4.5⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-The fantastic narration made this story.
-It was told in a format that works for me.
-It feels, at first, like it‘s headed in an uninteresting direction and then bam, the tension is ramped up.
-I thought it would be overtly moralizing but it wasn‘t all that bad…not to the degree I thought it might be.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-Overall, my preconceived cons didn‘t come to fruition.

3.25⭐
I usually love a good mash-up of genres so I thought this was an interesting concept, but unfortunately, the execution was off. It often felt slightly directionless especially when it came to the blending of the different genres. Overall, I wanted something more than what I got but what I did get wasn‘t horrible by any means, just different.

3.5⭐Light Pick

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-The family secrets at play here were layered and quite possibly stacked.
-While I didn‘t enjoy it as much as How To Survive Your Murder, I still found it engaging.
-That ending was crazy…but what does it mean, I mean seriously, I have so many questions now.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-This dipped its toes into the too-much-y-not-enough-a-for-me zone.
-The romance was “cutely” convenient.

4.5⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-It showcases the deep descent into obsession splendidly.
-Vi Keeland is typically a romance writer who killed it with her first foray into the thriller genre.
-Aiden Snow‘s small part at the end was chef‘s kiss for both his performance and the closing of the story…things that make you go hmmm.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-The narrator's tone threw the story off for me and I had to keep reminding myself that she wasn't a 40-something female.

3.5⭐- Light Pick.
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-Decent writing.
-Good narration.
-Phenomenal cover.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-While emotional it didn‘t ultimately pack the punch I thought or hoped it would.

4.75⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-This was super compelling, the snowball effect was not only gripping but also slightly triggering.
-As a rule, I do not condone review bombing so I felt for the MC, despite not liking her much. W/that being said…I still believe reviews are for consumers, not for the people offering the product,&should always be honest.
-The narration was good.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-I found the book excerpts from the book-within-the-book to be distracting.

4⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-The narration was fantabulous
-Henry Kimball & Lily Kintner are back.
-I loved the intricacies of Peter Swanson‘s plots; this one is no exception.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-This one didn‘t hit quite like the first two in this series did…but I still really liked it.
-The story stalls out in the middle but the end came through for me.

(for Pearl In Deep)2.5⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-Each book in this series is essentially a standalone story and can be read out of order.
-The plot was unique even if I found it difficult to get on board with some of it.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-There were some believability issues.
-I seriously wanted to slap Pearl for her constant stupidity.
--------
(for Hollow)2⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-The narration was decent
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-Forgettable plot & characters.
-Lackluster mystery.

4.25⭐
You know it‘s freaky every time I see this cover because the girl on it looks so much like me at that age. While it had some moments towards the middle-ish end that felt repetitive and dragged for a bit, I found it to be quite a fascinating story. The author did an excellent job of narrating her story.

5⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-The great writing combined with the stellar narration made this a highly digestible story. Despite how truly f*cked up it is; I could not stop listening.
-It was fast-paced and had some cringy (in a good-ish way) laugh-out-loud moments.
-It has a little bit of so many genres mashed up into one crazy AF story.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-MC is a mess for sure…but Andi Arndt played her to perfection, so ultimately I found it to be a pro after all.

5⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-Wow, I loved this! I‘m usually pretty stoked when I find my old love (romance) and my new love (thriller) coexisting and not being overly cheesy.
-Fantastic narration
-I loved the nod to my hometown.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-Not a con for me…but if you don‘t like romance in your thrillers then you probably won‘t like this because it‘s romance-heavy.
-Pacing issues…although I wasn‘t affected too much by these, others were.

3.25⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-The ending was quite satisfying…just not satisfying enough to carry the whole book.
-The narration was good.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-This was a slow, slow burn and I didn‘t necessarily enjoy the build-up to the ending.
-Holy crap this was so depressing at times, it left me feeling mentally bogged down.

4⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-This one wasn‘t quite as graphic as the first two…but it was still shocking and sad.
-It delves into Kate‘s past a little bit more.
-Tomasetti has managed to endear himself to me somewhat with this one.
-I wish I could have more narrators but since I can‘t at least this narrator does a great job with the narration.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-The plot got a little awkward…
-It took a while to hook me in.

4.75⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-An intricate plot made this one super fun.
-Two mysteries connected to the MC.
-A very likable MC and family.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-This author tends to write her books with several POVs but never has more than one narrator…but at least I like this narrator, which I can‘t necessarily say that I do with other series.
-One narrator for several POVs makes it difficult to keep the characters straight in my head.

JULY #bookspinbingo board! So far I've already finished two books, so off to a good start.

@TheAromaofBooks

4.75⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-This was very hard-hitting, yet it managed to stay YA without compromising its truth.
-This is, quite possibly, the perfect non-fiction story for people who don‘t usually like non-fiction.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-Not necessarily a con but the cover suggests that this has romance but it really doesn‘t.
-Gerta‘s story didn‘t have the gravitation that Rudy‘s did and she often felt like an afterthought.

Since we are halfway through the year here are some #2024 book stats...

P.S.. total pages include audiobooks converted to pages.

Since 99% of my books finished for the year are Audiobooks...I made my bracket the perfect size for audio covers.😎

Leni and Matthew from “The Great Alone“ will forever be two of my all-time favorite characters.

#bookbracket2024

I marked off all but two squares this month; only two were DNFs. So, not a bad month at all. The only ones left on the board were #19 and #4 (squares still faded).

#bookspin = completed...with Edge of Madness
#doublespin = completed...with The Fields

@TheAromaofBooks

3⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-The best part was watching the MC slowly start to value herself more and more as the story went on. Her journey felt authentic…all the other shit going on, maybe, not so much.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-I thought this would hit like Every Single Lie, but I set the bar too high because it didn‘t come close. Although, it did work quite well for others.
-Too many scenes took place in high school…and I wasn‘t feeling them.

My JULY #bookspinbingo list is complete. I usually pad my month with some 5-hour (or under) books...but my shortest one this month is about 7 hours.

@TheAromaofBooks

4.25⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-A fantastic narrator
-The characters were not necessarily likable, but they were interesting.
-I love the aspect of not knowing if it was supernatural or not.
-It was more emotionally indelible than twist-laden.
-There were several nods to the 80s.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-The writing was a tad repetitive.
-The ending was slightly lackluster.

3.75⭐
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒⇩
-Finally, we get another long-awaited book in the UNSUB series.
-I love this series…Caitlin Hendrix is a very likable FBI agent.
-The narration was good.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒⇩
-It was difficult at times to keep track of two serial killers and their victims in both the past and the present.
-Unfortunately, this didn‘t hit quite like the first three in the series did…I still liked it but it definitely had some pacing issues.

3.5⭐
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
-This delves deep into the forensic side of solving a case.
-It had a decent ending, that I didn‘t see coming.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
-I wasn‘t a fan of the narrator and I probably would‘ve rated higher if the narrator had been less robotic.
-It dragged in several sections.

3.75⭐
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
-Great narration…she (January LaVoy) is a favorite.
-A quick listen, you can finish it all in one day, easily.
-Creepy AF atmosphere despite basically knowing how it would end.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
-non-ending for an ending.

3.75⭐
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
-The twists in the second half made this story much more fun…ya know, in a jaw-dropping way.
-The fantastic narration, she is my all-time fav.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
-A slow beginning.
-The writing is a little choppy and repetitive, although, it was more so with one particular character.
-Frustrating characters…I was confused as to why they did or didn‘t do certain things.

4⭐
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
-Sam is alive!!!
-There‘s no second book syndrome here…this one was better than the first.
-This isn‘t weighed down by the content like the first book was.
-This book sheds some much-needed light on why the apocalypse came about.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
-It‘s watered-down because it's YA.
-While it has improved; the writing could still use some polish.
-It has some religious undertones which I hope don‘t become more prominent in the final book.

3.75⭐
This was a decent follow-up to the first book but it didn‘t hit quite as high as that one…but the narration was fantastic.

5⭐
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
-Amazing full-cast narration
-It packs quite a punch for its length, it was surprising how much depth there was.
-This had me hooked and I couldn‘t stop listening.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
-There is none…except maybe it‘s only available on Audible.

3.75⭐
PROS⇩
-I love duet narration...it's what keeps me listening to this series. I wish they did this type of narration more often.
-I like Lark…maybe that‘s why I rated this higher than book #1 or maybe, this author‘s work is growing on me.
-I prefer my romances to be dark and this mostly delivered on that...although, sparkles were everywhere.
CONS⇩
-I‘m not always a fan of this author‘s brand of humor.
-The plot was rather thin and convoluted.

4⭐ IMostly a Pick)
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
-You will not see this ending coming…it was f*cking crazy.
-Despite my struggles to stay in the story…I still caught on to most of what was happening by the end reveal.
-The narration was decent…but it could‘ve been much better with additional narrators.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
-There are a lot of characters to keep track of.
-It gets rather political…like agriculturally political and I found it to be tedious at times.

4⭐𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬
-I love that this is set in MI…it makes everything more imaginable.
-It was fast-paced & thought-provoking
-Having everything be more imaginable makes it more scary…especially with the state of the world, which is both a pro & a con.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬
-I‘m not always a fan of the narrator…she tends to make some words sound cheesy or maybe it‘s the writing🤷🏼‍♀️
-Each book is just a continuation of a full story…so there is no clear resolution.

3.5⭐
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
-Robert‘s POV was by far the more interesting one.
-The haints were a stand-out.
-It sheds light on the deplorable conditions these children were subjected to.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
-Gloria‘s POV, while necessary to the story, could‘ve been shaved down quite a bit.
-Multiple POVs with only one narrator, an additional male narrator would‘ve been best.
-Too long…or at least too long for me, although, plenty of people will find this a pro.

3.75⭐
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
-Family drama...which can be both a pro and a con.
-Four siblings who are completely different from each other.
-Thought-provoking in a what-it-means-to-be-alive kind of way.
-The ending surprised me in a good way.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
-The mystery felt like it took a backseat to the drama.
-Maybe I like my family dramas a little more thrilling.
-It was more of a slow-burn but at least it was short.

4⭐
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
-I will call this one a Kiersten Modglin win…because sometimes her books are complete losers.
-No extra filler here
-Fast-paced and short
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
-There is quite a deception going on in this audiobook…I‘m not going to say what it is, only that I‘m not sure if it‘s a pro or a con, I think it might be both.

5⭐
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
-I already loved this author‘s contemporary romances
-She pulls off the new genre of fantasy fantastically
-Exceptional world-building
-These dragons are oozing personality…they are the best part of the whole series
-The narration is exceptionally cast for the most part
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
-The sound effects can be a touch distracting, although it was better when I had headphones on.

4⭐
NARRATOR: Marin Ireland
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
-It doesn‘t get too techy-Cat and mouse antics.
-It‘s fascinating how much they underestimate the librarian.
-Overall, I was engaged throughout most of the story.
-A fantastic narrator
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
-Some people found it repetitive…but, it wasn‘t an issue for me.
-It was often quite noticeable that a man wrote the female protagonist.
-There are a significant amount of implausible elements, but I just went with it.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬⇩
- fast-paced plot
- multiple settings around the world
- great narration
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬⇩
- the plot may have moved too quickly for me to keep up but it could‘ve been the side plots that threw me off
- discrepancies here and there (like how that note stays legible when it was submerged for years & the whole story hinges on it)
- not sure how I feel about the ending

2.75⭐Not My Baby -This dips into the unbelievable, maybe more than one dip. But other than that…it was a quick, entertaining listen and I didn‘t hate it.

2.5⭐Princess of Las Vegas -I wish I could say I liked this but something about it left my mind wandering, like everything about it was...subdued. I kept wondering when the story would pick up. Right up until I realized it wasn‘t going to. I know everyone on here loves this one, and that's cool.

5⭐
You know those stories about missing girls who come back to their families but then it turns out they aren‘t really the missing girl after all…they‘re just trying to scam the families. This isn‘t that story. It was original and really quite smart. The narration by the full cast was also rather fantastic.

4.25⭐
Despite the heavy topics involved in this…it was engaging in a dark horror with ya and paranormal vibes kind of way. It had a bit of twist to it, even. Sophie Amoss was the perfect choice for a narrator on this one.

My 80s-themed #bookspinbingo board for June!!!

#bookspin = Edge of Madness by Kyla Stone
#doublespin = The Fields by Erin Young

I've already finished #10 and #15 so far so I'm off to a good start.

@TheAromaofBooks

RE-CAP for the month of May. 16 books total, I went on vacation this month and it shows...I was too busy in the mountains of Tennessee to finish any books. Had fun, though. I tried to make up for it this past week by finishing five in a row. DNF's are in my next post. All were Audiobooks except A Girl Called Samson.

I DNF'd a total of 3 books this month. Here they are with a quick summary as to why.

MAY's #bookspinbingo board. I ended up with 3 Bingo's since I cranked out 5 books in the last week of May. I got so many Holds from the library that I wasn't expecting. (Faded books are the ones I didn't complete)

#bookspin PRAY FOR SILENCE = completed.
#doublespin IF SOMETHING HAPPENS =completed.

@TheAromaofBooks

For JUNE's #bookspinbingo I went with an 80s theme....definitely looking forward to quite a few of these books.

@TheAromaofBooks

5⭐
This was surprisingly captivating for a book that doesn't shy away from revealing its mysteries early on. The allure was not in the suspense of the unknown but in the unfolding drama and the anticipation of the repercussions. The intrigue lay is in the mystery itself but in the aftermath. The narrative journey had me completely hooked. But the horrible cover does not do this book justice at all. The full-cast narration was also super good.

4.25⭐
This particular piece pulls at your emotional core, tugging at the heartstrings in a way that leaves a lasting impact. Yet, it must be noted that it also contains elements that could be described as sorrowful, adding a depth of sadness that can't be overlooked. Michael Kramer did a wonderful job of narrating. Although, there is a newer version of the book (available on Audible) with Jay Kopelman, himself, narrating the story.

3.75⭐
This might be a good fit for people who don‘t like fantasy all that much…because it‘s not bogged down with extraneous details or characters. It‘s a one-and-done kind of book, and the princess doesn‘t suck, which is why I probably enjoyed it well enough. The narration by Imani Jade Powers was very good and really worked for me.

4.75⭐
I do love an Amy Harmon romance and with this book, she skillfully weaves a tapestry of historical facts and creative fiction. This novel was inspired by the extraordinary experiences of a real-life young woman who dared to defy societal norms during the Revolutionary War. It is full of grit, determination, and love...including but not limited to romantic love. This was also my first finished “read with my eyes“ book this year.