May 2025 Reads

June 08, 2025 by Haley Burrill in Books

Okay, I know I say this every month (and yes, I am working on freshening up my round-up intros), but this time I truly mean it: May was an absolute whirlwind.

If you read last month’s blog, you might remember I teased some exciting news… and now I can officially share:

I bought a condo!

I'm holding a key over my head in front of a door. I'm wearing jeans and a white tee shirt.

This level of adulting definitely wasn’t on my 2025 bingo card, but thanks to a surprising turn of events, it just made sense to take the leap into my first-time homebuying era. It’s equal parts thrilling and terrifying, but the thought of my houseplants thriving in all the glorious, south-facing natural light AND having central A/C AND no bats? Worth it.

I just got the keys last week, so I’m still in the thick of moving everything over from my apartment. Fingers crossed I’ll be fully settled by next weekend, and in the meantime, I’m planning to power through some audiobooks while schlepping boxes like it's my latest cardio routine. (Because it is lol)

Anyway, let’s get into everything I read in May!

*All summaries are taken or paraphrased from Goodreads.

My hand holds a Kindle with the cover of Tale of the Heart Queen by Nisha J. Tuli on the screen. The cover is mostly black and white with red accents. — Tale of the Heart Queen by Nisha J. Tuli

TALE OF THE HEART QUEEN by Nisha J. Tuli (Artefacts of Ouranos, #4)

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: After Lor makes the biggest mistake of her life, she finds herself on the run from the Aurora King and decides it's time to end this, once and for all. But when a new enemy emerges to claim her freedom, the entire fate of Ouranos comes to rest on her shoulders. As the land continues to rebel, Lor must admit she is the key to saving the continent, whether she likes it or not. To fight for Nadir, she must lie, steal, and do whatever it takes to hunt down the remaining arks. Growing more and more desperate, she worries her actions are turning her into something she doesn't recognize, dooming her to repeat her grandmother's mistakes. When the Aurora King finally comes for her, Lor ventures into the Underworld's shadowy depths, where, once again, she finds herself at the heart of another deadly test. Only this time, she’s competing for everyone's future, not just a crown. The only thing Lor ever wanted was to be free, but she may soon find she was always destined for a cage.

My Thoughts: YUUUS. A badass ending to an addictive fantasy series? Hell yes! I loved how every character arc and storyline felt satisfyingly wrapped up by the time I turned the last page. The previous book left us on quite the cliffhanger, which thankfully, the author addressed almost immediately in this one. At the start, Nadir is being held hostage in Ouranos’ heaven by the very Goddess everyone worships. To get him back, Lor has to collect the artefacts of all the world’s leaders and return them to the Goddess unharmed. Along the way, she uncovers more about the relics’ history and their deep connection to the Goddess’s own existence. Meanwhile, Gabriel is on a mission to expose the imposter king of Aphelion, and that’s when we start to learn what really happened to the true king - where he’s been all these years and why everyone thought he was dead. There’s action, romance, messy politics, scheming, and just the right amount of humor woven throughout this final installment of the Artefacts of Ouranos series, and honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better ending!

BABEL by R.F. Kuang

Rating: 3.25/5 stars

Summary: 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . . Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

My Thoughts: Yeesh. Okay, so I had high hopes for this one. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Babel for years, and I know R.F. Kuang is an incredibly talented author. TBH tho, this just didn’t quite live up to the hype for me. First off, this is a DENSE fantasy read. You really have to pay attention to keep up with all the characters, politics, and world-building. The magic system - based on alchemy and silver bars powered by the meaning and translation of language - is a cool concept, but I felt like it wasn’t as fleshed out as I wanted. It leans heavily into linguistics and etymology, which is interesting, but it also made parts of the book feel more like reading a textbook than a novel. There are even footnotes throughout, which added context but also slowed things down a bit. Where the book really shines is in how it tackles tough themes like racism, classism, misogyny, and the horrors of colonization. Robin and his group of friends each bring a unique perspective to those issues, and their experiences are definitely meaningful. That said, I wish we got more time to really connect with those side characters on a deeper level. Especially when big things start happening later in the story, I didn’t feel as emotionally impacted as I wanted to. Overall, I can see why this book is so highly praised. It’s smart, ambitious, and it has a lot to say. But for me, it just felt like a bit of a slog to get through and didn’t quite hit emotionally the way I hoped. If you’re into dark academia, alchemy-based fantasy, and books that dig deep into language and colonial history, it might be exactly your thing. Otherwise, this one might fall a little short like it did for me.

I THINK WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE by Suzy Krause

Rating: 3.25/5 stars

Summary: In the same week, Marlen and Hilda’s family receives two significant pieces of news: One, Marlen has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Two, a cosmic blast is set to render humanity extinct within a matter of months. It seems the coming Christmas on their Saskatchewan farm could be everyone’s last. Preparing for the inevitable, they navigate the time they have left together. Marlen and Hilda channel their energy into improbably prophetic works of art. Hilda’s elderly father receives a longed-for visitor from his past. Hilda’s preteen nephew goes missing, and his mother refuses to believe the world is ending. All the while, Hilda’s daughter struggles to find her way home from Berlin with the help of an oddly familiar stranger. For everyone, there’s an unsettling feeling that this unprecedented reality is somehow something they all remember. As the planet holds its collective breath to see what happens next, the family—amid chaos, denial, acceptance, and hope—determines to live every moment as if it is their last. Because, well, it just might be.

My Thoughts: This was my book club’s latest pick, and the vibe was kind of like if The Measure by Nikki Erlick and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig had a baby lol. After the world learns that an unpreventable cosmic blast is about to end life as we know it, everyone is left trying to figure out how to spend their final days. The story follows seven different characters - mostly from the same family - each offering their own perspective on how to cope. Whether it’s through morbid humor, denial, avoidance, or quiet reflection, the book really makes you think about how you might respond to that kind of news. There’s also a bit of a Groundhog Day element, where characters experience intense déjà vu with certain situations or feel like they’ve met before. That said, I felt like the book was trying to juggle a lot of different themes and ideas, and because of that, none of them landed as powerfully as they could have. If you're into speculative fiction and end-of-the-world vibes, this might be up your alley. I just wasn’t totally blown away by it (pun not intended).

GIRL SERPENT THORN by Melissa Bashardoust

Rating: 2/5 stars

Summary: There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story. As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison. Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming...human or demon. Princess or monster.

My Thoughts: It’s a no from me, unfortunately. Objectively, this author has real talent - the writing itself is solid, and the premise had so much potential. But subjectively? It just didn’t meet my expectations. The story is inspired by Persian lore and centers around Soraya, a girl cursed with poison in her veins and any living thing that touches her bare skin dies. Despite being part of the royal family, Soraya is hidden away to protect others and herself. When she discovers there might be a way to break the curse that’s kept her isolated her whole life, she faces an impossible choice: betray her family and her realm, or stay imprisoned by fear and her own nature. At first, the book was just fine. Not bad, but not blowing me away either. But the deeper I got, the more the cracks started to show. One of my biggest issues was the lack of consistency in Soraya’s character arc. The author couldn’t seem to decide whether she should lean into her darker, braver side post-curse or remain the timid, haunted girl she’s always been. That lack of direction made it hard to connect with her. And to be honest, I didn’t love Soraya as a protagonist, but we also didn’t get to know the supporting characters well enough to really care about them either. A lot of the conflict felt like it could’ve been avoided if the royal family had just communicated better (shocker, right?). The bones of the story were strong, but it needed more depth and refinement to really land for me.

I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Summary: I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle's walls and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has "captured the castle"-- and the heart of the reader-- in one of literature's most enchanting entertainments.

My Thoughts: BRO, LOL. I cannot with this story. Cassandra and her sister Rose are truly the worst. Their family is completely broke, yet somehow they’re still living in this crumbling old castle like it's no big deal. Then these rich, charming brothers show up, and Cassandra and Rose are immediately like, “Oh bet, let’s court them and solve all our financial problems.” Naturally, Rose goes after the brother Cassandra likes, which sends her spiraling. EVEN THOUGH the family’s stable/errand boy, Stephen, has been nothing but sweet, loyal, and clearly head-over-heels for Cassandra from the start. He is literally right there, heart eyes and all, and she barely notices. The whole book is basically Cassandra wallowing over her sister stealing her man. Then, plot twist, Rose is actually in love with the other brother, cue an enemies-to-lovers situation. Meanwhile, poor Stephen is out here basically on his knees for Cassandra, who continues to give absolutely nothing back. Honestly, if the writing itself wasn’t so charming, I would’ve given this one star. The fact that this book is considered a classic? Wild. I repeat for emphasis though, JUSTICE FOR STEPHEN. OMG.

KING OF ENVY by Ana Huang (Kings of Sin, #5)

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: Dangerous. Powerful. Reclusive. Vuk Markovic is notorious for shunning human interactions. The scarred billionaire rarely talks, and he has no interest in relationships outside his small but trusted circle. His only exception? Her. The beauty to his beast, the object of his obsession. He saw her first. He wanted her first. But now, she’s engaged to his oldest friend—and the closer the wedding looms, the more he’s torn between loyalty and desire. She should be his…and he might just risk it all to have her. | Beautiful. Successful. Glamorous. To the world, supermodel Ayana Kidane leads the perfect life. Her career has skyrocketed, and she’s engaged to one of New York’s most eligible bachelors. What people don't know is that the engagement is only a business arrangement. He gets his inheritance when they marry; she gets the money she needs to leave her abusive agency. Pretending to be in love should be easy—until she finds herself increasingly drawn to her fiancé’s enigmatic best man. Vuk thrills and terrifies her in equal measure. She knows she should stay away, but when her wedding is thrown into chaos, he’s the only person she finds comfort in… Until his past catches up with them and threatens everything they love.

My Thoughts: Ana Huang has a way of taking dark, mafia-esque romances and making them feel unexpectedly swoony - with just the right amount of fuzzy feels. Vuk is easily one of the scariest motherfuckers in this series (lol), and also one of the biggest enigmas. We’ve seen glimpses of him throughout a few of the Kings of Sin books, but up until now, all we really knew was that he’s filthy rich and barely speaks. So going into this, I was ready for his backstory. Ayana, who was introduced as a side character earlier in the series, finally gets her time to shine, and I’m so glad she did. Both she and Vuk are incredibly dynamic, each wrestling with current dilemmas that stem from past choices. Vuk is now the target of a fractured assassination ring, where whoever kills him first will be named king. On top of that, his best friend is marrying the woman he’s in love with, leaving him torn between loyalty and unresolved passion. Ayana, meanwhile, is trying to escape a toxic modeling contract by entering a marriage of convenience with her friend. But lately, she’s developed unexpected feelings for his best man, Vuk, and everything starts to get very complicated, very fast. After an unfortunate event forces their hands, the story leans into some typical tropes: forbidden romance, he-falls-first, and forced proximity. I absolutely love Ana Huang’s writing and have been hooked on this series from the start. While this wasn’t my favorite book in the lineup, it still totally hit the spot and satisfied my sweet smut tooth.

FIRST-TIME CALLER by B.K. Borison

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: Aiden Valentine has a secret: he's fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore's romance hotline, that's a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in to the station asking for dating advice for her mom, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and Heartstrings into the limelight. Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. She has a good job; an incredible family; and a smart, slightly devious kid. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life-or lack thereof—she begins to question if she's as happy as she thought. Maybe a little more romance wouldn't be such a bad thing. Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending... even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. But when sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final call between the radio-sponsored happily ever after or the man in the headphones next to her.

My Thoughts: THIS SHIT WAS CUTE. I listened to it on audiobook, which honestly felt like the perfect format for a story centered around a late-night romance radio show. The premise alone had me HOOKED, but the banter between Aiden and Lucie? Absolute perfection. Their quick, clever back-and-forths had me cracking up and blushing with secondhand swoony sweats. Their chemistry alone was off the charts, and I couldn't get enough of their dynamic. What really made this story special, though, was how relatable it felt. Lucie’s experience of just wanting to find genuine love in a world of endless dating apps and exhausting options was so honest and heartfelt. And Aiden?? The way he quietly showed up for her WRECKED me. (UM HELLO? He keeps a list of her favorite things in his glove compartment?? Sir. Melt my heart, why don’t you?) Also, I usually don’t gravitate toward single-parent tropes, but this one made me question if I’ve just been reading the wrong ones. Maybe I just needed a single mom representation to change my mind. If you’re in the mood for a romance that’ll have you cheesing and kicking your feet like a love-struck idiot, this is a 10/10 must-read.

A screenshot of the audiobook Isola in the Libby app. The cover shows a woman standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean. — Isola by Allegra Goodman

ISOLA by Allegra Goodman

Rating: 3.75/5 stars

Summary: Heir to a fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility. Then she is orphaned, and her guardian—an enigmatic and volatile man—spends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to New France. Isolated and afraid, Marguerite befriends her guardian’s servant and the two develop an intense attraction. But when their relationship is discovered, they are brutally punished and abandoned on a small island with no hope for rescue. Once a child of privilege who dressed in gowns and laced pearls in her hair, Marguerite finds herself at the mercy of nature. As the weather turns, blanketing the island in ice, she discovers a faith she’d never before needed.

My Thoughts: The fact that this is based on a true story is wild to me. This book is definitely a slow burn, and honestly, I’m not sure I would’ve made it through without the audiobook. That said, I do think it lives up to the hype. Set in the 16th century, the story follows Marguerite, an orphan whose guardian, Roberval, spends her inheritance on his expeditions for the French crown. During a forced voyage to New France, Roberval discovers Marguerite’s romance with his secretary, and as punishment, abandons her, her lover, and her loyal nursemaid on a remote island. What follows is a harrowing survival story as the three struggle to endure the brutal conditions and isolation of this unknown world. The arc of Marguerite’s character is what really pulled me in. Watching her grow from a naive, privileged girl into a resilient, resourceful woman was so satisfying. I do wish the romance had been given a little more time to build - it kind of appeared out of nowhere - but the emotional payoff still worked for me by the end. If you’re in the mood for an atmospheric, brooding survival story with historical roots, this is absolutely worth a read.

A screenshot of Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry in the Libby app. The cover is mostly red, orange, and pink and shows a woman lounging reading a book and a man looking at her. — Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL LIE by Emily Henry

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years--or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century. When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game. One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over. Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication. Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition. But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room. And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.

My Thoughts: Okay, so this is the first Emily Henry book I’ve seen get more criticism than usual—but personally, I devoured it. A well-written romance with undertones of historical fiction and Julia Whelan narrating? Say less. What I really appreciated about this one is that Henry finally broke away from her usual formula. Don’t get me wrong, I love her signature approach to a love story, but this one meandered in a way that felt fresh and unexpected. The story centers around the famously reclusive heiress Margaret Ives, who is finally ready to share her life story. Alice, our main character, is one of two writers vying for the job of co-authoring Margaret’s biography. Her competition? Hayden Anderson, whose last co-authored book won a Pulitzer. No pressure though lol. They’re each given private interview time with Margaret, have to sign NDAs, and are forbidden from collaborating or sharing notes. But since they’re both stuck in the same tiny Georgia town for a month, their paths keep crossing. Their repeated run-ins are equal parts comical and brimming with sexual tension, and while both are hesitant to get involved due to the job at stake, the pull between them is undeniable. I was swooning over these two. And while we never fully know what Margaret is revealing to Hayden, it’s clear Alice is uncovering a lot about her past. I loved that this romance had extra layers to it - blending in mystery and historical fiction in a way that felt intentional and engaging. If you’re looking for a great summer read that’s full of heart and heat, this one’s a perfect pick.

SUNRISE ON THE REAPING by Suzanne Collins

Rating: 4.75/5 stars

Summary: When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for? As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes. Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves. When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

My Thoughts: This book is what I wished the last prequel had been. It dives into the origin story of Haymitch - Katniss and Peeta’s mentor from the original series - and finally gives him the depth and backstory he deserves. He grows up in a poor family in District 12 and is completely in love with a girl from the Covey. On Reaping Day (which also happens to be his birthday), chaos breaks out when the boy selected for the Quarter Quell is killed trying to escape. Haymitch’s girlfriend gets caught in the crossfire, and as he tries to save her, he ends up being punished by becoming the replacement tribute. Cue the usual Hunger Games horrors: Capitol parades, training, and then being thrown into an arena to fight to the death. What I appreciated about this installment was how the tributes approached the Games differently. There was a fresh strategy to it that stood out from other books in the series. It also beautifully foreshadowed the events of the Quarter Quell in Catching Fire and gave us more insight into characters like Wiress, Beadie, Mags, and others we’ve met before. There are a lot of heartbreaking moments that really help you understand why Haymitch ends up the way he does by the time we meet him in the original trilogy. Still, it was powerful to see him in his prime when he was innocent, smart, strategic, and deeply empathetic. I highly recommend reading this one, but make sure you read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes first (or just watch the movie. The adaptation is true to the storyline enough that you can skip the book if you’d rather not read it). Either way, this is a must for Hunger Games fans.

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MIRA by Sonali Dev

Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary: Mira Salvi has the perfect life—a job she loves, a fiancé everyone adores, and the secure future she’s always imagined for herself. Really, she hasn’t a thing to complain about, not even when she has to go on her engagement trip to New York alone. While playing tourist in the city, Mira chances upon a lost ring, and her social media post to locate its owner goes viral. With everyone trying to claim the ring, only one person seems to want to find its owner as badly as Mira: journalist Krish Hale. Brooding and arrogant, he will do anything to get to write this story. As Krish and Mira reluctantly join forces and jump into the adventure of tracing the ring back to where it belongs, Mira begins to wonder if she is in the right place in her own life. She had to have found this ring for a reason…right? Maybe, like the owner of the lost ring, her happy ending hasn’t been written yet either.

My Thoughts: Ugh. Okay. Even though this book is rated pretty highly on Goodreads, it was honestly just fine for me. I think the biggest disconnect was that it’s marketed as a rom-com which felt misleading. Yes, there’s romance, but the story also tackles a lot of heavy themes like sexual assault, parental abuse, and homophobia. The writing itself is objectively strong, but at times I found myself stumbling through it. There were moments that just didn’t quite land for me, which made it harder to stay fully immersed in the story. I did like the premise of Mira finding a ring on a NYC sidewalk and setting off to track down its owner while also, in a deeper sense, trying to find herself. Her journey to discover her own voice, especially in the context of her complicated family dynamic, was fulfilling. That said, I didn’t love how she seemed to jump from one relationship to another. It made some of her personal growth feel a little inconsequential or inconsistent. Overall, it’s a well-written book and I can understand why others have connected with it, which is why I gave it 3 stars. But I’m not sure it left enough of an impact for me to read it again or recommend it right away.

AGAINST THE LOVELESS WORLD by Susan Abulhawa

Rating: 4.75/5 stars

Summary: As Nahr sits, locked away in solitary confinement, she spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely knows. Born in Kuwait in the 70s to Palestinian refugees, she dreamed of falling in love with the perfect man, raising children, and possibly opening her own beauty salon. Instead, the man she thinks she loves jilts her after a brief marriage, her family teeters on the brink of poverty, she’s forced to prostitute herself, and the US invasion of Iraq makes her a refugee, as her parents had been. After trekking through another temporary home in Jordan, she lands in Palestine, where she finally makes a home, falls in love, and her destiny unfolds under Israeli occupation.

My Thoughts: This book had been sitting on my shelf for at least two years, and honestly, I’m glad I went with the audiobook. I'm not sure I would’ve made it through a physical read. It’s powerful, raw, unfiltered, and haunting in a way that makes it hard to look away. The story shifts between the present, with Nahr imprisoned in a cell, and the past, as she reflects on the winding path that led her there. She recounts her early life in Kuwait, her time as a refugee in Jordan, and her return to her homeland of Palestine. Her story is both heartbreaking and deeply moving. Nahr endures intense physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, yet along the way, she also finds moments of strength, love, and a powerful sense of self. I learned so much about the aftermath of Kuwait’s liberation from Iraq and the long-standing, deeply rooted conflict between Israel and Palestine. The writing reads almost like a memoir wrapped in historical fiction - it’s intimate, reflective, and unapologetically honest. I highly recommend checking the trigger warnings before diving in. It’s intense, but it’s the kind of literary experience that stays with you long after it ends.

That’s it for May!

As I mentioned earlier, I’m in the midst of moving right now, so I’m not sure how much I’ll be reading until I’m fully settled at my new place, but I’m hoping to still crank through some audiobooks during this process.

2025 Book Count: 71

Add me on Goodreads if you haven’t already.

YOUR TURN! What is one of your favorite books to read during Pride Month?

May 2024 Reads

June 03, 2024 by Haley Burrill in Books

I feel like we went from seeing endless N’SYNC memes to Memorial Day in two seconds and I literally do not remember what happened in between lol.

You could say May was a blur for me. I started a summer golf league, bought another houseplant (see that beauty below), caught up with friends I haven’t seen in a while, and watched way too many Instagram reels about how to take my millennial outfit and make it more trendy lol.

I’ve mildly gotten on board with wearing higher socks when I’m wearing my white sneakers, but I refuse to jump on that train at the gym. You can catch me at PF in ankle socks.

My new office calathea. :) Brought to you by the local farmer’s market!

On the reading front, audiobooks truly carried me through again. I think of the 13 books I read this month, eight of them were audiobooks. I’ve finally gotten to the point where I’m able to listen to them at x1.75 speed, so I think that’s why I’m flying through them so quickly.

If you’re getting into that method, I recommend starting at 1.25 and going up from there. In my opinion, it’s actually easier to process things when the narrator is reading more quickly.

I digress though. Let’s get into everything I read in May!

*All summaries are taken or paraphrased from Goodreads.

OUR MISSING HEARTS by Celeste Ng

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic—including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old. Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.

My Thoughts: This was my book club’s pick for AAPI month and per usual, Celeste Ng knows how to write a stunner. This was unlike any of her other books, but her unique storytelling still held true. The book takes place in what I would describe as almost a dystopian United States after an obscure economic crisis occurred that involved China. There is a new governmental entity called PACT that everyone supports, either willingly or reluctantly, because they provide the laws and ideals needed to unite the country again after the recent tragedies. There are consequences to those seen, heard, or suspected of not supporting PACT, including the government relocating children from their families - specifically those of Asian origin. Most of the book is from the perspective of 12-year-old Bird. His mother is Chinese American and the book of poems she recently published is banned after it sparks a movement of rebellion. Bird hasn’t seen his mother in almost three years, but when he receives a mysterious letter from her, he goes on a journey to find her. What he uncovers is a new America he wasn’t prepared to see. This book was so captivating as it explored extremely complex yet timely issues in a world that hits very close to the reality of our post-pandemic one. Ng uses libraries, books, and storytelling as a main focus of this book to emphasize the power of words, shared stories, and marginalized voices. As I said, Celeste Ng knows how to write a stunning book and this one is no exception. I highly recommend giving it a read if you haven’t already.

THE INHERITANCE GAMES by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why -- or even who Tobias Hawthorne is. To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch -- and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.

My Thoughts: Okay I read this book back in 2021 before the other two books in the trilogy came out. So now that the entire series is published, I decided to go back and give this one a reread via audiobook. I gotta say, I think the narrator did me dirty on this one because I honestly just could not buy into the various types of southern accents she kept switching between throughout the book. If these four brothers are all from the same area, don’t you think their southern dialect would be consistent across the board? Kind of like how British people have different sounding accents depending on where they’re from in England. It just annoyed me lol. The cleverness of the plot still holds water from the last time I remember reading this. I wouldn’t say Avery is my favorite main character ever, but I do like her for this specific story. She’s quite the underdog and everyone underestimates her because she went from living in her car to inheriting billions of dollars from a rando old guy. The riddles and puzzles Tobias Hawthorne left behind for these five to figure out were believable enough and made sense once they were solved. I do appreciate that this book leaves you on a cliffhanger, and although the narrator’s southern accents gave me the ICK, I still think I’m going to continue rereading this series via audiobook.

HONOR by Thrity Umrigar

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: Indian American journalist Smita has returned to India to cover a story, but reluctantly: long ago she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of Meena—a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim man—Smita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than one’s own heart, and a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of Smita’s own past. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita tries in every way she can to right the scales. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohan, an Indian man she meets while on assignment. But the dual love stories of Honor are as different as the cultures of Meena and Smita themselves: Smita realizes she has the freedom to enter into a casual affair, knowing she can decide later how much it means to her.

My Thoughts: Wowow what an absolutely COMPELLING story. I remember this book getting a lot of hype when it first came out and it is definitely deserved. Told from the perspectives of two women: Meena, a Hindu woman who was disfigured by people in her own village for marrying a Muslim man and is now suing those responsible, and Samita, an Indian American journalist who has returned to India to cover Meena’s court case. The clash of cultures is instantly recognizable through almost every encounter Samita has in India. The misogyny is REAL in these small villages scattered throughout the country. Women are not valued, they do not have a voice, and their freedoms lie with whichever man is seen as the head of the house. Violent and humiliating actions are seen as an acceptable way to react to someone’s honor being disgraced. This novel was extremely thought provoking, heart wrenching, stomach clenching, and moving. The stories of both women were beautifully written and portrayed even if sometimes hard to read. I haven’t had a book impact me like this one did in a very long time. It’s a book that will live rent free in my brain for years to come, and I highly recommend giving it a read if you’re looking for ways to step outside of your comfort zone and settle into that discomfort for a while.

KING OF SLOTH by Ana Huang (King of Sin #4)

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: Charming, easygoing, and rich beyond belief, Xavier Castillo has the world at his fingertips. He also has no interest in taking over his family’s empire (much to his father’s chagrin), but that hasn’t stopped women from throwing themselves at him…unless the woman in question is his publicist. Nothing brings him more joy than riling her up, but when a tragedy forces them closer than ever, he must grapple with the uncertainty of his future—and the realization that the only person immune to his charms is the only one he truly wants. | Cool, intelligent, and ambitious, Sloane Kensington is a high-powered publicist who’s used to dealing with difficult clients. However, none infuriate—or tempt—her more than a certain billionaire heir, with his stupid dimples and laid-back attitude. She may be forced to work with him, but she’ll never fall for him…no matter how fast he makes her heart beat or how thoughtful he is beneath his party persona. He’s her client, and that’s all he’ll ever be. Right?

My Thoughts: OKIE DOKE WELL. I think this is probably my favorite installment in the King of Sin series thus far. There’s something about the MFC being perceived as a frigid ice queen with no ability to show emotion only to have the MMC bust through that barrier and melt her heart. Ana Huang has teased Sloane and Xavier’s story in the last two books in this series, so I was incredibly excited when I saw it was finally out! Sloane is a self-made, incredibly successful publicist who specializes in dealing with difficult clients. One of her hardest clients has been Xavier, the billionaire heir who has a reputation for partying and making very poor decisions that can reflect badly on his father’s corporate empire. Although Sloane has perfected a chilly RBF with zero hints as to what emotions are roiling beneath the surface, Xavier seems to be the only one who can push her over the edge enough to find cracks in that facade. This book has all of my favorite tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, fake-dating, etc. I loved the dynamics between Sloane and Xavier. Their banter was everything I could’ve wanted. The way they found a safe space within one another turned me into an absolute PUDDLE. Also, this author knows how to write a HIGH QUALITY salacious scene. ;) I think I also related to Sloane a lot because one of her main character quirks is that she can never cry, and if you know me, I’m definitely not a crier. (Me and my therapist are working on it, I swear lol). Either way, if you’ve been dabbling in the King of Sin series, this installment is definitely worth the read!

THE MINISTRY OF TIME by Kaliane Bradley

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Summary: In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time. She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machine,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But he adjusts quickly; he is, after all, an explorer by trade. Soon, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a seriously uncomfortable housemate dynamic, evolves into something much more. Over the course of an unprecedented year, Gore and the bridge fall haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences they never could have imagined. Supported by a chaotic and charming cast of characters—including a 17th-century cinephile who can’t get enough of Tinder, a painfully shy World War I captain, and a former spy with an ever-changing series of cosmetic surgery alterations and a belligerent attitude to HR—the bridge will be forced to confront the past that shaped her choices, and the choices that will shape the future.

My Thoughts: I super duper wanted to like this book because the premise sounds so unique and fun, but I was SORELY disappointed. I almost DNF’ed it (did not finish), but because I got the audiobook through a Book of the Month subscription, I didn’t want to waste my monthly credit. The writing at the start was decently strong and kept me engaged. It was the entirety of the middle that made this book crash and burn. The plot started trying to do SO MANY THINGS that it wasn’t doing any one thing well. Thankfully, the writing got better towards the end, but at that point, I had just trudged through so many “wait, wtf is happening rn?” moments that my attitude towards this book was basically unredeemable. Also the sheer number of metaphors used throughout the narrative was WILD. They are PACKED into every paragraph. Like I can appreciate a good metaphor every now and then to really make a sentence impactful, but this author fuckin LOVES them. Which led to nothing feeling that insightful. Anywho, no I don’t recommend reading this lol.

THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE by Christina Lauren (The Improbable Meet-Cute #1)

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: One typo, and a boy and girl connect by chance. Wishing each other a happy Valentine’s Day isn’t the end. In fact, it becomes a friendly annual tradition—with rules: no pics, no real names, nothing too personal. As years pass, the rules for their email “dates” are breaking, and they’re sharing more than they imagined—including the urge to ask…what if we actually met?

My thoughts: This was really freaking cute! What starts out as a young man accidentally sending an email to a fellow high school student instead of a teacher, turns into a 10-year tradition of the two emailing each other every year on Valentine’s Day for a decade. Although they never reveal personal identifying details about themselves, their connection and friendship slowly starts to grow every year. Even after they’ve both graduated and headed to college, they continue checking in on their email pen pal to see what’s new in life. Their exchanges include everything from details about their lives in college, their current relationships, losing a parent during the pandemic, moving across the country away from home, and more. Until finally they decide it’s the perfect time for them to both meet in person. This story was so much fun, the banter was delightful, and I absolutely adored the way it ended. If you’re looking for a quick, sweet read, I highly recommend this short story!

ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS by Rainbow Rowell (SIMON SNOW #3)

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: In Carry On, Simon Snow and his friends realized that everything they thought they understood about the world might be wrong. And in Wayward Son, they wondered whether everything they understood about themselves might be wrong. In Any Way the Wind Blows, Simon and Baz and Penelope and Agatha have to decide how to move forward. For Simon, that means deciding whether he still wants to be part of the World of Mages -- and if he doesn't, what does that mean for his relationship with Baz? Meanwhile Baz is bouncing between two family crises and not finding any time to talk to anyone about his newfound vampire knowledge. Penelope would love to help, but she's smuggled an American Normal into London, and now she isn't sure what to do with him. And Agatha? Well, Agatha Wellbelove has had enough. Any Way the Wind Blows takes the gang back to England, back to Watford, and back to their families for their longest and most emotionally wrenching adventure yet. This book is a finale. It tells secrets and answers questions and lays ghosts to rest.

My Thoughts: It is bittersweet that I have officially finished the Simon Snow trilogy, but I’m so glad I discovered this series because it was everything I needed and didn't even know it. As this was the last book in the series, of course this misfit gang of mages couldn’t go out with a banger without getting into more shenanigans first. Penelope manages to smuggle a “normal” who they met in the last book during their trip to America back into the UK with her. He admitted to having sold his soul to a demon and she is determined to figure out how to get that contract canceled. Simon and Baz are still in a bit of a gray area when it comes to their relationship. This is mostly due to Simon’s self sabotaging tendencies, but they’re trying to work through it (at least Baz is.) All the while, they’re trying to crack the code on a new cult in town that Baz’s stepmother recently joined. Agatha is back at Watford as well helping with her dad’s veterinarian business while she tries to figure out what she wants to do with her life. Cue a vet technician who she played field hockey with back in the day dragging Agatha along to figure out why the Goats of Watford keep straying from the school grounds. I can’t emphasize enough how many times this audiobook made me giggle like an idiot. These characters are all so unique, their development arcs over the last three books have been such an adventure, and this author has a mf GIFT for writing quick-witted banter and one-liners. As we head into June, this would be a great Queer YA Fantasy series to read for Pride Month. I promise you’re going to love it.

WORST WINGMAN EVER by Abby Jimenez (The Improbable Meet-Cute #2)

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary: Holly is dealing with the impending death of her grandmother and still reeling from a bad breakup. One bright spot: a Valentine’s Day card on Holly’s windshield—even if it wasn’t meant for her. An amusing mistake soon turns into a lovely exchange of anonymous notes, little acts of kindness, and a growing affection between two strangers. What happens when one of them has to say goodbye?

My Thoughts: True to Abby Jimenez, this cute little novella had complex characters who come from two totally different places and yet fit together perfectly in each other’s lives. Holly is a hospice nurse taking care of her grandmother at her condominium complex. With the tough job of watching her grandmother’s health deteriorate and recovering from a recent breakup, she hasn’t been openly looking for new romance. Until one day a random Valentine’s Day card is left on her windshield that wasn’t meant for her and an anonymous exchange of random notes begins. I loved that these characters really were just doing kind things for each other without any ulterior motive behind them until they realized who they’d been exchanging notes with. This was a super cute, short romance if you’re looking for a quick read.

VAMPIRES OF EL NORTE by Isabel Cañas

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead. Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago. Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind. When the United States attacks Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together on the road to war: Nena as a curandera, a healer striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Néstor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros. But the shock of their reunion—and Nena’s rage at Néstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago—is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh. And unless Nena and Néstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn.

My Thoughts: This book was not what I expected it to be. I thought it was going to be more along the lines of Isabel Cañas’s other book, The Hacienda, which is a mystery/thriller (you can read my review for that book here). Although that genre is included in this plot, it’s not the sole focus. It mixed in a little bit of historical fiction, supernatural, and romance as well which made the story feel so much more dynamic. Instead of reading my physical copy, I opted for the audiobook via Libby and am glad I did because hearing the Spanish dialect from Spanish-speaking narrators made this experience very immersive. The book follows Nena and Nestor who were inseparable growing up, but after something attacked Nena when they were teens, Nestor ran thinking it was his fault she’s dead. Fast forward nine years and Nestor is back to help an auxiliary cavalry fight in the US Mexico war. He realizes Nena, in fact, is not dead and that she’s joining the cavalry as a healer. Nena is livid with Nestor because she’s been under the impression for almost a decade that her best friend left without saying goodbye. The two get separated from the group during a gruesome battle and have to rely on each other to get home safely. I loved that although they were both grieving their friendship in different ways, the raw, undeniable connection they formed years ago continued to surface. Due to poor communication and stubbornness, it took a while for either to act on their feelings, but I still found myself mentally yelling at them “just kiss already!!” lol. There was a subtle plot twist towards the end involving the vampire creatures in this story that I couldn’t have predicted, but I appreciated that’s the route the author ended up taking. Honestly, if you’re looking for a book with great writing, multiple genres, and solid main characters, I highly recommend giving this one a try!

DIVINE RIVALS by Rebecca Ross (Letters of Enchantment #1)

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary: When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever. After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette. To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish―into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.

My Thoughts: Okay admittedly, I previously tried reading this book two other times and couldn’t get into it. However, now that I’ve finished it, I honestly have no idea what my problem was during those attempts because I was absolutely ENTRANCED this time around. This book was fantastic. It follows two young rival journalists, Iris and Roman. Iris’s brother left to fight in the gods war six months ago, and after receiving no response to her letters, she starts putting them into their magically touched wardrobe. The wardrobe then whisks the letters away to none other than Iris’s main competition at the newspaper, Roman Kitt. Until one day, he finally (anonymously) responds to her. The two of them slowly start to build a connection through their letters that leads to Roman following Iris 600 kilometers away to the war front. I was OBSESSED with their relationship. Although for a while only Roman knows that it’s Iris he’s been corresponding with, the sexually and emotionally charged tension between them was undeniable. Don’t get me started on the vibe change once they were actually on the same page about their feelings. I WAS SOLD. Also, romance aside, the premise of this book? So unique. The writing? Chef’s kiss. The plot twist towards the end? Caught me by surprise. My only complaint and the reason I docked it a half star is that I could’ve used a little more world building and I wished we learned more about the gods. There’s a gods war going on and although we learn a high-level origin story of it, the author really didn’t go into a satisfactory amount of detail. So hopefully there’s more of that to come in the sequel which I will be starting ASAP, because I NEED to know what happens since we’re left on a cliffhanger with the first one. Anywho, I highly recommend this book!

THE TURN OF THE KEY by Ruth Ware

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family. What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder. Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the unraveling events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the cameras installed around the house, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman, Jack Grant. It was everything. She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder. Which means someone else is.

My Thoughts: Okay, so I read Woman in Cabin 10 a few years ago and really enjoyed it, but haven’t read a Ruth Ware book since. So I was excited to jump into this one. Although I own a physical copy, I opted for the audiobook. This story’s format is really unique as it’s from the perspective of the main character, Rowan, who is writing a letter to her lawyer from prison. She’s trying to explain what led up to her incarceration and why he must believe she is innocent. Rowan becomes a nanny for an extremely wealthy family who is in the AI/technology industry and has converted a historical mansion in the countryside into a Smart House. Although the family seems very picturesque and cookie-cutter, as soon as the parents leave for a business trip and Rowan is alone with the youngest girls, she realizes they’re anything but perfect. I’ve said it before, but I’m not classically a mystery/thriller girly because I get creeped out easily, and let me tell you, the kids Rowan was a nanny for gave me the jeebies. In addition to all of the weird surveillance cameras placed around this giant mansion, Rowan is given the only room in the house that connects to the attic. Per usual with old houses, this one came with its fair share of past tragedies, including the death of the young daughter of the previous homeowner. So many things happen that would have driven me out of that house SO FAST. The only reason I cannot give this book five stars is because I felt like there were like SEVEN plot twists stuffed into the last 10%, which was a little jarring. It also didn’t feel like this is what I was being led to conclude the entire time, so some of it felt a little out of left field. I enjoyed it overall, I just wouldn’t say it was AMAZING.

RUTHLESS VOWS by Rebecca Ross (Letters of Enchantment #2)

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary: Two weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report on Dacre’s movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward once more despite the danger, knowing it’s only a matter of time before the conflict reaches a city that’s unprepared and fracturing beneath the chancellor’s reign. Since waking below in Dacre’s realm, Roman cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter arrives by the wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and Iris closer together…the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.

My Thoughts: Well to absolutely NO ONE’S surprise, I fuckin DEVOURED this book. Coming off my high from finishing Divine Rivals, I decided to immediately dive into its successor. This book picks up two weeks after where we left off in the last one. Iris is back in Oath living with her brother in the apartment they grew up in. She’s still writing for the Inkridden Tribune, covering the war between the gods, Dacre and Enva. Although she doesn’t know his exact location, Iris knows Dacre took Roman and most likely wiped his memories after healing his life threatening injuries. It isn’t until the rival newspaper in town publishes an article written by Roman Kitt that Iris’s suspicions are confirmed. This book was a WILD ride. It had me on the edge of my seat constantly as Roman and Iris kept making the ballsiest of moves to find each other and help end this war. The writing was nothing short of beautiful, and I loved that the author stuck to the same format of changing POVs, sprinkling in letters between typewriters, and the occasional news article. My heart was ripped open so many times during this one and I felt the passion in these characters to my core. The only reason I’m not giving it five stars is because one of the “keys” to ending the war felt like it came out of nowhere. I couldn’t remember them mentioning it in the first book, but to be fair, I may have been reading so fast that I didn’t clock it as well as I should have. Either way, I feel like the ending, although mildly heartbreaking, was the perfect for this series. If you haven’t given this a try yet, I highly recommend doing so!

THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary: In love we find out who we want to be. In war we find out who we are. FRANCE, 1939 | In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive. Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

My Thoughts: Y’all know I love historical fiction and although I’ve had this book on my shelf for a couple of years, I decided to go the audiobook route for the most part. Kristin Hannah has a gift at writing characters who you can’t help but vicariously feel all of their struggles and adversities in your chest. This story was not a pretty one to read, but it was also so beautiful. Per usual for KH, there is romance woven into the story, but that’s not what it’s about at all. This book is about the women, children, wives, etc. who were left behind during WW2, and what they endured during those dark years. Told from the perspective of two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle both experience this war in two totally different ways, but the struggle to survive in a world that is falling apart remains consistent for them both. The younger, spitfire sister, Isabelle, joins the Resistance almost immediately. She starts with small tasks such as stealthily handing out anti-Nazi propaganda to townspeople, and eventually starts taking on much more dangerous missions such as smuggling more than 80 English and American pilots out of France into Spain by completing treacherous hikes through the Pyrenees mountains. Although Vianne lives out the war from her countryside home in Carriveau, her experience is no less dangerous as Nazis billet from her home and take over governing her city. My heart was in absolute PIECES for both of these women as they bravely faced the horrors this war brought to them time and time again. Although this book wasn’t perfect, with some slow parts that could’ve been shortened or character arcs that could’ve happened sooner, it’s one I won’t soon forget. As I said, Kristin Hannah has a gift at writing heart wrenching historical fiction novels from various time periods and this book is no exception.

Okieeee that’s it for May!

Don’t forget to incorporate some Queer stories into your TBR for June a.k.a Pride Month! (SIMON SNOW SHOULD BE ONE OF THEM!! <3)

I’m still locked out of my Facebook account, but at least the Attorney General of Michigan got back to me, so I will keep you posted on whether I regain access lol.

2024 Book Count: 56

Add me on Goodreads if you haven’t already.

YOUR TURN! What’s been your favorite read of 2024 so far?

November 2023 Reads

December 04, 2023 by Haley Burrill in Books

It’s officially that time of year.

Time to layer up in both the warmest clothing and most moisturizing lotion because not only has it gotten colder, but my skin is so dry from running the heat that it’s starting to look like a dried up lake bed.

On the bright side though (figuratively speaking), this is also the best time of year to cozy up with a nice book because what else are you going to do after the sun goes down at 5pm? :) :)

November was dedicated to a lot of fantasy. Iron Flame came out on November 7th, so you know your girl had to first reread Fourth Wing before diving into its predecessor. Plus the Hunger Games prequel movie was coming out, so we had to squeeze The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes into the reading mix. Then I also had to see what all the fuss was about with Ninth House. So all in all, I read a lot of fantasy this month lol.

Do not fret though, most of my audiobooks were of other genres, so there’s something for everyone here.

If you need me, I will be in an ongoing battle with the mice terrorizing my apartment because I live in a charming old house. Otherwise, let’s get into everything I read in November.

*All summaries are taken or paraphrased from Goodreads.

CLOUD CUCKOO LAND by Anthony Doerr

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary: When everything is lost, it’s our stories that survive. How do we weather the end of things? Cloud Cuckoo Land brings together an unforgettable cast of dreamers and outsiders from past, present and future to offer a vision of survival against all odds. Constantinople, 1453: An orphaned seamstress and a cursed boy with a love for animals risk everything on opposite sides of a city wall to protect the people they love. Idaho, 2020: An impoverished, idealistic kid seeks revenge on a world that’s crumbling around him. Can he go through with it when a gentle old man stands between him and his plans? Unknown, Sometime in the Future: With her tiny community in peril, Konstance is the last hope for the human race. To find a way forward, she must look to the oldest stories of all for guidance. Bound together by a single ancient text, these tales interweave to form a tapestry of solace and resilience and a celebration of storytelling itself.

My Thoughts: I tried reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr a couple of summers ago and literally DNF’ed (did not finish) it after maybe 30 pages. So imagine my surprise realizing this is the same author after I had already started listening to the audiobook lol. I’m pleased to report that my experience with this book went much better. There’s a really beautiful message about the human connection and how people can find passion in the same things across thousands of years. The writing format is a little tricky to follow if you’re listening to it on audiobook only because it’s from the POV of multiple characters throughout every chapter. It got easier the farther I got into it, but it was a little tough to follow at first. The beginning was also a bit of a slow burn for me. However, Marin Ireland is the narrator and I absolutely love her voice, so I stuck with it. I thought it was really cool that as I became more invested in each character’s story, I started trying to piece together how they were all connected. I went from following them as individuals to looking at them as a collective. Honestly, this book is unlike anything I’ve read before, so if you’ve been curious, I highly recommend giving it a shot.

FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros (REREAD)

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant. She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise. Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret. Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die

My Thoughts: Okay so I absolutely devoured Fourth Wing back in June when it was published (you can read my initial review here), but I wanted to give it another go before jumping into Iron Flame. Folks, I cannot say more good things about this book. I know some people think it’s too obviously stuffed with all of the best tropes and themes from other fantasy books, but I think that’s kind of a selling point. The writing is so easy to read and follow. The dialogue is thoroughly entertaining. The magic system is simple enough to understand if you’re new to fantasy (or romantasy). Honestly, the only thing that’s confusing is following the Wing/Section/Squad breakdown, but that’s not something that’s going to ruin the experience for you. If you haven’t read Fourth Wing yet, water u doin?

IRON FLAME by Rebecca Yarros

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: “The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson. Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves. Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules. But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year. Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

My Thoughts: Y’ALLLLLLL. IF FOURTH WING DIDN’T MESS ME UP ENOUGH, I WAS NOT READY FOR IRON FLAME. Oh my god, where to begin without giving spoilers??? This romantasy is everything I could’ve hoped for and more. The transition between the first book into this one was SEAMLESS. The plot never skipped a beat, the character development was on par, and I am still unapologetically obsessed with the dragons. There are PLENTY of moments that will have you clutching your non-existent pearls while gasping at the AUDACITY of mizz Rebecca Yarros. I swear to you I could not read this book fast enough. Also Xaden had me fuckin SWOONING the entire time. He was dropping quotes left and right that made both my heart melt and my hands sweat. “I’m grateful my life is tied to yours because it means I won’t have to face a day without you in it.” GORL. What a shadow wielding KING. Sign me up. I’m also so glad that not only do the human characters go through their own development, but can we talk about the ultimate sass of adolescent Andarna?? Without giving anything away: we love to see it. That being said, if I put all of my emotions aside completely and rated this book fairly, it’d be getting a 4.75 from me. Solely because there were a couple of ~things~ that occurred that I really wished we would’ve gotten more of an explanation about WHY they’re needed and/or exactly HOW that happened. Like spell it out for me please because ya girl is LOST. If you haven’t read this yet, my biggest recommendation is DO NOT SLEEP on the excerpts at the top of each chapter. They are so important lol. Anyhoo, I don’t know when the third book is supposed to drop, but if you need me in the meantime, I’ll be doing a deep dive into Empyrean theories.

THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES by Suzanne Collins

Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary: It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute. The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

My Thoughts: Okay so obvi loved The Hunger Games series and definitely wanted to read this prequel before going to see the movie. This book was kind of a tough read because it’s basically President Snow’s origin story. We know how he turns out later in life based on the rest of the series: a terrible person who absolutely THRIVES on control and the structure of the Capitol vs. Districts. So to see him as a teenager in this book who is vulnerable and still has some good in him was a little jarring. I wanted to root for him. I really did. However, I knew that there wasn’t some character redemption arc later on that I could look forward to. It does pose the question of nature vs. nurture and whether people are born inherently good and become evil by their environment/circumstances. There were a couple of slower parts to this book that I could’ve done without, but it was cool to find all the easter eggs and references to The Hunger Games series throughout. I saw the movie right after I finished reading this, and honestly, unless you really want all the details and nuances of Coriolanus Snow, you can just forgo this book. The movie follows the book almost exactly, so it’s not necessary to read it first.

THE WEDDING DRESS SEWING CIRCLE by Jennifer Ryan

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: After renowned fashion designer Cressida Westcott loses both her home and her design house in the London Blitz, she has nowhere to go but the family manor house she fled decades ago. Praying that her niece and nephew will be more hospitable than her brother had been, she arrives with nothing but the clothes she stands in, at a loss as to how to rebuild her business while staying in a quaint country village. Her niece, Violet Westcott, is thrilled that her famous aunt is coming to stay—the village has been interminably dull with all the men off fighting. But just as Cressida arrives, so does Violet's conscription letter. It couldn't have come at a worse time; how will she ever find a suitably aristocratic husband if she has to spend her days wearing a frumpy uniform and doing war work? Meanwhile, the local vicar's daughter, Grace Carlisle, is trying in vain to repair her mother's gown, her only chance of a white wedding. When Cressida Westcott appears at the local Sewing Circle meeting, Grace asks for her help—but Cressida has much more to teach the ladies than just simple sewing skills. Before long, Cressida's spirit and ambition galvanizes the village group into action, and they find themselves mending wedding dresses not only for local brides, but for brides across the country. And as the women dedicate themselves to helping others celebrate love, they might even manage to find it for themselves.

My Thoughts: This book was an absolute delight! It’s been a minute since I’ve read some historical fiction, but it’s books like this that remind me of why I love the genre! The story is set during WW2 in England and follows three women: Cressida, Violet, and Grace. Cressida is a well-known fashion designer in London who just lost her home and design studio in a Blitz. With no luck finding an alternative solution, she’s forced to move home to Aldhurst manor with her niece and nephew. Violet, Cressida’s niece, has just been transcripted to become a driver for the American military even though her main goal in life is to get married to a wealthy duke. Grace, the vicar’s daughter, is set to be married to a devout man and needs help mending her mother’s wedding dress. Cue the town’s Sewing Circle which brings these three women together in addition to a group of other women doing their part for the war by creating clothing from old garments, curtains, etc. I absolutely loved the women supporting women camaraderie as this group starts collecting and redesigning wedding dresses for women across their community who would like to get married in a traditional gown. The character development of Cressida, Violet, and Grace was everything I could have hoped for and I appreciated that the plot perfectly intertwines their journeys. Although this story is set during WW2 and has some heavier scenes, I liked that the book’s focus stayed on the lighter side of war-related content. It was clear the author did her research before writing this gem and I truly appreciated learning more about how people rationed during the war and the influence it had not only on people’s lives, but culture and fashion as a whole. I wouldn’t say this was as groundbreaking for me as books like The Rose Code or The Alice Network, but I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same.

PARIS: THE MEMOIR by Paris Hilton

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary: Heiress. Party girl. Problem child. Selfie taker. Model. Cover girl. Reality star. These are labels that have been attached to Paris Hilton by others. Founder. Entrepreneur. Pop Culture Maker. Innovator. Survivor. Activist. Daughter. Sister. Wife. Mom. These are roles Paris Hilton embraces now as a fully realized woman. Paris rose to prominence as an heiress to the Hilton Hotels empire, but cultivated her fame and fortune as the It Girl of the aughts, a time marked by the burgeoning twenty-four-hour entertainment news cycle and the advent of the celebrity blog. Using her celebrity brand, Paris set in motion her innovative business ventures, while being the constant target of tabloid culture that dismissively wrote her off as "famous for being famous." With tenacity, sharp business acumen, and grit, she built a global empire and, in the process, became a truly modern icon beloved around the world. Now, with courage, honesty, and humor, Paris Hilton is ready to take stock, place it all in context, and share her story with the world. Separating the creation from the creator, the brand from the ambassador, Paris: The Memoir strips away all we thought we knew about a celebrity icon, taking us back to a privileged childhood lived through the lens of undiagnosed ADHD and teenage rebellion that triggered a panicked--and perilous--decision by her parents. Led to believe they were saving their child's life, Paris's mother and father had her kidnapped and sent to a series of "emotional growth boarding schools," where she survived almost two years of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. In the midst of a hell we now call the "troubled teen industry," Paris created a beautiful inner world where the ugliness couldn't touch her. She came out, resolving to trust no one but herself as she transformed that fantasy world into a multibillion-dollar reality. Recounting her perilous journey through pre-#MeToo sexual politics with grace, dignity, and just the right amount of sass, Paris: The Memoir tracks the evolution of celebrity culture through the story of the figure at its leading edge, full of defining moments and marquee names. Most importantly, Paris shows us her path to peace while she challenges us to question our role in her story and in our own. Welcome to Paris.

My Thoughts: I have nothing but respect for Paris Hilton after listening to this memoir. The dumb blonde persona we’ve come to know as a culture for her could not be further from the truth of who this woman is at her core. She went through so much trauma at behavioral correctional facilities between the ages of 16-18 and came out stronger on the other side with her main goal being she would generate her own wealth instead of relying on her family’s inheritance. She is an absolutely brilliant business woman and although she’s had her fair share of bad press, I don’t think she gets nearly enough credit for how intelligent she is as someone who never graduated high school. This memoir was incredibly well-written, vulnerable, and truly eye-opening. If your only knowledge of Paris Hilton is the “that’s hot” girl from the early 2000s then I cannot recommend it enough that you should definitely give this a read.

KING OF GREED by Ana Huang

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: Powerful, brilliant, and ambitious, Dominic Davenport clawed his way up from nothing to become the King of Wall Street. He has everything—a beautiful home, a beautiful wife, and more money than he could spend in a lifetime. But no matter how much he accumulates, he’s never satisfied. In his endless quest for more, he drives away the only person who saw him as enough. It isn’t until she’s gone that he realizes there may be more to life than riches and glory…but by then, it may be too late. | Kind, intelligent, and thoughtful, Alessandra Davenport has played the role of trophy wife for years. She stood by her husband while he built an empire, but now that they’ve reached the top, she realizes he’s no longer the man she fell for. When it becomes clear that she’ll always come second to his work, she finally takes charge of her life and puts herself first—even if it means leaving the only man she’s ever loved. But what she didn’t count on was his refusal to let her go…or for him to fight for their marriage, no matter what it takes.

My Thoughts: Anna Huang said, “let me give you a powerful man turned desperate, miserable, and pathetic out of love,” and that’s what this is. I was so invested in this broken relationship between investment mogul Dominic Davenport and his wife, Alessandra, who hasn’t felt appreciated or loved in far too long. She is his anchor to staying grounded and humble in his crazy world of deals, contracts, and billions of dollars. However, after continuously falling through on his promises and flaking on plans, Alessandra decided to serve him divorce papers and really start investing in herself. I was obsessed with their dynamics and the raw emotion that radiated between them even while they were divorced and living separately. I admired Alessandra’s will to put herself first even when everything inside of her said to fold and go back to the comfort of Dom’s arms. Instead, she was committed to making him prove himself and really acknowledge what had gone wrong in their marriage. Although he was an imperfect character, Dom had me swooning with all of his actions and declarations to Alessandra to show that she was half of his heart. This novel was a testament to the absolute WERK that goes into a relationship and Ana Huang once again had me eating out of the palm of her hand with this story. If you’ve started the King of Sin series, I definitely think this one is worth the read!

THE RIGHT MOVE by Liz Tomforde

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: RYAN - She’s a distraction, that’s what she is. I’m the newest Captain of the Devils, Chicago’s NBA team, and the last thing I needed this year was for Indy Ivers, my sister’s best friend, to move into my apartment. She’s messy, emotional, and way too tempting. But when the team’s General Manager vocalizes his blatant disapproval of my promotion to Captain, referring to me as an unapproachable lone wolf with no work-life balance, I can’t think of a better way to convince him otherwise than pretending to date my outgoing roommate. The only problem? Faking it feels far too natural. Having a fake girlfriend wasn’t supposed to be messy but having Indy under my roof and in my bed is complicated, especially when she wants all the romantic parts of life that I could never give her. | INDY - I never imagined I’d be living with my best friend’s brother, NBA superstar Ryan Shay. Even more unbelievable? He needs me to act as his loving girlfriend who’s suddenly changed him into a friendly and approachable guy. Because, well…he’s not. He’s controlling of his space and untrusting of others. Our arrangement isn’t one-sided, though. I’m in a wedding coming up, one where every one of my childhood friends, including my ex-boyfriend, will be in attendance, and there’s no better date than my ex’s celebrity hero. Blurred lines make it almost impossible to separate real from fake. Falling for my roommate was never part of the deal, especially when Ryan is quick to remind me that he doesn’t believe in love. I’m a romantic and can’t help fantasizing that he’ll change, but soon enough, I find myself questioning if sharing a roof with my best friend’s brother was the right move after all.

My Thoughts: I read the first book of the Windy City series a couple of months ago and although I really liked it, I wasn’t itching to jump right into this second book. However, after seeing it as a nominee for the Goodreads Awards and hearing great reviews, I decided it was time to get emotionally wrecked. I was OBSESSED with this story. For starters, it had all of my favorite tropes including grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, and fake dating. Then you give me main characters who I was wholly invested in individually which only compounded tenfold as I rooted for them as a couple. Indy and Ryan could not be more opposite at first glance, but the deeper you get into their stories, the more similarities you see between their personalities and what makes them so compatible. Indy is such a fun character, but also has plenty of depth to make her worthy of a romance this swoon-worthy. Ryan’s character is much more into structure and order, which could be off putting until you peel back his layers and get to know what made him this way. There are so many aspects of this story that made it easy to fall in love with their love and although I think this book could’ve ended just a TOUCH sooner than it did, I’m so glad I got to experience this with them. If you haven’t started the Windy City series, I’d say the first book is worth the read just to better understand the dynamics of the characters as a whole. However, this second book is the bread and butter to the entire experience.

NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her? Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

My Thoughts: Okay so Leigh Bardugo is the same author of the “Grisha Verse” which includes the Shadow and Bone series, as well as, the Six of Crows and King of Wolves duologies. I read Shadow and Bone before the Netflix series came out and I wasn’t super impressed. I liked it enough, but I wasn’t invested in it. Folks, I don’t know why her urban fantasy slaps so much harder than her high fantasy, but good lord. This was ten million times better! I feel like I should note that I read a majority of this book by listening to it on audio. The narrator was phenomenal and made it so easy to get invested in each one of these characters. As I mentioned, this story is an urban fantasy (which takes place at Yale), but it also has a little dark academia aspect to it that really sucked me in. Alex was the perfect main character for this. She was rough around the edges, but had every reason to be. She’s only 20 and has faced her fair share of adversity including being sexually assaulted, falling in with drug dealers, dropping out of school, etc. Now she’s been recruited into a secret society at Yale that basically keeps all of the other magical secret societies in line. Alex was sharp, witty, scrappy, and incredibly brave. I also loved her mentor, Darlington, as we got glimpses from his POV from the previous fall. Darlington mysteriously disappeared at the end of last fall and Alex is left to find him while she looks into a recent murder. The side characters like Dawes, Turner, and the Bridegroom added great dimensions to the story. The structure of the houses of these magical secret societies took a little bit of time to understand, but it wasn’t hard to roll with it after a while. This honestly was a really great reading experience and it’s taking everything in me to patiently wait for the sequel’s audiobook on Libby lol.

Aaaaand, that’s a wrap on November!

I’m pleased to announce this month pushed me past my 2023 Goodreads Reading Goal of 100 books. So that’s very exciting! :D

December is usually the perfect time to read some holiday rom-coms, but we will see what I’m in the mood for. I’m hoping that I’ll have more downtime to write a full round-up overview of everything I read in 2023 in addition to my regular monthly reviews. Don’t hold me to that though, plz lol.

2023 Book Count: 106

Add me on Goodreads if you haven’t already.

YOUR TURN! What’s your favorite holiday movie? (Mine is Just Friends lol).

May 2023 Reads

June 09, 2023 by Haley Burrill in Books

Three cheers that summer weather is finally here!

Although you can find me sweating on the regular, I wouldn’t trade the 70-80s temps and brutally uplifting sunshine for anything. Besides, warm weather means it’s officially patio szn and I love nothing more than enjoying a cold beverage with some friends outside on late* summer nights. <3

*Meaning head home by 9PM lol.

May was a pretty hectic month for me. I did a lot of traveling, including a work trip to Key West for a few days. Listen, my brain could not compute being in a vacation destination but still having to work.

If you’ve never been, just know that you must try the key lime pie and there are chickens/roosters everywhere. I feel like not enough people talk about the poultry running around, so if you didn't already know that fun fact then you heard it here first.

You should also stop by a little restaurant called Mighty Cock. :)

Anyhoo let’s dive into everything I read in May.

*All summaries are taken or paraphrased from Goodreads.

IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE by Ashley Winstead

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary: Six friends. One college reunion. One unsolved murder. Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has planned her triumphant return to southern, elite Duquette University, down to the envious whispers that are sure to follow in her wake. Everyone is going to see the girl she wants them to see - confident, beautiful, indifferent - not the girl she was when she left campus, back when Heather’s murder fractured everything. Including the tight bond linking the six friends she’d been closest to since freshman year. Ten years ago, everything fell apart, including the dreams she worked for her whole life - and her relationship with the one person she wasn’t supposed to love. But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather’s murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night - and the years’ worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.

My Thoughts: Okay, so I’ve heard some mixed reviews on this book, but I gotta say, it was impressive for a debut novel. It had all the fixings for a great mystery: dark academia, morally gray characters, an unreliable narrator, some stabby stabby scenes, and two HUGE plot twists. I listened to this one on audiobook and admittedly could not stand the main character, Jessica lol. She so DESPERATELY wants to be admired by her peers even into her early thirties and I absolutely hated that her need to be adored was basically what drove every single one of her actions. Honestly, what each and every one of these characters needed was simply some quality therapy. They have all been battling with some demons in their closet since college after one of their closest friends was murdered in cold blood right at the end of senior year. These characters are a MESS, but that’s what kept me guessing about whodunnit. I will say, at about the 90% mark all hell breaks loose after a big ole plot twist and then SO MUCH HAPPENS. It was absolute chaos to say the least lol. On a lighter note, there’s also a romance storyline that I thoroughly appreciated throughout the book even though that journey was a wild ride too. Overall, yes. I do recommend reading this book if you’ve had it on your radar for a while.

FOR YOU AND NO ONE ELSE by Roni Loren

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: Eliza Catalano has the perfect life. So what if it actually looks nothing like the story she tells online? As a therapist, it’s part of her job to look like she has all the answers, right? But when Eliza ends up as a viral “Worst Date Ever” meme, everything in her Instagram-filtered world begins to crumble. Enter the most obnoxiously attractive man she’s ever met, and a bet she can’t resist: if she swears off social media for six months, Beck Carter’ll teach her the wonders of surviving the “real world.” No technology, no dating apps, no pretty filters, no BS. It seems like the perfect deal - she can lay low until her sudden infamy passes, meet some interesting new people, and maybe even curate this experience into a “how I quit the online dating racket” book along the way. But something about Beck’s raw honesty speaks to Eliza in ways she never expected. She knows he’s supposed to be completely hands-off… but as complex feelings grow and walls come tumbling down, rough-around-the-edges Beck may be exactly what Eliza needs to finally, truly face herself and decide who she really wants to be.

My Thoughts: Wow. Yanno. I loved Roni Loren’s previous two books in this series (Yes and I Love You and What If You and Me) and the third one was no exception. I adored this storyline for a multitude of reasons, but the biggest one is that it was so relatable. Eliza is in her early thirties and after a disastrous experience on a dating app, she decides to take a social media hiatus for a while. Her new friend Beckham is helping her navigate this new lifestyle without the endless scrolling. Through this experiment, Eliza has a lot of breakthroughs about the way she was living her life - very much performative, doing things in various areas of her life to make it look like she has her shit together and is not at all imperfect. What really rang true to me was that she had this whole vision of what she thinks her life should look like based on what society has made her believe: happily married by age X, 2.5 kids, etc. Though her life hasn’t panned out that way, she realizes there’s no one out there with a measuring stick saying whether you've been successful or not. It was just a really relatable aha moment that you need to take life as it comes and not everyone’s path is going to look the same. I absolutely adored the friendship she and Beckham had that slowly turned into a beautiful relationship. Now, I will say, I’ve read a lot of reviews that didn’t like the book because they didn’t find it believable. Listen, I’m not DAFT. I know that part of the storyline was a little dramatic, but that’s the beauty of romance and fiction, is it not? This book was so refreshing and the perfect escape. The author has such a unique writing style and I definitely recommend picking it up if you’ve never experienced a Roni Loren novel.

THE IVORY KEY by Akshaya Raman

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary: Vira is desperate to get out of her mother’s shadow and establish her legacy as a revered queen of Ashoka. But with the country’s only quarry running out of magic - a precious resource that has kept Ashoka safe from conflict - she can barely protect her citizens from the looming threat of war. And if her enemies discover this, they’ll stop at nothing to seize the last of the magic. Vira’s only hope is to find a mysterious object of legend: the Ivory Key, rumored to unlock a new source of magic. But in order to infiltrate enemy territory and retrieve it, she must reunite with her siblings, torn apart by the different paths their lives have taken. Each of them has something to gain from finding the Ivory Key - and even more to lose if they fail. Ronak plans to sell it to the highest bidder in exchange for escape from his impending political marriage. Kaleb, falsely accused of assassinating the former maharani, needs it to clear his name. And Riya, a runaway who cut all family ties, wants the Key to prove her loyalty to the rebels who want to strip the nobility of its power. They must work together to survive the treacherous journey. But with each sibling harboring secrets and their own agendas, the very thing that brought them together could tear apart their family - and their world - for good.

My Thoughts: All righty. I picked this book up from the library last year, but honestly just couldn’t get into it (the woes of being a mood reader). However, I had heard good things about it, so I decided to give it another shot via audiobook. I gotta say, I did enjoy it for the most part! The book follows four siblings who have been mildly estranged from each other in recent years. However, they must band together to find the mythical Ivory Key that their father spent most of his life searching for before he died. They each have their own motive as to why they want to find the key, but what’s clear is they cannot do it without each other. In terms of characters, I appreciated that I didn’t like nor dislike one more than the others. They all had their pros and cons which put them on a pretty even playing field in my mind. As for the magical construct of this world, it took a minute to understand the boundaries of magic (i.e. who or what can possess it, what creates it, how it’s utilized, etc.). Sometimes it felt a little improvisational based on the moment and what logistics made most sense at the time. However, there was an overarching understanding that magic cannot be wielded by a human, it can only be connected to inanimate objects. Other than that, there was a big ole plot twist at the end that I wasn’t expecting and honestly had me curious about where the next book will go. So I can’t say I won’t read the next book in this duology once it’s published, but whether or not I remember specifics from this book is definitely up in the air. I’d say it’s worth a read overall though.

MY OXFORD YEAR by Julia Whelan

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Summary: American Ella Durran has had the same plan for her life since she was thirteen: Study at Oxford. At 24, she’s finally made it to England on a Rhodes Scholarship when she’s offered an unbelievable position in a rising political star’s presidential campaign. With the promise that she’ll work remotely and return to DC at the end of her Oxford year, she’s free to enjoy her Once in a Lifetime Experience. That is until a smart-mouthed local who is too quick with his tongue and his car ruins her shirt and her first day. When Ella discovers that her English literature course will be taught by none other than that same local, Jamie Davenport, she thinks for the first time that Oxford might not be all she’s envisioned. But a late-night drink reveals a connection she wasn’t anticipating and what begins as a casual fling soon develops into something much more when Ella learns Jamie has a life-changing secret. Immediately, Ella is faced with a seemingly impossible decision: turn her back on the man she’s falling in love with to follow her political dreams or be there for him during a trial neither are truly prepared for. As the end of her year in Oxford rapidly approaches, Ella must decide if the dreams she’s always wanted are the same ones she’s yearning for.

My Thoughts: Ugh. It pains me to rate this book so low because I really do love Julia Whelan and the writing in this is objectively good. HOWEVER, there was just SOMETHING missing. I mean I can confirm the development part of their relationship was missing because she literally had them hanging out as fuck buddies and then used like one paragraph to fast forward 6 months and all of a sudden, they were something more serious. So you missed the entirety of that “developing the feels” process. Additionally, I just didn’t care? Ella clearly has some trauma to work through from her childhood, so she’s not as self-aware as she thinks she is and the plot twist surrounding Jamie’s life wasn’t as impactful or gut-punching as I’m sure it was intended to be. Julia Whelan still did a great job narrating and, as I mentioned earlier, the style of writing was objectively good. Honestly, this book had such potential to be a great story, but I was left so unsatisfied.

KING OF WRATH by Ana Huang

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary: She’s the wife he never wanted… and the weakness he never saw coming. Ruthless. Meticulous. Arrogant. Dante Russo thrives on control, both personally and professionally. The billionaire CEO never planned to marry - until the threat of blackmail forces him into an engagement with a woman he barely knows. Vivian Lau, jewelry heiress and daughter of his newest enemy. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or charming she is. He’ll do everything in his power to destroy the evidence and their betrothal. There’s only one problem: now that he has her… he can’t bring himself to let her go. | Elegant. Ambitious. Well-mannered. Vivian Lau is the perfect daughter and her family’s ticket into the highest echelons of high society. Marrying a blue-blooded Russo means opening doors that would otherwise remain closed to her new-money family. While the rude, elusive Dante isn’t her idea of a dream partner, she agrees to their arranged marriage out of duty. Craving his touch was never part of the plan. Neither was the worst thing she could possibly do: fall in love with her future husband.

My Thoughts: So I absolutely adored Anna Huang’s Twisted series, so when she announced she was writing this King of Sins spin-off series, I knew I had to read it. This was the perfect enemies-to-lovers dark mafia romance. Dante and Vivian were such well-developed, dynamic characters and it was so easy to fall in love with both of them. The pacing of their relationship was absolutely perfect and although there was some expected adversity towards the last third of the book, I appreciated how they handled everything. This story had tension, banter, swag, a solid plot line and high quality STEAM. So if you’re looking for a mafia-oriented romance escape, you should definitely pick this one up!

KING OF PRIDE by Ana Huang

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: She’s his opposite in every way… and the greatest temptation he’s ever known. Reserved, controlled, and proper to a fault, Kai Young has neither the time nor inclination for chaos - and Isabella, with her purple hair and inappropriate jokes, is chaos personified. With a crucial CEO vote looming and a media empire at stake, the billionaire heir can’t afford the distraction she brings. Isabella is everything he shouldn’t want, but with every look and every touch, he’s tempted to break all his rules… and claim her as his own. | Bold, impulsive, and full of life, Isabella Valencia has never met a party she doesn’t like or a man she couldn’t charm… except a Kai Young. It shouldn’t matter. He’s not her type - the man translates classics into Latin for fun, and his membership at the elusive club where she bartends means he’s strictly off limits. But she can’t deny that, beneath his cool exterior, is a man who could make her melt with just a touch. No matter how hard they try, they can’t resist giving into their forbidden desires. Even if it costs them everything.

My Thoughts: We love a spin-off with characters we met in the first book of a series, do we not? Kai and Isabella are great friends of Dante and Vivan from King of Wrath, so we got a taste of them in the previous story and knew there was chemistry afoot. I loved that they had an “opposites attract” thing going on. Isabella is a little bit whimsical and eclectic with purple hair. She’s an aspiring author of horror books who is a five-star bartender in the meantime. Kai is the British heir of a super successful company who is extremely put-together at all times and calculated with who he interacts with. Although they come from completely different places, the attraction and tension between these two characters was undeniable. Not to mention, there was a “forbidden love” trope mixed into the budding romance as Isabella is a bartender at a prestigious club Kai is a member of, and it was a rule that staff and members could not fraternize. The pacing of this story was great overall, however, there IS a third-act breakup that felt a little unnecessary to me, but to each their own. If you enjoyed King of Wrath then I highly recommend continuing onto King of Pride.

A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT by Sabaa Tahir (REREAD)

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire. Laia is determined to break into Kauf - the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison - to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom. But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene - Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike. Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own - one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape… and kill them both.

My Thoughts: Continuing on my reread journey with An Ember in the Ashes series via audiobook, A Torch Against the Night did not disappoint! I read the review I wrote when I originally read this back in 2021 to see if any of my opinions had changed, but honestly? This book still slaps. It’s a seamless transition from the first book as Laia and Elias start their journey to saving Laia’s brother. The character development Laia goes through is so satisfying because she’s finally becoming more confident and the strong main character I wanted her to be in the last book. Helene goes through absolute hell and back in this book and I think going through those adversities with her made me start to like her so much more. Although I already know where he ends up, experiencing Elias’s storyline again makes me notice small things I feel like I completely missed the first time around. Obviously I love this series and loved this book, so as I’ve said before, I highly recommend picking it up if you haven’t yet!

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with - of all things - her mind. True chemistry results. But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.

My Thoughts: Oh my gosh. Why in the WORLD did it take me so long to pick up this book? I absolutely adored Elizabeth Zott and her story definitely lives up to its hype! This was a beautifully written historical fiction that felt so accurate in depicting women’s rights (or lack thereof) in American society. The message of “fuck the patriarchy” SATURATED these pages. I loved that Elizabeth Zott’s character was unapologetically herself in literally every situation. She’s incredibly intelligent and just wants to be respected as a chemist. As a way to retaliate against all the cultural norms suppressing women, she starts teaching chemistry through her daily cooking show, Supper at Six, which ends up empowering women across the country. It needs to be noted that the side characters such as Harriet, Mad, Walter, Six-Thirty, etc. were such highlights in this story. They were each so dynamic and rich with personality that it was easy to create a connection with all of them in addition to Elizabeth Zott. As I mentioned, the writing style was phenomenal and I loved the unique formatting of switching through multiple POVs per chapter. I don’t know what else to say besides this is a must-read!

Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come by Jessica Pan

SORRY I’M LATE, I DIDN’T WANT TO COME: AN INTROVERT’S YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY by Jessica Pan

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: What would happen if a shy introvert lived like a gregarious extrovert for one year? If she knowingly and willingly put herself in perilous social situations that she’d normally avoid at all costs? Writer Jessica Pan intends to find out. WIth the help of various extrovert mentors, Pan sets up a series of personal challenges (talk to strangers, perform stand-up comedy, host a dinner party, travel alone, make friends on the road, and much worse) to explore whether living like an extrovert can teach her lessons that might improve the quality of her life. Chronicling the author’s hilarious and painful year of misadventures, this book explores what happens when one introvert fights her natural tendencies, takes the plunge, and tries (and sometimes fails) to be a bit braver.

My Thoughts: As a huge introvert, this book was a really interesting read. I give her mad props for pushing herself out of her introverted comfort zone for a year to really see what she’s capable of in social situations. Some of the anecdotes she shared made me physically cringe from the thought of putting myself out there in the same capacity, but there were a lot of takeaways for me as I lived vicariously through her. Do I think I’m going to become more extroverted anytime soon? No lol. Do I think more introverts should read this book as a testament to the possibility that we can do the hard social things we can’t fathom any other day of the week? Yes. Also, the audiobook was such a delight because it’s read by the author and I feel like it made living these situations through her eyes that much easier.

THE GILDED WOLVES by Roshani Chokshi

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: It’s 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Severin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Severin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance. To hunt down the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Severin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian banished from his home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in arms if not blood. Together, they will join Severin as he explores the dark, glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the course of history - but only if they can stay alive.

My Thoughts: Okay, so I’ve heard about The Gilded Wolves here and there throughout the last couple of years. Most of the sentiment has been that people really enjoy it, so I figured I’d give it a try via audiobook. The one thought that kept crossing my mind while I was listening is that it gives me hella Six of Crows vibes. There’s a gang of misfits who come from very different backgrounds and each shine in their own special skill set. Although they all have individual motivations, they band together to hunt down an ancient artifact. I loved the “found family” theme this group exuded and learning more about each of their origin stories throughout. This book was packed with scheming, adventure, mystery, and emotional moments that created a lovely balance. The overall storyline didn’t feel groundbreaking to me by any means, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. Be warned of a last-minute plot twist lol. The only other thing I remember thinking while listening is that the male narrator almost sounds like an announcer during the text in-between dialogue which took me a minute to get used to. Otherwise, if you’re looking for an enjoyable fantastical escape for a while, I’d recommend giving this book a try!

Well that’s that on May!

I hope everyone has a great start to the summer! I’m also hoping with less travel obligations in June that I’ll have a little more time to binge read some books.

A friendly reminder that June is Pride Month and trans lives matter!

2023 Book Count: 51

Add me on Goodreads if you haven’t already.

YOUR TURN! What’s the best audiobook you’ve listened to this year so far?