I honestly can’t believe that December is coming to a close and that 2020 is wrapping up. This has been a hard year, but it’s also had some good moments for me personally. That being said, I am glad that it’s coming to an end and am hoping for even better things in 2021. I had a pretty decent reading month this month, and I hauled a few books. I’m just going to jump into those now, but you’ll find them below the cut.
The books I got in December were:
- The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young
- How the King of Elfhame Came to Hate Stories by Holly Black
- The Damned by Renee Adhieh
- Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan
The books I read in December were:
1. Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I love novel’s in verse, and apparently enjoy memoirs in verse just as much. This was a really well done story and I found it really intriguing. I’ve never read anything else by Nikki Grimes, but it was recommended to me. I found her story really compelling.
2. Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This graphic novel was really well done. I enjoyed the art style and the story line. I loved the characters. I can’t wait to read more.
3. Heartstopper vol 2 by Alice Oseman
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I don’t have a ton to say about this one, but it was so cute and I absolutely loved it. If you haven’t already checked the series out, you definitely should.
4. Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed by Laurie Halse Anderson
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was a lovely story. I liked the take on Wonder Woman, and her perspective on issues that our world is dealing with. It was very well done.
5. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I like that this is a graphic novel adaptation of a novelization of a comic book character. It was interesting, but I think I liked the Tempest Tossed version slightly more. However, I did still enjoy this story.
6. Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was an amazing graphic novel. I loved the interpretation of Harley Quinn and her origin. I also loved the art style. I would definitely read more of this take on her.
7. From a Certain Point of View by Various
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I’m not necessarily the biggest Star Wars fan, but I had a fun time listening to these short stories. There was a lot of different perspectives, which I enjoyed. If you love the movies then these are definitely worth checking out.
8. The Black Witch by Laurie Forest
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This audiobook took me a long time to get through and I had a lot of conflicted feelings about it for quite some time while listening. It was a complicated story and while I enjoyed it and the journey the main character took, I don’t think I’m going to be reading the rest of the series.
9. Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was a cool fantasy standalone. I always tend to enjoy a creepy forest story, and this did not disappoint. I liked the main character and her fox friend. I really enjoyed the overall storyline as well. Also the cover is just so beautiful!
10. City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I picked the audiobook of this up on a whim, because I’ve been meaning to read it for quite some time. I’m really glad I did because this was a really good story. It was well constructed and the whole concept of ghosts was well done. I love Cassidy and Jacob and her family. I also loved the premise of her parents getting a show and them travelling all over for it.
11. Exiles From the War by Jean Little
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: These are always interesting reads. I liked learning about history and enjoy the Canadian perspective.
12. Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was such a neat story. After finishing the first I absolutely needed to pick this one up immediately. Now I need the sequel, but it’s not out for awhile yet. I really like Cassidy as a character, and the ghosts she deals with are really quite interesting.
13. We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I really enjoyed this fantasy world. I’d been putting it off for awhile and it’s pretty silly of me to have done so. The characters were well developed, and so was the world. If you haven’t checked this out yet, you should.
14. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This was a twisted mystery. I was super engaged and it kept me guessing. I did sort of guess what was happening, but I didn’t mind that. It was sufficiently twisted for me to still want to keep going. I definitely recommend this story.
15. One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I wasn’t totally convinced about the idea of a sequel, but I felt like this one really held up to the first. It kept me guessing and I appreciated the cameos from the characters from book one. Definitely worth checking out.
16. Hatch by Kenneth Oppel
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was a pretty good continuation of the series. I liked how the characters continued to develop and how the world continued to grow in the alien-ness of it. I really felt for the characters, and I’m definitely going to continue on with this series.
17. The Cousins by Karen M. McManus
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: Karen M. McManus is one of my favourite YA mystery writers, and so I had pretty high expectations going into reading The Cousins. It also ticked a lot of boxes in my interests such as family reuniting after not knowing each other and mysterious family history. I wanted to know what happened, and I enjoyed each of the different points of view. It just didn’t match my standards from the other books I’ve read of hers so I couldn’t give it a five stars.
18. Campfire by Shawn Sarles
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I started out really enjoying this story. I liked the idea of people sharing spooky stories by the campfire and being freaked out by events in the woods. I also enjoyed the mystery of the who is doing all this/who is killing us off. However, I didn’t like the twist ending.
19. Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I’ve been waiting a long time to read the conclusion to the series. It was a satisfying conclusion to the series, but it wasn’t my favourite series ending. I found Mia a little bit annoying in this one, but she was definitely entitled to the things that she was feeling. It’s still one of those classic YA series.
20. The Project by Courtney Summers
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: eBook
Review: There will be a full review of this coming up on the blog at some point in the near future.
21. Catfishing on the CatNet by Naomi Kritzer
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: The story of this novel was interesting, and I liked the light sci-fi of it all. I also liked that it was based around a cat picture sharing website. The main character was interesting and I was intrigued by the overall plot. However, it just wasn’t my favourite thing and there was something about the writing style that I didn’t vibe with.
22. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This was an interesting story, but it wasn’t my favourite. There was some good drama in it, but the timelines got me a little bit confused and I didn’t really love a love triangle with two brothers in it. It’s almost a bit too messy for me personally. However, overall I had a good reading experience.
23. Catacomb by Madeleine Roux
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I was definitely glad to finally finish up this series. However, I will admit that I found myself a little disappointed by the final book. The first two were really spooky and supernatural, and while this one had aspects of that, it wasn’t in the same way and that was a little disappointing to me. That being said, I still had fun reading the story and enjoyed the picture additions in the story. I liked that a lot of the threads were wrapped up regarding Dan’s family history and that he had another good adventure with his friends.
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