Okay I didn’t get to read as much as I normally do in the winter months BUT I still did in fact read some bangers. I also focused on Black authors this month (though the first book isn’t a Black author because I was finishing it from January) and that as super fun! Here’s your reminder to aim to read diversely all year long!
BUT ANYWAY, below is my breakdown as always, which includes my rating, what I liked, and where to read. I also will earn commissions if you make any purchases from links below, and I thank you earnestly for doing so. It allows me to keep putting together these recaps for you!
Let’s get into this February reading breakdown:
Songs of the Wicked
📚 book 1 in complete A Dreamer’s Misfortune romantic fantasy trilogy
❤️🔥 has spice
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 3.75 rounding up to 4 (my full review)
My Thoughts: The premise of this book is genuinely so damn awesome. She’s a soul reaper who takes people to the afterlife, but she lives in this weird, fake version of the human realm and things are just odd. There’s a lot of fate vs. choice examination which was really fun. I do think I’ll continue this because I think my main complaint was basically an odd pacing/book 1 issue. Like I’m very interested in where the overall story and characters are going.
This book has: fates and gods, demons/monsters/etc., found family, assassin MMC and soul reaper FMC
Where to Read:
Shadows of the Crimson Crown
📚 Book 1 in incomplete Eclipsed Empires series
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 3.25 (my full review)
My Thoughts: I wanted to like this more than I did. The STORY was cool; I’m a total sucker for political fantasy stuff and was really interested in the plot, I just think the execution was a little lacking for me personally. The constant POV shift paragraph to paragraph did throw me for a loop, even if I adapted. I think this just didn’t quite hit what I wanted it to for me personally.
This book has: slowww burn, political maneuvering and intrigue, prophecies
Where to Read:
Ring Shout
📚 Low fantasy standalone
🎧 Solo narrated audiobook
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 (my full review)
My Thoughts: This was VERY good and my only complaint is that I actually just wanted it to be longer so we could unfold some stuff even further! But basically in this world, the KKK aren’t just monster people but like REAL monster monsters too and our main girly pop is hunting them down.
This book has: themes of racism/oppression, feels like Black The Witcher takes on KKK monsters, low fantasy setting
Where to Read:
An Arcane Inheritance
📚 standalone romantic fantasy
🎧 solo narrated audiobook
❤️🔥 extremely low spice, more referencing it than describing
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 4.25 (my full review)
My Thoughts: I LOVED this. It’s such a vibe. Our girl gets a scholarship to this prestigious university but weird shit starts happening when she’s there. If you liked Memento and the feeling/vibes of The Covenant, I think you’ll LOVE this. My only complaint was the somewhat muddy magic system (which… sort of makes sense for the plot actually but read my full review if you want more in that). But all in all I loved this!
This book has: secret societies, academic rivals to lovers???, low fantasy academia, really clever writing
Where to Read:
The Maid and the Crocodile
📚 YA standalone romantic fantasy in the Raybearer world
🎧 Solo narrated audiobook (EXCELLENT)
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 4.25 – 4.5 (my full review)
My Thoughts: This was probably one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever read, the narrator REALLY nailed it I genuinely just had to double check she was the only one. But this is so fun AND it also made me want to punch characters who were ever mean to our main girly. BUT our girl is an orphan with a hidden power that she decides she may or may not need to publicize in order to keep her job. But she also accidentally bonds to a god. She’s having a weird time, and I love it.
This book has: cool African folklore, found family, lovely writing, sweet romance
Where to Read:
Chain-Gang All-Stars
📚 dystopian standalone
🎧 full cast narrated audiobook
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 4.5 (my full review)
My Thoughts: Wow. This was a kick in the dick, truly. It is so good and so thoughtful and what a reflection on modern society. In this, prisoners can opt to enter Gladiator-esque games, which just so happens to be the most popular sports league in the US. It’s brutal, it’s brilliant, it should maybe be required reading. The only reason it isn’t 5 stars for me is because there were a couple of POVs that felt unnecessary and I didn’t care about them nearly as much. But man, what a triumph.
This book has: critique of the prison industrial complex, racism, slave experimentation, propaganda, capitalism, parasocial relationships, and literally everything when you look around and just squint at things in the world that sucks… this is shoving that in your face
Where to Read:
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