I just signed up for my first swap, the #JólabókaflóðSwap hosted by @MaleficentBookDragon , and I‘m very excited to see how it goes!

Overall, the story in this one‘s pretty interesting as a sort of “middle of the tale” part of the larger plot, but a touch on the inconsistent side. Also, I wish people who are 100+ years old would make decisions that reflect the weight of their lived experienced, even if they are immortal and/or young for their race.

I mean…it‘s Dracula and it takes 6 months. But Dracula in chronological order and with fun accompanying content (as above) in the margins is obviously far superior to just plain ol‘ Dracula. My only issue was with the weight of the book, which is very pretty but far too heavy to read comfortably in bed. Note: you can sign up for Dracula Daily as an email newsletter, but then you miss out on the extras.

The actual plot of this one‘s pretty interesting, and I didn‘t see the twist coming, but the intimacy is just so awkward it was tough to muster the will to keep reading.

There‘s a lot of cool stuff in this one, but ultimately it all felt half-baked. The denouement didn‘t hit very hard, and everything after felt rushed.

Not quite as funny as “My Roommate‘s a Vampire,” but a very close second! I especially loved the inclusion of bullet journaling moms and the overarching themes of consent.

Highly entertaining for an easy, 8-hour airplane ride, read, but honestly without much substance.

This one‘s a super quick, fun, lil‘ read! I liked the characters and the story ended in a gratifying way, but I could‘ve done with the sister-in-law subplot.

This was really fun, although a bit rushed—I would‘ve loved at least 100 pages more!

It took me a year and a half to dive back into the Grishaverse, but I am so glad I did! Alina has my heart forever, because her story is nearly perfection from beginning to end, but the crows are pretty cool too. I do 100% think it resonates with early 30‘s me more than it would have with teen me, though, so that‘s perhaps noteworthy.

And this, right here, is why we read “Shadow and Bone” first.

This one‘s a really neat meditation on what it means to belong, with undercurrents of ecological horror and traditional southern gothic themes. To some extent, this delivers what V.E. Schwab‘s “Gallant” does not, and I loved it.

Each novella‘s fine, and overall the book works fine, but I spent the entire time thinking about how awkward it is to read a set of novellas in the middle of a series of “regular” novels, even though I can‘t defend the argument that it should be read first…because if you read it first, you‘ll know too much to be surprised about the ending of the 2nd book. So, in the wise words of my old lit professor, this book is [AWK].

Overall, this one‘s decent, yet the stages of reading went something like:
1) Ah yes, this is very good and will surely be engaging 2) Margaret is a feminist icon 3) Perhaps a bit heavy on the “filler episodes” in the middle here, boss 4) WILFRED OWEN 5) You really should‘ve told me this sooner… 6) The lady is the lady. Swell.

This one‘s cute, and plays with romance tropes in fun way, but I‘m ultimately not sure it needed to be 300+ pages. It still gets a pick though, mostly for being romantasy without the sort of spice that makes you go “oh, eeew, how does that even work?!”

I am REALLY struggling with taking the idea of cutthroat ornithologists seriously for some reason. Like give me a dragon, ghosts, portals or whatever and I‘m ALL IN, but for some reason “birdlovers being meanies” is beyond what my brain‘ll accept 😂

This one was a pleasant surprise! I got it from BOTM because it looked the most like a quick, mindless, read, and it is. What I didn‘t expect, though, was the very self-aware own voices OCD representation and the genuinely compelling plot.

This one‘s cute, and a lot of fun! That being said, it‘s definitely YA and takes itself a touch more seriously than McQuiston‘s other books, so I‘d recommend going into it expecting less laughter and more “religious trauma, but make it PG.”

We‘ve got it, folks: proof that SJM can write a compelling plot with fun-to-follow characters. This series is shaping up to be heaps better than ACOTAR, and I‘m excited to keep going.

The non-romance part of the plot is fine, though I couldn‘t decide whether the Collateral idea is ridiculous or genius in a very “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” way….the romance part manages to be both tedious and gross, sometimes at the same time.

This was a pretty fun conclusion to the Blake‘s “Buffyverse” trilogy, but I remain confused about the target audience. The trilogy—and especially this last one—definitely requires extensive familiarity with the 90‘s/00‘s show and I‘m not convinced that very many teens have that…

This was very funny, and very cute, and affirmed my belief that turkeys are evil creatures. 10/10.

This is essentially two short stories mushed into one novel, and neither one is particularly interesting.

I loved this! It‘s a really nice, smart conclusion to the duology, and packed with plenty of twists to keep readers engaged. My only gripe might be that the Dramatis Personae contains a couple of spoilers.

*Beware the lil‘ baby spoiler below*
Me, reading anything with a “shaddowdaddy” type love interest: yeah, I don‘t get this…nobody would ever date this sort of broody, self-loathing nightmare man in real life.
Me, reading anything with a “sad, sorta reanimated corpse boi (tm)” love interest: Ah yes, this is the height of romance. May I have some more, please?

I‘m not sure what that says about my brain, but I‘m not mad about it 😂

Everyone told me I‘d like this series better than ACOTAR, and they weren‘t wrong…that being said, it‘s definitely VERY YA.

The sci-fi twist on a pretty standard mystery was neat, and I loved the nod to “7 1/2 Deaths…!” I do wish, however, that Abi‘s motivations had been explored in greater detail. P.S. If you read the B&N exclusive, the short story at the back also has a callback to “7 1/2 Deaths,” but is otherwise pretty “meh.”

This one‘s a pretty alright fantasy, somewhat surprisingly (see my reviews for the other two…), but also VERY trope driven. I did like the nods to both Tolkien and Lewis, but could‘ve done without the weird Exodus (yes, the bible one) inspired parts. Overall, I think this originally-a-trilogy-now-a-hexalogy-to-be should‘ve been a duology with acotar and acomaf being one title, primarily focused on the acomaf events.

I gotta say: these religious undertones are getting a lil‘ heavy handed, my good pal.

It‘s ‘aight. I started this in January, thought I was going to DNF about 7 million different times, and then finally plowed through it in a weekend. It‘s not a hard read, or a bad read, it‘s just a little bit too erratic for my brain. NOTE: Litsy has an incorrect last name for the author, it‘s Lavery, not Ortberg.

I‘m not sure why it took me—a book professional—so long to realize this isn‘t more fae romance…but booooooy, did I buy it fast when I found out it‘s MECHS. IN. SPACE.

“Hope Rides Again” and it‘s predecessor “Hope Never Dies” are both fun reads that don‘t take themselves too seriously with a wise-cracking Joe Biden and a “comedy of errors” approach to crime solving.

If you‘re looking for a super fun, slightly raunchy, time-loop fantasy, then this is absolutely IT!

This one‘s billed as “Chronicles of Narnia” inspired, and Shaffer does not fail to deliver on that promise! It‘s sweet, very West Virginia, and funny. That said, it‘s also a nice offering of closed door romance where the couple just happens to be men with some serious themes (primarily abuse and kidnapping) throughout.

This one‘s a wild ride! While “Kala” is primarily a rather dark mystery, Walsh also plays with time and the linear structure thereof in a really neat way.

If you like weirdly heartwarming horror, this one‘s for you! With themes/images reminiscent of both Practical Magic and Southern Book Club‘s Guide to Slaying Vampires, it‘s hard not to love Ryan‘s entry to the vampire/zombie canon.

It‘s alright…while I have a lot of sympathy for what the author endured, I also wish she would acknowledge more clearly throughout (rather than just in the epilogue) that her lifestyle is/was one of inherent privilege and discuss how that made her a target in this specific case.

This one‘s a great entry into the cozy fantasy subgenre! It‘s fundamentally a comedy of well-intentioned errors, but it also asks enough deeper questions to keep readers engaged.

It‘s here, it‘s here, it‘s finally here! Yes, I read this months ago, and no, that fact doesn‘t make me any less excited for this GORGEOUS Fairyloot printing that perfectly matches my copy of Divine Rivals!

It‘s alright…I would‘ve much preferred to read something closer to the advertised plotline than what Swanson ultimately delivers.

This is such a good lil‘ mystery I read it twice (once in English a few years back, and now in the original Danish)! I do feel like a significant amount gets lost in translation, but not enough to impact the overall plot and enjoyment thereof.

Danish is my first language, yet one I rarely read in. So far, this one‘s been worth all the effort it took to get it in the original, though, as so much of the linguistic humor did not survive translation (I read the US version in 2022).

Just like the 1st one, this was a hoot from start to finish! I‘d definitely recommend it to anyone who thinks society takes death just a smidge too seriously, and/or those who think an outrageously well-endowed, 14-inch alligator guy sounds like a protagonist worth reading.

This one‘s a really nice, slow meditation on home and belonging first, and a mystery second. Although the main plot catalyst is a murder, I largely read “Middletide” as an examination of human nature and our relationships with the spaces we inhabit.

The only downside of this was the number of times I had to explain it‘s not about a nerdy guy falling in love. But seriously: a really great, albeit absurd, read!

If my mom has ever regretted raising a reader, I think it might‘ve been the moment where I asked her to go to the grocery store an hour from her house and get me books on sale, then mail them across the Atlantic (5th one‘s coming, too). 😂

This was delightful and unpredictable at every turn! I especially enjoyed the overall “tongue-in-cheek” tone, which is reminiscent of Bridget Jones‘ Diary and other contemporary British literature.

A really nice meditation on loss, family, and the bittersweet nature of enduring beyond trauma. I couldn‘t help but rooting for Jane, Eve and Vera, who are all just women trying to be bigger than their gender, age, and circumstance.

This one has it all: hellhounds, squirrel people, a guy named Minty Fresh and more! I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a little gallows humor.