This month has been a tale of two halves. I started off in the mood for crime and mystery and ended it in the spirit of romance (which had nothing to do with a certain holiday in the middle). It’s strange that I did not notice this until sitting down to complete my wrap-up for February, but I guess that’s the point of these posts: to reflect on my reading for the month.
Though I still did not read enough books to get back on track with my reading goal for this year—which happens to be 50 books—I’m quite happy with the books I did manage to get to. However, I’m starting to think that I should really put myself on a book-buying ban if I intend to get my TBR down to a more reasonable number of books.
Here are the 4 books I read in February:
The Things We Don’t See by Savannah Brown
Synopsis: To its residents, Sandown is home – a tiny village holiday resort in the western United States. To everyone else, it’s a minuscule island, that brings tourists in summer and not a lot else the rest of the time. To Mona Perry, it’s a mystery. Thirty-four years ago, promising singer and Sandown resident Roxy Raines went missing, and was never found. The people of the island are still reluctant to talk about it, claiming Roxy was simply a runaway, but the evidence doesn’t quite add up. Mona is convinced something else is going on. Armed only with a suitcase and a microphone – to record her findings for the general public – this runaway teenager is determined to get to the bottom of the disappearance. But as Mona gets drawn deeper and deeper into the strange goings on of this isolated community, it is clear that nothing is as it seems – not even Mona’s own past. (Goodreads)
Rating: 4/5 stars
Recommended for: mystery, crime, YA.
The Things We Don’t See was unsurprisingly another deep and enchanting mystery by someone who is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors, Savannah Brown. Even though I read a lot less YA than I did now (because I’m rapidly growing out of the demographic) it’s rare I enjoy it much when I do. I (obviously) can’t relate to the characters as much, but that does not mean there is not something to gain from reading them, as The Things We Don’t See showed me.
It was a well-written, gripping seaside mystery with perfectly imperfect teenage characters all seeking to figure out more about themselves. Though parts of the plot were predictable, it did not take away from the wonder of the story, and I hope the author has plans for another book soon, because no matter how old I get, I’ll probably read it.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Synopsis: Who are you? What have we done to each other?
These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy’s friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn’t true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they weren’t made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone.
So what did happen to Nick’s beautiful wife?
Rating: 5/5 stars
Recommended for: thriller, crime, book-to-film adaptation.
I’ve been meaning to read Gone Girl for years. I remember watching the film and being in awe of the story and resolving to read the book. Usually, I would do that the other way around, but I think this happened right before I got into crime novels and thrillers at all, so reading the book had not been on my radar. I tend to watch crime shows or thrillers a lot more readily than I will read books of the same genre, despite knowing I enjoy them just as much as I do romance, but I’ve been doing a lot better with that recently if my reading stats are anything to go by.
I love the intricacies of Gone Girl, the complexities of the characters revealed by each of their perspectives and the plot in general. Even reading the synopsis, you can tell the story is relatively simple, but it turns out to be incredibly impactful. The pacing, especially because of the change that happens at the halfway point, is amazing and probably my favourite thing about the book. Having enjoyed Dark Places, I know I will be getting to Sharp Objects as quickly as possible because I’m eager to read Gillian Flynn’s entire catalogue of books.
The Mistake by Elle Kennedy
Synopsis: He’s a player in more ways than one…
College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants. For this hockey star, life is a parade of parties and hookups, but behind his killer grins and easy-going charm, he hides growing despair about the dead-end road he’ll be forced to walk after graduation. A sexy encounter with freshman Grace Ivers is just the distraction he needs, but when a thoughtless mistake pushes her away, Logan plans to spend his final year proving to her that he’s worth a second chance.
Now he’s going to need to up his game…
After a less than stellar freshman year, Grace is back at Briar University, older, wiser, and so over the arrogant hockey player she nearly handed her V-card to. She’s not a charity case, and she’s not the quiet butterfly she was when they first hooked up. If Logan expects her to roll over and beg like all his other puck bunnies, he can think again. He wants her back? He’ll have to work for it. This time around, she’ll be the one in the driver’s seat, and she plans on driving him wild.
Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: new adult, contemporary romance.
This is another one of those situations where I bought the first book in a series and let it sit for a while before reading it. I found the first book incredibly entertaining but did not know if I was going to read the second one. Then I was in the mood for some romance, so I decided the pick up The Mistake. Since it came out in 2015, a lot of the references are outdated, but I still found myself able to enjoy the romance that blossomed between Grace and Logan and enjoyed watching them find themselves while they tried to find each other.
I gave it 3 out of 5 stars simply because I did not enjoy it as much as the first. I’m not sure how I feel about Grace’s friendship with her longstanding friend Ramona, and I felt the side characters lost a lot of life in this book compared to how they were written in the first. Other than that, it retained the funny, sweet, slightly awkward-but-charming romance of the first book in the series, and if I need a little romance to read, I’ll still pick up the next book in the series.
The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas
Synopsis: Rosie Graham has a problem. A few, actually. She just quit her well paid job to focus on her secret career as a romance writer. She hasn’t told her family and now has terrible writer’s block. Then, the ceiling of her New York apartment literally crumbles on her. Luckily she has her best friend Lina’s spare key while she’s out of town. But Rosie doesn’t know that Lina has already lent her apartment to her cousin Lucas, who Rosie has been stalking—for lack of a better word—on Instagram for the last few months. Lucas seems intent on coming to her rescue like a Spanish knight in shining armour. Only this one strolls around the place in a towel, has a distracting grin, and an irresistible accent. Oh, and he cooks.
Lucas offers to let Rosie stay with him, at least until she can find some affordable temporary housing. And then he proposes an outrageous experiment to bring back her literary muse and meet her deadline: He’ll take her on a series of experimental dates meant to jump-start her romantic inspiration. Rosie has nothing to lose. Her silly, online crush is totally under control—but Lucas’s time in New York has an expiration date, and six weeks may not be enough, for either her or her deadline.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Recommended for: Contemporary romance, fake dating, slow burn.
I should start off by saying I have not read Elena Armas’ other book, The Spanish Love Deception because I was hesitant after seeing so many mixed reviews. I stumbled upon this book thanks to a deal on Amazon which made taking the plunge worth it and after reading The American Roommate Experiment, I might have to give The Spanish Love Deception a try. It was light and funny in some places and thoughtful and serious in others, just how I like my romances. It was lovely to watch Lucas and Rosie become more and more honest with each other and ultimately fall for each other and it overall made for a good read.
The only things I did not like about this story were how long it took for the plot to get going and how cheesy some of it felt. There was a lot of time spent at the beginning of the story setting up what is already set up by the blurb, which meant that the story took until halfway through to become more interesting to me. Rather than a slow burn, it just felt like it had an uncomfortably long set-up designed to avoid pushing the characters too soon.
That concludes my reading wrap-up for the short month of February. What did you read in February? Did you find any gems?
Read 'N Riot 