February 2023 in Books

1. Amok - Barry Eisler ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun - Elle Cosimano ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Vile Visitors - Diana Wynne Jones ⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. This Poison Heart - Kalynn Bayron ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Loveless - Alice Oseman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. A Terrible Kindness - Jo Browning Wroe ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. The Stepford Wives - Ira Levin ⭐⭐⭐
8. Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus ⭐⭐⭐⭐
9. The Help - Kathryn Stockett ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
10. Bravely - Maggie Stiefvater ⭐⭐⭐⭐
11. Solitaire - Alice Oseman ⭐⭐⭐
12. This Wicked Fate - Kalynn Bayron ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
13. The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes ⭐⭐⭐⭐
14. Nine Perfect Strangers - Liane Moriarty ⭐⭐⭐⭐
15. Death by Hollywood - Steven Bochco ⭐⭐
16. My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises - Frederick Bachman ⭐⭐⭐
17. Hopeless - Colleen Hoover ⭐⭐⭐⭐
18. Layla - Colleen Hoover ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
19. Honolulu - Alan Brennert ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
20. The Secret of a Heart Note - Stacey Lee ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
21. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - Deborah Moggach ⭐⭐⭐
22. The Dare - Lesley Kara ⭐⭐⭐⭐
23. The Apartment Upstairs - Lesley Kara ⭐⭐⭐⭐
24. Sometimes I Lie - Alice Feeney ⭐⭐⭐⭐
25. The Other People - CJ Tudor ⭐⭐⭐⭐
26. The Burning Girls - CJ Tudor ⭐⭐⭐⭐
27. The Broken Girls - Simone St James ⭐⭐⭐⭐
28. Winter Garden - Kristin Hannah ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
29. I Kissed Shara Wheeler - Casey McQuiston ⭐⭐⭐
30. Pandora - Susan Stokes-Chapman ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hopeless - Colleen Hoover

Sky, a senior in high school, meets Dean Holder, a guy with a promiscuous reputation that rivals her own. From their very first encounter, he terrifies and captivates her. Something about him sparks memories of her deeply troubled past, a time she’s tried so hard to bury. Though Sky is determined to stay far away from him, his unwavering pursuit and enigmatic smile break down her defenses and the intensity of the bond between them grows. But the mysterious Holder has been keeping secrets of his own, and once they are revealed, Sky is changed forever and her ability to trust may be a casualty of the truth.

I really enjoyed this book; the mystery why Sky's mum is so over protective becomes clear later in the book and I really liked the plot twist. A solid 4 stars, maybe even a little more....

Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge.
Prompt 37: Written in present tense.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Nine Perfect Strangers - Liane Moriarty

Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? Nine perfect strangers are about to find out...
Nine perfect strangers, each hiding an imperfect life.
A luxury retreat cut off from the outside world.
Ten days that promise to change your life.
But some promises - like some lives - are perfect lies . . .

Nine people arrive at the luxury retreat run by a Russian lady called Masha. Each of them has some sort of trauma, and really wants to change their life because of it. Masha's methods are unorthodox, to say the least.

I liked some of the characters, especially Frances, and I did not like Masha at all. I had already seen the TV series and enjoyed that, so I did come in with some judgements. Masha is crazy in the series, and she's equally mentally unstable in the book. I liked Frances in the series, but she's even more likeable in the book!

Read for the PopSugar 2023 Reading Challenge.
Prompt 30: A book that's on a celebrity book-club list.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises - Fredrik Backman

Some might call Elsa's granny 'eccentric', or even 'crazy'. Elsa calls her a superhero. And granny's stories, of knights and princesses and dragons and castles, are her superpower. Because, as Elsa is starting to learn, heroes and villains don't always exist in imaginary kingdoms; they could live just down the hallway.

After Granny's death, she leaves Elsa with letters for people that Elsa delivers to them and she learns a lot about her Granny.

Though I normally like precocious child characters, I didn't like Elsa. I can't quite put my finger on it, I just didn't...

Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge.
Prompt 28: Includes a funeral.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

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Bravely - Maggie Stiefvater

Merida of DunBroch needs a change. She loves her family--jovial King Fergus, proper Queen Elinor, the mischievous triplets-- and her peaceful kingdom. But she's frustrated by its sluggishness; each day, the same. Merida longs for adventure, purpose, challenge - maybe even, someday, love.

Merida meets two Gods, Cailleagh and Feradach, who give her a year to save DunBroch. She has to change, and so does everyone around her, if she's to stay the princess of DunBroch.

I love Brave, it is my favourite Disney/Pixar film. I love how Merida marches to her own drum, how she doesn't want a prince. In this sequel, Merida is the same free spirit. I really enjoyed it. I was a bit sad that she did fall in love at the end though, it just doesn't fit the Merida I know and love.

Read for the PopSugar 2023 Reading Challenge.
Prompt 2: A book you bought from an independent bookstore.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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The Help - Kathryn Stockett

Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. This book focuses on black maids who raise the kids, yet who are expected to use a bathroom in the garage. I love the characters Aibilene and Minnie, they have moxie! Whomever came up with the nickname Skeeter for Eugenia needs to be taken out back and shot. It's just wrong!

Because I'd already watched the film, I read part of it in Octavia Spencer's voice. She really embodies Minny! As soon as the terrible aweful was mentioned, I was giggling in anticipation.

This book, I loved it, yet it made me furious. The blatant racism, infutiating! I loved Skeeter for trying to do something, but there's also something I don't like about her. I really wanted her to take a stand, but I guess that's hard...

Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge.
Prompt 25: A fashionable character.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus

Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant scientist and she is definitely not getting married. She meets the famous scientist Calvin Evans and falls head over heels. He wants to marry her, she says no. They move in together and get a dog and live happily ever... until fate intervenes. Calvin dies in an accident and Elizabeth finds out she's pregnant. She is fired, unwed and pregnant in the 50s didn't sit well with employers.

When Elizabeth's daughter, Mad, goes to school, Elizabeth does her best to pack a balanced lunch, Mad's friend eats her lunch every day. Elizabeth finds out and goes to speak to the friend's father and suddenly finds herself presenting a show on TV called Dinner at Six.

This book is fast paced and funny. I liked the premise and I loved Elizabeth. Mad is an adorable precocious little girl. All the feels were there. However, I spotted some minor mistakes in the storyline that made me bump it down to 4 stars.

Read for the PopSugar 2023 Reading Challenge.
Prompt 46: A book with a pet character.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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The Stepford Wives - Ira Levin

For Joanna, her husband, Walter, and their children, the move to beautiful Stepford seems almost too good to be true. It is. For behind the town's idyllic facade lies a terrible secret -- a secret so shattering that no one who encounters it will ever be the same.

To be honest,I was happy this was a short book. I definitely liked the film better than this book.

Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge.
Prompt 43: A book “everyone” has read.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

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A Terrible Kindness - Jo Browning Wroe

The description of this book is: "It is October 1966 and William Lavery is having the night of his life at his first black-tie do. But, as the evening unfolds, news hits of a landslide at a coal mine. It has buried a school: Aberfan.

William decides he must act, so he stands and volunteers to attend. It will be his first job as an embalmer, and it will be one he never forgets.

His work that night will force him to think about the little boy he was, and the losses he has worked so hard to forget. But compassion can have surprising consequences, because - as William discovers - giving so much to others can sometimes help us heal ourselves."

This book is beautifully written, and I wish I could read it again for the first time. The story is engrossing, William's childhood trauma that follows him throughout his life, the tragedy in Aberfan that changed him, his first love and his difficult relationship with his mother, it makes William a wonderful, flawed character.

Read for the PopSugar 2023 Reading Challenge.
Prompt 4: A book by a first-time author.

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Vile Visitors - Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones' Vile Visitors contains two seperate stories. In the first one a long lost college friend of the father of the family overstays his welcome. He's rude, and really mean to the kids. In the second story a worn armchair comes to life.

I really enjoyed these stories and think children will love them!

Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge.
Prompt 13: Published posthumously.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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This Poison Heart - Kalynn Bayron

Briseis Greene has a talent; she can grow plants with a single touch. Her parents run a flower shop in the city so it is a very useful talent.

Then Briseis inherits a house in the country when her aunt dies. Briseis and her moms move to the house where they discover an apothecary and a secret garden in the house. Briseis also discovers more about her birth family.

A young adult novel filled with magic and Greek mythology and a retelling of The Secret Garden. I cannot tell you how much I loved this book! The minute I finished it, I purchased the sequel which I'll be reading later on this month!

Read for the PopSugar 2023 Reading Challenge.
Prompt 14: A modern retelling of a classic.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun - Elle Cosimano

I was really excited for the release of this book, having devoured and loved the previous two installments of the series. The book was released on January 31^st 2023, and I started reading it on February 1^st.

Like the previous books in the series, accidental hit woman, Finlay, and her trusted sidekick Vero get themselves in lots of trouble trying not to kill people. Cosimano managed to keep the tone light and the book is incredibly funny.

Highly recommend the entire series!

Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge.
Prompt 52: Published in 2023.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Amok - Barry Eisler

I've loved Barry Eisler's character Dox in the Livia Lone series, the John Rain series and some of his other books, so I was excited when this book came out in December 2022. However, I didn't get to crack its spine until today...

Eisler doesn't disappoint, the thriller is full of suspense and some romance with a new love interest for Dox. Most of the book is set in East-Timor in South East Asia. 4 stars because though the book is action-packed, I still felt something missing. Maybe Dox works better when he's bouncing his wit off John Rain or Livia Lone...

Read for the PopSugar 2023 Reading Challenge.
Prompt 25: A book with just text on the cover.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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