I’m so happy to be up to date with all the annotated books I had to read. I feel so relieved and now have more time for some personal reading.
September reading wrap-up
The Primal of Blood and Bone by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Synopsis
This is the last book in the Blood and Ash series for now.
Get your annotated books of the Blood and Ash series here
Book review
Rating: 2.23/5 stars
Having lost all interest in the series after finishing the last book, I didn’t have high hopes for The Primal of Blood and Bone.
The first part offers a shift in narrative that helped freshen up the series a bit in my eyes, with a Sleeping Beauty meets The Exorcist vibe. Unfortunately, it falls back into the old flaws of A Soul of Ash and Blood with a slow, repetitive pace: something happens, they debrief it once or twice, there’s the mandatory smut, and they have the same conversations throughout the entire book. That’s why I couldn’t understand at all why this particular book had to be over 1,000 pages. The other books were already too long for what they were, but this one…
What’s undoubtedly the most annoying thing about this series is that it constantly uses the characters’ true nature (mainly Poppy’s) as a plot twist. Except that after three books of changing their powers a hundred times, there’s nothing surprising left. It just seems like the author keeps telling herself, “No, I want her to be even more powerful, let’s change it!” If there’s time to change things up so many times, it’s probably because there’s not much to tell in the end.
To finish with the plot, when you reach the end of this endless brick of a book, you’re greeted by one of the most underwhelming cliffhangers I’ve ever read.
The worldbuilding, on the other hand, is more confusing than ever, even though it does introduce a few interesting elements. The real problem is the different types of gods getting even more convoluted than before, with trivial details being tacked on as the story progresses. Eventually, you lose track of who can do what and why.
As for the writing, the dialogue was way too contemporary at times, which makes Poppy sound uncool and cringe. For instance, she calls a god a “fuckboy” and mentions “red flags.” It broke the immersion for me every time.
Finally, regarding the characters, Poppy was already detestable, but now she’s self-centered and can’t stand it when anyone makes even the slightest decision without her or dares to be more powerful than she is. Yet no one is ever mad at her, and most of the cast is in love with her, starting with Casteel, who’s become really boring because he’s the biggest simp, always saying exactly what she wants to hear.
I think it’s high time to put an end to this series, which, in my opinion, has only one good book: the first one, From Blood and Ash.
If you’re interested in a review of the whole Blood and ash series, my book review of each book is available here.
Oleander by Scarlett Drake
What is Oleander about?
An MM reimagining of Great Expectations following Jude and Caspien, opposites in every way, as Caspien is shaped by a bitter and careful hand, is both poison and obsession when Jude finds that loathing and love can exist at once.
Get your annotated book of Oleander here
Book review
Rating: 2.70/5 stars
Oleander envelops us in a semi-gothic, Dark Academia atmosphere with its mansion and antagonistic characters. Throughout the first part, we’re even led to believe that something supernatural or at least mysterious is happening. However, what we’re actually witnessing is an utterly banal and predictable story that drags, becoming boring at times.
As for the characters, Jude is relatable during his teenage years but becomes rather petty and childish as a young adult. He isn't as unpleasant as Caspien, but not far off. Caspien, on the other hand, is simply detestable, despite the tear-jerking backstory crafted around him to make us feel sorry for him.
Together, they form a situationship that you wouldn’t even dare to have nightmares about. I thought the portrayal of the toxic relationship was well done, but I was less convinced by the romance. Indeed, the only human and pleasant conversation they have takes place in the very last few pages. I imagine the author was going for a love-hate kind of banter, but I really got the impression that they simply hated each other and that it was just physical attraction. It seemed pretty artificial and underdeveloped to me, just like their mental health, which is never addressed.
Finally, the outcome of their relationship strikes me as very problematic, even counterproductive, reckless towards the audience. In my opinion, this isn’t a romance, and some things are meant to stay in the past so we can actually evolve.
More books like Oleander:
- God of Fury by Rina Kent
- Hunt the Villain by Rina Kent
- Broken Obsession by Chani Lynn Feener
Embrace by Bal Khabra
What is Embrace about?
This is the fourth book in the Off the Ice series.
Scarlett Kilner is trying to rebuild her reputation and make her hockey coach dad proud in her final year of college, but things get complicated when star player Kian Ishida joins her study group needing a tutor. As they help each other out, an unexpected connection forms.
A hockey romance, perfect for fans of the Off-Campus series.
Book review
Rating: DNF at 31%
I hate to do this but I just don’t see myself finishing this.
They don’t have the most organic connection, going from barely knowing each other to hugging every time they meet and going to see Kian’s mom… I don’t know I just didn’t buy it.
Kian is really cute but in a Rhysand way, throwing feminist monologues at your face and Scarlett is just… there, doing stuff. The fact that they basically explain their whole character out loud early on also gave me no interest, made me feel like there was not much to explore.
More books like Embrace:
- The Deal by Elle Kennedy
- Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
- The Chase by Elle Kennedy
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
What is My Dark Vanessa about?
A dual-timeline psychological novel following Vanessa Wye, who at fifteen becomes entangled in an abusive relationship with her 42-year-old English teacher, Jacob Strane, at a New England boarding school. Years later, amid the #MeToo movement, Vanessa is forced to confront whether what she has always believed was a great love story was in reality abuse.
Get your annotated book of My Dark Vanessa here
Book review
Rating: 2.70/5 stars
It’s strange to say, but I think this is one of the most thorough books I’ve ever read. In addition to perfectly addressing its main topic, it covers absolutely every related aspect affected by it (power dynamics, victimhood, feminism, performativeness, enablers, abusers, parents, collateral damages, social media, journalists, therapy…).
My Dark Vanessa is as well-written as it is devastating, a must-read for everyone that, despite its tough subject matter, is actually quite an easy read. No detail is left to chance, whether in the objects or references used, or even in our Vanessa, who is as touching as she is insufferable, even though we understand why she acts the way she does.
More books like My Dark Vanessa:
- The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop
- Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent
- Girl A by Dan Scottow
Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
What is Trad Wife about?
Camille Deming is a young influencer living in an isolated farmhouse with her increasingly distant husband, desperately trying to grow her following and her family by embodying the perfect traditional wife online. When she makes a wish into a mysterious well on her property, she finds herself pregnant, but what follows is far from the idyllic life she performs for her followers.
Book review
Rating: 3.65/5 stars
This book really reminded me of Nestlings without actually being like it. Both books handle social commentary very well (with the added satire in Trad Wife), but the horror elements aren’t necessarily as strong.
Our protagonist is that kind of performative influencer we all know, yet we quickly grow fond of her as we come to understand why she acts the way she does. She's desperately trying to emulate what she thinks people want from her, even if it means letting her own ambitions fall by the wayside. While I’m not excusing her behavior, it’s not too hard to empathize with her, recognizing the toxic situation she's in. Especially when it comes to her husband, the real horror of the story.
As for the plot, I found it fairly straightforward, with few surprises, even predictable, though it remains effective. I did, however, really like the fact that motherhood represents her emancipation and her awakening, since we usually see the opposite. Her fate touched me, I felt as though she was moving from one prison to another, even though this one seems to suit her better.
The real downside of Trad Wife for me is its lack of subtlety. Everything is spelled out, even though it’s written well enough for us to figure things out on our own.
What We Did To Survive by Megan Lally
What is What We Did To Survive about?
High school senior Hannah is thrilled to spend spring break in Puerto Vallarta with her best friend Emmy and Emmy's family, but a day sail on a charming new boyfriend's chartered catamaran turns dangerous as a storm rolls in. Stranded at sea and questioning the intentions of the people around her, Hannah and the group are forced to fight for their lives.
Book review
Rating: 1.85/5 stars
What We Did To Survive was part of my most anticipated releases, and I have to say it’s a huge disappointment.
I found it way too goofy to care about anything that was happening. The characters are all unlikable and, despite being childhood friends, don’t seem to like each other at all.
The reason they end up in the storm is pretty silly, as is the behavior of our protagonist’s best friend, who acts as the villain’s sidekick the whole time, siding against her friend and BROTHER. (Yes she had a plan but even before that they acted like strangers forced to hang out with each other).
The villain could have been interesting, but he, too, is ridiculed to the point of becoming a caricature of himself,a running gag that keeps coming back, as if to prevent us from getting bored. (Well, we get bored anyway.)
In fact, for such a short book, I felt like it dragged on. I couldn’t see the end coming, which made the reading experience even more unpleasant.
I felt like the book missed the mark on all the themes it had at its disposal: privilege, sociopathy among teenagers, survival, and finally, the romance. A romance that struck me as forced, omnipresent, and not very touching, despite circumstances that had every reason to move the reader.
Worse still, you don’t root for anyone,you even hope they all perish in the end.
More books like What We Did To Survive:
- Ski weekend by Rektok Ross
- When We Were Lost by Kevin Wignall
- Feral Youth by Shaun David Hutchinson
Trad Wife by Sarah Langan
What is Trad Wife about?
Journalist Jenny Kaplan is hired to profile Mia Wright, a picture-perfect "trad wife" influencer living on a 300-acre farm with her handsome husband and seven well-behaved children. As Jenny digs deeper behind the curated social media facade, she uncovers something sinister and reality begins to blur. She finds herself trapped in a nightmare far more horrifying than she ever imagined.
Book review
Rating: 3.67/5 stars
Trad Wife takes some time to start. It’s not unpleasant, but rather shows that the story is so intriguing that all you want is to get to the action. This impatience was also heightened for me by the fact that there were a lot of subplots that kept us from getting to the famous farm. Once there, those subplots still take up a lot of space, often disrupting the pacing and the unsettling atmosphere.
Jenny is a rather unusual, even elusive protagonist. She’s quite complex and unlikable, yet endearing. I also really liked her relationship with her sister. Her personal story is completely at odds with the trad wife lifestyle, and I liked the fact that, at first glance, she’s a bit mesmerized by this trend, just like any social media user who falls down a rabbit hole and becomes obsessed with something for a while, until the illusion shatters.
The story surrounding the Black Swan farm, its trad wife, and its village really intrigued me, and I appreciated the lore developed around it, which goes far beyond the simple trad wife trope. However, I found the way the story was told to be sometimes tedious, even repetitive. Articles from different eras and quotes are used, often recounting the same events without adding any new details. Furthermore, Jenny’s nightmares were both very realistic and extremely confusing.
Jenny also doesn’t seem nearly as frightened as the situation suggests. She expresses her fear while writing her essay several times but then goes to bed peacefully in the guest room. Of course, she has professional reasons for staying, but her opposition is very weak, allowing many things to happen. Nonetheless, her fate moved me, and I loved the author's take, as dystopian as it is current.
More books like Trad Wife:
- Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
- Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza
- House of Beth by Kerry Cullen
Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
What is Blue Bloods about?
Schuyler Van Alen, an outsider at her elite New York private school who begins experiencing strange symptoms (blue veins and cravings for raw meat) that thrust her into a secret world of vampire lore and hidden societies. When a classmate is found dead and the charming Jack Force takes an interest in her, Schuyler is determined to uncover the truth about the mysterious Blue Bloods, even as she realizes she may be putting herself in danger.
Book review
Rating: 2.23/5 stars
I remember starting this book when I was 13. I don’t remember finishing it, but I do recall how inventive I found its worldbuilding. Even though it’s definitely copying City of Bones and Gossip Girl. I’m glad to see, 12 years later, that it’s still a world I enjoy.
Unfortunately, the execution is more than tedious. The writing leaves much to be desired, as does the dialogue, and even the way the story is told makes the whole thing messy and unconvincing.
No relationships or personalities are developed, nor are the characters’ reactions to their new lives. Everything happens very quickly, being predictable without really being so. It’s all constantly explained, and although it’s intended for children, that doesn’t prevent the information from being conveyed through different channels.
That said, I think I wouldn’t mind hate-reading one more book in the Blue Bloods series.
More books like Blue Bloods:
- Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
- Evernight by Claudia Gray
- Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
What is We Have Always Lived in the Castle about?
A gothic novel where reclusive sisters Merricat and Constance live in isolated safety atop a hill, protected by rituals and magic until their estranged cousin Charles arrives and threatens to unravel their fragile world. As his greed and the town's hostility close in, Merricat must protect her sister and keep the dangerous outside world at bay.
Book review
Rating: 2.55/5 stars
This was absolutely not what I expected. I thought it was a gothic horror story that took a turn with the arrival of a distant cousin. However, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is very slow-paced, quite boring and not scary at all. I felt more sad than anything else. These two sisters really moved me with their determination, dignity, resilience, and love. On the other hand, everything around them is underwhelming.
More books like We Have Always Lived in the Castle:
- The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
- The Corset by Laura Purcell
- Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis
October TBR
I only have one book to annotate for now this month so this TBR is mainly mine. I have two concerts in Paris, so I don’t know how much reading I’ll be able to do.
Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz
This is the second book in the Blue Bloods series.
Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
The fifth book in the Twilight Saga, a retelling of the first one from Edward Cullen’s point of view.
I’ve been obsessed with Twilight lately. I rewatched the movies and recalled I only read Eclipse and did not finish Twilight. Therefore, my goal is to read the whole series, except Life and Death because I don’t care about the reverse gender thing.
I thought Midnight Sun would be a great place to start, giving me new content but also starting at the beginning.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
A prequel set 24 years before The Hunger Games, following 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy, who is thrust into the 50th Hunger Games after intervening to protect his girlfriend during a chaotic reaping ceremony in District 12. Navigating a lethal arena and the Capitol's propaganda machine, Haymitch's acts of rebellion make him a victor, but at a devastating personal cost.
A Touch of Jen by Beth Morgan
Remy and Alicia, two dissatisfied New York service workers, sustain their stagnant relationship through a shared obsession with Jen, their former coworker whose every Instagram post they compulsively scrutinize. When a chance encounter pulls them into Jen's world for a Hamptons getaway, their buried resentments and dark desires spiral into something grotesque and terrifying.
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
Oliver Marks, released from prison after serving ten years for murder, finally agrees to tell the detective on his case what really happened during his final year at the elite Dellecher Classical Conservatory. There, seven Shakespeare-obsessed acting students found the line between their dramatic roles and real life fatally blurred ending in one student's mysterious death.
This will be my second time reading If We Were Villains to annotate it for a client. I don’t remember much but I recall it being a great and clever read.
Incarnate by Alma Katsu
Dorothy Wagner, desperate to be seen after failing as an influencer, secretly creates Isabella, a stunning deepfake who becomes a viral social media sensation while working at a cutting-edge deepfake technology company. But as Isabella's fame explodes, Dorothy loses track of where she ends and her creation begins.
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth
When Abby Lamb's cruel, venomous mother-in-law Laura dies by suicide, Abby hopes the haunting is over, but Laura's ghost terrorizes Abby while plunging her husband Ralph into a deep depression. With everything she loves on the line, Abby devises a darkly ingenious plan involving her beloved elderly coworker.
Open Wide by Jessica Gross
Olive, a socially awkward radio host who secretly records all her conversations to decode human connection, finally meets her match in Theo, a surgeon as peculiar as she is. But ordinary closeness isn't enough for Olive, who discovers that the gap between Theo's front teeth is just wide enough for her to literally climb inside his body.
She’s a Lamb! by Meredith Hambrock
Jessamyn St. Germain, a 26-year-old usher at a small Vancouver regional theater, is absolutely convinced that the role of Maria in the upcoming production of The Sound of Music is her destiny, despite being assigned to babysit the child actors instead. As her delusions escalate and her frenemy lands the lead, Jessamyn takes increasingly unhinged and dangerous measures to claim the spotlight she believes is rightfully hers.
The Way Inn by Will Wiles
Neil Double is a « conference surrogate » paid to attend industry events on behalf of clients who'd rather not until his latest job at a conference for conference organizers goes sideways when his pass is voided and he encounters a mysterious woman within the Way Inn hotel chain. What begins as a search to find her pulls Neil into a surreal, Kafkaesque labyrinth hidden within the hotel's eerily identical corridors, a place he may never escape.
Happy reading month!
Follow my reading updates on my Goodreads!
Related posts
- August Reading Wrap-up & September TBR
- July Reading Wrap-up & August TBR
- June Reading Wrap-up & July TBR
This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
0 commentaire