach their native language to their children in the early 1900s. Assimilation was far more important than any ideas of preserving culture, and due to the rise of American Nationalism during WWI, all new immigrants wanted to learn English and become true Americans. Anyone who didn't speak English, in fact, was regarded as being suspicious. Which reminds me, later on in the story Cleo notices a bunch of books written in German being taken away. She asks why, and the man taking them away was rude to her in response. My question is: How the hell did she not know why those books were being taken away? The German language was practically forbidden, and German immigrants were pressured to speak only English for fear of being arrested on accusations of spying. Did Cleo never pick up a newspaper? This felt especially out of place given that she seemed aware of anti-German sentiment earlier and was pretty okay with it.

As far as the writing went, I did like it, even though it seemed very simplistic and debut-y. There was some slight heavy-handedness while trying to get in the research, but far less than most debut historical fiction authors. Well done. I also think that this book suffers from "include everything" syndrome. It's a common historical fiction error when the author, in an effort to really hammer home the time in which the book takes place, throws everything that happened during that particular period in her story, regardless of whether it truly fits or not. While period pieces can get away with this, I'd advise most authors to stay away from including too many events. It's okay to leave some things out of a story if it isn't relevant. Where this is most evident in A Death-Struck Year is when Cleo and Kate are talking and Kate randomly brings up the subject of birth control. This conversation reappears a few times throughout the book, and each time it doesn't really work. Now, I agree with the necessity of birth control and all that, but it doesn't belong in a story about the Spanish Influenza. Just because Margaret Sanger lived and wrote during that time doesn't mean she's relevant to the story.

I also didn't feel as impacted by the Spanish Influenza as I should have been. Maybe it's because the way Cleo narrated made me feel distant from the actual events. I didn't feel as affected as I should have. Of course, this could just be my fault (curse my stone-heart!) but it could also be the fault of the writer just not having enough experience yet. I also thought that a lot of events in the last 50-25 pages felt super rushed, and maybe that is the reason for my lack of emotion while reading. 

Still, I didn't hate this book. It was a quick and enjoyable enough read and it did give me a fabulous author's note to read with some great information on something I didn't know much about. Plus, it did take place during one of my favorite time periods, and choosing to set the book during the Spanish Influenza made it feel more unique, especially compared to all the other recent YA historical releases. I also liked how realistic for the time period the heroine was- I felt she could have actually been alive during the 1910s. And I did love the portrayal of nurses, since I come from a family of them. My great-grandma (Nana) was training to be a nurse before she dropped out to marry my great-grandfather (in fact, it would have been right around this time). My aunt was a nurse. My mother is a nurse. My cousin is a nurse. So I liked the spotlight placed on nurses and just how important and brave they are, especially during times of disease and epidemic. While I did think the romance could have been cut entirely and it wouldn't have impacted the book at all, it still seemed like a realistic relationship during that time.

Bottom line? This is the perfect representation of the kind of book I would recommend to a historical fiction newbie- well researched, with an interesting setting and a believable heroine, but for someone well-versed in the genre, this debut falls on the mediocre side. Still, Lucier's got talent, and I think she has a bright future in the genre.

6.5-7 out of 10

History Of Wolves by Emily Fridlund Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

“Maybe if I’d been someone else I’d see it differently. But isn’t that the crux of the problem? Wouldn’t we all act differently if we were someone else?”- History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund 

Linda has an idiosyncratic home life: her parents live in abandoned commune cabins in northern Minnesota and are hanging on to the last vestiges of a faded counter-culture world. The kids at school call her 'Freak', or 'Commie'. She is an outsider in all things. Her understanding of the world comes from her observations at school, where her teacher is accused of possessing child pornography, and from watching the seemingly ordinary life of a family she babysits for. Yet while the accusation against the teacher is perhaps more innocent than it seemed at first, the ordinary family turns out to be more complicated. As Linda insinuates her way into the family's orbit, she realises they are hiding something. If she tells the truth, she will lose the normal family life she is beginning to enjoy with them; but if she doesn't, their son may die.
Superbly-paced and beautifully written, HISTORY OF WOLVES is an extraordinary debut novel about guilt, innocence, negligence, well-meaning belief and the death of a child.

If you have a thing for pretty books, definitely get the hardcover copy. The dust jacket isn't my favorite, but the actual hardback book is gorgeous. 

Now that I've said that, I can move on to the actual review. I started reading the novel expecting, well, what was advertised- a beautifully written literary fiction novel about an event that defined Linda's growing up. I did get that, in some ways. And there were things I loved and things that didn't work for me, but there were more things that did work for me than didn't. Make sense? 

I'm sure, then, that if you've scrolled down and saw my final rating, you are surprised as to what I gave it. The thing is, while I was reading this book, one word kept popping in my head. Contrived. History of Wolves doesn't feel genuine. It feels like the author sat down and thought to herself "I want to write a (very, I admit) well-written literary fiction novel starring a teenage girl who's different from all the other kids and of course let's add a young child and an intense female friendship and it will have an ambiguous ending like all literary fiction novels do nowadays." It's the kind of novel that is manufactured to get 5 star ratings on Goodreads and put on several Best Books of the Year lists. 

Not saying that's a bad thing per say. I'm just saying that it was so transparent that it ultimately became the reason this book got the rating it got. And what did I like about this book? I liked the writing, of course. Fridlund obviously knew what she was doing technically. Most of the description, especially the description of the woods, was extremely vivid, and the prose had a nice dreamlike quality to it. I could picture it almost exactly. I really liked how she chose to portray Christian Scientists, especially since what happens in the book could easily make them villains. While I definitely don't agree with the ideology behind the Church of Christ, Scientist, it was nice to not have the Church demonized completely. I applaud Fridlund for her sensitivity. On that note, it was nice that almost no one was actually villainized. Even the teacher arrested for possession of child pornography was treated with sensitivity and almost compassion, and I was also pleasantly surprised with the path she took when writing about Mr Grierson and Lily. Again, props to her.

Still, I felt disconnected from Linda. There was something about her narration that just made me feel distant from the story. Maybe it was her constant cutting away from the story about the Gardners, the story I wanted to read about, to interject something that was happening in Linda's future. I appreciated this at first, but then it started to grate on me. I understood why she was doing it, but I'm not sure if it was entirely successful here. I also didn't like that Paul, the son, was treated as a kind of morality pet of sorts. I felt like his role was one of emotional manipulation. As a matter of fact, none of the characters seemed very real to me, Linda included. They all felt so flat, and it seemed to me that the thing that was meant to make them seem like real people were their individual quirks, if that makes sense. As I mentioned above, the ambiguous ending seemed, to me, like it was put there because these types of novels need one. It didn't seem sincere.

Do I think this book is worth picking up? Of course. Did I like this novel and enjoy reading it? Of course. But there are those little things that, put together, just made me unwilling to give it a higher rating than what I did.

7 out of 10

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

“Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both.”- A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness 

The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming…

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.

This is the second Patrick Ness novel I've read, and if he wrote like this all the time I might be more inclined to pick his work up. The first, if you were curious, was The Rest of Us Just Live Here, which I liked, but didn't love. And if I'm being honest, I'd tell you that the only reason I picked this one up was because one of my book challenges this year was to read a book that has a movie adaptation coming out, and I heard good things about this book. 

I'm so happy I picked it up though. The first thing that I loved were the illustrations. Of course, that isn't really unusual for me, since I love art. I do draw a bit, but I prefer looking at art and taking it in and learning about art history rather than actually creating it myself. So the illustrations just blew me away. Makes me wish more YA novels had pictures in them! The book also felt nice in my hands, like a grown-up picture book. 

The story took me a bit to get into, and I didn't immediately love the monster. It reminded me of Grief Is the Thing With Feathers, albeit a bit more toned down. Also, the stories that he told weren't my favorite, and it wasn't until the second half of the book that the story actually hit me emotionally. I mean, sure, I did laugh at some parts, and I thought Conor was cute (he did feel much younger than 13, though- I would have guess 9 or 10), and the writing was good, but it wasn't what I expected given the great reviews of this book. Honestly, the first part of this book reminded me so much of The Graveyard Book, another highly praised story that I didn't love as much as I thought I would. Even the writing and story styles were similar. Also, Conor's father and grandmother were starting to annoy me with how non-straightforward they were being regarding the mother's immediate death.

But where this book picks up and packs an emotional punch is towards the end. Conor's grief is real and raw and effective. I wanted to cry reading this book (but I didn't. This is the third book where I almost cried but I didn't. Yes, I am keeping track). I think Patrick Ness' strength lies in his ability to hit human emotions- he knows how to write tragic family situations and real human feelings very well, and those were the parts I loved about The Rest of Us Just Live Here as well. Perhaps he should start writing contemporaries. I could also deeply relate to Conor's "horrible" truth. This book also ended absolutely perfectly too. It's clear what happened, but the book spares us the actual event. It's really what boosted up the rating for me.

8.5 out of 10

January 2017 Wrap-Up

So a confession: I didn't read as much as I wanted too. I mean, sure, I read 12 books (and 1 play), but I usually read more than that. I typically average around 15 books a month, mostly because I'm a fast reader. But I had some personal issues that took time away from my reading so I had to scramble to finish my TBR. Also, at the beginning of the month I was still hungover from my Christmas book readathon during the last week of December in which I read 7 books in 7 days, 3 of which were 400+ pages. So the idea of really reading anything didn't appeal to me too much. But excuses, excuses. Here's what I read:

WARNING: THERE WILL BE MINOR SPOILERS BELOW

Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen 8/10 (358 pg)
2017 was off to a pretty great start thanks to this book. Anna Godbersen, if you can't tell, is a total guilty pleasure author for me, and I was completely hooked on the Bright Young Things series right from the very first page (this is the second book in that series). While I wasn't thrilled with some of the plot points, this book did not feel like a middle book at all to me, and I can't wait to read the last book (I love Astrid, by the way. She's totally Daisy Buchanan and I adore it). Also, this book is written like a (very) watered down F Scott Fitzgerald novel, so how can I not love it?

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams 9/10 (107 pg)

Not much to say about this, except that it’s the aforementioned play and I liked it a lot. Sure, I kind of hated all the characters in it, and Blanche was annoying as all hell, but it was still a really good and quick read.

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood 8/10 (346 pg)
This book was advertised as being if "Lolita was a love story", which are two things don't belong together but regardless, still peaked my interest because I'm twisted. The romance still squicked me out a little, since I firmly believe that under no circumstances should an adult be having sexual relations with a minor. Even if it isn't technically sex, and the minor "consented". I'm not one to get on my moral high horse too often, and my reading tastes should tell you that, but I did not like how positively these kinds of relationships were being portrayed in this book. It was still nicely written and had a cool setting, so I gave it a pretty high rating, even if it did drag at the end and had unnecessary multiple viewpoints. Pretty short, too (or at least it felt short to me), which is always a plus.

One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore 8/10 (496 pg)
One Night in Winter was one of those books that felt much shorter than it actually was. I flew through this book, to the point where I was shocked that it actually was over 400 pages. This of course bodes well for my chances of getting to Sashenka in the next month, since that thing's over 500 pages. This book follows a group of teenagers (the children of Soviet royalty) who are placed under suspicion after the deaths of two of their friends during the late 1940s. It was also based on a true story. I really liked this book, even if I wasn't too attached to any of the characters and thought that there was something lacking, though it's hard to put a finger on what. This book was just what I wanted at the time, and I liked it for what it was- a well-researched and engrossing historical fiction novel about Russia. Which, to me, is one of the best kinds of novels.

In the Woods by Tana French 8.5-9/10 (429 pg)
I confess to having read this series a little bit backwards. I actually started with The Trespasser by Tana French, asking for it for Christmas and having no idea that it was part of a series. I read it, and, while it wasn't the best book I ever read, I still really wanted to read more by her. So I picked up the first book in the Dublin Murder Squad series and fell in love. This book follows a detective who is investigating the murder of a young girl, and he thinks the murder is tied to the disappearance of two of his friends when he was a little boy. This time, I gave it the time it deserved to unfold the mystery, which it needs. I keep describing her books as slow-burning, because that's the perfect adjective for them. Don't go in expecting a quick read- enjoy how the story unfolds as you go deeper into the mystery. The awards this book got are well-deserved, and I can't wait to sink my teeth into The Likeness starring the lovely Cassie Maddox. My only complaint is the same one everyone has- that one mystery remained unsolved and the other mystery had kind of anticlimactic ending. But, honestly, it didn’t impact my enjoyment of the book much at all.

I’ll make the rest of these quick because I have reviews up for most of them. If you want to see my complete thoughts, I’ve linked my reviews.

Rumors by Anna Godbersen 7-7.5/10 (423 pg)

My Review: Rumors by Anna Godbersen
A book I actually liked more than I thought I would. I found myself feeling underwhelmed by The Luxe, but after this book I’m honestly really excited to continue on in this series, surprisingly.

Gilt by Katherine Longshore 4.5-5/10 (406 pg)

My Review: Gilt by Katherine Longshore

A mediocre historical fiction about (in theory) Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's 5th wife with too much filler and a narrator that I really didn’t like. However, I was not deterred from reading the rest of the series.

It Takes One by Kate Kessler 3/10 (416 pg)

My Review: It Takes One by Kate Kessler

This book is notable for its completely wasted potential and horrible main character. No, I’m still not over the disappointment of this book. It was advertised as a crime novel starring a criminal psychologist, but ended up being more about the MC's love life than anything else.

Snow in May by Kseniya Melnik 7.5/10 (272 pg)

My Review: Snow in May by Kseniya Melnik

Snow in May was a book of short stories that fell a bit flat for me, but I’m happy I read it nonetheless. This followed a group of people who lived in Magadan, Russia, which used to be a gateway to a Stalinist labor camp.

All That Is Solid Melts into Air by Darragh McKeon 8.5/10 (464 pg)

My Review: All That Is Solid Melts into Air by Darragh McKeon

A fantastic novel that was perfect for when I read it. I was actually a little apprehensive to read it, but ended up loving it, as is the way of most books like this. This is about many things- a piano prodigy, a young Belarusian boy, and a doctor sent to deal with the Chernobyl disaster.

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter 9/10 (128 pg)

My Review: Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

This literary fiction novel is hard to write about, but worth picking up just for the emotional impact that came out of it.

Damage Done by Amanda Panitch (reread) (old rating: 9/10, new rating: I don't know; maybe 8-8.5/10) (320 pg)

I have been wanting to reread this book for a while now, and recently got my own copy to do just that. I remember reading this book for the first time, and sitting in my bedroom being completely engrossed in the story, unable to stop reading. When I finished the book, I lifted my head up, shook it a few times to get rid of the hazy book fog I was in, and decided I loved it. If I had been in the habit of making Best Of lists back in 2015 this would have been a sure-shot on there. Now, I'm not so sure. I still really liked this book, but I wasn't as in love with it as I was when I first read it. It was still a quick read (for me at least), and I loved Julia's twisted relationship with her brother, but as a whole this book was a lot slower than I remember it being and with way too much building up of her relationship with Michael (thought his name was Finn for some reason- it's been a few years okay don't judge me). I still like it more than I like most YA thrillers, and I am looking forward to Panitch’s other book, which is on my February TBR, but I’m not expecting great things.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 8.5-9/10 (337 pg)

My Review: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

A great end to a great reading month, and another book well worth its buzz. It was a complete impulse buy for me, but in retrospect I’m still happy I bought it. This book is about a grumpy old guy who learns that there is more life left to live, even after the death of his beloved wife.

Page total: 4,502

Average rating: 7.5/10 (rounded down)
Genre breakdown: 6 historical fiction books
3 mystery-thrillers
2 contemporaries 1 magical realism/surrealism
1 play
Of those, 9 were adult and 4 were YA

Overall, January was a great reading month for me and a great start to the new year. Now, I've got tons of books on my list for this month, so I'd better get started. My next review will be up soonish, I hope.