I rated each of the three books 3½⭐so that makes for an obvious overall Rating of 3½⭐ for the Series
I wish I could say I loved this series as much as the Illuminae Files…but sadly it just didn‘t grab me like that. My significant issue with this series is how some situations are dragged out for so long that they become tedious. Other than that…the characters are super likable & diverse. I did like how everything tied together at the end.

2¾⭐

Not much to say here…you may have read in other reviews that this is implausible and/or over-the-top, and sadly, I‘m in total agreement with them. It also relies heavily on one heck of a coincidence. It was disappointing since I really liked her debut When I Was You.

3½⭐
This was an okay mystery, ugh, it's difficult to say why without being spoiler-y. Mystery thrillers are so subjective. What works for one person doesn‘t always work for someone else…and this didn‘t work for me. Essentially, I didn‘t buy into who the killer was and it threw the whole story off for me.

I'm not sure if I will continue the series...

4¼⭐
This was a love story inside another love story. One in the present and one in the past. The one in the present didn‘t hold a candle to the story that took place circa 1940-ish. I was so there for Scarlett and Jameson‘s story…it was swoony…and reminded me of the movie Pearl Harbor…especially since they both revolve around WWII. ⬇⬇⬇

4¾⭐
A satisfyingly ingenious science fiction/fantasy series that went in a surprising direction with this third installment. The “Nowhere” is where Spensa ends up for this book and it‘s not what you‘d be expecting…not that a place called the Nowhere really says a lot about what it could be. It was actually vibing with The Hollow Places a little bit. Strange but totally unique.

MY JANUARY BOOKSPIN BINGO BOARD!!!

#bookspin = American Girl by Wendy Walker
#doublespin = Lux by Brandon Sanderson & Steven Michael Bohls

***My OG list has Find Me by Alafair Burke on it twice; which I didn't mean to do...so I added Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry.

@theAromaofBooks

Almost forgot to post this...My final Board for 2021 #bookspinbingo.

I got two Bingo's so not bad, especially for December. I finished my #bookspin and I DNF'd my #doublespin but I did attempt it. @theAromaofBooks

I'm looking forward to Bookspin Bingo in 2022!!!

4½⭐
This book is beautiful, poignant, and a tad cautious. It was also definitely what you would call a slow burn. I‘m sure that many will love this story because of all these things. I, unfortunately, didn‘t love it but I did really, really like it. If I had to pinpoint why I would have to say that I felt like the entire story was eluding to something bigger than what is was and I think it left me feeling underwhelmed.

I forgot my Genre's Graph for 2021

Thrillers & Mysteries for the win! About 4 years ago, I primarily read Romance.

This Graph shows Ratings and Books per Month for 2021
All my graphs are done from Google Spreadsheets.

My Total # of Books for the year is 202 and 223 if I count DNF's.

My average rating is 3.9/5. This is probably as high as it is because I usually DNF a book if I'm not liking it. This is why I quit Netgalley books since I always felt like I couldn't DNF them. Between my Libraries, KU, & Audible+, I can usually get almost any book I want.

# of minutes by Month.

Total Minutes = 115,100 which comes out to 1,918 hours of listening. Which is WOW!

# of Pages by Month. I convert all my audiobooks into pages based on the kindle edition of the book because that's how I roll. So none of the Audible Originals (that only have an audio edition) are included. Nor are any of my DNF's.

That comes to 68,392 Total Pages for the Year.

I predominately choose books written by Female Authors without even trying, actually. I prefer female authors.

About half my books are New to me Authors.

Last one...

I predominantly chose Adult books this year...that number keeps going up as I get older.

I get most of my books from the Library both my local (kdl) and Brooklyn Public Library which I pay yearly for a card, despite not living there. (Ask me about it, I'll tell you how to get one, too. If you live in the US.)

#top21in21

If I had to choose a favorite, I think The Serpent King (Jeff Zentner) would just edge out For Lucy (Jewel E. Ann) but those are for sure my top two.

I also relistened to two of my all-time favorite series...The Illuminae Files (Kaufman & Kristoff) and The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins).

My favorite “new“ Series of 2021 is for sure Chaos Walking (Patrick Ness).

I wish the ADD A BOOK feature would work so I could add these Audible Originals into the database.

How It Ends by Rachel Howzell Hall is 2 hours and 32 minutes long and it's another good one. Perfect for Audio-Cleaning...

4⭐

4¾⭐
Wow, the reviews for this are all over the place…from one to five stars, and everything in between. For me, this story was engaging throughout and when I wasn‘t listening to it, I wanted to be. The story was interesting and not the least bit predictable, it may have been a tad unrealistic at times…but that wasn‘t really an issue for me.

This is another Audible Original that I listened to this past month.

Brackish Waters by Matt Boren - Performed by Christina Applegate - 4⭐

Christina Applegate turned this mediocre story into something quite entertaining. It was the perfect length to get me through the rest of my Christmas present wrapping.

It's a bummer that the Add Book feature on here doesn't seem to work, either that or it doesn't let you add Audible Originals.

Anyhow...regarding Sleeping Dogs Lie by Samantha Downing

🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮 FIVE DOG STARS!

A surprisingly good short murder mystery story for the dog lovers out there. One that begs the question how far is too far?

4¼⭐
This is one of those books where the Reader Q&A on here is very helpful…at least for me, it was. I was so confused by the twists and the flips this story takes towards the end that I was left feeling like…what the what? My head was a-spinning. All that craziness did have some believability issues for me, though. They even bordered on the preposterous but overall I can‘t help but recommend this since it was highly entertaining.

My list of Books for January Bookspin Bingo
#bookspin #doublebookspin
@theAromaofBooks

4½⭐
Although I had a few minor issues with how some elements played out in the end, overall I found this to be an oddly wonderful heartfelt story of redemption, loss, and moving on. A story with unique characters and an unparalleled storyline. Susannah Johnson gave a wonderful performance…I just wish that they had two separate narrators for the two separate POVs. It would have given this remarkable story the narration it deserved.

3⭐
The narration is pretty decently performed, despite not really liking Ezzo…but since she only narrates a third of the time…it was totally not an issue. The narration even made the story worthwhile overall. I wanted to like this more but it was a little too predictable…and the ending didn‘t sit right with me.

4¼⭐
You know, since this is one of CoHo‘s favorites, I thought this was going to blow me away with how good it was…but it didn‘t really deliver on that. It was close…but maybe in light of all the reviews I read about it, I figured I had a pretty good idea where it was headed and therefore didn‘t really let myself get too invested in these characters. It did make me laugh a time or two, though.

4½⭐
This was really quite good…especially if you‘re an 80s child like me. I hate to admit it…but I once had a poster of Rob Lowe on my bedroom wall. Also, I have a question for Rob Lowe; could you quit that TV show you‘re on and just narrate audiobooks from now on? Seriously, the voices he does are fantastic, and he would make such an excellent narrator.

3¼⭐

The narration was quite excellent…the story was only okay.

It had all the makings of a Karen McManus book, great characters, a fun retelling of sorts, and a murderous mystery…but it was missing something. It just didn‘t grab me, it was so trivial for the first three-quarters and the last quarter, which was good, just wasn‘t enough to carry the book as a whole.

4¼⭐
While I found this to be quite clever at times, it did have some moments that were slow, where the author went off-topic and just talked about the town and all its mundane happenings. Although, I‘m sure that some would find that actually makes for a better story. Either way…I wouldn‘t discourage anyone from giving this a try, you totally should just for its unique-ish storytelling style. ⬇⬇⬇

4¾⭐This is all about the fine line between love and hate and how easily one can confuse the two. Lucy and Josh are such a cute couple whether they are fighting with each other or loving on each other…plus their witty banter was so much fun. Katie Schoor did a wonderful job with the delivery of that banter as well. I should have read this sooner but I hate cartoon covers which is what this originally had...so I kept passing it up.

3¾⭐It wasn‘t like I didn‘t have some major issues with this, like a rather unlikeable MC, some inept sleuthing, and a freaking love triangle to name a few. And yet, I still found myself liking it. The action is non-stop and overall it was a crazy fun listen. Jesse Vilinsky isn‘t the best narrator, although she is improving, except when she makes her voice high-pitched is so screechy.

4⭐They are the perfect family on the outside...inside...they are anything but. They all have their secrets but are they worth all the pranks and misdeeds they are suffering, now that‘s the question? This domestic-ish thriller kept my interest throughout; did I buy everything it was selling, not entirely. The narration was fantastic, every family member has a separate narrator and so does someone else???

4¾⭐
This book is less about the mystery surrounding the trial of an 18-year-old girl accused of killing her baby brother and more about the jury selected for the trial. It centers on one juror in particular. I‘ve never had jury duty, so I found much of this book to be quite engrossing...it felt like a learning experience with a story thrown in to boot.

My #bookspinbingo board for December 2021!
#bookspin = The Light Through the Leaves by Glendy Vanderah
#doublespin = A Perfect Stranger by Shalini Boland

My first finished book is The Hating Game by Sally Thorne...I finally gave this book a listen. 💝

Tagged book (Steelstriker) is my #doublespin book and I started it, got to 36%, and realized I didn't care one wit about it...so I DNF'd it.

I finished my #bookspin book, though. I actually DNF'd a few books this month, altogether four books total.

22 books knocked off my TBR...and only 3 books that I never got to. 8 Bingo's total!

@theAromaofBooks --Thank you for hosting this challenge and I'm looking forward to next year.

4¾⭐

Why can't you add audible originals to the book database???

I complain that a lot of these Audible Originals are too short and that they aren't enough to establish an actual story. This one was different. It was a perfect short listen with great narration to boot.

I see all the five-star reviews for this and I just think...ugh, I must be heartless. I mean there was a certain aspect in this story, and whenever this aspect is in a story, it always gets me...but that‘s because I‘ve experienced it. But other than that, I saw everything coming...except that last part at the end and even that was underwhelming. The story/characters lacked depth for me...and I really just wasn‘t invested in their story.

My #bookspinbingo list for December.
@theAromaofBooks

A Pick-ish...3¾⭐
A decent medical thriller with subject matter that is timely, alarming even, but also really quite interesting. Like something we should all be made aware of. Sadly, the narration didn‘t quite cut it. I‘m sure that I would have enjoyed this more with a better narrator because her voice was so nasally, I was left not wanting to pick the book back up, again.

➙ 4⭐
➙ Narration 😁 = Very Good
➙ Narrated by 🎙️Annie Q
Cassie Woodson is obsessed...like hardcore stalker-mode. I believe her ideal partner would be Joe Goldberg (You) because her level of obsession is on par with his. In fact, this whole story felt a little too much like You...right up until the last quarter, and then it actually surprised me with the direction it went in. So kudos on the ending.

4¼⭐
There wasn‘t much to this but it was a super quick listen and Nikki Sixx is such an accomplished storyteller that I couldn‘t help but find it interesting. Nikki has an Instagram account and I‘ve seen his posts about hunting and fishing that he‘s done in and around his home in Wyoming and always wondered where is love for the outdoors came from...now I know.

3⭐The writing is there, and the characters were compelling if not likable…for the first ½, I was fully invested to see what was going to go down because I knew what I was getting myself into what with the scandalous topics and the fact that it all felt a little much for HS kids to pull off. Past the halfway mark is where it fell apart. It became too much for me to “swallow” and overall, there is entirely too much complicity going on in this book.

5⭐ | Narration 😍 = Amazing
I don‘t remember being that invested in a verdict since I read A Time To Kill by John Grisham. This story was engrossing, told in dual perspective going back and forth between the defendant and the lawyer representing her case. This is easily the best Audible Original I‘ve ever listened to and if you‘re like me and you‘re drawn to books about cults then this is one that can‘t be missed.

4½⭐
Narrated by Seth Rogan + a full cast
The narration was a uniquely fantastic experience! If you don‘t like Seth Rogan‘s movies, then this won‘t be the book for you. His life stories are a lot like his movies. He even has friends whose names are Vogle and Evan, and his teen years were sort of similar to the movie Superbad...other than being a different decade. His story about the Amsterdam shrooms experience was absolutely hilarious.

3½⭐
This second book in the Keye Street series didn‘t grab me as the first one did. The side mystery this time around really left a vile taste in my mouth and I‘m left wondering if something like that could even happen in this day and age...I really, really hope not. The main mystery took forever to go anywhere, which was in part due to the side mystery, I‘m sure. Overall it was a lackluster addition to the series.

4⭐
The setting is where this book shines...this urban fantasy slash dystopian-ish world the author has created here is the draw for me to continue with the next book. There was a fair amount of info-dumping at the beginning, but I‘m not usually put off by that. The MC, Brexley is sort of annoying and Warwick is an enigma. So we will see where things go...Also, the narration by Eva Kaminsky was a top-notch performance.

5⭐
Since everyone keeps raving about this I decided I needed to give it a try, already. I have to say I am definitely not upset that I did. This story is powerful, palpable, graphic, and filled with so much raw emotion. It will for sure be going on my favorites for the year. Some of the violence might be too much for some, but if you can take some bloody, horrific murder-y scenes then I totally recommend this...because it's a punch in the feels.

4¾⭐
This novella was just slightly longer and I actually liked this one even more than Sunreach. I really liked hearing Alanik‘s POV, she added a lot to the overall story arc. I love Suzy Jackson‘s narration but I do wish they had kept her solely as the voice of Spensa. All in all, though, It was super cool to get a refresher about the Skyward Series with these two novella‘s, and now, I am so ready for Cytonic coming out in December.

4⭐
I think the slugs are the best part about this novella which is actually more like a short story at just over 200 pages. It follows FM and features Rig & Jorgen too.

➙ 3⭐
A Dystopian where ♻Plastic is king👑...and currency💲
This story had everything going for it, great writing, premise, characters, authenticity...it just needed to be finished. This is exactly what happened in her other book Road Out of Winter. I‘m not a “write your own ending” kind of person...I feel like someone stole my book so I couldn‘t finish it.

3¾⭐
Probably not the most logical premise in a book...but it was compelling. It was sort of an unconventional psychological thriller with some morally gray (heavy on the gray) characters who I found intriguing and I even ended up liking them...in a curiously evil way. It was a little slow at times because it delves into the thought processes of a psychopath quite a bit...so if you‘re looking for lots of action, you're not going to find it here.

4½⭐
A cautionary tale about an out-of-control wildfire and the kids who unintentionally set that fire and the lies they tell in the hopes that no one will find out. Soon the lies pile up. Then one of them wants to come clean. Then she disappears. I didn‘t see any of this story coming. It was plotted perfectly and it really kind of surprised me. Even when the characters were unlikeable, I found this compulsive, right up until the very end.