Month: May 2023

Wrap Ups

May Wrap Up

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on May Wrap Up

I had a really good reading month. Not great in terms of posting again but I think things will be slowing down the rest of the year so hopefully I catch back up!

The books I completed in May were:

Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant – ⭐️4/5 stars

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco – ⭐️4/5 stars

You’re that Bitch : And Other Lessons About Being Unapologetically Yourself by Bretman Rock – ⭐️5/5 stars

Icebreakers by Hannah Grace – ⭐️4/5 stars

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto – ⭐️4/5 stars

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn – ⭐️3/5 stars

Life Will Be the Death of Me: … and you too! by Chelsea Handler – ⭐️4/5 stars

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena – ⭐️3/5 stars

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson – ⭐️3/5 stars

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas – ⭐️2/5 stars

Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns – ⭐️4/5 stars

Always Only You by Chloe Liese – ⭐️3/5 stars

Death by Dumplings by Vivien Chen – ⭐️3/5 stars

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty – ⭐️4/5 stars

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda – ⭐️2/5 stars

Reviews

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers Review

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*BEWARE OF SPOILERS*

Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet). But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.

I absolutely LOVED Vera! Just the way she cuts through all of the mess and is just straightforward with everyone is so entertaining and engaging. Her helpfulness definitely has no boundaries and she will not take no for an answer. I really enjoyed how she just comes to accept that this man has died in her tea house so now it’s her responsibility to figure out who killed him.

The way the rest of the characters are introduced to us by turning up to the teahouse just as Vera suspected was a great way to form a connection with everyone. Throughout the course of the plot I was definitely trying to pin point which of the 4 actually did it and how they were connected to the murder.

The plot at times did get a little unrealistic for me which did in turn kind of take me out of the story a little bit, but once I was able to overlook that I very much enjoyed the book as a whole. It kept me guessing right up to the very end of the plot and I couldn’t predict absolutely anything that was going to happen. This was low stakes but still had me on the edge of my seat throughout.

⭐️4/5 stars Kind of silly but entertaining!

Tags

Prediction Book Tag 🏷

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Prediction Book Tag 🏷

I did this tag around this time last year and thought why not revisit and do some predictions for 2023!

All of these prompts are your predictions for your…

Picture1What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

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Picture2Happy Place by Emily Henry

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Picture1Terms and Conditions by Lauren Asher – I just have a feeling I’m going to hate this lol

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Picture2Only When It’s Us by Chloe Liese – Willa seemed like a fun character so I can’t wait to get into her love story with Ryder!

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Picture4Honey & spice by Bolu Babalola – I loved this book and need it for my collection!

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Picture5A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

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Reviews

The Spanish Love Deception Review

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*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Catalina Martín desperately needs a date to her sister’s wedding. Especially since her little white lie about her American boyfriend has spiraled out of control. Now everyone she knows—including her ex and his fiancée—will be there and eager to meet him. She only has four weeks to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic and aid in her deception. New York to Spain is no short flight and her raucous family won’t be easy to fool. Enter Aaron Blackford—her tall, handsome, condescending colleague—who surprisingly offers to step in. She’d rather refuse; never has there been a more aggravating, blood-boiling, and insufferable man.

Catalina was kind of a forgettable character. There was nothing really about her other than her culture that set her apart from every other female romance protagonist out there. She kind of got on my nerves how much she didn’t communicate her feelings to Aaron and projected her fears from her past experience onto this current one. She should of definitely called out her ex and how his inaction over her torment affected her a lot sooner and should of realised that Aaron wouldn’t of let that happen to her again.

The way Aaron was introduced into the story was very abrupt and strange. We are essentially told all about the horrible things he’s done in the past towards her but we only see the Aaron who is obviously infatuated by her. We don’t see a lot of him the the weeks leading up to Spain and then it’s like once they hit those foreign shores all his doubts fade away and he’s this ‘casanova’. It does come across a little strong yet it was very romantic and cute, in no way realistic though.

I think that’s kind of what put me off this book in the end (other than the obvious sexism that is demonstrated multiple times in her company that is never called out by any male colleagues) the development of the relationship just felt so rushed and unrealistic. The very long winded monologue of how much she loves and adores him felt very cringey to me and I couldn’t come back from that.

⭐️2/5 stars Just a no for me!