I’ve definitely said this multiple times this year already, but November felt both ridiculously long and short. It felt like I’d read some of these books months ago, but it also felt like the month slipped away in seconds.
I finished eight books, not my best, but not my worst. I only read one graphic novel and I finished all of my festive ARCs, so pretty impressive actually.
Something Wicked by Gretchen Rue
Read: 2/11/23 – 3/11/23
This was a pretty fun and quick read. I liked the witchy elements and the characters were interesting. I’m not sure if this is going to be a series, but if it is, I’ll definitely be checking out the next instalment.
Book Review: Something Wicked by Gretchen Rue
Synopsis: Recipe for a potion to demolish life as you know it:
Step one: pack up your life and move to your aunt’s old house in a small, sleepy town.
Step two: discover that she was a witch.
Step three: discover that you’re also a witch.
Step four: Add a sprinkle of butterflies for your childhood friend (who’s suddenly incredibly hot), a dash of prying neighbours who want you to leave their town and never come back, and – the key ingredient – a murder on the steps of your aunt’s old tea shop (which, as it happens, is also a magic apothecary).
Voila. Your spell is complete.
Eight Winter Nights by Liz Maverick
Read: 4/11/23
This was just one of the many not-great festive audiobooks I’ve listened to over the last few months. This one wasn’t terrible but it was strange, the characters were weird and most of it just didn’t make sense.
Audiobook Review: Eight Winter Nights by Liz Maverick
Synopsis: Last year, Rachel Bacharach met the man of her dreams at a Hanukkah party — and then her outgoing best friend Tamara swooped in and “called” Oz Caplan for herself. It’s a typical outcome for the dependable, bookish Rachel, who is never able to extinguish the spark she immediately felt for Oz. But being secretly in love with her best friend’s boyfriend all year hasn’t been easy.
As this year’s party approaches, Oz and Tamara break up. It’s a worst-case scenario when Oz asks Rachel to help him write Tamara love letters to win her back in time for their Hanukkah anniversary. Rachel’s been writing love letters to Oz in her journals for a year; she knows all the words he would need. But will Rachel be able to hide her true feelings from Oz any longer? And might this year’s party finally be Rachel’s chance to trust her heart and put everything on the line for love?
Bound by Blood by Jessica M. Butler
Read: 3/11/23 – 5/11/23
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t expecting much, but it was pretty good. I enjoyed the world-building and the characters were quite interesting.
Book Review: Bound by Blood by Jessica M. Butler
Synopsis: A lonely soup maker’s bargain with a cursed blood fae for a magical pup opens the door to love, soup, and a chance something special in the midst of loss.
Erryn lets everyone believe she lost her memory years ago through a deal gone wrong with the fae, but that’s because the truth is too painful to speak about. She lost everything. Her home. Her family. She took all of them for granted, then struck a bargain that left her with nothing. The last deal she made with a fae revealed there was nothing special about her. But she might reconsider to save this pup.
Ryul lost his whole family in a devastating battle against an ancient enemy and is cursed to never walk the land when daylight touches it. His magic limited and distorted from the fight, he accidentally creates an apparition that turns into an ugly little dog. If he doesn’t get it back, his magic will be depleted.
Now this wretched human wants to keep the apparition, and her love is already turning it into a real dog. She swears she can make soup that will replenish his magic if he’ll just let her keep the dog. Though he knows he shouldn’t, he makes the trade. He even offers her another deal in the event she falls in love with him (which she swears she will never do).
He doesn’t make this trade because he likes her. Or because he’s lonely. It’s just…well, there’s a good reason in there somewhere. He needs time to figure out his next step and making sure this strange, sassy, stubborn human doesn’t poison him seems as good a diversion as any.
Or is he about to lose his heart as well as the plan?
Portraits by Nikos Tsouknidas
Read: 8/11/23
The concept of this graphic novel sounded very interesting, but I don’t think it translated too well. The art style was good, but the story was quite convoluted.
Graphic Novel ARC Review: Portraits by Nikos Tsouknidas
Synopsis: The year is 1838. Louis Daguerre has just invented photography, and he is should he share it with the world, or keep it a secret? But the day a student from Greece helps to improve his invention, he decides it must be known to the greater public. Thanks to the young man’s ingeniosity, photography will travel around the globe, marking the start of a new era of visual memories. “Portraits” goes beyond the origins of photography to explore the pain of migration and the often powerful attachment to one’s homeland.
Catch Your Death by Ravena Guron
Read: 9/11/23 – 16/11/23
This didn’t quite grip me enough for it to blow me away, but it was a pretty good mystery. I like to think of myself as quite smart when it comes to figuring out mysteries, but I couldn’t guess this one at all. Well, I kind of did, but not the exact outcome.
ARC Review: Catch Your Death by Ravena Guron
Synopsis: When three girls are stranded at the grand Bramble Estate in the middle of a snowstorm, they stumble into a murder plot. Someone has poisoned wealthy Emily Vanforte in the middle of a family dinner – which means Devi, Lizzie and Jayne are trapped in the house with a killer and a mystery to solve.
With knives under floorboards, vanishing guns and secret passages in the walls, no one is safe and everyone is a suspect. But in a house of liars and corruption, will the girls save themselves…or learn to fit in?
This Winter by Alice Oseman
Read: 23/11/23
I love a Heartstopper novella. Fun fact, my review of Nick and Charlie is my most viewed post of all time.
Book Review: This Winter by Alice Oseman
Synopsis: I used to think that difficult was better than boring, but I know better now…
I’m not going to think about the past few months, about Charlie and me, and all of the sad. I’m going to block it all out. Just for today.
“Happy Christmas, ” I say.
The festive season isn’t always happy for Tori and her brother Charlie. And this year’s going to be harder than most.
Check out Young Creative Press on all socials
You can also check out my StoryGraph here
Like this post? Why not read this one too: The 12 Books of Christmas: Countdown to Christmas by Jo Thomas
[…] Like this post? Why not read this one too: Monthly Wrap-Up: November 2023 […]