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Ashley’s April 2025 Book Haul and Reading Wrap Up

07.23.2025 by Ashley // Leave a Comment

April was a decent month.  I survived it, but I did not read nearly as much as I read in March.  However, I also didn’t have two weeks off in April, so that probably makes a lot of sense to people.

Books I hauled in April:

  • This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead
  • Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey
  • Passion Project by London Sperry
  • The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
  • Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
  • Cold Eternity by SA Barnes
  • Enchantra by Kaylie Smith
  • The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
  • Beholder by Ryan La Sala

Books I read in April:

1. Muted, Volume 2 by Miranda Mundt

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: eBook

Review: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.  This was really well-done.  I love the main character and find her personal journey really compelling to read about.  The art style was so great.  I also really love the sapphic vibes of the story.  I can’t wait for the next one.

2. Out of Air by Rachel Reiss

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Audiobook

Review: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.  This was a creepy story, and is not for people who have fear of the deep water.  It was well-written and kept me guessing.  I definitely didn’t expect it to go the way that it did.  I had a lot of fun reading the story, so it’s definitely worth checking out.

3. The Exorcism at 1600 Penn by Hannah Rose May

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: eBook

Review: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.  This was so creepy, but had such a fun modern twist to the idea of exorcisms.  The lesson about the negative effects of doom scrolling is god as well.  I enjoyed reading this.

4. Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox

Rating: 5 Stars

Format: Audiobook

Review: There is a full review of this up on the blog here.

5. The Harrowing by Kristen Kiesling

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: This was a really interesting graphic novel.  The art style was really great and really easy to decipher.  The storyline was really compelling as well.  I liked the main character and how she developed over the course of the book.  It really kept me guessing.

6. First Time Caller by BK Borison

Rating: 5 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: First Time Caller was such a cute romance.  I liked the basic premise of the story and the way the characters met for the first time.  I loved the dynamic between them and watching the romance slowly build up between them.  I highly recommend this book.

7. Finding Me by Viola Davis

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Audiobook

Review: I really enjoyed Finding Me by Viola Davis.  Her life story was really interesting to read about.  I also really liked that she narrated her own memoir.  Definitely a must read.

8. Volume 0: Issue One by Abbi Geni

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: This was an interesting collection of short stories.  Per usual, some of the stories were better than others.

9. The Thrashers by Julie Soto

Rating: 5 Stars

Format: Audiobook

Review: There is a full review of this up on the blog here.

10. I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: This was such a cute graphic novel.  I really liked the different characters.  I also really liked the inclusion of queer characters in a time period that is probably not always considered the most queer friendly timeline.  It was very well done.

11. After Life by Gayle Forman

Rating: 5 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: This was a quick but emotionally devastating read.  The premise was so unique.  I liked the depiction of grief and how it affects different people in different ways.  I also liked how the story showed how one person’s life can have such an impact on people.  It was beautiful.  I cried a lot.

12. Suitor Armor, Volume 3 by Purpah

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: eBook

Review: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.  This is beautifully written and illustrated.  I love the characters and the design.  I also really love the storyline.  When can I have the next one please?

13. The Witch of Tin Mountain by Paulette Kennedy

Rating: 3 Stars

Format: Audiobook

Review: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.  This was an interesting historical fiction with witchy vibes.  I had fun reading it, but it wasn’t my favourite book with witchy vibes that I have read recently.

14. A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: This was so so interesting to me.  I found myself confused when I first picked it up because there were blurbs calling it romantic, but it ended up being surprisingly romantic when you looked past the initial obvious ‘romantic’ dynamic.  I liked that it was a retelling of the story of Dracula’s wives.  It was well-written, and I had a really hard time putting it down.

15. An Encore of Roses by ST Gibson

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: This was a fun post-novel epilogue/bonus story to read.  It was interesting to read from another character’s perspective.  I liked seeing the characters.

16. This is Not the Real World by Anna Carey

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Audiobook

Review: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.  This was a compelling follow up to the first book, This is Not the Jess Show. The characters were interesting, and the story was well-written overall.  I’m really glad that she triumphed in the end.  Despite enjoying this, I’m still not sure it needed to exist.

17. Quicksilver by Callie Hart

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: Quicksilver was a really interesting read overall.  The first half of the book is pretty slow to get into, but once you get into it, it becomes really hard to put down.  The latter half was very fast-paced.  The FMC was interesting enough, and I liked Kingfisher as well.  The romance was intriguing enough to me.

18. Chasing the Wild by Elliott Rose

Rating: 3 Stars

Format: eBook

Review: This book was smut with a sprinkling of plot and conflict.  It was fun enough to read through, but I very much wanted more of a story to it and more exploration of some of the more interesting parts of the conflict.  I just wanted more.

19. Nothing More to Tell by Karen M. McManus

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: This was a re-read for me.  I enjoyed it just as much as the first time I read it.

20. Adult Time: A Baby Blues Collection by Rick Kirkman

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: eBook

Review: This was very cute.  I liked the nostalgia of revisiting the world of Baby Blues.

21. Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Audiobook

Review: This was a cute novella.  I really enjoy Nick and Charlie as characters, so it was nice to see them moving into the next phases of their lives.  They’re really so sweet together.

22. Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and  Yusef Salaam

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: This was a re-read for me, but I’m really glad that I did.  I got so much more out of this novel than I did when I listened to it on audiobook.  I liked seeing the main character’s growth and reading about his journey.  I didn’t love the ending, but it did feel realistic.

23. Roth by Richard Van Camp

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: The art style in this graphic novel was really unique and well-done.  It wasn’t illustrated in the way I expected, but I ended up really enjoying the art style.  I also found the plot really interesting.  I wanted it to be longer so they could get more into it.  I hope there’s another one soon.

24. A Blanket of Butterflies by Richard Van Camp

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: Physical Copy

Review: This was a very quick read, but I really enjoyed it.  It was well-illustrated and had a compelling story and message.

 

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Filed Under: Ashley, Book Hauls, Wrap Ups Tagged: advanced readers copy, book, book haul, book review, books, fiction, haul, rating, review, Reviews

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Ashley’s Goodreads

The Complete Works
The Complete Works
by William Shakespeare
The First Part of the Contention Between the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster, &c., 1594
The First Part of the Contention Between the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster, &c., 1594
by William Shakespeare
All the Stars and Teeth
All the Stars and Teeth
by Adalyn Grace
I Am Still Alive
I Am Still Alive
by Kate Alice Marshall
Blood of Elves
Blood of Elves
by Andrzej Sapkowski

goodreads.com

Kari’s Goodreads

The Name of the Wind
The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss
Contagion
Contagion
by Erin Bowman
Crown of Midnight
Crown of Midnight
by Sarah J. Maas
Queen of Shadows
Queen of Shadows
by Sarah J. Maas
Ruthless Gods
Ruthless Gods
by Emily A. Duncan

goodreads.com

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