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Apparently, February was a slow reading month for me. I think I was overwhelmed with library books and this made me not want to read anything since I felt so rushed and I can’t go to the library and not come home with 15 books I know I can’t read in three weeks.
But, here we are with four whole books read in February, which for me is pretty low, but sometimes you just get in a funk.
- Thrift Books is one of the places I check when I’m looking for a book (old ones especially) and want it cheap. It’s great if you like buying used books. With this you can get a free book after spending $30!
- Pango is one of my go-to’s for finding secondhand books affordably, sold by other readers! If you’re a new user, you can use HEYIMREADING at checkout for $5 off your first $10 purchase! Check out Pango Books here!
- Libro.fm is the best for buying audiobooks AND supporting your local bookstore. Use code SWITCH to get two free credits (three total) when you sign up for a one-credit membership! Sign up for Libro.fm here!
- If you want to listen to some of these, consider trying Audible! You can get your first month free (one free book). Get that Audible deal here.
- If you want to read more on your Kindle but don’t want to buy books, Kindle Unlimited is a good option, especially if you read a lot of indie authors. Get Kindle Unlimited here!
- Shop my book lists here! You can find every book list I have on Bookshop.org (except my monthly round-ups) and I add everything I can but they occasionally won’t have some. I do occasionally add extras though. If any lists are empty, they’ll be filled in..eventually! Shop my bookshop.org book lists here.
Render
About the book: With the truth of Recruitment finally revealed, Kress and Render lead her group of Seventeens on a dangerous journey where nothing is ever quite what it seems.
Author: K.A. Riley
Rating: 2/5
Genre: YA Dystopian
Format read: Kindle
Final thoughts: I finished this, but I did not like it. It started out ok, but the more I read the harder it was to suspend my belief for a few reasons. 1. I live in southern Utah and the desert here is red, yes. But Salt Lake City and the surrounding area is very not red. It’s green. And brown. Not red.
Reno is the same way (if I’m wrong, please tell me) but every single bit of desert in this is described as red. They leave the bounds of Salt Lake and the red sand is sprawling out before them. NO, IT’S NOT! I even downloaded Google Earth to make sure for Reno and none of it is red. Why is this hard to suspend my belief over?
Because it only takes place in 2042! That’s not that far off and I just can’t believe it would all be red by then. Also, SPOILER: all these adults are going to follow the orders of a 13-year-old? No. Just no. Rant over.
Charm School: A Witches Three Cozy Mystery
About the book: Amanda Clarke just serves breakfast all day in Iowa. At least until she’s been named in a will by a mysterious woman she’s never met. Soon she finds herself at Miss Zenobia Weekes’ Charm School For Exceptional Young Ladies in the Summit Avenue neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota. On arrival, she can still hear the jazz music play across the decades, literally, in the backyard because the house stretches across time itself and without a witch to protect the tear in the fabric of the world, anything can spill over, like music and murder.
Author: Cate Martin
Rating: 4/5, but maybe closer to 3.5.
Genre: Cozy mystery
Format read: Kindle
Final thoughts: I liked this for the most part, but the time travel part of it kind of threw me off. It wasn’t bad, but it also didn’t seem witchy enough, maybe? Also, Amanda is down on herself and beats herself up the whole time because she doesn’t have powers yet and doesn’t think she ever will, but like, girl. You were recruited for the fancy witch school for a reason.
This Mortal Coil
About the book: All hope seems lost for Catarina when a lone soldier, Cole, shows up with news of Lachlan Aggata’s death. Her father was the world’s leading geneticist and the best shot at defeating the deadly Hydra virus. Deep in Cole’s genehacked enhancements she finds out Lachlan made a vaccine and it’s Cats job to decrypt and unravel it, but the closer she gets, the more at risk she is from Cartaxus.
Author: Emily Suvada
Rating: 5/5
Genre: YA Dystopian
Format read: Kindle
Final thoughts: I really liked this, a lot. This was out book club read for February (join it here!). I love me a good Dystopian though. I thought this was a really interesting concept and a cool way to use technology in the future. It hit a little close to home with all the virus stuff right now but I really enjoyed this. There’s a little insta-love in it, but that didn’t bother me too much.
Ritual Dreams
About the book: This time, Aislinn Cain and the SCTU are brought to Tallahassee, Florida to battle with a serial killer unlike any before. The victims endure psychological and physical torture in what are made to look like hate crimes, but Ace and Lucas think otherwise.
Author: Hadena James
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Mystery
Format read: Kindle
Final thoughts: I really liked this, but I’m quite invested in the series by now. It is book 14, after all. Was it my favorite of the series? No, but I did like the topic: Satanism. I had just watched the documentary about Satanism on Hulu and the timing was perfect.
Have you read any of these? Which ones? Any ratings you disagree with? Any you want to read now?
