December has been a very good reading month, I knew it would because I’ve actually had some time off from work. I’ve managed to use the month to get more than an entire month ahead of myself for reviews. So much so that I’ve promised myself I’ll slow a little in January. I know my hard work to prepare posts for December would pay off – I hope you have enjoyed all of the festive content!
Anyway, I have once again read double digits and there have been more good reads than bad.
Keep an eye out for the full reviews of all the books talked about in this post over the next month or so.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Read: 1/12/23 – 4/12/23
Me reading this book has been literally ten years in the making and I’d say it probably wasn’t worth the wait. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good read, but nowhere near as good as I thought. Basically, don’t hype up books in your head for ten years before reading them, that’s never going to play out well.
Synopsis: A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
Love Among the Stars by Claerie Kavanaugh
Read: 4/12/23 – 5/12/23
This sounded super cute and I really loved the premise but it wasn’t great. It was far too short and the author tried to cram far too much into far too little pages.
Synopsis: Hollywood’s best matchmaker may have finally met her match.
Genevieve “Eve” Davis is Hollywood’s best, most sought-after matchmaker. Just about in the City of Angels owes her for their happily ever afters. She’s been in the business for ten years and has never made a false move. The only person she hasn’t been able to hit with Cupid’s arrow? Herself.
Then Jemma, Hollywood’s most recent “it” girl, appears on her doorstep. But rather than having an extra bounce in her step, she looks like a dog just crapped all over her brand-new designer boots. The date Eve set up for her was anything but a fairytale beginning. In fact, it was a downright disaster. The first bad review Eve has ever had. If she can’t fix this, her perfect reputation will be torn to shreds.
Even worse, the deeper she digs for that secret ingredient that will help her find Jemma’s perfect match, the harder she falls.
The Bookshop and the Barbarian by Morgan Stang
DNF
I didn’t get very far into this book before DNF’ing it. The narration was cringeworthy and I wasn’t a fan of some of the language used. It was trying too hard to be funny and it didn’t pay off.
Synopsis: Running from strife in her homeland, Maribella Waters becomes the new owner of the fabled Cozy Quill. After finding squatters on her property, she employs Asteria Helsdottir, a giant, barbarian warrior woman more accustomed to swinging an axe than opening a book. Together, the odd couple must make a success out of the bookshop—and survive a dizzying procession of seasonal festivals.
But the local evil noblewoman has other plans in mind. Threatened with being run off the land, Maribella and Asteria must use their wits to outsmart Lady Malicent and keep their business open. Along the way, the whole town lends a hand, friendships are forged, and mysteries are revealed.
Giant Days, Vol. 2 by John Allison, Lissa Treiman & Max Sarin
Read: 7/12/23
This series is an absolute ball of chaos, but I’m enjoying it. Volume two has more of an underlying story building, so I definitely enjoyed it more than the first.
Synopsis: Continuing their first semester at university, fast friends Susan, Esther, and Daisy want to find their footing in life. But in the face of hand-wringing boys, holiday balls, hometown rivals, and the willful, unwanted intrusion of “academia,” they may be lucky just to make it to spring alive.
Dear McKinnon by Danielle Keil
Read: 7/12/23 – 9/12/23
Dear McKinnon was probably one of my favourite reads of the month. It’s super cute and the idea is lovely, but I did have some issues with it (find out more in my upcoming review).
I’d highly recommend this book if you are looking for a short and sweet romance.
Synopsis: Everyone knows what it means to have a teal envelope taped to their locker on the first day of the month.
Everyone except new girl McKinnon Gregory.
The envelope is the start of a monthly tradition called the Secret Admirers, and something McKinnon never thought she’d see.
To her surprise– and everyone else’s– the teal envelope is taped to her locker on March first.
McKinnon only has one month to figure out the clues. But she barely knows anyone, which makes it infinitely harder to determine her secret admirer’s identity.
Will she figure it out before the month’s over?
And if she does, will the guy she’s fallen for through letters be just as amazing in person?
They All Had A Reason by Michele Leathers
Read: 11/12/23 – 16/12/23
I am still 100% on my thriller hype and while this wasn’t the best I’ve read, it has a ton of potential. I’m planning to continue the series when I next have Kindle Unlimited, my subscription runs out in a week and I currently have no desire to renew it as I have too many unread books on my Kindle.
Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Charlotte is convinced her life would be perfect if she could only get past the one obstacle holding her back: A girl named Bellany Silverfield, who seems to have it all — beauty, popularity, power and the boy of Charlotte’s dreams. But when Bellany is murdered, Charlotte’s life doesn’t get any better. In fact, it gets much worse. Charlotte worries that circumstantial evidence and rumors of motive will make her a prime suspect. She’s forced to question the loyalty of her closest friends and to place her trust in a boy she barely knows. But one of these people is definitely lying to her.
Insanity by Cameron Jace
Read: 16/12/23 – 21/12/23
I’m always on the lookout for retellings, so when this popped up on my Kindle, it was a no brainer. It’s a very interesting take on the Alice in Wonderland characters and I’m definitely going to continue the series.
Synopsis: After accidentally killing everyone in her class, Alice Wonder is now a patient in the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum. No one doubts her insanity. Only a hookah-smoking professor believes otherwise; that he can prove her sanity by decoding Lewis Carroll’s paintings, photographs, and find Wonderland’s real whereabouts.
Professor Caterpillar persuades the asylum that Alice can save lives and catch the wonderland monsters now reincarnated in modern day criminals. In order to do so, Alice leads a double life: an Oxford university student by day, a mad girl in an asylum by night.
The line between sanity and insanity thins when she meets Jack Diamonds, an arrogant college student who believes that nonsense is an actual science.
A Ruin of Roses by K.F. Breene
Read: 22/12/23 – 27/12/23
Oh look, another retelling. This one wasn’t as good, but I do think that was down to the overuse of sexual content and crude language. I don’t mind a little bit of this but pretty much every page had something going on. It didn’t put me off though, I finished the book and I may even check out more of the series.
Synopsis: I could save him, but he would ruin me.
The beast.
The creature that stalks the forbidden wood.
The dragon prince.
He has suffered a fate worse than death. We all have. A curse put upon us by the mad king.
We are a kingdom locked in time. Shifters unable to feel our animals. Stuck here by a deal between the late king and a demon who seeks our destruction.
The only one keeping this kingdom alive is Nyfain, the golden prince to a stolen throne. The last dragon shifter.
He’s our hope.
He’s my nightmare.
When he catches me trespassing in the forbidden wood, he doesn’t punish me with death, as he’s entitled.
He takes me, instead. Forces me back to the castle as his prisoner. Seeks to use me.
Apparently, I can save him. I can save the whole forgotten kingdom, locked away by the demon king’s power.
But it would mean taming the monster beneath his skin. It would mean giving myself to him.
It would mean my ruin.
Doughnuts and Doom by Balazs Lorinczi
Read: 28/12/23
Well this was adorable. I’m a big fan of witchy graphic novels and this one has the cutest art style and a lovely plot. The doom part of the title makes it sound far more serious than it is, it’s very lighthearted and has a cute snake!
Synopsis: Being a teenage witch—or rock star—is tougher than it looks! But maybe enemies can become friends…or more? Flying brooms and electric guitars set hearts aflame in this fantastically fizzy graphic novel.
When Margot meets Elena, emotions run high, magic is in the air, and doughnuts…float? One is a stressed-out witch trying to get her potions business off the ground, the other is a struggling rock musician whose band is going nowhere. Neither of them are having a good time! No wonder things quickly escalate from words to literal sparks flying when they first meet. Could this be the start of a delicious new relationship…or is a bad-luck curse leading them to certain doom?
The Faking Game by Portia MacIntosh
Read: 27/12/23 – 28/12/23
I really enjoy Portia MacIntosh’s writing style, she’s so effortlessly funny. I also enjoyed that this was a faking dating and second chance romance book. That sounds like it would be confusing, but it’s not. I’d highly recommend checking this out if you love a romcom.
Synopsis: Cara and Millsy have broken up… sort of.
After years of being everyone’s favourite couple, always up for a party and having fun wherever they go, things have fizzled out.
But when they realise they have a whole calendar of events and celebrations with friends and family coming up, Cara and Millsy can’t face letting them down.
So they decide to make a pact: just convince everyone they’re as madly in love as ever and get through the festivities without causing suspicion, and then deal with the break up in the new year. How hard can it be…?
Swept up in the festive spirit, will Cara and Millsy fake it til they make it? Or will they realise they are meant to be after all…?
Legends of Baldur’s Gate by Jim Zub & Max Dunbar
Read: 30/12/23
I actually read this graphic novel earlier in the month, but in true Mel fashion, I forgot to add it to my Goodreads and StoryGraph.
I’m usually a little wary of fantasy graphic novels as they often jump straight into the action and you have no idea what is going on, but that isn’t the case here. It was a very enjoyable read and I’m of course jumping on the Baldur’s Gate bandwagon.
Synopsis: Generations have passed since the original Heroes of Baldur’s Gate saved the city and the Realms. Now a new threat rises and an unlikely group of misfits are thrust into adventure with Minsc, the legendary Ranger do-gooder with a heart of gold, brain of lead, and hamster of pronounced wisdom.
That Kind of Guy by Stephanie Archer
Read: 28/12/23 – 31/12/23
I won’t lie, I only read this book because it has the fake dating trope. I really didn’t expect much from it, but it was actually pretty good. I should know by now to never underestimate romance novels, I enjoy them just as much as any other genre, if not more sometimes.
Synopsis: My arrogant fake fiancé? I can’t stand him.
Cocky and charismatic Emmett Rhodes isn’t the relationship kind of guy, but now that he’s running for mayor of our small town, his bachelor past is hurting the campaign.
Thankfully, I’m the last woman who would ever fall for him.
We’re total opposites—he’s a golden retriever and I’m sharp and snarky, but he’ll cosign on my restaurant loan if I play his devoted fiancée. Between romantic dates, a prom night re-do, and visits to a secret beach, things heat up, and the line between real and ruse is lit on fire. I see another side of Mr. Popular, and now I wonder if I was all wrong.
We can’t keep our hands off each other, but it’s all for show… right?
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