I can’t believe it’s time for my December TBR! I’ve only had 1 five star read so far this year so I would like to end it off with a couple more if I can, so this month is all about books I think I’m going to love. I branched out a lot in terms of genre in 2022 so I think it’s time to go back to fantasy books and hopefully find some new all time favourites that will make my best books of the year list.
I had a fantastic reading month! Audiobooks are definitely a game changer for me as I am finding so much more time to listen to books than to actually physically read lately so I am getting through so many more books than I would usually.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells – ⭐️2/5 stars
The Never King by Nikki St. Crowe – ⭐️3/5 stars
The Dark One by Nikki St. Crowe – ⭐️3/5 stars
My Vicious Darling by Nikki St. Crowe – ⭐️3/5 stars
Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo – ⭐️3/5 stars
Death by Laura Thalassa – ⭐️3/5 stars
This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno – ⭐️2/5 stars
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo – ⭐️4/5 stars
The Family Game by Catherine Steadman – ⭐️3/5 stars
His and Hers by Alice Feeney – ⭐️3/5 stars
One of Us is Dead by Jeneva Rose – ⭐️4/5 stars
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson – ⭐️4/5 stars
It’s Top Ten Tuesday time friends and this week’s prompt is cozy reads!
When I think cozy I think of wrapping myself up in a blanket on the couch or in my bed and when I’m nice and warm I want to read cold, spooky, atmospheric book so these are the 10 that come in mind:
Meet the women of Buckhead—a place of expensive cars, huge houses, and competitive friendships. Shannon was once the queen bee of Buckhead. But she’s been unceremoniously dumped by Bryce, her politician husband. When Bryce replaces her with a much younger woman, Shannon sets out to take revenge … Crystal has stepped into Shannon’s old shoes. A young, innocent Texan girl, she simply has no idea what she’s up against … Olivia has waited years to take Shannon’s crown as the unofficial queen of Buckhead. Finally, her moment has come. But to take her rightful place, she will need to use every backstabbing, manipulative, underhand trick in the book … Jenny owns Glow, the most exclusive salon in town. Jenny knows all her clients’ secrets and darkest desires. But will she ever tell? Who amongst these women will be clever enough to survive Buckhead—and who will wind up dead? They say that friendships can be complex, but no one said it could ever be this deadly.
Jenny was a good buffer between all of these pretentious housewives. She really utilised the connections that Olivia has and built up her salon from basically nothing. I wish she would of exerted her power as the owner a little bit more, especially when she knew Olivia was up to her tricks but I can understand her wanting to keep the status quo. Seeing the behind the scenes of how much these women need Jenny to handle their upkeep just to keep up appearances in this town was fun and pretty crazy.
The rest of the ladies at first were a little hard to distinguish between but as the plot unfolds they become more distinct. Olivia is our obvious antagonist and she does very well at it, Crystal is a little too naïve for the majority of story, Karen was a bit of a wild card and was quite fun to see how her story unfolds and I couldn’t help but feel bad for Shannon. None of them were particularly likeable but that was definitely by design but I think they were all very integral to the plot and kept things interesting.
The premise of this book is just so fun and entertaining. Knowing that one of these women are dead and going back and trying to figure out which was a great time. It definitely got a lot darker than what I was expecting which once again kept me so engaged and eager to find out what is going to happen next. These women are so conniving and strategic and the way that the story plays out was so satisfying.
⭐️4/5 stars Rich housewife drama that takes a deadly turn, so much fun!
When a woman is murdered in Blackdown, a quintessentially British village, newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Detective Jack Harper is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation. Someone isn’t telling the truth, and some secrets are worth killing to keep.
I liked Anna’s character for the most part. I thought she was quite relatable and her drive was admirable for sure. I thought she was going to end up being an unreliable narrator just from the amount of drinks she has throughout the day but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t take over her character. I think the way she has overcome everything in her life, especially her daughter’s death made me more attached to her and made me invested in what was happening.
Jack I was a little apprehensive about at the start but I warmed up to him for sure. Again after hearing his backstory and the connection he has with Anna and the rest of the women that are getting murdered piqued my interest. He was definitely one of those characters that are making all the wrong decisions while he’s in the middle of an investigation pretty much implicating himself but it was quite entertaining.
I really enjoyed the multiple perspectives and the format of the story kept the pace pretty fast which really helped me fly through this book. There were so many little twists and revelations throughout the course of the plot and it had me guessing right up to the end who was really behind all of the murders. Didn’t blow me away by any means and isn’t a new favourite but I still really enjoyed it.
⭐️3/5 star a solid read
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